• Title/Summary/Keyword: productivity costs

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Robotic Surgery in Cancer Care: Opportunities and Challenges

  • Mohammadzadeh, Niloofar;Safdari, Reza
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.1081-1083
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    • 2014
  • Malignancy-associated mortality, decreased productivity, and spiritual, social and physical burden in cancer patients and their families impose heavy costs on communities. Therefore cancer prevention, early detection, rapid diagnosis and timely treatment are very important. Use of modern methods based on information technology in cancer can improve patient survival and increase patient and health care provider satisfaction. Robot technology is used in different areas of health care and applications in surgery have emerged affecting the cancer treatment domain. Computerized and robotic devices can offer enhanced dexterity by tremor abolition, motion scaling, high quality 3D vision for surgeons and decreased blood loss, significant reduction in narcotic use, and reduced hospital stay for patients. However, there are many challenges like lack of surgical community support, large size, high costs and absence of tactile and haptic feedback. A comprehensive view to identify all factors in different aspects such as technical, legal and ethical items that prevent robotic surgery adoption is thus very necessary. Also evidence must be presented to surgeons to achieve appropriate support from physicians. The aim of this review article is to survey applications, opportunities and barriers to this advanced technology in patients and surgeons as an approach to improve cancer care.

Development of Farm Size Dairy Feedmill System in Korea(II) -Development of the TMR Main Center- (우리나라의 낙농단지규모에 알맞는 사료가공시설의 모델개발(II) -TMR 지원시설의 모델 개발-)

  • Kim, T.W.;Park, K.K.
    • Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.343-357
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    • 1994
  • Current commercial dairy feed has various problems in low feed productivity, inadequate formulation and higher feeding cost due to excessive capital investment and non-specialized system for the end product. To solve those problems, 6 TMR terminal models were developed in this study. The developed TMR terminal system consists of TMR terminal, TMR main center and combined system linked TMR terminal and TMR main center. 15 TMR main center models were developed to support 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 TMR terminal(30 ton/day basis) by 3 different types, and evaluated for capital investment and operation cost by the analysis of the newly developed computer program. Optimum model size is analyzed and suggested for each model. Followings are summary of this study : 1. The capital investment costs of TMR main centers were 1,600 to 3,800 million won for type 1, 2,200 to 4,500 million won for type 2 and 2,200 to 4,800 million won for type 3. Also model MACE30 or bigger were justified as the economical models. 2. The feed production costs of TMR main center models were 3,166 to 4,824 won/ton for type 1, 3,816 to 6,182 won/ton for type 2 and 3,990 to 6,263 won/ton for type 3. So feed production cost range was 3,166 to 6,263 won/ton. 3. The bigger production capacity, the less TMR main center production cost. The feed production cost of the biggest model MACE50 was 62~65% of smallest model MACE10.

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A New Paradigm for Education: Is Flipped Learning a Threat or an Opportunity? (교육의 새로운 패러다임: Flipped Learning 기회인가 위협인가?)

  • Im, Jin-Hyouk
    • Korean Medical Education Review
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.132-140
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    • 2014
  • Higher education is under unprecedented pressure for quality improvement and cost containment/reduction due to global competition and ever-increasing tuition costs. These twin challenges require an unconventional approach, and massive open online courses (MOOCs) and flipped learning have recently emerged as two promising educational alternatives not only to address the current problems but also to direct the future of education. This paper discusses the rapidly changing environment for education, MOOCs, and flipped learning as learning alternatives, the relationship between MOOCs and flipped learning, and course redesign for the implementation of flipped learning. The case of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) is also discussed for benchmarking purposes since it has been pioneering an innovative educational methodology for teaching and learning IT-enabled active learning methods from its inception in 2009. It has redesigned almost 70 courses (20% of all the courses to offer) for flipped learning. The objectives of UNIST's educational experiment are three-fold: improving the quality of education for students, improving teaching productivity for the faculty, and containing/reducing education costs for the university.

Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm for Scheduling Problems in Manufacturing Systems

  • Gen, Mitsuo;Lin, Lin
    • Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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    • v.11 no.4
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    • pp.310-330
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    • 2012
  • Scheduling is an important tool for a manufacturing system, where it can have a major impact on the productivity of a production process. In manufacturing systems, the purpose of scheduling is to minimize the production time and costs, by assigning a production facility when to make, with which staff, and on which equipment. Production scheduling aims to maximize the efficiency of the operation and reduce the costs. In order to find an optimal solution to manufacturing scheduling problems, it attempts to solve complex combinatorial optimization problems. Unfortunately, most of them fall into the class of NP-hard combinatorial problems. Genetic algorithm (GA) is one of the generic population-based metaheuristic optimization algorithms and the best one for finding a satisfactory solution in an acceptable time for the NP-hard scheduling problems. GA is the most popular type of evolutionary algorithm. In this survey paper, we address firstly multiobjective hybrid GA combined with adaptive fuzzy logic controller which gives fitness assignment mechanism and performance measures for solving multiple objective optimization problems, and four crucial issues in the manufacturing scheduling including a mathematical model, GA-based solution method and case study in flexible job-shop scheduling problem (fJSP), automatic guided vehicle (AGV) dispatching models in flexible manufacturing system (FMS) combined with priority-based GA, recent advanced planning and scheduling (APS) models and integrated systems for manufacturing.

Schedule Optimization in Resource Leveling through Open BIM Based Computer Simulations

  • Kim, Hyun-Joo
    • Journal of KIBIM
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.1-10
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    • 2019
  • In this research, schedule optimization is defined as balancing the number of workers while keeping the demand and needs of the project resources, creating the perfect schedule for each activity. Therefore, when one optimizes a schedule, multiple potentials of schedule changes are assessed to get an instant view of changes that avoid any over and under staffing while maximizing productivity levels for the available labor cost. Optimizing the number of workers in the scheduling process is not a simple task since it usually involves many different factors to be considered such as the development of quantity take-offs, cost estimating, scheduling, direct/indirect costs, and borrowing costs in cash flow while each factor affecting the others simultaneously. That is why the optimization process usually requires complex computational simulations/modeling. This research attempts to find an optimal selection of daily maximum workers in a project while considering the impacts of other factors at the same time through OPEN BIM based multiple computer simulations in resource leveling. This paper integrates several different processes such as quantity take-offs, cost estimating, and scheduling processes through computer aided simulations and prediction in generating/comparing different outcomes of each process. To achieve interoperability among different simulation processes, this research utilized data exchanges supported by building SMART-IFC effort in automating the data extraction and retrieval. Numerous computer simulations were run, which included necessary aspects of construction scheduling, to produce sufficient alternatives for a given project.

COST ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL PLAN FOR REDUCING FRAMEWORK CONSTRUCTION DURATION OF REINFORCED CONCRETE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

  • Seon-Woo Joo;Moonseo Park;Hyun-Soo Lee
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2009.05a
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    • pp.493-498
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    • 2009
  • Recently, the number of complex construction projects, such as high-density development and long-span mega structure construction, has been increasing globally. Therefore, the construction duration has become an even more important factor for success. Nevertheless, in domestic residential construction projects, it usually takes more time than twice as much as North American cases. The long construction duration causes a number of problems, for example growth of financial costs, fall in productivity, and weakness of competitiveness. If the framework construction duration can be shortened to 3 ~ 4 days, then it is also expected to complete the finish work of building in shorter duration, be led to reduce the entire construction duration, and eventually to save a great deal of indirect costs. For shortening the construction duration, previous researches pointed out that the development of simplified plan design should precedes. But, in reality, lack of experience of new design and innovative techniques tends to be the obstacle to wide adoption of the simplified plan design in construction fields. In this paper, a simplified structural plan design is proposed, and the construction cost is quantitatively compared between when traditional construction technique is applied to the traditional plan and when the duration-shortening key technique is applied to the developed plan.

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A Review on the Decision-making Process for Calculating Land and Construction Costs in the Early Stages of the Project - Focusing on the Housing Vonstruction Project in Jeju Island - (사업초기단계에서 토지비 및 건축공사비 산정을 위한 의사결정프로세스에 관한 고찰 - 제주도 내 주택건설사업 중심으로 -)

  • Jo, Seong-Min;Cho, Sung-Hee;Jeon, SangHoon
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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    • 2021.05a
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    • pp.321-322
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    • 2021
  • This study is to develop a non-contact construction project management solution that can reduce cost and construction period through on-site information sharing, minimizing contact with others by COVID19, and improving the productivity of the construction industry. Decisions, checklists, and execution rates of construction costs can be checked with smart devices through sharing on-site photos and videos, exchanging opinions. Details and checklist data stored on cloud servers of sites that apply non-face-to-face construction project management solutions will be used as data for analyzing amounts and construction periods depending on the size of the construction. Real-time field information sharing will reduce expected problems and waste factors, expand communication channels with users to prevent or minimize construction disputes and claims, and contribute to the expansion and growth of new research industry markets in construction technology.

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A Study on Revising Construction Cost Calculation for Road Paving Maintenance Work (도로포장 유지보수 공사비산정기준 개정에 대한 연구)

  • Oh, Jae-Hoon;An, Bang-Yul
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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    • 2020.06a
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    • pp.155-156
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    • 2020
  • Unlike new construction projects, road paving maintenance work shows large productivity discrepancies depending on the conditions of the worksite. The current construction cost calculation scheme, however, only provides daily construction volume categorized by work scope and scale: There are no detailed standards that can be implemented on various types of worksites. To develop standards that enable the calculation of appropriate construction costs by taking into account worksite conditions, the current study conducted on-site surveys and interviews. The on-site research and analysis revealed that location, construction width, the day's worksite lot, work scope, and construction objectives were found to cause differences in construction volume. In addition to the existing work scope and work scape variables, the current study added weight constants reflecting the daily work volume based on movement conditions at site and the size of the worksite lot. In this process, the current study found that even one type of construction project can have fifteen different levels of daily construction volume. Such detailed classification was deemed to enable the proper calculation of construction costs based on worksite conditions.

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Organizational Transformation Strategies for Adopting Building Information Modeling in the Engineering-Construction Industry

  • Yong Han Ahn;Young Hoon Kwak;Sung Jun Suk
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2013.01a
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    • pp.94-102
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    • 2013
  • The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry is beginning to utilize Building Information Modeling (BIM), benefiting from the resulting improved visualization and productivity, better coordination of construction drawings, building documents that contain embedded links to virtual information, faster delivery, and lower costs. However, construction firms often face challenges when reorganizing their company structure to take full advantage of these benefits. This paper proposes an organizational structure that will enable engineering-construction firms to successfully adopt and implement BIM for major construction projects. A case study research method is utilized based on in-depth interviews with four BIM directors and vice presidents charged with BIM adoption, implementation and education. Organizational transformation challenges and recommendations are discussed in detail for those considering implementing BIM in the engineering-construction industry. Topics such as organizational changes in the firm, costs and benefits of BIM implementation, strategies of BIM implementation (execution) plan, BIM education, risks and opportunities associated with BIM, BIM software, contract methods, human resource management and new hires, and the future implementation and direction of BIM are discussed in detail.

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Analyse of the Electric Energy Savings Effects of Adjusting Water Turnover on Land-based Fish Farms Raising Olive Flounder Paralichthys olivaceus (환수량 조절을 통한 넙치(Paralichthys olivaceus) 육상 양어장의 전기 에너지 절감 효과 분석)

  • Nam Lee Kim;Noh Back Park;Jin Choi;Byung Hwa Min
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.56 no.5
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    • pp.716-720
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    • 2023
  • This study was designed to analyze the effects of reducing water turnover in olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus farms, focusing on olive flounder growth, decreasing electricity costs, and developing measures to ensure business stability. Daily water turnover was set at 18 in the control group and six in the experimental group. Juvenile fish were reared for 12 months. No significant differences in mean weight were observed between groups until five months. After five months, the mean weight of the control group grew significantly faster than that of the experimental group. Maintaining water turnovers leverl at six turnovers for the first five months after stocking juvenile fish and then increasing water turnover resulted in a 34.4% reduction in electricity costs compared to the control group. This approach presents a potential method to enhance the profitability of olive flounder farms and ensure stable productivity and profitability without sacrificing olive flounder growth.