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Found 6515 publications

Application of healthcare data mining techniques to planning for nursing length of stay in surgical departments

Dragan Pamucar Ali Ala Mahdi Yousefi Nejad Attari Domonkos Tinka Akbar Abbaspour Ghadim Vladimir Simic

Publication Name: Systems and Soft Computing

Publication Date: 2026-12-01

Volume: 9

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Effective allocation of nurse resources in surgical departments is essential for improving patient care and controlling operating costs in a health society. Length of stay (LOS) is the metric that connects clinical workload to staffing decisions, yet ward-level forecasting and its translation into daily nursing schedules remain limited. This study presents a hybrid, data-driven decision-support system that combines machine-learning LOS prediction with Reinforcement Learning (RL) for the surgical ward. A dataset of 137,145 records is used to evaluate Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, Decision Tree, and a Multi-layer Perceptron. Random Forest achieved the most accurate and stable performance (R² = 0.84; RMSE = 1.63), and its predicted LOS states drive an RL agent that adjusts staffing and triggers early-discharge reviews. The novelty lies in focusing on the understudied surgical ward, converting predicted LOS into a daily scheduling policy, and integrating forecasting with RL-based scheduling. The hybrid model reduced average LOS from 6.12 to 4.82 days, lowered weekly nurse overtime by approximately 47%, and improved staff utilization.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1016/j.sasc.2026.200535

Post-pandemic pursuits: Activity preferences of rural tourists in Western Transdanubia

Roland Zsolt Szabó Csaba Kőmíves Ferenc Darabos

Publication Name: Hungarian Geographical Bulletin

Publication Date: 2024-10-01

Volume: 73

Issue: 3

Page Range: 283-301

Description:

This study examines the changing preferences of rural tourists in Western Transdanubia, Hungary, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to uncover how rural tourism has changed and identify the new winners of the shifting demand. In 2021, we conducted a comprehensive survey with 925 participants and introduced a novel activity-based segmentation of rural tourists, revealing a strong preference for complex service packages. Practically, our findings highlight that village caterers who have strategically segmented the market have emerged as winners, successfully attracting different age groups and genders with customized packages. Cluster analysis revealed a segment of rural tourists who, without exception, were enthusiastic about diverse activities. In particular, our cross-cluster analysis points to a significant amount of potential demand among middle-aged tourists. These findings help practitioners develop a targeted product mix and marketing strategy to meet the changing demands of rural tourism.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.15201/hungeobull.73.3.5

Architectural web portal and interactive CAD learning in Hungary

Attila Somfai

Publication Name: Web Based Engineering Education Critical Design and Effective Tools

Publication Date: 2010-12-01

Volume: Unknown

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 20-29

Description:

It is opportune to show the teaching web portal of the Faculty of Architecture at "Széchenyi István" University (www.arc.sze.hu/indexen.html), its conformation and use. Nowadays, the Internet helps to look into Hungarian and foreign study aids, architectural websites, and novelties. The Internet has created potential new and effective ways of cooperation between lecturers and students of the university and other institutions of higher education. The teaching web portal mentioned above realizes the diversity and complexity of architecture with efficient grouping of information, and is attentive to high professional standards. Computer Aided Architectural Modeling (www.arc.sze.hu/cad) is one of the new types of online lecture notes, where many narrated screen capture videos show the proper usage of CAD software instead of text and figures. This interactive type of learning helps students become more independent learners. This type of teaching modality provides the opportunity for students who need more time to acquire subject matter by viewing video examples again. Success of our departments' common web initiations can be measured through Internet statistics and feedback of the students and external professionals. © 2010, IGI Global.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-659-9.ch002

Shear debonding at concrete repair interfaces: An integrated experimental and numerical study

Oveys Ghodousian Marco Domaneschi Majid Movahedi Rad Vahid Shafaie

Publication Name: Case Studies in Construction Materials

Publication Date: 2026-07-01

Volume: 24

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Durable repair of concrete structures relies critically on the shear bond between new and existing concrete, yet reliable prediction of this bond remains challenging due to highly localized interfacial damage mechanisms. Conventional numerical interaction strategies, such as tie constraints, are unable to capture progressive debonding, often leading to unconservative estimates of load transfer and structural capacity. This study presents a three-dimensional Finite Element approach that explicitly represents the repair interface through thin sacrificial layers governed by Concrete Damaged Plasticity and element deletion. The approach is validated against a dedicated shear push-out experimental campaign in which the cement content of the repair layer was systematically varied from 300 to 550 kg/m³ while all other parameters are held constant. The numerical model accurately reproduces the experimentally observed zipper-type interfacial debonding and captures both the onset and propagation of localized shear damage, with satisfactory quantitative agreement. Building on this validation, continuous calibration curves are derived with high statistical correlation (R2 ≈ 0.95) and low predictive error (NRMSE < 9%), directly relating repair cement content to shear bond strength and interface compressive strength. Specifically, the framework captures the nonlinear increase in shear bond strength from 0.21 to 1.85 MPa. The proposed method provides a physically grounded and design-oriented bridge between mix proportioning and structural simulation, enabling consistent definition of interface parameters without iterative numerical tuning.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1016/j.cscm.2026.e06160

Investigation of the tribological properties of nano-scaled ZrO2 and CuO additive in automotive lubricants

Jan Knaup D. Tóth

Publication Name: Iop Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering

Publication Date: 2020-08-25

Volume: 903

Issue: 1

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

To improve the fuel efficiency and the lifetime of the internal combustion engines, the lubricants and their additives have to be developed further. One of the possible future engines lubricants can be the nano-sized ceramic particles, which can provide positive tribological properties also in the presence of non-metallic surface materials. This paper presents the results of investigations with the help of ZrO2 and CuO nano-sized ceramic particles. To define the tribological properties of these additives, lubricant samples with different additive-concentrations were prepared and tribologically analysed. The frictional losses of these lubricant samples were analysed by a ball-on-disk sliding friction machine. The worn surface on the test specimens was analysed by different high-resolution microscopes. To define the functional mechanisms of the nano-additives, the worn surfaces were investigated by high resolution scanning electron microscopes. The ZrO2 additive has experimentally shown an excellent wear reduction property (over 40% wear reduction compared with the neat Group 3 base oil) at the optimum mixing concentration of 0.4wt%. Both frictional and wear reduction properties could be determined at the application of CuO additive (15-15% friction coefficient and wear scar diameter reduction) at its optimum concentration (0.5wt%). A copper-yellow layer can be seen on the worn surface of the disc specimens with CuO, which indicates the mechanism of chemical transformation to elementary copper from the cupric-oxide nanoparticle and this elementary copper can be melted on the surface, because of the applied high temperature and high loads during the experiments.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/903/1/012015

Numerical simulation on thermal performance of a flat-plate module with fins and nanoparticles in a latent energy storage system

Jin Wang Xue Chao Wang Bohong Wang Yi Man Xuan Liang Zihao Cheng Petar Sabev Varbanov

Publication Name: Energy

Publication Date: 2026-09-30

Volume: 360

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Phase change materials are applied in heat storage systems because of their high latent heat. The low thermal conductivity of phase change materials limits the heat transfer rate. Rectangular grille fins, semicircular wave fins, cosine wave fins, and triangular wave fins are designed to enhance the heat transfer rate in flat-plate storage modules. The addition of Al2O3, CuO, and Fe3O4 at 1 %, 3 %, 5 %, and 7 % volume fractions is investigated based on the triangular wave fins to improve the heat storage performance. Compared with the finless structure, the complete melting time of phase change materials is reduced by 4.70 %, 7.10 %, 9.15 %, and 10.71 % in rectangular grille fins, semicircular wave fins, cosine wave fins, and triangular wave fins modules. The heat storage power of a triangular fin module increases by 7.88 % relative to the finless module. The melting time is shortened for all nanoparticles as the volume fraction increases, accompanied by an increase in the average temperature. The melting rate of phase change materials is improved by 16.84 % with the addition of 7 % Al2O3 nanoparticles and triangular wave fins relative to the bare cavity. Compared with pure phase change materials, the heat storage power is improved by 11.11 % owing to the synergistic effect of triangular wave fins and Al2O3 nanoparticles. Enhancement strategies for latent heat storage systems are provided through the synergistic combination of periodic fins and nanoparticles.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2026.141858

Managing the resolution of simulation models

No authors available

Publication Name: ESM 2008 - 2008 European Simulation and Modelling Conference: Modelling and Simulation 2008

Publication Date: 2008-01-01

Volume:

Issue:

Page Range: 38-42

Description:

A novel approach based on inflation and deflation is proposed for managing the resolution of simulation models. Different methods are proposed for manual or automatic deflation. An example is given how a topology description language can be extended to support the inflation/deflation concept. Dynamic management of the model resolution is introduced using the method called inflate-the-next and also two of its possible improvements. © 2008 EUROSIS-ETI.

Open Access: No

DOI: DOI not available

Innovative Cone Clustering and Path Planning for Autonomous Formula Student Race Cars Using Cameras †

Gergo Igneczi Balázs Szőnyi

Publication Name: Engineering Proceedings

Publication Date: 2024-01-01

Volume: 79

Issue: 1

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

In this research, we present a novel approach for cone clustering, path planning, and path visualization in autonomous Formula Student race cars, utilizing the YOLOv8 model and a ZED 2 camera, executed on a Jetson Orin computer. Our system first identifies and then deprojects the positions of cones in space, employing an advanced clustering mechanism to generate midpoints and draw connecting lines. In previous clustering algorithms, cones were stored separately by color and connected based on relevance to create the lane edges. However, our proposed solution adopts a fundamentally different approach. Cones on the left and right sides within a dynamically changing maximum and minimum distance are connected by a central line, and the midpoint of this line is marked distinctly. Cones connected in this manner are then linked by their positions to form the edges of the track. The midpoints on these central lines are displayed as markers, facilitating the visualization of the optimal path. In our research, we also cover the analysis of the clustering algorithm on global maps. The implementation utilizes the ROS 2 framework for real-time data handling and visualization. Our results demonstrate the system’s efficiency in dynamic environments, highlighting potential advancements in the field of autonomous racing. The limitation of our approach is the dependency on precise cone detection and classification, which may be affected by environmental factors such as lighting and cone positioning.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/engproc2024079096

Preparation of soft magnetic composite from Fe-6.9wt%Si by different heat treatment strategies.

Ibolya Zsoldos L. K. Varga B. Kocsis

Publication Name: Iop Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering

Publication Date: 2020-08-25

Volume: 903

Issue: 1

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Present study investigated the effect of isothermal heat treatment strategies between 800 °C and 1150 °C on the magnetic properties of toroidal samples made from Fe-6.9wt%Si powder. The samples were prepared by classical powder metallurgy method since the classical sheet forming methods no longer work with the high silicon content. Our results presented here are part of a series of comparative experiments where we study the effectiveness of the insulating layers created during and before the compacting of soft magnetic composites (SMCs). Our goal was to create a soft magnetic composite made of ferromagnetic and inorganic insulating material with a frequency limit already in the megahertz range and a Snoek limit of few gigahertz. In the case of samples made from Fe-6.9wt%Si powder, the computed tomography results showed that significant porosity is to be expected after pressing. Its positive effect occurred during the heat treatment in the atmospheric agent, where silicon is precipitated and deposited on the surface of the particle. This coating is an electrically insulating layer at the grain boundaries. Depending on the heat treatment strategy, 1 or 2 ferromagnetic phases were observed. The frequency limit approached the target values, but due to the low value of static permeability, the Snoek limit did not reach the gigahertz range. However, there is a significant improvement in magnetic properties compared to the heat-treated samples in a protective gas.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/903/1/012042