Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Network Effects Of Emergency Department Clinician Strain And Patient Congestion, Aisha Nelson

All Theses

We develop a discrete-event simulation model to study how staffing strain affects patient outcomes across a network of Emergency Departments (EDs). The aim is to observe how clinician staffing and transfers throughout the system affect the system’s behavior. We will study the network of the seven EDs in the Prisma Health-Upstate system. Patient acuity and resource need are stratified using the five-level Emergency Severity Index (ESI). Patient flow data within and between EDs are collected from EPIC, staffing data from ShiftAdmin, and environmental COVID-19 prevalence data from the Department of Health and Environmental Control. Time periods include the Omicron wave …

Short-Term Prediction Of Icu Admission For Covid-19 Inpatients, Yoon Sang Lee, Riyaz T. Sikora

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, many hospitals suffered from a surge of some high-risk inpatients needing to be admitted to the ICU. In this study, we propose a method

predicting the likelihood of COVID-19 inpatients’ admission to the ICU within a time frame of 12 hours. Four steps, the Bayesian Ridge Regression-based missing value imputation, the synthesis of training samples by the combination of two rows (the first and another row) of each patient, customized oversampling, and XGBoost classifier, are used for the proposed method. In the experiment, the AUC-ROC and F-score of our method is compared with those of other …

Simulation Research On Covid-19 Transmission And Control Measures Based On SeiIRd Model, Jing Wang, Ying Dong

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: With the spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia around the world, the data and transmission mechanism are analyzed. The SEI_iRD model is constructed based on the existing SEIRD model, and the infected population is divided into asymptomatic infections, mild infections, severe infections and critical infections. The impact of the transmission rate of different infected people on the development of the epidemic was analyzed. Simulation experiments were carried out on the basis of fitting real data, and it was found that the main infected populations that affected the discovery of the epidemic were asymptomatic and mildly infected. On …

Assessing The Influence Of Health Policy And Population Mobility On Covid-19 Spread In Arkansas, Tayden Barretto

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a major crisis across the world since its start in 2019, and its influence on every realm of society is undeniable. Globally, more than 500 million cases have been recorded since March 2020, with almost 6 million deaths. In the wake of this crisis, many governments and health organizations have taken steps and precautions to mitigate its spread. These steps involve public mandates of information, reducing frequency of personal contact, and use of masks to minimize the risk of transmission. Current access to mobility data released from Google detailing population movements has provided a …

Factors Affecting Hotel Recommendation: Before The Covid-19 Pandemic And After The Reopening, Boran Kim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous people lost their lives, and a lot of industries were affected. The hospitality industry was especially affected due to social distancing, travel restrictions, and safety issues. During that time, not only did customers' expectations change but their recommendation of hotels to friends and colleagues also changed. The current study used five factors (i.e., cleanliness, location, room, service, and value) to discover which factors were affecting hotel recommendation before the COVID-19 pandemic and after the reopening. This study used secondary data (online surveys) from one of the well-known integrated resorts located in the western United States. …

When The Magic Closes: Examining How Disney Fans Coped With Theme Park And Resort Closures Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cody Havard, Carissa A. Baker, Daniel L. Wann, Rick Grieve

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

This essay discusses a qualitative investigation we conducted with fans of the Disney parks and resorts during the summer of 2020 regarding the company’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, 22 people responded to open-ended questions from an online survey to discuss their views of the closures and planned reopenings of the Disney parks and resorts amid the early days of the pandemic. Using social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978) and the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), we discuss how fans react to and cope with the temporary loss of a favorite activity and how companies in the themed entertainment …

Covid-19 And Immersion: Physical, Virtual, And Home Spaces, Scott Lukas

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

This article considers the dramatic adaptations that have occurred in themed immersive spaces as they have dealt with the challenging dynamics of COVID-19. As COVID-19 has been a respiratory disease, it has impacted the operations of theme parks, casinos, cruise ships, and other immersive spaces, especially as such spaces have relied, traditionally, on physical forms of entertainment and immersion. The writing begins with a consideration of the COVID-19 challenges noted in the theme park and cruise ship industries. OceanMedallionTM and MyMagic+ technologies are considered for their possible positive role in addressing the operational dynamics during the pandemic. Issues of guest …

Brighter But Not Clearer: Entertainment-Dependent Destinations Dealing With Long Covid, Louis-Etienne Dubois, Frederic Dimanche

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we explored a range of very different possible outcomes for destinations that rely heavily on their entertainment sector (Dubois & Dimanche, 2021). Several months later, this article seeks to revisit those outcomes, while also highlighting the ongoing recovery efforts and evolving strategies of entertainment-dependent destinations (EDDs). To do so, we reconnected with the panel of respondents from various destinations (i.e., Las Vegas, Nashville, New Orleans etc.) to take stock of both new challenges and opportunities, as well as emerging factors impacting their respective markets. Our results show that while EDDs are facing a …

Theme Parks, Staycation Practices, And Covid-19: Opportunities And Uncertainties, Salvador Anton Clavé

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

The effects of COVID-19 on the market transformation of the theme park industry has been significant in the short term because of travel restrictions. Challenges, impacts, responses, and strategies might vary from one region to another and even from one theme park to another. However, it can be assumed that domestic travel will continue to have an effect on the theme park industry during the months to come and likely beyond the pandemic. In this context, the “staycation” is becoming a booming trend in the leisure, entertainment, and tourism industry, creating new, current, and future unexpected economic winners and losers. …

The “Politics Of Inclusion/Exclusion” In Times Of The Pandemic, Florian Freitag

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

As commercial enterprises that depend on attracting a maximum number of visitors in order to be economically successful, theme parks have generally been careful to avoid unpleasant, sensitive, or controversial themes (or aspects of a theme) that might offend or alienate potential customers. Due to official regulations concerning e.g. the wearing of masks in waiting lines and during rides, however, the pandemic cannot simply be “excluded” from the parks and remains constantly visually present, thus seriously undermining the companies’ efforts to keep the park grounds rigidly separated from the rest of the world. Particular operational decisions by some theme park …

“It Takes People To Make The Dream A Reality”: Disney’S Hr Strategy In Response To Covid-19, Jaime L. Williams, Allison A. Toth

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

From January 2020 to the beginning of fall 2021, theme parks around the world have been required to engage in abnormal, abrupt, and major shifts in operations caused by the ongoing global pandemic (COVID-19). Through the process of sensemaking, this paper will focus on the human resources related decisions made by The Walt Disney Company in an effort to better understand the organization’s responses to changes in the external environment and the resulting outcomes during the pandemic. The overall management of Cast Members in the United States during this time period with specific focuses on the layoff and re-hiring of …

Are European Theme Parks Likely To Suffer From Long Covid?, Pieter Cornelis

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

COVID-19 has had a major impact on the theme park industry. Visits to European parks were significantly lower in 2020 than the year before. This article discusses the short-term and long-term economic consequences of the pandemic for the theme park industry. Attitudinal loyalty, inertia effects of guest satisfaction on repeat visits, (deferred) reinvestments, and the difference between theme and amusement parks will be considered. To compensate for losses in 2020, many parks increased their visitor numbers in the 2021 season to the maximum permitted capacity, especially in the summer months. As a result, analysis of waiting times at 22 investigated …

Introduction: Theme Parks And Covid-19, Salvador Anton Clavé, Florian Freitag

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

In the tourism industry, “crises” have been conceptualized as local and temporary phenomena, interval states that may require imminent action, but that can eventually be overcome, with business simply resuming. At the moment of writing, however, it is not at all clear when or if the theme park sector can simply return to a pre-pandemic state of affairs. Even if tourism may once again attain pre-COVID numbers, it may well be through entirely new and different forms. The essays collected here provide scholarly and professional snapshots of the current (winter 2021/2022) state of the theme park industry, with special attention …

Decision-Analytic Models Using Reinforcement Learning To Inform Dynamic Sequential Decisions In Public Policy, Seyedeh Nazanin Khatami

Doctoral Dissertations

We developed decision-analytic models specifically suited for long-term sequential decision-making in the context of large-scale dynamic stochastic systems, focusing on public policy investment decisions. We found that while machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms provide the most suitable frameworks for such analyses, multiple challenges arise in its successful adaptation. We address three specific challenges in two public sectors, public health and climate policy, through the following three essays. In Essay I, we developed a reinforcement learning (RL) model to identify optimal sequence of testing and retention-in-care interventions to inform the national strategic plan “Ending the HIV Epidemic in the US”. …

Modeling And Simulation Of Emergency Medical Resources Allocation In Shanghai During Covid-19, Changjia Fan, Yanqiu Du, Liang Di, Hu Kai, Jiayan Huang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Modeling and simulating on the allocation of emergency medical resources in Shanghai with COVID-19 is carried out. Based on the SEIR model of infectious diseases, combined with the process of outpatients visiting and inpatients treatment, a SEIOWHR(susceptible-exposed-infected-outpatients- waiting to hospitalized-hospitalized-removed) system dynamics model is established. If the Wuhan epidemic occurred in Shanghai, based on the model, the amount of emergency medical resources needed, the gap time of medical resources and the disease progression of patients who are waiting to hospitalized under the different supply of medical resources is simulated, and the key factors in the allocation of medical …

Blockchain-Based Digital Trust Mechanism: A Use Case Of Cloud Manufacturing Of Lds Syringes For Covid-19 Vaccination, Trupti Rane, Jingwei Huang

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Trust is essential in the digital world. It is a critical task to build digital trust for the ongoing digital engineering transformation. Aiming at developing a blockchain-based digital trust mechanism for Cloud Manufacturing or Manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS), in this paper, we use the manufacturing of low dead space (LDS) medical syringes through Cloud Manufacturing as a motivating scenario to develop a basic framework. To meet the need of optimally saving COVID-19 vaccine doses to save more lives, the medical device manufacturing community needs to make a swift move to meet the surged need for LDS syringes. Cloud Manufacturing is a form …

Covid Response: Iterative Model Development In The Deployment Of Hand Sanitation Stations At A Large Public University, Tyler Obrien

All Theses

This study illustrates the significance of iterative model development using the deployment of hand sanitizer stations in buildings at Clemson University as a case study. The COVID-19 problem affected Clemson University, a major institution, in several ways requiring adaptations to existing policies and procedures to take place. Following guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC), the university implemented several new strategies including placing hand sanitizer stations in several buildings on campus in order to try and mitigate the transmission of the virus. This study focuses on learning how the initial decision-making took place to then design a …

Drug-Based Therapeutic Strategies For Covid-19-Infected Patients And Their Challenges, Khatereh Zarkesh, Elaheh Entezar-Almahdi, Parisa Ghasemiyeh, Mohsen Akbarian, Marzieh Bahmani, Shahrzad Roudaki, Rahil Fazlinejad, Soliman Mohammadi-Samani, Negar Firouzabadi, Majid Hosseini, Fatemeh Farjadian

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Emerging epidemic-prone diseases have introduced numerous health and economic challenges in recent years. Given current knowledge of COVID-19, herd immunity through vaccines alone is unlikely. In addition, vaccination of the global population is an ongoing challenge. Besides, the questions regarding the prevalence and the timing of immunization are still under investigation. Therefore, medical treatment remains essential in the management of COVID-19. Herein, recent advances from beginning observations of COVID-19 outbreak to an understanding of the essential factors contributing to the spread and transmission of COVID-19 and its treatment are reviewed. Furthermore, an in-depth discussion on the epidemiological aspects, clinical symptoms …

Evolutionary Simulation Of Medical Products Export Safety Supervision Considering Regulation Of Importing Country, Xiaoli Li, Cejun Cao, Fanshun Zhang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: In order to investigate the impacts of the regulation of importing country on export safety supervision regarding medical products in the COVID-19 epidemic situation, an evolutionary game model considering the relation between export enterprise and supervision of government is constructed. Based on MATLAB simulation, the influences of different factors including regulation level of importing country, punishment mechanism on export safety supervision of medical products are analyzed. Results show that the illegal behaviors of the export enterprises of medical products can be restrained when the regulation level of importing country reaches a certain threshold. But that would fuel the passively …

Transmission Process Prediction Of Novel Coronavirus Based On System Dynamics, Xuepeng Lu, Shang Jiao, Junhui Zhao, Lulu Lü, Zhou Li

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The transmission characteristics of novel coronavirus is considered and a new SE4IR2 model based on the principle of system dynamics is proposed. The US epidemic data from June to November is used to set the isolation rate and other parameters, and the SE4IR2 model is used to fit, analyze and predict the development of the epidemic trend in the next stage. The empirical part uses the data from June to November in the United States to achieve the parameters of the SE4IR2 model, obtains the parameter values in December and January through the time series prediction model, and compares …

An Improved Earned Value Management Method Integrating Quality And Safety, Brian Briggs

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The construction industry invests significant time and money to improve quality and safety while reducing cost and schedule impacts. The industry has a sincere desire to improve construction project management methods to improve efficiency. Historically, quality and safety underperformances result from undermanaged quality control and safety activities. The cost and schedule impacts associated with poor quality work have always had an impact on construction operations. The unprecedented challenges and uncertainties of COVID-19 highlighted the need to improve the Earned Value Management (EVM) method within construction to reflect these quality and safety activities. The central goal of this dissertation is to …

Understanding The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Within Educational Communities Using Longitudinal Analysis, Alexa Steidl

Master's Theses

At California State University, Los Angeles and California Polytechnic University, San Luis

Obispo, a longitudinal survey was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for students within their respective engineering departments. A combination of nonparametric and longitudinal analysis is performed to evaluate the impacts of the transition to a virtual educational environment and the stressors brought on by the global pandemic. Additional qualitative evaluation is performed to gain insight and make program recommendations to enhance the resilience of individuals in the academic systems. Results demonstrate a large shift in circumstances immediately at the start of the pandemic, with a variety …

Singapore Airlines: Profit Recovery And Aircraft Allocation Models During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Michelle L. F. Cheong, Ulysses M. Z. Chong, Anne N. T. A. Nguyen, Su Yiin Ang, Gabriella P. Djojosaputro, Gordy Adiprasetyo, Kendra L. B. Gadong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

COVID-19 has severely impacted the global aviation industry, causing many airlines to downsize or exit the industry. For airlines which attempt to sustain their operations, they will need to respond to the increase in passenger and cargo demand, as countries recover slowly from the crisis due to the availability of vaccines. We built a series of spreadsheet models to first project the COVID-19 recovery rates by countries from 2021 to 2025, then forecast the passenger and cargo demand, using historical data as base figures. Using the financial and operation data, the revenue, expense, and profit can be projected, then an …

Uncertainty Quantitative Analysis In Risk Assessment Of Returning To School In The Post-Covid-19 Era, Haibin Li, Jialiang Wang, Haiyan Li

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: After the epidemic, taking the spread of the epidemic in returning to school as an example, a quantitative risk assessment study is conducted. Taking the activity trajectory description of the whole process of susceptible individuals from infection to isolation as a clue, an epidemiological model for risk assessment is established. The number of infected persons in the risk indicators of returning to school is quantified based on the quantified model parameters. According to the value characteristics of the parameters, the number of infected persons is taken as a function of discrete random variables. The probability distribution of the infected …

Computational Decision Support For The Covid-19 Healthcare Coalition, Andreas Tolk, Christopher Glazner, Joseph Ungerleider

VMASC Publications

In the early months of 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus took the world by surprise, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused significant loss of lives and challenged the sustainability of our health care systems. In mid-March, it became obvious that government and communities had to react immediately. Under the lead of the Mayo Clinic and The MITRE Corporation, the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition (C19HCC) was established as a coordinated public-interest, private-sector response. The coalition brought healthcare organizations, technology firms, nonprofits, academia, and startups to support supply chains, inform coordinated social policies, and provide data-driven insights to protect people and preserve …

Prediction Of Epidemic Transmission And Evaluation Of Prevention And Control Measures Based On Artificial Society, Bin Chen, Yang Mei, Chuan Ai, Ma Liang, Zhengqiu Zhu, Hailiang Chen, Mengna Zhu, Xu Wei

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The COVID-19 has been controlled under the strict measures,but how to normalize it deserves in-depth study.The COVID-19 transmission model and the human contact network are established separately based on SEIR model and the artificial social scenario.With the support of the multi-agent computational experiment method,a large sample calculation experiment was performed on the Tianhe supercomputer to simulate the epidemic transmission in typical areas such as communities,schools,and workplaces in artificial cities,and to predict and evaluate the risk of epidemic spread after resumption of work and school.The results show that epidemic prevention and control must be prepared for a …

Modeling And Relevance Analysis Of Urban Epidemic Transmission And Work Resumption Intensity, Gan Mi, Yunyi Tian, Wenchang Zhang, Xihan Zhao

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: On the basis of multi-source big data, the model for analyzing the population migration changes and manpower gaps caused by the COVID-19 epidemic in 34 typical cities across the country is constructed , and the work resumption intensity of other cities is predicited by using the migration base constructed. The SEIR model is used to estimate the basic reproduction number in each city since the simulate results show that it can emulate the transmission trend of this epidemic accurately, and the retrospective matrix analysis of the work resumption intensity is combined with the manpower gap to summarize the anti-epidemic …

Grow Local Manufacturing Along Us/Mexico Border Region For An Integrated Supply Chain In The Post Covid-19 Era, Jianzhi Li

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current coronavirus disease pandemic, plus the strong movement of manufacturing reshoring, provide a unique opportunity for many US regions to grow local manufacturers. This technical note attempts to review the current situation and trend in US manufacturing. We then discuss challenges and necessary steps, such as asset mapping, required to grow local suppliers. Suggestions are then made to support growing local suppliers along the US/Mexico border region.