Evaluation of scheduling strategies for a dynamic job shop in a tool-shared,flexible manufacturing environment

A two-phase approach is used to examine the impact of job scheduling rules and tool selection policies for a dynamic job shop system in a tool-shared, flexible manufacturing environment. The first phase develops a generalized simulation model and analyses 'simple' job scheduling rules and tool selection policies under various operating scenarios. The results from this investigation are then used to develop and analyse various bi-criteria rules in the second phase of this study. The results show that the scheduling rules have the most significant impact on system performance, particularly at high shop load levels. Tool selection policies affect some of the performance measures, most notably, proportion of tardy jobs, to a lesser degree. Higher machine utilizations can be obtained at higher tool duplication levels but at the expense of increased tooling costs and lower tool utilization. The results also show that using different processing time distributions may have a significant impact on shop performance.     

The recruitment and selection of hospital medical consultants

Abstract

The literature on selection has been dominated in recent decades by the ‘prediction’ paradigm. Such an approach requires a substantial number of positions to be filled in order to compute validity coefficients. There are other approaches, using a different paradigm, when concentrated on adjusting the organization and the employee. Here careful analysis of job demands is essential. This article describes such an analysis, taking the medical consultant as an example. The method can be used in an iterative way. It is useful when one has to work with small numbers of positions.     

From a ‘sort of Muslim’ to ‘proud to be Alevi’: the Alevi religion and identity project combatting the negative identity among second-generation Alevis in the UK

ABSTRACT

This article explains how the negative identity of second-generation Alevi-Kurds in the UK has been transmitted intergenerationally, linked to their history of persecuted exclusion in Turkey and to the transnational settlement of Alevi migrants in the UK, and how this sense of marginalization and invisibility in the receiving country can be addressed. Education is identified as a starting point for the underachievement and disaffection of Alevi pupils, which can lead them into more serious trouble and descent into the rainbow underclass. In the quest to tackle this identity issue, a unique collaborative action research project was set up between an Alevi community centre, local schools and a university to develop the world’s first Alevi lessons as part of the compulsory Religious Education curriculum in British schools. The Alevi Religion and Identity Project is described and evaluated in terms of its outcomes, especially its contribution towards a more positive Alevi identity as a reflection of a vibrant community.     

社会工作视野下失独家庭问题研究现状与前瞻

失独家庭理论的研究最初以问题视角为主,对全面认识和了解失独家庭相关问题具有启示意义,但问题视角对失独家庭成员的潜能和资源的挖掘缺乏关注,而优势视角对失独家庭的问题研究则是一个弥补。在实务研究中,研究者通过实际的干预,探索相关实务介入方法,实现了失独家庭问题研究从“理论”向“实务”的范式转换,但就整体而言实务研究仍处于初级阶段。在失独家庭的社会政策研究中,研究者从社会保障和社会救助2个范畴探讨了现有政策的不足并提出了完善的建议,但是失独家庭的社会政策定位尚不明确,并且相关具体政策的研究相对缺乏。因此,失独家庭的研究可以通过增加行动研究的数量、深化相关实务研究、加强失独家庭的分类研究、明确失独家庭社会政策定位和细化相关社会政策的研究等方面来拓展失独家庭问题的研究。     

民事诉讼行政介入的程序规制研究

规制行政介入司法尤其是民事司法,除了深化司法体制改革的体制规制路径,将行政机关意见表达纳入民事诉讼程序是其另一程序规制路径.程序规制具有公正审判权请求权、论辩式民事诉讼对话逻辑、诉权制约行政权、民事审判实质公开的“武器支撑”.“法庭之友”制度对民事诉讼行政介入具有程序规制作用,中国行政机关可以“法庭之友”身份参与民事诉讼、进行意见表达.行政机关担当“法庭之友”不会损害独立审判,相反有利于司法公正公开.行政机关担当“法庭之友”以维护公共利益为限,是新型诉讼参与人,应明确其诉讼权利义务,构建行政机关作为“法庭之友”参诉的具体程序.     

论食品安全事件中的良性媒体应对

食品安全事件是近年来全球公共安全问题中的热点,由于食品安全的重要性、食品安全事件的公众效应以及基于传媒的属性,媒体常将其作为关注的热点。媒体在食品安全事件中发挥着监测预警、沟通信息、舆论引导等功能,同时也存在关注视角的选择性和职业自律的松懈等不足。作为一种社会公共资源和社会监督力量,基于传媒良知和职业操守,媒体在食品安全事件中必须形成一套良性的应对机制,包括建立信息有效传播机制、建立食品安全事件相关方的沟通协调机制、建立媒体自律机制等。     

国外重大突发公共卫生事件心理危机干预措施及启示

2020年初,新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情给患者、医护工作者乃至普通民众带来了严重的心理危机。我国逐渐成熟的心理危机干预系统在疫情期间取得成效,但同时也反映出心理危机干预系统建设存在欠缺。文章介绍了美国、以色列等发达国家处置突发公共卫生事件心理危机的机构设置、管理系统、治疗手段、信息沟通系统等干预措施,为加强我国突发公共卫生事件心理危机干预体系建设提供了科学依据和建议。     

再议规模经营中的粮食安全问题:争议回应与政策启示

在既定资源约束下实现粮食产出最大化是粮食生产安全的核心。而今旨在提升粮食竞争力的农业规模经营虽得到政府力推,却并非保障国家粮食安全的充分条件。在梳理规模经营与粮食安全保障相关争论的基础上,结合调研资料,依次回应了规模经营后农地是否大概率用于种粮、规模经营是否可持续以及规模经营能否保障粮食产量三个焦点问题。研究发现,与小农经营相比,规模经营与种植结构“非粮化”虽无必然联系,却存在规模经济不显著及单产提升乏力等问题。对此,一方面应强化小农扶持力度,巩固维系小农群体的粮食保障功能;另一方面应调整规模经营主体的政策干预结构,除非在规模经济与土地产出率不一致的情形下,应最大化避免对规模经营主体的直接干预,降低政策的扭曲效应,推动规模经济实现。     

Government Intervention in Public Sector Industrial Relations: Lessons from the Alberta Teachers’ Association

In the public sector, Canadian governments intervene frequently in labor disputes by suspending collective bargaining and curtailing legal strikes. Previous research has focused on the contours of government intervention, such as its overall effects on collective bargaining and strikes. The discussion highlights one actor, a government, restricting the behavior of another actor, a union, using legislation and policy making. As a result, we know less about more micro-level elements and implications of the process of government intervention. I address these themes using a detailed case study of the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the strikes it coordinated in 2002.

Self-Stigma of seeking help and job burnout in mental health care providers: the comparative study of Lithuanian and the USA samples

This study aimed to explore the correlation between job burnout and self-stigma of seeking help among nonmedical mental health care providers (psychologists, social workers, and counselors) in two countries – Lithuania and the US. The study included 234 professionals (111 social workers and 123 psychologists) from Lithuania and 93 professionals (33 counselors, 23 social workers, and 37 psychologists) from the US on a voluntary basis (93% females, mean age – 39.81?years). They completed a self-reported questionnaire with the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSH) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). The results revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between self-stigmatization and burnout in the Lithuanian sample, but only weak positive correlation between depersonalization and self-stigma of seeking help in the US sample. The relationship between the self-stigma of seeking help and burnout was stronger in the Lithuanian sample of professionals when compared to their colleagues in the US.