scholarly journals Pre-Positioning Facility Location and Resource Allocation in Humanitarian Relief Operations Considering Deprivation Costs

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4141
Author(s):  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
Na Cui

Alleviating human sufferings during and in the aftermath of disasters is one of the most important goals in humanitarian relief logistics. The lack of relief commodities, especially life-saving items, is a life-threatening loss to victims and must be considered when making emergency supply allocation and transportation decisions, even in the pre-disaster prepositioning phase. This paper proposes a scenario-based stochastic program that integrates the decisions of prepositioning facility locations, quantities of stocked emergency supplies, and service allocations in each scenario in the same modeling framework. The estimation of victims’ losses for waiting for emergency supplies is measured in the typical deprivation cost function and treated as one of the main bases of decision making, besides traditional transportation costs, in determining the service allocation strategies in each scenario. Specifically, a case study with data from the hurricane threat in the Gulf Coast area of the US was conducted to demonstrate the application of this model and the significance of considering victims’ welfare loss in humanitarian relief logistics. Some interesting managerial insights were also drawn from a series of numerical experiments and sensitivity analyses.

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Fabián Moscoso Martínez ◽  
Evelyn Carolina Polanco Jácome ◽  
Elizabeth Guevara ◽  
Vijay Mattoo

The clinical presentation of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is not specific. Many patients can be asymptomatic and can be detected only due to an abnormal complete blood cell count (CBC) on routine exam or for other reasons while others can be symptomatic as a consequence of underlying cytopenias. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) usually is suspected under the evidence of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA) and thrombocytopenia and because it is a life-threatening condition (medical emergency) immediate initiation of plasmapheresis could be life-saving. The following case illustrates an unusual presentation of MDS in a patient who came in to the emergency room with the classic TTP “pentad” of fever, renal involvement, MAHA, mental status changes, and thrombocytopenia. We will focus our discussion in the clinical presentation of this case.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdieh Masoumi ◽  
Amir Aghsami ◽  
Mohammad Alipour-Vaezi ◽  
Fariborz Jolai ◽  
Behdad Esmailifar

PurposeDue to the randomness and unpredictability of many disasters, it is essential to be prepared to face difficult conditions after a disaster to reduce human casualties and meet the needs of the people. After the disaster, one of the most essential measures is to deliver relief supplies to those affected by the disaster. Therefore, this paper aims to assign demand points to the warehouses as well as routing their related relief vehicles after a disaster considering convergence in the border warehouses.Design/methodology/approachThis research proposes a multi-objective, multi-commodity and multi-period queueing-inventory-routing problem in which a queuing system has been applied to reduce the congestion in the borders of the affected zones. To show the validity of the proposed model, a small-size problem has been solved using exact methods. Moreover, to deal with the complexity of the problem, a metaheuristic algorithm has been utilized to solve the large dimensions of the problem. Finally, various sensitivity analyses have been performed to determine the effects of different parameters on the optimal response.FindingsAccording to the results, the proposed model can optimize the objective functions simultaneously, in which decision-makers can determine their priority according to the condition by using the sensitivity analysis results.Originality/valueThe focus of the research is on delivering relief items to the affected people on time and at the lowest cost, in addition to preventing long queues at the entrances to the affected areas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Reddy Madhavi ◽  
Padmavathi kora ◽  
L Venkateswara Reddy ◽  
J Avanija ◽  
KLS Soujanya ◽  
...  

Abstract The non-stationary ECG signals are used as a key tools in screening coronary diseases. ECG recording is collected from millions of cardiac cells’ and depolarization and re-polarization conducted in a synchronized manner as: The P-wave occurs first, followed by the QRScomplex and the T-wave, which will repeat in each beat. The signal is altered in a cardiac beat period for different heart conditions. This change can be observed in order to diagnose the patient’s heart status. There are life-threatening (critical) and non-life - threatening (noncritical) arrhythmia (abnormal Heart). Critical arrhythmia gives little time for surgery, whereas non-critical needs additional life-saving care. Simple naked eye diagnosis can mislead the detection. At that point, Computer Assisted Diagnosis (CAD) is therefore required. In this paper Dual Tree Wavelet Transform (DTWT) used as a feature extraction technique along with Convolution Neural Network (CNN) to detect abnormal Heart. The findings of this research and associated studies are without any cumbersome artificial environments. The CAD method proposed has high generalizability; it can help doctors efficiently identify diseases and decrease misdiagnosis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Bouabdallaoui ◽  
Denis Bouchard ◽  
E. Marc Jolicoeur ◽  
Alexandra Chronopoulos ◽  
Pierre Y Garneau ◽  
...  

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has been extensively used for cardiopulmonary support in cardiogenic shock. However, its clinical value in the management of pheochromocytoma crisis remains unclear. We report a rare case of life-threatening cardiogenic shock managed with peripheral venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation combined with endovascular left ventricular venting, in a 40-year-old female patient, in the setting of unknown adrenal pheochromocytoma. We highlight the life-saving role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in undiagnosed endocrine emergencies, allowing cardiac and end-organ recovery, and giving time for accurate diagnosis and specific treatment in such unusual situations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
Nazma Akter ◽  
Nazmul Kabir Qureshi

Adrenal insufficiency is caused by either primary adrenal failure or by hypothalamic-pituitary impairment of the corticotropic axis. Adrenal insufficiency, first codified in 1855 by Thomas Addison, remains relevant in 2014 because of its lethal nature. Though, it is a rare disease but is life threatening when overlooked. Main presenting symptoms such as fatigue, anorexia and weight loss are nonspecific, thus diagnosis is often delayed. The diagnostic work-up is well established but some pitfalls remain. The diagnosis is adequately established by the 250 ?g ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) stimulation test in most cases. Glucocorticoids provide life saving treatment but long-term quality of life is impaired, perhaps because therapy is not given in a physiologic way. Dehydroepiandrosterone-replacement therapy has been introduced that could help to restore quality of life. It may be useful in pubertal girls, but not in adults. Monitoring of glucocorticoid-replacement is difficult due to lack of objective methods of assessment and is therefore largely based on clinical grounds. Thus, long-term management of patients with adrenal insufficiency remains a challenge, requiring an experienced specialist. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dmcj.v3i1.22238 Delta Med Col J. Jan 2015; 3(1): 36-47


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (18) ◽  
pp. 6164-6182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Sharifyazdi ◽  
Kaustubh Anil Navangul ◽  
Amir Gharehgozli ◽  
Marianne Jahre

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 344-348
Author(s):  
Saman Al-Sahab ◽  
Aditi Nijhawan ◽  
Tim Kirkby ◽  
Shadman Aziz

Emergency responders (ERs) are volunteers who attend category 1 (immediately life-threatening) and category 2 (emergency) 999 calls on behalf of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS). ERs aim to arrive first on scene to these incidents to provide essential life-saving interventions prior to the arrival of further ambulance resources. ERs come from a wide range of backgrounds and undergo a thorough selection, training and mentorship process before advancing to working in a two-person ER crew. Compared to most traditional volunteer first responder schemes, the LAS ER scheme, which was set up in 2008, involves an enhanced skillset, dispatch to medical and traumatic emergencies in addition to cardiac arrest, and the use of blue-light vehicles to reduce response times. Over a period of 13 years, the scheme has grown in scope and size, and now operates with more than 120 volunteers based at seven ambulance stations across London.


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