Train schedule coordination at an interchange station through agent negotiation

In open railway markets, coordinating train schedules at an interchange station requires negotiation between two independent train operating companies to resolve their operational conflicts. This paper models the stakeholders as software agents and proposes an agent negotiation model to study their interaction. Three negotiation strategies have been devised to represent the possible objectives of the stakeholders, and they determine the behavior in proposing offers to the proponent. Empirical simulation results confirm that the use of the proposed negotiation strategies lead to outcomes that are consistent with the objectives of the stakeholders

Expressive Textile Arts and Fashion-based Intervention for Youth with Emotional Distress: A Pilot Study

Recent years have seen increased interest in early intervention in and prevention of mental health difficulties during adolescence In this pilot study a structured expressive textile art and fashion based ETAFB intervention was conducted to evaluate the beneficial effects on personal wellbeing and social interaction of youth with emotional distress A one-group pretest-posttest pilot study was conducted among 18 youth with emotional distress All the participants attended four sessions of ETAFB intervention All the participants were subjected to a preintervention test and a 4-week postintervention test using the Personal Wellbeing Index School Children PWI-SC 12-item General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12 and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale SIAS The study findings revealed that the ETAFB intervention was associated with significant improvements in some of the measurements This information provides the groundwork for a further study to investigate the effect of the ETAFB intervention on the relationship between youth well-being and facilitator

Graft Suturing for Lenticule Dislocation after Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty

Purpose: To report the mid-term outcomes of graft suturing in a patient with lenticule dislocation after Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). Case Report: A 78-year old woman was found to have graft dislocation involving the nasal half of the cornea after uneventful DSAEK. Graft repositioning, refilling the anterior chamber with air, and placement of four full-thickness 10/0 nylon sutures over the detached area were performed two weeks after the initial surgery. The sutures were removed 6 weeks later. Serial specular microscopy and anterior segment optical coherence tomography were performed. At 18 months, there was good lenticule apposition and a clear graft. Conclusion: Anchoring sutures seem to be effective for management of graft detachment following DSAEK

Comparison and Analysis of Colorant in Toner Cartridges: A Material Safety Data Sheet Study

Nowadays, electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablets are gadgets that have become common in most people’s daily lives. Although people often use tablets to read files, newspapers, or other papers, printing some documents is still necessary and convenient for most people. Therefore, a printer is one of the basic machines that many people use for work or to learn. Toner cartridges are the main components that print high-quality images or text on paper and are therefore of research value. Existing literature lacks research on performance of different printers and toners. Therefore, this study investigated and analyzed different types and brands of toners. In the study, toner cartridges provided by the four major suppliers were compared with data provided in material safety data sheets (MSDS) based primarily on different products. A comprehensive review and analysis of the concentration, function, definition, and impact involved in the product was conducted in this study

Comparing the effects of visibility of different neighborhood greenery settings on the preference ratings and noise annoyance responses to road traffic noises

The impact of visual environment on human noise perceptions has always been under scrutiny. Two consecutive sets of laboratory experiments were performed for studying the effect of visual perceptions of different percentages of sea, greenery, and/or road views on noise-induced annoyance responses as well as preference ratings. Both experiments were carried out in a room purposely constructed inside an anechoic chamber to mimic the living room setting of a dwelling in Hong Kong. Video clips were projected consecutively onto the exterior window panel of the living room to simulate neighborhood views containing different percentages of sea, greenery and road. 82 and 58 participants were successfully administered in two experiments. Each participant was presented with 11 video clips and requested to respond to a series of questions regarding perceived noise annoyance and view preferences after presentation of individual clips. The responses collected from each experiment were employed to formulate ordered logit models to predict the probability of evoking a high annoyance response. Findings indicated that participants tended to prefer the presence of sea rather than that of either mountain or trees in views containing a trafficking road. Views containing sea would produce an attenuating effect on noise annoyance while views containing road would produce an aggravating effect. However, the size of the effects did not vary between 0% and 30% sea, or between 30% and 60% road contained in a view. Views containing dense greenery at a close distance would aggravate noise annoyance irrespective of form. However, when the percentage of greenery increased from 30% to 60%, the noise annoyance attenuating effect increased in the case of wooded mountain but decreased in the case of the more transparent tree clumps

Identifying risks in China's counter-terrorism policy

published_or_final_versionInternational and Public AffairsMasterMaster of International and Public Affair

Combining CD4 recovery and CD4: CD8 ratio restoration as an indicator for evaluating the outcome of continued antiretroviral therapy: an observational cohort study

Immune recovery following highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is commonly assessed by the degree of CD4 reconstitution alone. In this study, we aimed to assess immune recovery by incorporating both CD4 count and CD4:CD8 ratio

The central policy unit in the governance of Hong Kong : a study of institutional dynamics

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

A 2-year prospective evaluation of the Prostate Health Index in guiding biopsy decisions in a large cohort

Objectives: To prospectively evaluate how the Prostate Health Index (PHI) impacts on clinical decision in a real-life setting for men with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level between 4 and 10 ng/mL and normal digital rectal examination. Patients and Methods: Since 2016, the PHI has been available at no cost to eligible men in all Hong Kong public hospitals. All eligible patients who received PHI testing in all public Urology units (n = 16) in Hong Kong between May 2016 and August 2017 were prospectively included and followed up. All included men had a PHI test, with its result and implications explained; the subsequent follow-up plan was then decided via shared decision-making with urologists. Patients were followed up for 2 years, with outcomes including prostate biopsy rates and biopsy findings analysed in relation to the initial PHI measurements. Results: A total of 2828 patients were followed up for 2 years. The majority (82%) had PHI results in the lower risk range (score &lt;35). Knowing the PHI findings, 83% of the patients with elevated PSA decided not to undergo biopsy. In all, 11% and 45% opted for biopsy in the PHI score &lt;35 and ≥35 groups, respectively. The initial detection rate of International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Grade Group (GG) ≥2 cancer was higher in the PHI score ≥35 group (23%) than in the PHI score &lt;35 group (7.9%). Amongst patients with no initial positive biopsy findings, the subsequent positive biopsy rate for ISUP GG ≥2 cancer was higher in the PHI score ≥35 group (34%) than the PHI score &lt;35 group (13%) with a median follow-up of 2.4 years. Conclusion: In a real-life setting, with the PHI incorporated into the routine clinical pathway, 83% of the patients with elevated PSA level decided not to undergo prostate biopsy. The PHI pathway also improved the high-grade prostate cancer detection rate when compared to PSA-driven strategies. Higher baseline PHI predicted subsequent biopsy outcome at 2 years. The PHI can serve as a tool to individualise biopsy decisions and frequency of follow-up visits.</p