Algorithmic Improvements and Capability Enhancements to PUNDIT

Ionizing Radiation Promotes Migration and Invasion of Cancer Cells Through Transforming Growth Factor-Beta–Mediated Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight the ICT‐enabled enhancement of control capability in MNEs. The literature on MNE structures acknowledges the role of ICT as a support system, but the specific changes facilitated by ICT have remained significantly underdeveloped. The paper seeks to address this issue conceptually and link contemporary ICT advancement with changes in MNE strategy or structure. The paper further posits that certain applications of ICT may paradoxically reduce a key advantage of multinationality.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is of conceptual nature and critically examines and develops literature to generate insight on the implications of ICT applications for MNE development. Specifically the focus is on enterprise resource planning systems (ERPs) and the impact of enhanced visibility of remote operations to headquarter management.FindingsThe finding is that ICT application entails a possible trade‐off. It may facilitate an enhancement of control capability for MNE headquarters, however, potentially entails the risk of lessened adaptive capability of subsidiaries, thus potentially constraining the long‐term viability of MNE operations:Practical implicationsWhilst ICT applications may improve coordination and control for the MNE, a level of subsidiary autonomy and initiative taking is still beneficial for MNE strategic and organisational development. ICT applications should not go so far as to suppress it. To this end, managers may be advised to purposefully “blur” subsidiary visibility, by, e.g. allowing the use of different ERP systems.Originality/valueThe main contribution is the integration of literature on ICT advancements, specifically the application of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), into the IB literature.

With the rapid development and broad applications of next-generation sequencing platforms and bioinformatic analytical tools, genomics has become a popular area for biosurveillance and international scientific collaboration. Governments from countries including the United States (US), Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom have leveraged these advancements to support international cooperative programs that aim to reduce biological threats and build scientific capacity worldwide. A recent conference panel addressed the impacts of the enhancement of genomic sequencing capabilities through three major US bioengagement programs on international scientific engagement and biosecurity risk reduction. The panel contrasted the risks and benefits of supporting the enhancement of genomic sequencing capabilities through international scientific engagement to achieve biological threat reduction and global health security. The lower costs and new bioinformatic tools available have led to the greater application of sequencing to biosurveillance. Strengthening sequencing capabilities globally for the diagnosis and detection of infectious diseases through mutual collaborations has a high return on investment for increasing global health security. International collaborations based on genomics and shared sequence data can build and leverage scientific networks and improve the timeliness and accuracy of disease surveillance reporting needed to identify and mitigate infectious disease outbreaks and comply with international norms. Further efforts to promote scientific transparency within international collaboration will improve trust, reduce threats, and promote global health security.

This article examines multiple elements that impact the outcome of decentralization in the context of local governance. The success of decentralization is heavily contingent upon the robustness of regional institutions, the political dynamics at play, and the unique attributes of the country undertaking the reform, as indicated by a comprehensive analysis of existing literature. Efficient decentralization necessitates well-defined institutional procedures, political solid and civil determination, enhancement of capabilities, and democratic governance. Nevertheless, notable obstacles include the possibility of heightened corruption, involvement from local politics, and discrepancies between the legal framework and real-world implementation. Hence, meticulous planning, contextual adaptations, and vigilant supervision are vital to guarantee accountability and effectiveness in executing decentralization. A literature review conducted with consistent and suitable methodological approaches is a form of qualitative research, specifically within the realm of literature study. This is employed inductively to prevent the emergence of more inquiries. The rationale behind undertaking qualitative research lies in its inherent exploratory nature. A comprehensive analysis is conducted in the part dedicated to the relevant literature or literature review. The research findings indicate that decentralization is an intricate and thorough approach whose effectiveness heavily relies on each nation's social, political, and economic circumstances. Robust and responsible local institutions guarantee high-quality public services and mitigate corruption. Decentralization strategies necessitate customization to suit the unique circumstances of each country since a uniform strategy will not be effective universally. The local political dynamics heavily influence the success of decentralization. The effects of decentralization can be influenced by cultural identities and ideological differences, which can affect community trust and involvement and potentially lead to exclusion and instability. Implementing decentralization frequently encounters substantial obstacles, such as the possibility of heightened corruption and political instability.

Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System (FACTS) are widely and increasingly used in recent years to enhance transmission line capability and reliability. FACTS devices such as STATCOM can impact distance relay performance due to the fact that it changes power system quantities such as line impedances. Distance relay will mal-operate when STATCOM is connected and the transmission lines will lose the main objectives of using FACTS devices which are enhancement of capability and reliability. In this paper, we present detailed modeling and simulation of digital distance relay with three zones mho characteristics. We also verify the proposed model under a variety of fault types and fault locations. Analytical study on the effects of STATCOM on distance relay performance is examined. Analytical and simulation results are used to discuss the impact on the performance of distance relay for different modes and different STATCOM locations on transmission lines.

The fast development of a network of permanent stations as well as the enhancement of capabilities and resolution of portable GPS receivers facilitates the accumulation of information on earth’s surface displacement and opens up new possibilities for modeling geodynamic processes based on geodesic data. The arrows in Fig. 1 indicate the mean annual displacement of GPS stations in the south of the West Siberia over the period of 2000‐2003 relative to the Novosibirsk Station prior to the earthquake of September 27, 2003 [1]. Based on these data, major deformations of contraction (black lines) and extension (gray lines) were estimated by means of triangulation. The results revealed an increase of almost an order of magnitude, as compared to the background level, in local deformation in the vicinity of the epicenter of the impeding seismic event. This was interpreted as a preparation for the earthquake and used as a basis for the following quantitative determination of focal parameters.

In this paper we present new electro-optic beam steering technology and propose to combine it with optical telecommunication technology, thereby enabling low cost, compact, and rugged free space optical (FSO) communication modules for small-sat applications. Small satellite applications, particularly those characterized as “micro-sats” are often highly constrained by their ability to provide high bandwidth science data to the ground. This will often limit the relevance of even highly capable payloads due to the lack of data availability. FSO modules with unprecedented cost and size, weight, and power (SWaP) advantages will enable multi-access FSO networks to spread across previously inaccessible platforms. An example system would fit within a few cubic inch volume, require less than 1 watt of power and be able to provide ground station tracking (including orbital motion over wide angles and jitter correction) with a 50 to 100 Mbps downlink and no moving parts. This is possible, for the first time, because of emergent and unprecedented electro-optic (EO) laser scanners which will replace expensive, heavy, and power-consuming gimbal mechanisms. In this paper we will describe the design, construction, and performance of these new scanners. Specific examples to be discussed include an all electro-optic beamsteer with a 60 degree by 40 degree field of view. We will also present designs for a cube-sat to ground flight demonstration. This development would provide a significant enhancement in capabilities for future NASA and other Government and industry space projects.

Education in logistics and training of non-logistic personnel

PurposeThis paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.FindingsA firm’s survival in the face of major environmental disruption requires them to be resilient. Prospects of strengthening resilience and successfully navigating the unpredictability can be substantially improved through the development and enhancement of capabilities that include organizational creativity, absorptive capacity and organizational agility.Originality/valueThe briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are attracting an enormous amount of interest at the moment in many domains. Their general nature, and ability to "understand" natural language, has already stimulated multiple areas of research at our company. Here we successfully demonstrate a Natural Language querying system, which is able to search a large repository of unstructured exploration data. The system supports follow up querying on the returned results, plus automatic summarization of content. The system is integrated into our novel end-to-end data-mining platform, which continuously mines our unstructured exploration data for new changes and indexes the results. Important in our method are the enrichment processes that occur prior to use of the LLM. Our approach avoids usual "chunking" techniques, which in our experience results in inferior results, especially in the multiple domain areas of Exploration. By integrating our novel ontology-model AI in the enrichment of the initial Index, we drastically boost the performance of search resulting from the LLM steps. In order to perform the search, key parts of our unstructured data, plus the query itself, need to be transformed into a vector form. This is performed using the embedding feature of the LLM. For this work, we had around 500,000 embeddings to calculate. To improve performance these were indexed in a leading Analytics Engine as a vector object, allowing fast search via cosine or Euclidian similarity. A custom dashboard was made to allow fresh searches of the vector datastore to be returned for further analysis. Our current search time across 500,000 embeddings is under 20 milli-seconds. Our custom dashboard returns the top matches for further interrogation and analysis. This includes follow-up Natural Language question support on the returned matches for summarization tasks and other customised querying. Since our exploration-specific, ontology model is able to tag each piece of data with over 40 exploration-specific labels, we are able to cross-examine the LLM returned results with the tags. Agreement on a range of queries - ranging from targeted, highly specific questions to general, open-ended queries - was surprisingly good. Natural Language based querying of our unstructured data is opening a whole new approach to data discovery in our company. Tailoring it to the exploration domain has required specific domain expertise and a novel ontology-model be used to ensure relevant prompts and query results. Obtaining search results quickly has also required expertise and fine-tuning. Future directions include ingesting more data, scaling the support infrastructure and further capability enhancement.

This article examines the implementation of an advanced healthcare analytics platform that transformed patient care delivery and operational efficiency across a major healthcare network. The solution addresses critical challenges in data integration, regulatory compliance, and operational demands while demonstrating the effectiveness of a structured three-phase implementation approach. The platform successfully integrates diverse healthcare data sources including Electronic Health Records, clinical systems, IoT devices, and external databases while maintaining strict HIPAA compliance. The implementation methodology encompasses foundation building, capability enhancement, and system optimization phases, resulting in significant improvements in patient outcomes, operational efficiency, and cost reduction. The article highlights how sophisticated data engineering and analytics capabilities can address healthcare-specific challenges while enabling predictive analytics and real-time decision support, ultimately leading to improved healthcare delivery and resource utilization.

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami affected Indonesia with massive devastation and suffering. It ignited the largest international humanitarian response and recovery in history. Academicians, responders, civil servants, teachers, and all professions were awakened to the urgency of disaster risk reduction, mitigation, preparedness, and readiness. Indonesia then instituted disaster management law, established national, provincial, and local disaster management organizations, and started developing a disaster management workforce. The United States of America (USA) supported Indonesia’s 2004 tsunami response and recovery and continues to assist in capabilities enhancement. This research aims to explore how knowledge exchange through training, education, policy improvement, system development, and organizational management contributes to the whole society’s capacity. Our method includes a literature review, focus group discussions, and site visits to explore collaborations between governments, private sectors, civil societies, non-governmental organizations, and regular citizens to generate improved disaster preparedness and readiness. Recent US-Indonesia comparative study missions offer lessons and recommendations for urban planning and green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and readiness progression. Major findings through comparative lessons gained include the importance of developing incident management assistance team, supplemental response team, community emergency response team, regional office, biochemical hazard training, national interagency fire management, hazard and social vulnerability risk mapping, and incident workforce academy. New knowledge enrichment brings excitement and expectations, requiring competent human resource, financial, and policy investments. Capacity building must increase equity and resilience planning for vulnerable communities across the islands as Indonesia increases its regional disaster response contribution. Future implications would include prioritized efforts for short, medium, and long-term transformation in improving disaster management in Indonesia and continuing to collaborate with the USA in nurturing sustainability and resilience despite complex challenges in disaster risk management.

In an effort to accommodate the predicted growth in air traffic, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aviation community have developed a concept of operations for the National Airspace System (NAS) called Free Flight. This operational concept has been developed for the midterm time frame (nominally a period of time that centers around 2005). The Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) at The MITRE Corporation developed the concept and has conducted laboratory exercises to validate the portion of the concept that applies to the en route domain. The paper describes CAASD's laboratory efforts to begin validating the en route portion of the concept by examining the operational issues associated with the concept and the functional issues related to its evolution to the midterm. The laboratory validation exercises described examine the functionality of possible capability enhancements, but do not address associated detailed human factors issues. Favorable results from CAASD's initial qualitative validation efforts support the need for further quantitative validation activities that include more detailed analyses, further development of operational procedures and computer-human interfaces, and more rigorous exercises involving FAA field controllers.

This research aimed to examine the congruence of an indicator model for administrative management of Faculty of Physical Education Thailand National Sports University, the road to a sports learning organization in ASEAN with the empirical data. The research was implemented in 3 phases. The phase 1 aimed to study an administrative management indicator of Faculty of Physical Education, Thailand National Sports University, the road to a sports learning organization in ASEAN. An in-depth interview was used with 5 key informants selected by a purposive selection method. The instruments used were an in-depth interview and analytic induction. The phase 2 aimed to make indicators of administrative management of Faculty of Physical Education, Thailand National Sports University, the road to a sports learning organization in ASEAN. Key informants included 17 experts selected by a purposive selection method. The instrument used was a rating scale questionnaire to conclude the findings and determine administrative management indicators for Faculty of Physical Education, Thailand National Sports University, the road to a sports learning organization in ASEAN for the benefits of harmony and accuracy. The phase 3 aimed to examine the congruence of administrative management indicators for Faculty of Physical Education, Thailand National Sports University, the road to a sports learning organization in ASEAN. The sample comprised instructors, students of Faculty of Education and stakeholders, 490 persons in total. The instruments used in this phase were a rating scale questionnaire and confirmatory factor analysis. The research results indicated that 1) there were 5 aspects of the competency-based learning management indicator for professional education teacher students as follow: 1. Factors of administrative management mechanism, 10 indicators, 2. Factors of instructor quality, 6 indicators, 3. Factors of learning management, 17 indicators, 4. Factors of student capability enhancement, 9 indicators, 5. Factors of athlete capability enhancement to excellence, 7 indicators, 49 indicators in total. All of them were consistent, 2) the factor measurement model was consistent with the empirical data. It was found that the model was well congruent with the empirical data, considered from the relative Chi-square that was 0.487(well consistent), GFI (Goodness of Fit Index) was 0.674 (well consistent), AGFI (Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index) was 0.482 (fairly consistent), and RMSEA was 0.05 (fairly consistent). Therefore, the null hypothesis stating that the research model was congruent with the empirical data.

Manufacturing industries are continually facing the challenge of operating their production processes and systems to achieve the required production levels of high-quality goods while maximizing resource utilization. Zero Defects Manufacturing (ZDM) aims to go further than traditional six-sigma approaches. Traditional Six Sigma techniques have limitations in highly variable production contexts, characterized by small batch productions, customized or even product mix. Manufacturing and design capabilities are essential pillars of the organization. These consist of quality, cost, delivery, flexibility, process capability, and inspection capability. The inspection system plays an important role in achieving zero-defect in the process. Inspection capability and inspector certification are the resultant of an inspection system. Environment health and safety, people development, measurement systems, and continuous improvement systems are also important to achieve zero-defect. In this paper, we plan to improve the existing system to control defect flow-out to the customer end.