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Why are over 2,000 corporations either using, developing, or planning to develop some form of corporate simulation model? What types of companies are using corporate planning models? How are they being used? Which resources are required? These are among the questions which were raised in a recent survey of 346 companies whose results are summarized in this paper. The paper also examines the costs and benefits to be derived from using corporate simulation models. Finally, drawing on the survey results, the authors speculate on future developments in the field of corporate modeling.
In this paper we utilize traditional microeconomic theory and elementary queuing theory to develop a computer simulation model of a single-product, multi-process firm. One of our objectives is to demonstrate that the body of economic theory known as the "theory of the firm" may be used to provide a convenient frame of reference in applying some of the more recently developed analytical tools of operations research and computer technology to the analysis of the behavior of the firm. The static equilibrium model of the firm presented in Value and Capital by J. R. Hicks is taken as a point of departure in constructing a simulation model in which (1) the time interval between the arrival of orders at the firm is a stochastic variate with a known probability distribution, (2) each order which the firm receives must pass through n processes ...
Microprocessors are increasingly used in prosthetic applications. The flexibility they
provide allows new functions to be added easily, and fitting and maintenance can be
simplified [1,2,3]. Prosthetic controllers are available that can be adapted to different needs through field programming, allowing the prosthetist to try different control strategies or even invent completely new ones. The process of setting up the prosthesis is made easier through
the use of graphical software programming tools [4]. However, there remains a need for
interoperability standards so that complete prostheses can be built up from modular
components that are compatible in software terms as well as mechanically and electrically.
We show how data from an evaluation in which subjects are randomly assigned to some treatment versus a control group can be combined with nonexperimental methods to estimate the differential effects of alternative treatments. We propose tests for the validity of these methods. We use these methods and tests to analyze the differential effects of labor force attachment (LFA) versus human capital development (HCD) training components with data from California’s Greater Avenues to Independence (GAIN) program. While LFA is more effective than HCD training in the short term, we find that HCD is relatively more effective in the longer term.
John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy was published on 25 April 1848. It was written with a high moralistic tone and sustained
ethical earnestness hitherto absent from economic discussion. But it was
at the same time a major economic treatise, and in its overall conception
and execution it challenged the Wealth of Nations in a way no other
English treatise had done, and no other would, until Marshall’s Principles
(1 890). It was not merely the longest work in political economy
since the Wealth of Nations; Mill actually set out to emulate and to
supplant Smith’s classic. His own work, he explained in the Preface,
was an attempt “to combine [Smith’s] practical mode of treating his
subject with the increased knowledge since acquired of its theory [and]
to exhibit the economical phenomena of society in the relation in which
th...
A new electric hand has been developed which integrates flexion/extension into an electric
hand, with no increase in length over standard-length electric or body-powered hands. The
development* has included a field trial with six wearers of the electric hand. All the wearers
were surveyed on the actual tasks they performed with the hand, including those utilizing
flexion/extension.
Electric Hands have typically operated with a single gripping mode, usually three-finger
tip prehension. Our attempt at this stage is to enhance function in the hand, but without adding
complexity to the gripping mechanism.
Passive and electric wrist rotation can add an important degree of freedom (DOF), but still
provides only one of the natural wrist’s three DOF. Additional degrees of freedom in the hand,
however, would offer the amputee broader function o...
This is a case presentation of the fitting of a transcarpal myoelectric hand with a locking
liner for a patient with a wrist disarticulation amputation.
Fitting patients with long upper extremity amputations has been a challenge in the past
due to the resulting limb length discrepancy between the prosthetic and the sound sides.
However, since the introduction of the new Otto Bock 8E44 Transcarpal myoelectric
hand, it is now possible to fit wrist disarticulation amputees with a locking liner for
suspension.
The use of silicone or similar material with distal attachment as a suspension system
has gained great acceptance and usage for lower limb amputees. Since its introduction in
the mid 1980’s by Kristinsson, the silicone suction socket (3S) has undergone extensive
development and the options available have proliferated due to its popularity.
Benefits for the lower limb include: reduced shear forces on the skin, better pressure
distribution especially when a gel type liner is employed, and excellent suspension.
Shortly after its introduction, 3S technology was applied to upper limb fittings. [2]
Some early success was achieved and results were promising. Problems existed related
to inappropriate sizing of liners and locking system for utilization in upper limb
applications and difficulty interfacing myoelectric control in combination with...
Proprioception utilizes the physiological components of the nervous and
musculoskeletal systems to allow an individual to sense the position of their limbs
subconsciously. By providing a rigid connection to an object this proprioceptive ability
can be extended to the object and allow the user to sense the spatial location and
orientation of these objects with respect to his or her body. This concept explains how a
person can use a tennis racquet to hit a tennis ball without having to observe the position
of the racquet during their swing or the way a blind person uses a long cane to ‘feel’ the
location of objects in their surroundings.
Body-powered prostheses take advantage of this proprioceptive ability by relating
the motion and position of the prosthesis to the motion and position of an intact joint of
the amputee via the control ca...
Patients with “high” level bilateral upper extremity deficiencies require maximum
functional rehabilitation to increase independence and self-care skills. Traditional
prosthetic rehabilitation for these individuals utilizes various control mechanisms
including body power, electric, and hybrid systems.
Rehabilitation teams rarely gain experience with multiple cases using varied control
methods. In most cases systems are recommended and fit based on the limited past
experiences and training of the rehabilitation team members and the local prosthetist.
