Minimization of Sensor Activation in Discrete-Event Systems with Control Delays and Observation Delays

In discrete-event systems, to save sensor resources, the agent continuously adjusts sensor activation decisions according to a sensor activation policy based on the changing observations. However, new challenges arise for sensor activations in networked discrete-event systems, where observation delays and control delays exist between the sensor systems and the agent. In this paper, a new framework for activating sensors in networked discrete-event systems is established. In this framework, we construct a communication automaton that explicitly expresses the interaction process between the agent and the sensor systems over the observation channel and the control channel. Based on the communication automaton, we can define dynamic observations of a communicated string. To guarantee that a sensor activation policy is physically implementable and insensitive to random control delays and observation delays, we further introduce the definition of delay feasibility. We show that a delay feasible sensor activation policy can be used to dynamically activate sensors even if control delays and observation delays exist. A set of algorithms are developed to minimize sensor activations in a transition-based domain while ensuring a given specification condition is satisfied. A practical example is provided to show the application of the developed sensor activation methods. Finally, we briefly discuss how to extend the proposed framework to a decentralized sensing architecture

Identifying Key Factors for Burnout Among Orthopedic Surgeons Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process Method

Objectives: To develop an evaluation model for, and identify key factors contributing to, burnout in orthopedic surgeons, providing a reference for the management of burnout among orthopedic surgeons in hospitals.Methods: We developed an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model with 3 dimensions and 10 sub-criteria based on an extensive literature review and expert assessment. We used expert and purposive sampling and 17 orthopedic surgeons were selected as research subjects. The AHP process was then used to obtain the weights and to prioritize the dimensions and criteria for burnout in orthopedic surgeons.Results: The dimension of C1 (personal/family) was the key factor affecting burnout in orthopedic surgeons, and in the sub-criteria, the top four sub-criteria were C11 (little time for family), C31 (anxiety about clinical competence), C12 (work-family conflict), and C22 (heavy work load).Conclusion: This model was effective in analyzing the key factors contributing to job burnout risk, and the results can inform improved management of the levels of burnout affecting orthopedic surgeons in hospitals

Escalation of Commiement in Software Projects: An Examination of Two Theories

Escalation of commitment is common in many software projects. It stands for the situation where managers decide to continue investing in or supporting a prior decision despite new evidence suggesting the original outcome expectation will be missed. Escalation of commitment is generally considered to be irrational. Past literature has proposed several theories to explain the behaviour. Two commonly used interpretations are self-justification and the framing effect. While both theories have been found effective in causing the escalation of commitment, their relative effect is less studied. The purpose of this study is to further investigate the primary factor that causes the escalation of commitment in software project related decisions. An experiment was designed to examine whether the escalation of commitment exists in different decision contingencies and which theories play a more important role in the escalation. One hundred and sixty two subjects participated in the experiment. The results indicate that both self-justification and problem framing have effects on commitment escalation in software projects but the effect of self-justification is stronger. Significant interaction effect is also found. A commitment is more likely to escalate if the problem is framed positively

StoryChat: Designing a Narrative-Based Viewer Participation Tool for Live Streaming Chatrooms

Live streaming platforms and existing viewer participation tools enable users to interact and engage with an online community, but the anonymity and scale of chat usually result in the spread of negative comments. However, only a few existing moderation tools investigate the influence of proactive moderation on viewers' engagement and prosocial behavior. To address this, we developed StoryChat, a narrative-based viewer participation tool that utilizes a dynamic graphical plot to reflect chatroom negativity. We crafted the narrative through a viewer-centered (N=65) iterative design process and evaluated the tool with 48 experienced viewers in a deployment study. We discovered that StoryChat encouraged viewers to contribute prosocial comments, increased viewer engagement, and fostered viewers' sense of community. Viewers reported a closer connection between streamers and other viewers because of the narrative design, suggesting that narrative-based viewer engagement tools have the potential to encourage community engagement and prosocial behaviors

Prevalent Hallucinations during Medical Internships: Phantom Vibration and Ringing Syndromes

Background: Phantom vibration syndrome is a type of hallucination reported among mobile phone users in the general population. Another similar perception, phantom ringing syndrome, has not been previously described in the medical literature. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study of 74 medical interns (46 males, 28 females; mean age, 24.8±1.2 years) was conducted using repeated investigations of the prevalence and associated factors of phantom vibration and ringing. The accompanying symptoms of anxiety and depression were evaluated with the Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories before the internship began, and again at the third, sixth, and twelfth internship months, and two weeks after the internship ended. Results: The baseline prevalence of phantom vibration was 78.1%, which increased to 95.9% and 93.2% in the third and sixth internship months. The prevalence returned to 80.8% at the twelfth month and decreased to 50.0% 2 weeks after the internship ended. The baseline prevalence of phantom ringing was 27.4%, which increased to 84.9%, 87.7%, and 86.3% in the third, sixth, and twelfth internship months, respectively. This returned to 54.2% two weeks after the internship ended. The anxiety and depression scores also increased during the internship, and returned to baseline two weeks after the internship. There was no significant correlation between phantom vibration/ringing and symptoms of anxiety or depression. The incidence of both phantom vibration and ringing syndromes significantly increased during the internship, and subsequent recovery. Conclusion: This study suggests that phantom vibration and ringing might be entities that are independent of anxiety or depression during evaluation of stress-associated experiences during medical internships

Girdling improved berry coloration in summer but suppressed return growth in the following spring in 'Kyoho' grapevines cultivated in the subtropical double cropping system

Improving berry skin coloration is one of the major challenges in the tropical and subtropical viticulture. In this paper we aimed to document the effects of girdling at veraison on berry coloration and quality in grapevines on different rootstocks and we assessed the seasonal variations of girdling effects in the subtropical double cropping system. In the first experiment, gird-ling at veraison was tested in 'Kyoho' on 5C rootstocks. In the second experiment, own-rooted 'Kyoho', 5C or 1202C rootstocks were compared. Vines were trained to a horizontal overhead trellis with a single trunk and two short arms. One arm of each vine was girdled at veraison and the other arm served as the control. Girdling at veraison significantly improved skin color of berries from own-rooted vines or 5C rootstocks in the summer cropping cycle but was less effective in the winter cropping cycle. Girdling improved total soluble solids in own-rooted vines in the summer cropping cycle and in vines on 1202C in the winter cropping cycle. Girdling made in the winter cropping cycle did not completely heal until post-bloom in the following spring and reduced length of the fruiting shoot, number of leaves per shoot, and length of inflorescences of the next summer cropping cycle. We concluded that girdling at veraison is a good practice to improve berry color and quality for the summer cropping cycle but is not recommended for the winter cropping cycle

Sequence variants of the aging gene CISD2 and the risk for Alzheimer's disease

Background/PurposeThe CISD2 gene has been related to life span control and mitochondrial dysfunction in animals. In addition, inhibition of mitochondrial enzymes due to an accumulation of beta-amyloid peptide has been related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to explore the association between sequence variants of the CISD2 gene and risk for AD, which has not been explored previously.MethodsThis was a case–control study involving a total of 276 patients with AD who were recruited from three teaching hospitals in Taiwan from 2007 to 2010; 460 controls were recruited from elderly individuals attending for health check-ups and volunteers in the hospital during the same period of time. All participants were aged 60 years or older. Two haplotype-tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (htSNPs), rs223330 and rs223331, were selected from the CISD2 gene to test the association between their polymorphisms and the risk for dementia, and how ApoE ɛ4 status, sex, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus might modify this association.Resultsrs223330 variant carriage was not associated with risk for AD [TT versus CC: adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.59–1.62; TC versus CC: AOR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.47–1.11]. Similar findings were observed for rs223331 (AA versus TT: AOR = 1.12; AT versus TT: AOR = 0.99). In addition, hypertension significantly modified the association between rs223331 and risk for AD (p = 0.005).Three common haplotypes (with a frequency of 99.8%) were observed for CISD2. Common CISD2 haplotypes were not associated with the risk for AD.ConclusionOur findings suggested that CISD2 htSNPs are not associated with AD risk

Detection of EBV Infection and Gene Expression in Oral Cancer from Patients in Taiwan by Microarray Analysis

Epstein-Barr virus is known to cause nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Although oral cavity is located close to the nasal pharynx, the pathogenetic role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in oral cancers is unclear. This molecular epidemiology study uses EBV genomic microarray (EBV-chip) to simultaneously detect the prevalent rate and viral gene expression patterns in 57 oral squamous cell carcinoma biopsies (OSCC) collected from patients in Taiwan. The majority of the specimens (82.5%) were EBV-positive that probably expressed coincidently the genes for EBNAs, LMP2A and 2B, and certain structural proteins. Importantly, the genes fabricated at the spots 61 (BBRF1, BBRF2, and BBRF3) and 68 (BDLF4 and BDRF1) on EBV-chip were actively expressed in a significantly greater number of OSCC exhibiting exophytic morphology or ulceration than those tissues with deep invasive lesions (P = .0265 and .0141, resp.). The results may thus provide the lead information for understanding the role of EBV in oral cancer pathogenesis

Effectiveness of influenza vaccination in patients with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis: a population-based study.

BackgroundLittle is known on the effectiveness of influenza vaccine in ESRD patients. This study compared the incidence of hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) between cohorts with and without influenza vaccination.MethodsWe used the insurance claims data from 1998 to 2009 in Taiwan to determine the incidence of these events within one year after influenza vaccination in the vaccine (N = 831) and the non-vaccine (N = 3187) cohorts. The vaccine cohort to the non-vaccine cohort incidence rate ratio and hazard ratio (HR) of morbidities and mortality were measured.ResultsThe age-specific analysis showed that the elderly in the vaccine cohort had lower hospitalization rate (100.8 vs. 133.9 per 100 person-years), contributing to an overall HR of 0.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72-0.90). The vaccine cohort also had an adjusted HR of 0.85 [95% CI 0.75-0.96] for heart disease. The corresponding incidence of pneumonia and influenza was 22.4 versus 17.2 per 100 person-years, but with an adjusted HR of 0.80 (95% CI 0.64-1.02). The vaccine cohort had lowered risks than the non-vaccine cohort for intensive care unit (ICU) admission (adjusted HR 0.20, 95% CI 0.12-0.33) and mortality (adjusted HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.41-0.60). The time-dependent Cox model revealed an overall adjusted HR for mortality of 0.30 (95% CI 0.26-0.35) after counting vaccination for multi-years.ConclusionsESRD patients with HD receiving the influenza vaccination could have reduced risks of pneumonia/influenza and other morbidities, ICU stay, hospitalization and death, particularly for the elderly