Internet scheduling environment with market-driven agents

This paper describes a new generation scheduling paradigm, the Internet scheduling environment. It is formed by a group of Internet scheduling agents which share computational resources to solve scheduling problems in a distributed and collaborative manner. We propose a migration scheme to transform existing standalone scheduling systems to Internet scheduling agents that can communicate with each other and solve problems beyond individual capabilities. To coordinate computational resource collaboration among agents, we introduce the market-based control mechanism is which self-interested agents initiate or participate in auctions to sell or buy scheduling problems. Efficient allocation of computational resources is achieved through the auctions. This paper also describes a prototype Internet scheduling environment named LekiNET, which is migrated from LEKIN®, a flexible job shop scheduling system. The experiments on the LekiNET testbed demonstrate that the agent-based market-driven Internet scheduling environment is feasible and advantageous to future scheduling research and development.published_or_final_versio

Virtual objects in electronic catalogs: A human-computer interface issue

Web interface design is an important aspect of electronic commerce (EC). However, apart from design frameworks and guidelines for Web-based EC, not much has been done by researchers or practitioners on how electronic catalogs (e-catalogs) influence the users' desirability and satisfaction as purchasers. In this correspondence, we investigate the form of media that represented the most efficient mode to present products to Web users by summarizing and evaluating various existing forms of e-catalogs and their respective responses from Web users. We conclude that a 3-D virtual object (VO) is the most efficient mode of electronic cataloging for Web interface due to a better sense of presence of users, a more attractive and enjoyable media of delivery of useful information to users, and a higher level of engagement of user's memory. A 3-D VO, as a result, generates the highest users' satisfaction, which leads to increased propensity to purchase. Further, we discuss the practical and theoretical research implications of these findings to e-catalogs. © 2007 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Modeling and analysis of supply chain risk system under the influence of partners' collaboration

Confining the focus to individual enterprise, traditional risk management literature seems to echo inadequately in the context of collaborative supply chain, partially due to its exclusion of correlation of risks across companies. In this study, we refine the notion of risk in supply chain and propose a model of supply chain risk system (SCRS) that consciously takes into account the correlation among risks resulting from partners' collaboration. Through analytical inference we found that the level of collaboration contributes to the resilience of supply chain. It implies that collaboration can positively affect the topology of SCRS, thus benefiting supply chain operations in terms of risk management. A simulation program has been developed with aim to demonstrate the practical feasibility of the proposed model. Implemented in simulation, two sets of experiments have been conducted for testing the model in actual business scenarios. The experimental results provide supporting evidence to consolidate the analytical findings. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Science (HICSS 2011), Kauai, HI., 4-7 January 2011. In Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2011, p. 1-1

A hierarchical assessment method using bayesian network for material risk detection on green supply chain

Today's social awareness of environmental protection presents the electronic companies with an irreversible trend towards green manufacturing. It raises harsh requirement for the sourcing process and imposes unprecedented pressure to the QA system, majorly due to the risk of hazardous material. As QA procedures are becoming more complicated for coping with increasing material risk and meanwhile the time and resource available are tightly constrained, the development of an effective mechanism for material testing turns up to be a critical issue. In this study, a hierarchical material risk assessment approach is proposed based on FMEA framework. Taking into account the risk occurrence, the difficulty in detection and the severity the risk causes, it enables companies to estimate their material risks dynamically using Bayesian network. With its help, companies can assess and prioritize the material risk in a systematic and efficient manner which will drive QA towards a more high-performance process. ©2010 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM 2010), Macao, China, 7-10 December 2010. In Proceedings of IEEM, 2010, p. 1184-118

E-procurement in public sector: a global overview

This paper provides a global overview of both recent developments and current initiatives in public e-procurement. The Hong Kong Government’s E-Procurement Pilot Programme will serve as a case study that will be discussed using a descriptive case study approach. A qualitative methodology is employed with findings that indicate that the development of public e-procurement is a matter of perception rather than other factors such as ITC infrastructure availability. E-procurement is underutilised in the public sector, where the majority of implemented systems are in the form of e-journal and e-tendering solutions. Concurrently, the findings also point to a growing trend in cross-border initiatives within public sectors where e-procurement is the driving force. The case study results suggest that the Hong Kong Government’s initiative is successful especially in terms of political support, adaptation of suppliers and system design. This paper provides valuable insight into the potential role of public e-procurement initiatives.postprin

Design and evaluation of improvement method on the web information navigation - A stochastic search approach

With the advent of fast growing Internet and World Wide Web (the Web), more and more companies enhance the business competitiveness by conducting electronic commerce. At the same time, more and more people gather or process information by surfing on the Web. However, due to unbalanced Web traffic and poorly organized information, users suffer from slow communication and disordered information. To improve the situation, information providers can analyze the traffic and Uniform Resource Locator (URL) counters to adjust the information layering and organization; nevertheless, heterogeneous navigation patterns and dynamic fluctuating Web traffic complicate the improvement process. Alternatively, improvement can be made by giving direct guidance to the surfers in navigating the Web sites. In this paper, information retrieval on a Web site is modeled as a Markov chain associated with the corresponding dynamic Web traffic and designated information pages. We consider four models of information retrieval based on combination of the level of skill or experience of the surfers as well as the degree of navigation support by the sites. Simulation is conducted to evaluate the performance of the different types of navigation guidance. In addition, we evaluate the four models of information retrieval in terms of complexity and applicability. The paper concludes with a research summary and a direction for future research efforts. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.postprin

Correlation between three assay systems for anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) determination

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Emerging pharmacotherapy of tinnitus

Tinnitus, the perception of sound in the absence of an auditory stimulus, is perceived by about 1 in 10 adults, and for at least 1 in 100, tinnitus severely affects their quality of life. Because tinnitus is frequently associated with irritability, agitation, stress, insomnia, anxiety and depression, the social and economic burdens of tinnitus can be enormous. No curative treatments are available. However, tinnitus symptoms can be alleviated to some extent. The most widespread management therapies consist of auditory stimulation and cognitive behavioral treatment, aiming at improving habituation and coping strategies. Available clinical trials vary in methodological rigor and have been performed for a considerable number of different drugs. None of the investigated drugs have demonstrated providing replicable long-term reduction of tinnitus impact in the majority of patients in excess of placebo effects. Accordingly, there are no FDA or European Medicines Agency approved drugs for the treatment of tinnitus. However, in spite of the lack of evidence, a large variety of different compounds are prescribed off-label. Therefore, more effective pharmacotherapies for this huge and still growing market are desperately needed and even a drug that produces only a small but significant effect would have an enormous therapeutic impact. This review describes current and emerging pharmacotherapies with current difficulties and limitations. In addition, it provides an estimate of the tinnitus market. Finally, it describes recent advances in the tinnitus field which may help overcome obstacles faced in the pharmacological treatment of tinnitus. These include incomplete knowledge of tinnitus pathophysiology, lack of well-established animal models, heterogeneity of different forms of tinnitus, difficulties in tinnitus assessment and outcome measurement and variability in clinical trial methodology. © 2009 Informa UK Ltd.Fil: Langguth, Berthold. Universitat Regensburg; AlemaniaFil: Salvi, Richard. State University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Elgoyhen, Ana Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentin

Psychological determinants of whole-body endurance performance

Background: No literature reviews have systematically identified and evaluated research on the psychological determinants of endurance performance, and sport psychology performance-enhancement guidelines for endurance sports are not founded on a systematic appraisal of endurance-specific research. Objective: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify practical psychological interventions that improve endurance performance and to identify additional psychological factors that affect endurance performance. Additional objectives were to evaluate the research practices of included studies, to suggest theoretical and applied implications, and to guide future research. Methods: Electronic databases, forward-citation searches, and manual searches of reference lists were used to locate relevant studies. Peer-reviewed studies were included when they chose an experimental or quasi-experimental research design, a psychological manipulation, endurance performance as the dependent variable, and athletes or physically-active, healthy adults as participants. Results: Consistent support was found for using imagery, self-talk, and goal setting to improve endurance performance, but it is unclear whether learning multiple psychological skills is more beneficial than learning one psychological skill. The results also demonstrated that mental fatigue undermines endurance performance, and verbal encouragement and head-to-head competition can have a beneficial effect. Interventions that influenced perception of effort consistently affected endurance performance. Conclusions: Psychological skills training could benefit an endurance athlete. Researchers are encouraged to compare different practical psychological interventions, to examine the effects of these interventions for athletes in competition, and to include a placebo control condition or an alternative control treatment. Researchers are also encouraged to explore additional psychological factors that could have a negative effect on endurance performance. Future research should include psychological mediating variables and moderating variables. Implications for theoretical explanations of endurance performance and evidence-based practice are described

Loss of paraplegin drives spasticity rather than ataxia in a cohort of 241 patients with SPG7

Objective : We took advantage of a large multinational recruitment to delineate genotype-phenotype correlations in a large, trans-European multicenter cohort of patients with spastic paraplegia gene 7 (SPG7). Methods : We analyzed clinical and genetic data from 241 patients with SPG7, integrating neurologic follow-up data. One case was examined neuropathologically. Results : Patients with SPG7 had a mean age of 35.5 +/- 14.3 years (n = 233) at onset and presented with spasticity (n = 89), ataxia (n = 74), or both (n = 45). At the first visit, patients with a longer disease duration (> 20 years, n = 62) showed more cerebellar dysarthria (p < 0.05), deep sensory loss (p < 0.01), muscle wasting (p < 0.01), ophthalmoplegia (p < 0.05), and sphincter dysfunction (p < 0.05) than those with a shorter duration (< 10 years, n = 93). Progression, measured by Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia evaluations, showed a mean annual increase of 1.0 +/- 1.4 points in a subgroup of 30 patients. Patients homozygous for loss of function (LOF) variants (n = 65) presented significantly more often with pyramidal signs (p < 0.05), diminished visual acuity due to optic atrophy (p < 0.0001), and deep sensory loss (p < 0.0001) than those with at least 1 missense variant (n = 176). Patients with at least 1 Ala510Val variant (58%) were older (age 37.6 +/- 13.7 vs 32.8 +/- 14.6 years, p < 0.05) and showed ataxia at onset (p < 0.05). Neuropathologic examination revealed reduction of the pyramidal tract in the medulla oblongata and moderate loss of Purkinje cells and substantia nigra neurons. Conclusions : This is the largest SPG7 cohort study to date and shows a spasticity-predominant phenotype of LOF variants and more frequent cerebellar ataxia and later onset in patients carrying at least 1 Ala510Val variant