Data preprocessing for artificial neural network applications in prioritizing railroad projects â a practical experience in Taiwan

[[abstract]]Financial constraints necessitate the tradeoff among proposed railroad projects, so that the project priorities for implementation and budget allocation need to be determined by the ranking mechanisms in the government. At present, the Taiwan central government prioritizes funding allocations primarily using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a methodology that permits the synthesizing of subjective judgments systematically and logically into objective consensus. However, due to the coopetition and heterogeneity of railway projects, the proper priorities of railroad projects could not be always evaluated by the AHP. The decision makers prefer subjective judgments to referring to the AHP evaluation re- sults. This circumstance not only decreased the AHP advantages, but also raised the risk of the policies. A method to con- sider both objective measures and subjective judgments of project attributes can help reduce this problem. Accordingly, combining the AHP with the artificial neural network (ANN) methodologies would theoretically be a proper solution to bring a ranking predication model by creating the obscure relations between objective measures by the AHP and subjec- tive judgments. However, the inconsistency between the AHP evaluation and subjective judgments resulted in the inferior soundness of the AHP/ANN ranking forecast model. To overcome this problem, this study proposes the data prepro- cessing method (DPM) to calculate the correlation coefficient value using the subjective and objective ranking incidence matrixes; according to the correlation coefficient value, the consistency between the AHP rankings and subjective judg- ments of railroad projects can be evaluated and improved, so that the forecast accuracy of the AHP/ANN ranking forecast model can also be enhanced. Based on this concept, a practical railroad project ranking experience derived from the Insti- tute of Transportation of Taiwan is illustrated in this paper to reveal the feasibility of applying the DPM to the AHP/ANN ranking prediction model.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SCI[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]電子版[[countrycodes]]LT

The effect of a culturally tailored web-based physical activity promotion program on Asian American midlife women’s depressive symptoms

The benefits of physical activities on depressive symptoms have increasingly been reported in the literature, but the effect through which a Web-based physical activity promotion program alleviates depressive symptoms is not clearly known, especially among ethnic minority midlife women. The purpose of this pilot randomized control study is to examine the preliminary efficacy of the Web-based physical activity promotion program in enhancing the depressive symptoms of Asian American midlife women through increasing physical activity. This study adopted a randomized repeated measures pretest/posttest control group design. This study consisted of two groups of research participants: 18 in an intervention group and 15 in a control group. By using multiple instruments, the participants’ background and health status, depressive symptom experience, and physical activity experience were measured at three time points (pre-, post 1-month, and post 3-months). The data were analyzed using a modified intent-to-treat linear mixed-model growth curve analysis. After controlling for covariates, random intercept, and random slope, only discrimination stress showed statistical significances in the group effect (0.18, p = .08 for control) and time effect (-0.04, p = .04), but not in the group × time effect (p = .51). The active living habits scores showed statistical significances in the group effect (0.82, p \u3c 0.01 for control), time effect (0.29, p \u3c 0.01), and group × time effect (-0.31, p = 0.03 for control). Findings support the significant effect of the Web-based physical activity promotion program on the women’s discrimination stress and active living habits

Cytomegalovirus enteritis in immunocompetent patients: Report of two cases diagnosed using single-balloon enteroscopy

SummaryCytomegalovirus (CMV) infection of the gastrointestinal tract involves mostly the colon and rectum and mainly develops in immunocompromised patients. CMV infection in the small intestines has rarely been reported in immunocompetent patients. We report two cases of CMV enteritis that developed in immunocompetent patients and involved the ileum and jejunum, respectively. Both of them were diagnosed with single-balloon enteroscopy (SBE) and further confirmed with histopathology. The first case is a 71-year-old woman with a presentation of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding and severe anemia. Neither esophagogastroduodenoscopy nor colonoscopy identified any active bleeding. SBE and biopsy disclosed multiple scattered ulcers in the distal ileum and histopathology confirmed CMV ileitis. The hemorrhage subsided after conservative medical treatment. The second case is a 59-year-old woman with a presentation of progressive abdominal pain. SBE showed diffuse irregularly-shaped ulcers located from the upper to middle jejunum, and CMV jejunitis was confirmed with endoscopic biopsy and histopathological examination. Antiviral therapy was prescribed and her abdominal pain improved gradually. We discuss the clinical manifestations and management strategies of CMV infection that develops in the small intestines of immunocompetent patients. In addition, we highlight the endoscopic characteristics of CMV enteritis and the clinical utilities of SBE in the evaluation of patients with suspected CMV infection of the small intestines

New Graduate Nurses’ Clinical Competence, Clinical Stress, and Intention to Leave: A Longitudinal Study in Taiwan

This longitudinal research study aimed to develop a pregraduation clinical training program for nursing students before graduation and evaluate its effect on students’ self-perceived clinical competence, clinical stress, and intention to leave current job. A sample of 198 students returned the questionnaires before and after the program. They were followed up at 3, 6, and 12 months after graduation. Results showed that posttest clinical competence was significantly higher than pretest competence, positively related to clinical competence at 3 and 12 months, and negatively related to clinical stress at 3 months. The clinical competence at 3 months was positively related to clinical competence at 6 and 12 months, and clinical competence at 6 months was related to intention to leave at 12 months. Intention to leave at 6 months was positively related to intention to leave at 3 and 12 months. Clinical stress at 3 months was positively related to clinical stress at 6 and 12 months, but not related to intention to leave at any time points. The training program improved students’ clinical competence. The stressful time that was correlated with new graduate nurses’ intention to leave their job was between the sixth and twelfth months after employment

Internet Recruitment of Asian American Breast Cancer Survivors

The purpose of this paper is to identify practical issues in Internet recruitment of racial/ethnic minorities by analyzing an Internet intervention study conducted with Asian American breast cancer survivors, and to propose directions for recruitment of racial/ethnic minorities for future Internet research. Six practical issues were identified: (a) a relatively fewer number of Internet communities/groups; (b) hindrances in establishing authenticity; (c) difficulties in gaining entrée from the webmasters or website owners of Internet communities/groups; (d) the necessity of racially/ethnically matched research team members; (e) flexibility required in recruitment strategies; and (f) strategies to overcome the low response rate

Chloroplast phosphoglycerate kinase, a gluconeogenetic enzyme, is required for efficient accumulation of Bamboo mosaic virus

The tertiary structure in the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV) RNA is known to be involved in minus-strand RNA synthesis. Proteins found in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) fraction of BaMV-infected leaves interact with the radio labeled 3′-UTR probe in electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). Results derived from the ultraviolet (UV) cross-linking competition assays suggested that two cellular factors, p43 and p51, interact specifically with the 3′-UTR of BaMV RNA. p43 and p51 associate with the poly(A) tail and the pseudoknot of the BaMV 3′-UTR, respectively. p51-containing extracts specifically down-regulated minus-strand RNA synthesis when added to in vitro RdRp assays. LC/MS/MS sequencing indicates that p43 is a chloroplast phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK). When the chloroplast PKG levels were knocked down in plants, using virus-induced gene silencing system, the accumulation level of BaMV coat protein was also reduced

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities