Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) based cost norms are widely used to regulate natural monopolies like water, electricity, and gas networks. In the typical application, demand is considered fixed and non-controllable (non-discretionary), and the challenge is to incentivize the monopoly to provide...

The expansion of smart metering technology worldwide has represented a change in the energy sector, as it incorporates new technologies for energy consumption. In Brazil, this topic has been contributing to the formation of a regulatory framework regarding new technologies and to the...

The technological habitat in which successful firms may flourish is in rapid change. With digital transformation (DT), everything is connected and interdependent. Manual processes are now automated for most businesses. As a result, habits, and needs are changing, which, in turn, affects the...

Due to the shortage of available organs compared to the number of patients on waitlists, the organ allocation process has always been challenging and calls for an equitable and optimized allocation system. This system demands minimizing the waitlist mortality and improving transplantation...

The healthcare system is no stranger to resource challenges in the face of unlimited demand to fulfill healthcare objectives of satisfying patients, maintaining service quality, and maximizing profit. Healthcare decision-makers are responsible for devising effective methods for allocating scarce...

This paper applies social network analysis in two experiments. In the first experiment, social network analysis is conducted on student friendship networks to find relational patterns. Then, three community detection methods are used to divide the student network. The RSiena package is used to...

In this paper, optimum design of building structures is conducted by metaheuristic algorithms due to the shortcomings of the conventional design methods in providing economical designs. The Harmony Search (HS) is utilized as the main algorithm which was developed based on the musical process of...

Hazard identification and prioritisation practices are very important for power plants to continue their operations without disruption. Systematic operational hazard analysis is not a very common practice at the Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) based power plants in Bangladesh. Hence, a structured hazard...

Machine learning (ML) is a new-age thriving technology, which facilitates computers to read and interpret from the previously present data automatically. It makes use of multiple algorithms to build models, mathematical in nature, and then makes predictions for the new data using the past data...

In the present information age, a wide and significant variety of social media platforms have been developed and become an important part of modern life. Massive amounts of user-generated data sourced from various social networking platforms also provide new insights for businesses and...