Factors Determining the Postponement of Schedule Gyneaco-Obstetric Surgery at CHUMEFJE in Libreville (Gabon)

The study aimed to identify factors causing delays in scheduled gynaeco-obstetric surgeries at CHUMEFJE in Libreville from January 2019 to July 2020. Through a 16-month observational survey, it was found that out of 346 scheduled procedures, 128 (36.4%) were postponed. Organizational issues in the operating theatre were responsible for 80.3% of these delays, with 95.3% being preventable. To enhance efficiency, improvements in operating theatre organization are recommended.

Postponement in New Product Introduction

Agility has now been a main research topic in the l it erature. There is much written on agility mainly focusing on manufacturing p rocess and strategic processes. However, we argue that new product introduction should call for agility as well due to uncertainty about technological advances and customers’ demand. A technological superiority alone may not guarantee succe ss for new product introduction. We focus on the role of postponement for two ma in processes in new product introduction: new product development and new produc t launch. Postponement enables designers to incorporate the most current technol ogical advances and user needs as these co-evolve with the development process. Postponement can also significantly reduce risk associated with new product lau nch. It thus can be expected that postponement will be increasingly employed in new product introduction.

Factors for Postponement or Cancellation of Operating Programs Set in the Orthopedics-Traumatology Department of Yalgado Ouédraogo University Teaching Hospital in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Objective: The purpose of this work was to study the factors of cancellations or postponement of regulated operating programs of the Orthopedic-Traumatology unit of Yalgado Ouédraogo University Teaching Hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective descriptive study over a period of six months. All interventions postponed or canceled during the study period were included. Patients who died or were lost to follow-up before surgery were not included. Results and Comments: the postponement/ cancellation rate was 24.5%. Out of 83 operations cancelled, 72.3% of patients were under 50 years old [extreme 15 and 88 years old]. ASA classes I and II were dominant with 57% and 37% of patients canceled, respectively. There were more postponed interventions (67.5%) than definitive cancellations (32.5%). The causes found were avoidable in 68.7% of cases. The most common was the unavailability of labile blood products (57%), the lack of financial means (36%) and the absence of the patient (28%). The results of our study show that 53% of the causes of cancellations were related to the organization of the hospital. Conclusion: the cancellation rate of orthopedic surgeries remains high at Yalgado Ouédraogo University Teaching Hospital. Most of the causes of cancellations are potentially preventable and the vast majority of them are related to the organization of the hospital. Financial accessibility to care plays an important role in cancellations.

Effective inventory management using postponement strategy with fuzzy cost

In this article, we consider a two level supply chain to evaluate the impact ofpostponement strategy on the retailer. Here the cost parameters are fuzzified.Signed distance method is used to defuzzify and to obtain the estimation of thetotal cost in the fuzzy sense. The common variable production cost, commonfixed cost and the common unit holding cost per unit time are assumed to befuzzy in nature. Inventory models are formulated for postponement system andindependent system such that the total average inventory cost function per unittime is minimized. Algorithms are given to derive the optimal solutions of theproposed model. Theoretical analysis and the computational procedure helps tostudy the impact of deterioration rate on the optimal inventory policies. Acomparative study between the postponement system and independent systemconsidering fuzzy costs is also made.

Underlying slip/twinning activities of Mg-xGd alloys investigated by modified lattice rotation analysis

The inconsistencies regarding the fundamental correlation between Gd content and slip(twinning)activities of Mg alloys appeal further investigations.However,the traditional slip dislocations analysis by TEM is time-consuming,and that by SEM/EBSD cannot recognize the partial slip modes.These urge a more efficient and comprehensive approach to easily distinguish all potential slip modes occurred concurrently in alloy matrix.Here we report a modified lattice rotation analysis that can distinguish all slip systems and provide statistical results for slip activities in Mg alloy matrix.Using this method,the high ductility of Mg-Gd alloy ascribed to the enhanced non-basal slips,cross-slip,and postponed twinning activities by Gd addition is quantitatively clarified.

Will Postponing Retirement Age Affect Youth Employment?--A Perspective Differentiating Workforce Education Levels

This paper calculates the employment substitutability between young workforce and ageing workforce using Welch index. The result shows that the employment substitutability between these two groups of people is rather poor. Furthermore, the result of our dynamic panel regression analysis indicates that an increase in the share of ageing workforce is conducive to youth employment. Such a positive effect mainly derives from more educated ageing workforce, while the increase of less educated ageing workforce has little effect on youth employment.

Production Planning and Control of the Pipeline Assembly Enterprise under SCM

It is vital for pipeline assembly enterprise to respond to changing market needs quickly and keep its cost advantage. A production planning and control （PPC） model under supply chain management combining with operation characteristics of pipeline assembly enterprise was proposed. The present model can realize synchroni- zation in real-time response in production by establishing a win-win corporate model, classified regulation be- tween strategic parts and non-strategic parts, postponing the production of special modules and guaranteeing pro- duction at the bottleneck.

Low N apparent surplus with higher rice yield under long-term fertilizer postponing in the rice-wheat cropping system

Nitrogen(N)fertilization increases rice yield,but inappropriate N fertilizer application increases N loss and the risk of environmental pollution.Short-term fertilizer postponing(FP)generally reduces N apparent surplus and increases rice yields,but the effects of long-term FP on N surplus and rice yields remain unknown.Our study was the first to investigate the impacts of long-term FP(11 years)on N apparent surplus and rice yields.FP effects in the short term(≤6 years)did not affect rice yields,whereas FP effects in the long term(>6 years)increased rice yields by 13.9%compared with conventional fertilization(CF).FP did not affect panicles per unit area,1000-kernel weight,and filled-kernel rate,but spikelets per panicle increased over time due to spikelet formation stimulation.FP also reduced the N apparent surplus over time more strongly than CF owing to higher N accumulation and N utilization efficiency.FP effects in the long term also significantly increased soil organic matter,total N,and NH4_(+)^(-)N content.Our results were supported by a pot experiment,showing that rice yields in soils with a history of FP were significantly higher than those for soils without a history of FP,indicating that FP increased rice yields more strongly in later years mainly because of soil quality improvement.Our findings suggest that longterm FP can reduce N loss while increasing rice yields by improving soil quality.

Nonautonomous solitons in the continuous wave background of the variable-coefficient higher-order nonlinear Schro¨dinger equation

We reduce the variable-coefficient higher-order nonlinear Schrodinger equation （VCHNLSE） into the constantcoefficient （CC） one. Based on the reduction transformation and solutions of CCHNLSE, we obtain analytical soliton solutions embedded in the continuous wave background for the VCHNLSE. Then the excitation in advancement and sustainment of soliton arrays, and postponed disappearance and sustainment of the bright soliton embedded in the background are discussed in an exponential system.

Raising Retirement Age,TFP and Elderly Welfare in China

The fact that China is facing the challenge of aging population has led to debates about whether the government should raise the retirement age.The current pension system in China is characterized by the collection of contributions on payment and adopts the defined benefit(DB)plan.Considering the welfare effects of intergenerational support,this paper develops a dynamic general equilibrium model to investigate how postponing retirement would affect the TFP and the welfare of the elderly.Utilizing realistic parameters,our simulation finds that raising the retirement age will benefit the welfare of the elderly.This conclusion remains robust after a sensitivity analysis with respect to core parameters,the average age of the working population,and the pension system.However,opinion polls have found that most people oppose delaying retirement.This stems from the absence of pension transfer payments and pension system inequalities.The policy implications of this paper are twofold:Firstly,the government should convince the public about the benefits of delaying retirement;secondly,it is necessary to introduce supportive policies facilitating the implementation of delayed retirement(e.g.increasing the replacement rate of pensions or implementing a healthy aging strategy),and the retirement policy should be differentiated for people from various socio-economic backgrounds.

POSTPONING RETIREMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

This paper investigates the effects of postponing retirement on economic growth in an aging society by using the infinite overlapping generations model constructed by Blanchard (1985) in a simple endogenous growth framework.It shows that postponing retirement may decelerate economic growth.

Can postponing school starting age solve China’s “Boy Crisis?”

Education has always been a deeply emotional topic for Chinese parents. A recent proposal calling for postponing boys＇ school starting age by one year has led to even more heated discussions on the topic.

Parity,Timing and Level of Fertility:A Comparative Study on Mean Age at Childbearing in China,Japan and South Korea

Using fertility data from national surveys and population censuses for China,Japan and South Korea,this study analyzes the levels and trends of mean age at childbearing(MAC)in the three countries from 1990 to 2015.After using the decomposition technique to isolate the effects of parity composition and childbearing schedule in each of the three countries,the article presents a quantitative examination of the factors that underlie dynamic changes and cross-national differences of MACs.Results indicate that the MAC of China experienced a decrease between 1990 and 1995,followed by sustained growth afterwards.The increase of MAC in China has been driven by the postponement of childbearing and changes in parity composition,with the former playing a larger role.The mechanisms underlying the patterns since 2010 deserve special attention.Compared with Japan and South Korea,China has had relatively lower MAC during the last 25 years;the three countries demonstrate different patterns in terms of the roles of parity composition and birth timing.The accuracy of MAC in identifying the timing of period fertility and the policy implications of timing on upturning fertility level are discussed.

Effects of reducing and postponing controlled-release urea application on soil nitrogen regulation and maize grain yield

Controlled-release urea(CRU-N)fertilizer application is a solution to improve the utilization rate of nitrogen(N),reduces economic costs and improves crop yields.It is significant to study the effects of release CRU-N reduction and the combined application of conventional urea on soil N control and the large-scale maize planting system.In this study,the effects of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer reduction and postponement on soil nitrogen components,enzyme activities,and yields were investigated.Seven treatments were set up in this study,including no N fertilizer(CK),100%conventional urea(U),100%controlled-release urea(S),30%controlled-release urea(SU_(3/7)),50%controlled-release urea(SU_(5/5)),70%controlled-release urea(SU_(7/3))and Sodium Salt of Polyaspartic Acid(PASP)-N.The results showed that mixed CRU-N and urea increased yields and net benefits compared with conventional urea at the same application rate of N,and reduced N loss.The application of CRU-N at 70%for maize represented the best overall effects.Compared with U treatment,soil ammonium nitrogen(NH_(4)-N),soil nitrate-nitrogen(NO_(3)-N),and microbial biomass nitrogen(SMB-N)of CRU-N at 70%(SU_(7/3))increased by 35.00%,15.53%,and 25.04%.However,soil nitrate reductase(S-NR)and urease(S-UA)were the best in SU_(5/5) and significantly higher than other treatments.The applications of CRU-N would effectively increase soil N;CRU-N in 50%proportion can promote the maize root growth and improve the efficient utilization of N by soil microorganisms.Like the yields(9186.61 kg/hm^(2)),expertly in the proportion of 70%CRU-N(SU_(7/3))plays a vital role in a wheat-maize rotation system,which can potentially be used to improve the yields,nitrogen use efficiency,and net benefit with low N losses.In conclusion,using CRU-N fertilize effectively improves soil nitrogen,and various ratios of CRU-N can ensure the continuous release the nutrients during the growing period.And among the different proportions of CRU-N,it is optimal in SU_(7/3).

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE INVENTORY SYSTEM WITH SERVICE FACILITY AND POSTPONED DEMANDS

In this article, we present a continuous review （s,S） inventory system with a service facility consisting of finite buffer （capacity N ） and a single server. The customers arrive according to a Poisson process. The individual customer＇s unit demand is satisfied after a random time of service, which is assumed to be exponential. When the inventory level drops to s＇an order for Q（= S-s） items is placed. The lead time of reorder is assumed to be exponential distribution. An arriving customer, who finds the buffer is full, enters into the pool of infinite size or leaves the system according to a Bernolli trial. At the time of service completion, if the buffer size drops to a preassigned level L （1 〈 L 〈 N） or below and the inventory level is above s, we select the customers from the pool according to two different policy ： in first policy, with probability p （0 〈 p 〈 1） we select the customer from the head of the pool and we place the customer at the end of the buffer; in the second policy, with p （0 〈 p 〈 1） the customer from the pool is transferred to the buffer for immediate service and after completion of his service we provide service to the customer who is in the buffer with probability one. If at a service completion epoch the buffer turns out to be empty, there is at least one customer in the pool and the inventory level is positive, then the one ahead of all waiting in the pool gets transferred to the buffer, and his service starts immediately. The joint probability distribution of the number of customers in the pool, number of customers in the buffer and the inventory level is obtained in the steady-state case. Various stationary system performance measures are computed and total expected cost rate is calculated. A comparative result of two models is illustrate numerically.

A Stochastic Inventory System with Postponed Demands and Infinite Pool in Discrete-Time Setup

In this article,we consider a discrete-time inventory model in which demands arrive according to a discrete Markovian arrival process.The inventory is replenished according to an es;ST policy,and the lead time is assumed to follow a discrete phase-type distribution.The demands that occur during stock-out periods either enter a pool which has an infinite capacity or leave the system with a predefined probability.The demands in the pool are selected one by one,if the on-hand inventory level is above s t 1;and the interval time between any two successive selections is assumed to have a discrete phase-type distribution.The joint probability distribution of the number of customers in the pool and the inventory level is obtained in the steady-state case.We derive the system performance measures under steady state and using these measures,the total expected cost rate of the system is calculated.The impacts of arrival rate on the performance measures are graphically illustrated.Finally,we study the impact of cost on the optimal values of the total expected cost rate,inventory level and the reorder point.

PARADISE POSTPONED DALI'S LAKE NOW INFAMOUS FOR POLLUTION

Up to 1,000 guesthouses and restaurants adjacent to Dali’s Erhai Lake have all put up closure signs.The once-bubbly town of Shuanglang is now devoid of tourists,but full of workers laying sewage pipes.It’s a bittersweet victory for those who have long decried the tourist-led gentrification of this idyllic Yunnan community.