Search

This paper considers an outsourced supply chain comprising a contract manufacturer (CM), an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and an online platform. In addition to providing contract manufacturing services to the OEM, the CM enters the market using the customer‐to‐manufacturer (C2M) strategy. Two baseline models and four encroachment models with different selling modes are modeled to explore the interaction among CM encroachment, selling modes and the C2M strategy. We find that the CM will always encroach if brand substitution is sufficiently high. However, the CM will still encroach despite brand substitution being low if the platform charges the OEM a high commission rate in Scenario PR. The results also show that the CM may increase or decrease the wholesale price charged to the OEM according to his dependence on the OEM channel and direct channel. Finally, we find that after CM encroachment, the OEM is worse off, while the platform may be better or worse off. The profits of the CM, OEM, and platform decrease if customers are more concerned about production flexibility. Our work provides guidance for CM encroachment from the perspective of channel choice and product strategy and offers managerial insights into C2M practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective We aimed to investigate the feasibility and method of constructing a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) curative effect prediction model based on the data of Kechuanting acupoint plastering therapy in the treatment of bronchial asthma (asthma). Methods Data from the Chronic Disease Management Research Platform of 303 patients with asthma who were treated with Kechuanting acupoint plastering therapy for 6 weeks in the Department of Acupuncture and Rehabilitation of Jiangsu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June to August 2018 to 2021 were selected. We used Phyton 3.10 for statistical analysis. After data preprocessing, the influencing factors were used to build models by Logistic regression, support vector machine, K-means clustering algorithm, Bayes algorithm, random forest method and Light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) respectively, with the improvement of asthma control test score (ACT), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) as the outcome indicators. Then, the models were compared and analyzed. Subsequently, the superior model was used to establish the efficacy prediction model and verify its stability to obtain the accuracy rate and eliminate the relatively important factors. Results The accuracy rate of the Kechuanting acupoint plastering therapy curative effect prediction model established by the LightGBM model was more than 70%. Five important factors were selected, including allergic history, tabacco and alcohol abuse, plastering duration, ACT before treatment, and FeNO before treatment. According to the classification analysis and the relationship between the important factors and the outcome indicators, Kechuanting acupoint plastering therapy significantly improved the ACT of patients with no history of allergy, no tabacco and alcohol abuse, and poor ACT:5-15 points (P < 0.05). Furthermore, Kechuanting acupoint plastering therapy improved FeNO more significantly in patients with more than 3 years of treatment than those with no more than 3 years (P < 0.05). However, Kechuanting acupoint plastering therapy only improved FeNO in a few patients with poor asthma control levels (P < 0.05) and severe airway inflammation (FeNO>50x10-9) (P>0.05). Conclusion Acupoint plastering application has a significant effect on improving the control level of asthma, but its effect on improving airway inflammation is limited. It is feasible to use data from the chronic disease management research platform to construct the prediction model. After optimization and testing, the predictive model established based on the data of this study may provide an effective evaluation tool for targeted clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberculosis is the second most deadly infectious disease after COVID-19 and the 13th leading cause of death worldwide. Among the 30 countries with a high burden of TB, China ranks third in the estimated number of TB cases. China is in the top four of 75 countries with a deficit in funding for TB strategic plans. To reduce costs and improve the effectiveness of TB treatment in China, the NHSA developed an innovative BP method. This study aimed to simulate the effects of this payment approach on different stakeholders, reduce the economic burden on TB patients, improve the quality of medical services, facilitate policy optimization, and offer a model for health care payment reforms that can be referenced by other regions throughout the world. Methods: We developed a simulation model based on a decision tree analysis to project the expected effects of the payment method on the potential financial impacts on different stakeholders. Our analysis mainly focused on comparing changes in health care costs before and after receiving BPs for TB patients with Medicare in the pilot areas. The data that were used for the analysis included the TB service claim records for 2019–2021 from the health insurance agency, TB prevalence data from the local Centre for Disease Control, and health care facilities' revenue and expenditure data from the Statistic Yearbook. A Monte Carlo randomized simulation model was used to estimate the results. Results: After adopting the innovative BP method, for each TB patient per year, the total annual expenditure was estimated to decrease from $2,523.28 to $2,088.89, which is a reduction of $434.39 (17.22%). The TB patient out-of-pocket expenditure was expected to decrease from $1,249.02 to $1,034.00, which is a reduction of $215.02 (17.22%). The health care provider's revenue decreased from $2,523.28 to $2,308.26, but the health care provider/institution's revenue-expenditure ratio increased from -6.09% to 9.50%. Conclusions: This study highlights the potential of BPs to improve medical outcomes and control the costs associated with TB treatment. It demonstrates its feasibility and advantages in enhancing the coordination and sustainability of medical services, thus offering valuable insights for global health care payment reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Packaging has become an important concern of fresh food supply chains and will exert a growing influence under environmental policies. In this paper, we have discussed three specific issues to investigate fresh food supply chains' packaging strategy, that is, whether to use disposable packaging containers (DPCs) or reusable packaging containers (RPCs), whether to purchase or rent RPCs, and the influences of environmental policies. Our research has generated some key findings. First, we find that penalty (such as taxes) and reward (such as subsidies) are simultaneously needed to motivate supply chains to choose RPCs. In terms of the "purchasing or renting" choice, it highly depends on the relative magnitude of the purchase and rental subsidies, along with the number of uses of RPCs and the perishability of fresh food. We also conclude that reusing RPCs for more times has two‐sided effects, that is, the effect of cost saving and the effect of accelerated deterioration. Thus, it is not recommended to excessively reuse RPCs. In addition, we make two extensions. First, we consider endogenous tax rate and subsidy rates and discuss from the perspective of social welfare. Second, we consider endogenous sales price and rental price of RPCs and study the optimal decisions of the RPC operator. Results show that the government should establish a classified tax and subsidy system for packaging containers, and meanwhile benchmarking prices for RPC services should be set to curb the RPC operator's free‐riding behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Information asymmetry and poor solvency caused by uncertainties in supply chains are the root causes of supply chain financing risks (SCFR). The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of supply chain integration on reducing SCFR by incorporating the mechanisms of information sharing and controlling supply chain risks (SCR). Design/methodology/approach: This paper proposes hypothesis to discuss the impact of integration on SCFR and the mediating roles of alleviating information asymmetry and mitigating SCR, aiming at discovering factors and mechanisms to reduce SCFR. The research model was validated by applying structural equation modeling on survey data from 321 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Findings: Integration significantly reduces SCFR by dual approaches of information sharing and mitigating SCR, confirming that alleviating information asymmetry to reach information transparency and controlling SCR to reduce uncertainties facilitate less SCFR. Research limitations/implications: SMEs should enhance integration capability to reduce SCFR as it greatly influences the evaluation of financial service providers on SMEs and the sustainable financing capacity of SMEs. Additionally, any other methods that can improve information sharing and reduce SCR should be attached if possible. Originality/value: This study represents a pioneering attempt to analyze the impact of integration on reducing SCFR by exploring the specific mechanisms of alleviating information asymmetry and mitigating SCR. Meanwhile, few prior empirical studies have highlighted the importance of SCFR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the important role of supply chain risk management (SCRM) capabilities as pre-factors for SMEs to improve supply chain financing performance (SCFP), also incorporating the effect of supply chain integration (SCI). Design/methodology/approach: From the intersection of SCRM and SCF literature, this paper proposed hypothesis to discuss the impact of SCRM capabilities on SCFP and the role of SCI, aiming at combine SCRM with supply chain financing management. The research model was validated applying structural equation modeling on survey data from 286 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Findings: Four dimensions of SCRM capabilities have significant positive effects on SCFP with different significant levels, confirming that they are important pre-factors in supply chain finance (SCF). In addition, the impact of SCRM capabilities on SCFP differ when SCI varies, indicating the promoting effect of SCI. Practical implications: SMEs should establish SCRM capabilities as supply chain risks greatly influence the evaluation of financial providers and the achievement of SCF. Meanwhile, SCI should be attached for it enables superior SCFP even if SCRM capabilities are relatively limited. Originality/value: This study represents a pioneering attempt to analyze the pre-factors of SMEs in improving SCFP by combing SCRM with SCF management. Few prior studies have highlighted the importance of SCRM in SCF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Southeast University (English Edition) is the property of Journal of Southeast University Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Southeast University (English Edition) is the property of Journal of Southeast University Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Carbon cap-and-trade regulation is widely adopted to reduce carbon emissions. Under this regulation, we propose a carbon trading mechanism considering refrigerated logistics services in a fresh food supply chain. In addition to supplying fresh food, the supplier offers refrigerated logistics services and overstocked carbon emission permits to the retailer. We study the decisions on the price of emission permits traded within the supply chain, the retail price and the price of refrigerated logistics services in different carbon trading options, without carbon trade, inner carbon trade, inner and outer carbon trade. Pricing strategies for fresh food, emission permits and refrigerated logistics services are provided for supply chain members. We also reveal the relationship between carbon trading and refrigerated logistics services, and investigate their joint influence on the supplier--retailer cooperative relationship. In addition, it is shown that with the implementation of a transfer payment mechanism, supply chain members are motivated to participate in the carbon trading mechanism, which has advantages including improved resource utilisation and more competitive supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world becomes advance rapidly, and the demand of perishable food increases in the global market. Food firms perceive the cheapest supply chain process for the delivery of products to end consumers. Apart from that, consumer demands high quality and safe products with competitive price. In the global intense competition, China introduced One Belt One Road (OBOR) advanced feature supply chain management system to cut the cost of production for these product firms as well as functionally deliver high quality and green products to end consumer without affecting from high environment temperature. Respectively, the graphical research model and the multi-objective method were developed to examine the estimated perishable product trading figures with consideration to quality, which is achieved by accumulating the advanced transportation features offered by OBOR supply chain management as compared to ancient rail route supply chain. To prove this, "simulation optimization function was applied to measure the probability of time-saving for perishable product quality from environmental effects and its influences over product demand." Some perishable products were selected, and their trading figures and demand value were measured by comparing both rail route environmental effects over demand, weights of products, and trade. The results declare perishable food quality and trading volume increased due to fast delivery of products to numerous countries, having cold supply chain feature under OBOR supply chain management and estimated 25 days of time-saving. Comparative analysis discloses the coherent picture of both trading routes used for delivering the products. "The findings show large amount of time-saving maximizes perishable product quality from environmental influence" estimated 3 times higher with fast train supply chain. Conceptually, perceived from the idea, when and if maglev train 600 km over an hour will be used for perishable product supply chain purpose in the near future, the estimated quality of perishable products and trading is considered to be more than 5 times higher as compared to ancient supply chain route. The study suggests future research direction on topics, food quality along with supply chain management system, and environmental impact measurement policy under different supply chain routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption compensation is the driving force for motivating each supply chain link to set up information nodes, which is of great significance for promoting informatization, modernization, transformation, and upgrading of the supply chain system. This study simulates the evolution process of strategic selection for each supply chain link to set information nodes independently or collectively under the unconstrained government rewards conditions and punishments. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) When each link in the supply chain provides source tracing information independently, the vendor chooses to set up information nodes for the links with large information cost compensation coefficients. (2) When the vendor provides source tracing information cooperatively if the collaborative benefit is less than the cooperation cost, the information node will be set to the link with the large compensation coefficient. If not, information nodes will be set in each link. (3) Under the government incentive mechanism, enterprises are willing to cooperate. The punishment mechanism helps avoid situations where neither side sets up information nodes. The compensation coefficient is a prerequisite for mechanisms to work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food supply chain is very complicated as compared to other supply chain networks. Adulteration and fraud are common in the food supply chain. "World food safety is at risk, and consumers are worried about vulnerability, contamination, and fraud activities." Moreover, time delay increases the detritions and spoilage conditions in perishable foods. Consumers want timely delivery of foods with maximum surety of safety and quality of foods. Respectively, graphical research method developed to ascertain consumer "both aspect" estimated total robustness. "There is a need to increase the food supply chain network robustness according to the consumer point of view—logistics regression and simulation technique used to find the estimated results." We analyzed, to provide the food delivery to consumers beyond their expectations before ever, give a chance to increase food supply chain robustness through physiologically "perception" and actually "saving 2000 miles." Although to prove this strategy, we select the advanced supply chain network of China one belt one road to deliver foods to end consumers "estimated 2.5 times more robust than ancient network." Additionally, this robust supply chain network provides fast delivery of foods with quick traceability, gives less time for fraud activities, increases food supply chain performance, and decreases the vulnerability ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-resolution face recognition with one-shot is a prevalent problem encountered in law enforcement, where it generally requires to recognize the low-resolution face images captured by surveillance cameras with the only one high-resolution profile face image in the database. The problem is very tough because the available samples is quite few and the quality of unknown images is quite low. To effectively address this issue, this paper proposes Adapted Discriminative Coupled Mappings (AdaDCM) approach, which integrates domain adaptation and discriminative learning. To achieve good domain adaptation performance for small size dataset, a new domain adaptation technique called Bidirectional Locality Matching-based Domain Adaptation (BLM-DA) is first developed. Then the proposed AdaDCM is formulated by unifying BLM-DA and discriminative coupled mappings into a single framework. AdaDCM is extensively evaluated on FERET, LFW, and SCface databases, which includes LR face images obtained in constrained, unconstrained, and real-world environment. The promising results on these datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of AdaDCM in LR face recognition with one-shot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate contract stability in the company and fanner mode and to explore control measures of market price risk and production risk, a multiperiod game model was established in this study. Considering multiple periods and losses caused by deaths simultaneously, a stable contract price interval depending on the breaching penalty, transaction cost, spot market price, and quantity of pigs was observed. Results indicate that the higher the penalty and transaction cost savings, the better the stability of the contract; the contract price should be negotiated around the weighted average of the spot market price. When the production risk is higher, hog insurance can significantly improve the contract stability; when the market price is lower, hog price index insurance improves the contract stability by guaranteeing the company income; when the market price is higher, the profit-returning mechanism improves the stability by protecting farmers' incomes. Applying three measures simultaneously results in the best stability. Examples based on data from 2014 to 2018 in Henan Province, China, were given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To cope with the supply-demand mismatch in the global market, transnational enterprises usually adopt the strategy of lateral transshipment. This paper studies the production planning, transshipment and carbon trading problem of a large transnational manufacturer in a global supply chain. Two countries are involved in the operation of the transnational manufacturer, where different carbon trading mechanisms are implemented. Operational decisions of the transnational manufacturer are optimized in a mixed integer programming model with the purpose of maximizing its total profit. Then, we analyze the influence of the difference between carbon trading mechanisms on the transnational manufacturer, retailers, the countries involved and the global supply chain. Theoretically, our research enriches the research streams of lateral transshipment and carbon cap-and-trade policy. Moreover, managerial insights are provided for global supply chain members and international emission reduction regulators, which contribute to the smooth operation of global supply chains and enhance emission reduction. Especially, the conditions under which local governments should emphasize on economic development or environmental protection are revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an enhanced discriminative feature learning (EDFL) method is proposed to address single sample per person (SSPP) face recognition. With a separate auxiliary dataset, EDFL integrates Fisher discriminative learning and domain adaptation into a unified framework. The separate auxiliary dataset and the gallery/probe dataset are from two different domains (named source and target domains respectively) and have different data distributions. EDFL is modeled to transfer the discriminative knowledge learned from the source domain to the target domain for classification. Since the gallery set with SSPP contains scarce number of samples, it is hard to accurately represent the data distribution of the target domain, which hinders the adaptation effect. To overcome this problem, the generalized domain adaption (GDA) method is proposed to realize good overall domain adaptation when one domain contains limited samples. GDA considers the both global and local domain adaptation effect at the same time. Further, to guarantee that the learned domain adaptation components are optimal for discriminative learning, the domain adaptation and Fisher discriminant model learning are unified into a single framework and an efficient algorithm is designed to optimize them. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by extensive evaluation and comparison with some state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modular production brings new opportunities for service provisions. We examine a supply chain consisting of two competing module suppliers and a common manufacturer, in which the manufacturer sources two differentiated modules from two suppliers and then produces two competing products for consumers. A delegation relationship is applied to explore the possibility of the module services offered by the suppliers. When the service commission fees are fixed, there exist optimal commission fees to maximize the manufacturer's profit. Service commission fees, service efficiencies, service sensitivity, and market types greatly affect the service levels, prices, and profitability of each member in the supply chain. The manufacturer should strategically adopt differentiated pricing strategies and service provisions from two suppliers rather than the best service abilities of the suppliers. In the service‐level sensitivity market, the improved service levels are more attractive to consumers so that the manufacturer will charge high prices by investing more in services. Product services with "high quality, high price" are more suitable for high‐end consumers. We also consider the variable service commission fees and find that there are still some robust results except that the effects of the service incentives and the commission fees will be enlarged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Southeast University (English Edition) is the property of Journal of Southeast University Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cold chains play an important role in reducing food spoilage, attracting food safety sensitive consumers, and guaranteeing food safety. Despite these advantages, the implementation of cold chains also calls for massive investment. Considering both costs and benefits of cold chains, our research established an optimization model for a fresh food supply chain to maximize its members' profits. Optimal investment levels of cold chain construction and advertisement, along with optimal pricing, were determined. The analysis shows that collaborative cold chain investment and collaborative pricing are superior strategies for the supply chain. Furthermore, we discuss the role of consumer food safety awareness and observe relatively high levels of cold chain investments and the mutually reinforcing effect of supply chain members' cold chain investments in a food safety sensitive market. Therefore, we suggest that governments should encourage improved food safety awareness among consumers to motivate cold chain investment and thus guarantee food safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Southeast University (English Edition) is the property of Journal of Southeast University Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Trust influence the behavior intention of elderly to adopt general practitioner. • Adoption behavior has increased the medical satisfaction of elderly. • Promotion policies should focus on the trust, perceived utility, and satisfaction. The aim of this study is to investigate the psychological determinants on elderly' acceptance of general practitioners. This study extends the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model by considering the aspect of trust, perceived utility, and satisfaction, and compares it with other psychological determinants. A questionnaire survey was conducted in seven cities in central China from November 2017 to March 2018, Changsha, Nanjing, Wuhan, Nanchang, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou and Hefei, and 646 valid samples (> = 60 years old) were collected. All the structures met the requirements and the discriminant validity of the data was acceptable. Eleven hypotheses were supported at the significance level of 0.05. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions were considered positive determinants of behavioral intention; trust was considered as a positive determinant of behavioral intention and adoption behavior; behavioral intention was considered as positive determinant of adoption behavior; adoption behavior was considered positive determinants of both satisfaction and perceived utility; perceived utility was positive determinant of satisfaction, and satisfaction positive influence behavioral intention. It is necessary to integrate trust, satisfaction, and perceived utility into the extended UTAUT model, which would have good explanatory power on elderly's behavioral intention for adopting general practitioners. These understandings can prompt policymakers to better understand the psychological perception and behavioral intention of elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous low-resolution (LR) face images are captured by a growing number of surveillance cameras nowadays. In some particular applications, such as suspect identification, it is required to recognize an LR face image captured by the surveillance camera using only one high-resolution (HR) profile face image on the ID card. This leads to LR face recognition with single sample per person (SSPP), which is more challenging than conventional LR face recognition or SSPP face recognition. To address this tough problem, we propose a Boosted Coupled Marginal Fisher Analysis (CMFA) approach, which unites domain adaptation and coupled mappings. An auxiliary database containing multiple HR and LR samples is introduced to explore more discriminative information, and locality preserving domain adaption (LPDA) is designed to realize good domain adaptation between SSPP training set (target domain) and auxiliary database (source domain). We perform LPDA on HR and LR images in both domains, then in the domain adaptation space we apply CMFA to learn the discriminative coupled mappings for classification. The learned coupled mappings embed knowledge from the auxiliary dataset, thus their discriminative ability is superior. We extensively evaluate the proposed method on FERET, LFW and SCface database, the promising results demonstrate its effectiveness on LR face recognition with SSPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collecting samples is one of the main difficulties for face recognition, for example, in most of the real-world applications such as law enhancement, e-passport, and ID card identification, it is customary to collect a single sample per person (SSPP). Unfortunately, in such SSPP scenario, many presented face recognition methods suffer serious performance drop or fail due to their inability to learn the discriminative information of a person from a single sample. To address the SSPP problem, in this paper, we propose a multiple feature subspaces analysis (MFSA) approach, which takes advantage of facial symmetry. First, we divide each enrolled face into two halves about the bilateral symmetry axis and further partition every half into several local face patches. Second, we cluster all the patches into multiple groups according to their locations at the half face and formulate SSPP as a MFSA problem by learning a feature subspace for each group, so that the confusion between inter-class and intra-class variations of face patches is removed and more discriminative features can be extracted from each subspace. To recognize a target person, a k-NN classifier is employed in each subspace to predict the label of a face patch and majority voting strategy is used to identify the unlabeled subject. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods, MFSA is effortless and efficient in implementing, but achieves either better or competitive performance when recognizing face images taken in both constrained and unconstrained environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing amount of carbon emissions has caused global warming and challenged the sustainable development of environment. Governments around the world have implemented carbon policies including carbon cap-and-trade policy. In this paper, we focus on how a two-echelon supply chain manages its carbon footprints in production and inventory under carbon cap-and-trade policy. We extend the classical EOQ (economic order quantity) model and study decisions on production-inventory, carbon trading and emission reduction investment in the decentralized and centralized situations. The results show that emission permit sharing can effectively reduce the total cost and total carbon emissions of the supply chain. Moreover, the manufacturer's emission reduction effort rises with the increase of the buying and selling prices of emission permits under centralized decision-making. In addition, a compensation mechanism is proposed for the centralized supply chain with emission permit sharing. It is observed that the buying and selling prices of emission permits have a positive influence on the permit sharing price in the compensation mechanism. Meanwhile, the retailer pays less for using the emission permits if it has a higher carbon cap, while the manufacturer with a higher carbon cap is more capable to provide a high compensation for the retailer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is one of the most popular feature extraction methods in image recognition. Nevertheless, LDA always suffers from some undesired behaviors caused by globality, namely ignoring local geometric structure of images. To fully capture the geometric information, we propose a novel two-dimensional linear discriminant analysis with locality preserving (2DLP-LDA) approach, which can cover both within-class and between-class local geometric information. 2DLP-LDA re-characterizes the within-class scatter matrix by employing locality preserving projection technique and re-characterizes the between-class scatter matrix by introducing a Gaussian weighting function, making the samples from the same class moderately cluster, while the samples from different classes properly distribute in the reduced subspace. Encouraging experimental results on FERET face database as well as SEU bovine iris database show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To identify the changing of health policy decisions and Doctor–Patient relationship in different periods in China during 67 years (1949–2016). Methods We followed a systematic approach to analyze the development stage of China׳s healthcare reform and Doctor–Patient relationship over time. Based on the extant literature and statistical data, the current five issues in Chinese health policy and three aspects of Doctor-Patient Relationships are classified. The reasons for the current situation and recommendations for future policy are discussed. Results There are four main problems of Chinese Health Policy: funding shortage, excessive market-oriented operation, health insurance limited reimbursement amount, and media coverage a lot of non-neutral health events. In different historical periods, these problems are not prominent, but have become increasingly serious in recent years. On the other hand, three participants contributed to the growing tense relationship between doctors and patients: doctors (hospitals), patients and governments. Conclusions In formulating future health care policy, the government should change: increase investment in the medical field, change the income structure of doctors and hospital, propagate medical news in an objective way, and increase the amount and scope of medical insurance repayment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines contingent rerouting strategy for enhancing supply chain resilience taking a supplier's point of view. We consider a supply chain with multiple suppliers at each stage and establish a mathematical model for product allocation behavior among different suppliers. The allocation model is based on each supplier's production capacity, product quality, production cost, as well as possible decision maker's preferences. As a performance measure for rerouting strategy, we use the total outflow of the supply chain. We propose an optimization model and its solution determines the rerouting strategy for product flow through the supply chain under disruptions. Numerical examples demonstrate the effect of the rerouting strategy and show the resilience of the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show that a state feedback method, which has successfully been used to control unstable steady states or periodic orbits, provides a tool to control the Hopf bifurcation for a novel congestion control model, i.e., the exponential RED algorithm with a single link and single source. We choose the gain parameter as the bifurcation parameter. Without control, the bifurcation will occur early; meanwhile, the model can maintain a stationary sending rate only in a certain domain of the gain parameter. However, outside of this domain the model still possesses a stable sending rate that can be guaranteed by the state feedback control, and the onset of the undesirable Hopf bifurcation is postponed. Numerical simulations are given to justify the validity of the state feedback controller in the bifurcation control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand for emergency resources is usually uncertain and varies quickly in anti-bioterrorism system. Besides, emergency resources which had been allocated to the epidemic areas in the early rescue cycle will affect the demand later. In this article, an integrated and dynamic optimisation model with time-varying demand based on the epidemic diffusion rule is constructed. The heuristic algorithm coupled with the MATLAB mathematical programming solver is adopted to solve the optimisation model. In what follows, the application of the optimisation model as well as a short sensitivity analysis of the key parameters in the time-varying demand forecast model is presented. The results show that both the model and the solution algorithm are useful in practice, and both objectives of inventory level and emergency rescue cost can be controlled effectively. Thus, it can provide some guidelines for decision makers when coping with emergency rescue problem with uncertain demand, and offers an excellent reference when issues pertain to bioterrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers a supply chain for a single product involving one retailer and two independent suppliers, when the main supplier might fail to supply the products, the backup supplier can always supply the products at a higher price. The retailer could use the backup supplier as a regular provider or a stand-by source by reserving some products at the supplier. A backup agreement with penalty scheme is constructed between the retailer and the backup supplier to mitigate the supply disruptions and the demand uncertainty. The expected profit functions and the optimal decisions of the two players are derived through a sequential optimisation process. Then, the sensitivity of two players’ expected profits to various input factors is examined through numerical examples. The impacts of the disruption probability and the demand uncertainty on the backup agreement are also investigated, which could provide guideline for how to use each sourcing method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Project risk management, as a subjective and dynamic decision method of avoiding project risk, plays an important role in selecting appropriate control measures (i.e. measure set) to handle multiple emerging risks (i.e. risk set). This paper focuses on the multi-risk control problem under the condition of finite risk management resources. Based on the description of a Multi-HUB network and a collaboration mechanism within project risk management system, a multi-risk control system is formulated as a non-cooperative complete information game model between the project risk set and the measure set. In the proposed model, each risk within the risk set is described as a player in the game, who is competing with other players for the allocation of risk control resources that are available in limited quantities within a given measure set. Then an efficient algorithm is proposed to solve the allocation solution based on Nash equilibrium, and an experiment is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed game model. The proposed modeling and solution methods can be used to support decision-making in project risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the managing of emergencies pertinent to public health which is critical to the well-being of a society; as such, the management mechanisms employed should be of great interest and significance for research. Design/methodology/approach - This paper first relies on extensive literature to describe the mechanism used in the USA from three aspects - organizational structure, management system, and logistics network. For the purpose of comparison, the Chinese version of the mechanism is presented from the same three aspects. The two management systems are then compared both qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings - Deficient areas in Chinese public-health management mechanism as well as challenging issues associated with supply chain design and coordination for emergency supplies in the context of large-scale public health emergencies with low frequency but catastrophic impacts are found. Specifically, the following three important research problems are revealed from the comparative study: how to establish an efficient organizational structure that incorporates all the relevant entities in public-health emergency management? How to establish an information system for emergency management that integrates disease surveillance, control, and prevention? How to design an efficient and cost-effective logistics network to ensure prompt and sufficient delivery of emergency supplies? Originality/value - To date, this research has been the first of its kind that compares two countries' emergency management systems in the context of public health management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]