Mahidol University International College

About: Mahidol University International College is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Tourism & Corporate governance. The organization has 240 authors who have published 485 publications receiving 6095 citations.

Fifty Years On: Gender and the Role of Imagination in Lindsay Anderson's If…

Abstract: :Appearing in 1968, Lindsay Anderson's milestone feature release, If…, seemingly reflected the cultural currents of the Western world at that time. A reaction to the demands for a stifling ...

Hospital Length of Stay: A cross-Specialty Analysis and Beta-Geometric Model

Abstract: AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWThe typical hospital Length of Stay (LOS) distribution is known to be right-skewed, to considerably vary across Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG), and to contain markedly high values, in significant proportions. These very long stays are often considered outliers, and thin-tailed statistical distributions are assumed. Moreover, modeling is typically performed by Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) and is consequently based on small empirical samples, thus justifying the previous assumption. However, resource consumption and planning occur at the level of medical specialty departments covering multiple DRG, and when considered at this decision-making scale, extreme LOS values represent a significant component of the distribution of LOS (the right tail) that determines many of its statistical properties. Through a study of 46, 364 electronic health records over four medical specialty departments (Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Surgery, and Rehabilitation Medicine) in the largest hospital in Thailand (Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok), we show that the distribution of LOS exhibits a tail behavior that is consistent with a subexponential distribution. We analyze some empirical properties of such a distribution that are of relevance to cost and resource planning, notably the concentration of resource consumption among a minority of admissions/patients, an increasing residual LOS, where the longer a patient has been admitted, the longer they would, counter-intuitively, be expected to remain admitted, and a slow convergence of the Law of Large Numbers, making empirical estimates of moments (e.g. mean, variance) unreliable. Consequently, we propose a novel Beta-Geometric model that shows a good fit with observed data and reproduces these empirical properties of LOS. Finally, we use our findings to make practical recommendations regarding the pricing and management of LOS.

A Quantitative Study on Average Number of Spins of Two-Player Dreidel

Abstract: We give an excellent approximation of the average number of spins of a simplified version of a two-player version of the game Dreidel. We also make a conjecture on the average number of spins of the full version of the game.

On the Minimum Number of Monochromatic Generalized Schur Triples

Abstract: The solution to the problem of finding the minimum number of monochromatic triples $(x,y,x+ay)$ with $a\geq 2$ being a fixed positive integer over any 2-coloring of $[1,n]$ was conjectured by Butler, Costello, and Graham (2010) and Thanathipanonda (2009). We solve this problem using a method based on Datskovsky's proof (2003) on the minimum number of monochromatic Schur triples $(x,y,x+y)$. We do this by exploiting the combinatorial nature of the original proof and adapting it to the general problem.

Communication and museums: museums as a place of discourse

Abstract: Museums are to communicate their meaning to societies through their discourse. Through the discourse, museums are to convey certain values, ideas or truths to societies. The discourse of a museum embraces a power which can generate or instill a common sense and reinforce or give new insight to museum visitors. Up to a point, the discourse of a museum can be in agreement or in contradiction with the existing knowledge and beliefs of visitors. To understand museums is to understand the discourse of museums. No two museums are the same. It is the discourse of a museum that makes museums different and meaningful to societies. No discourse is neutral. “Museums are invention of men….They exist for the things we put in them (Silver, cited in Weil, 1990, p. xiv).” The discourse of museums is subjected to the arrangement of mankind. This paper is to look into the way museums garnish their objects and functions with specific concepts and assumptions to impart into the understanding of museum visitors of the discourses of museums. Museums as a place of discourse are to influence the visitors’ perception and understanding of the world at large.