Driver scheduling by integer linear programming: the TRACS II approach

This paper concentrates on the mathematical programming component of the TRACS II system, describing the algorithm and recent developments. Results on a selection of real-world bus and train problems are reported. 2 THE DRIVER SCHEDULING PROBLE

Trust and Risk Relationship Analysis on a Workflow Basis: A Use Case

Trust and risk are often seen in proportion to each other; as such, high trust may induce low risk and vice versa. However, recent research argues that trust and risk relationship is implicit rather than proportional. Considering that trust and risk are implicit, this paper proposes for the first time a novel approach to view trust and risk on a basis of a W3C PROV provenance data model applied in a healthcare domain. We argue that high trust in healthcare domain can be placed in data despite of its high risk, and low trust data can have low risk depending on data quality attributes and its provenance. This is demonstrated by our trust and risk models applied to the BII case study data. The proposed theoretical approach first calculates risk values at each workflow step considering PROV concepts and second, aggregates the final risk score for the whole provenance chain. Different from risk model, trust of a workflow is derived by applying DS/AHP method. The results prove our assumption that trust and risk relationship is implicit

To Trust or Not to Trust? Developing Trusted Digital Spaces through Timely Reliable and Personalized Provenance

Organizations are increasingly dependent on data stored and processed by distributed, heterogeneous services to make critical, high-value decisions. However, these service-oriented computing environments are dynamic in nature and are becoming ever more complex systems of systems. In such evolving and dynamic eco-system infrastructures, knowing how data was derived is of significant importance in determining its validity and reliability. To address this, a number of advocates and theorists postulate that provenance is critical to building trust in data and the services that generated it as it provides evidence for data consumers to judge the integrity of the results. This paper presents a summary of the STRAPP (trusted digital Spaces through Timely Reliable And Personalised Provenance) project, which is designing and engineering mechanisms to achieve a holistic solution to a number of real-world service-based decision-support systems

Microparticles Harboring Sonic Hedgehog Morphogen Improve the Vasculogenesis Capacity of Endothelial Progenitor Cells Derived from Myocardial Infarction Patients.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) play a role in endothelium integrity maintenance and regeneration. Decreased numbers of EPC or their impaired function correlates with an increase in cardiovascular events. Thus, EPC are important predictors of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Microparticles carrying Sonic hedgehog (Shh) morphogen (MPShhþ) trigger pro-angiogenic responses, both in endothelial cells and in ischaemic rodent models. Here, we propose that MPShhþ regulates EPC function, thus enhancing vasculogenesis, and correcting the defects in dysfunctional EPC obtained from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients

A flexible system for scheduling drivers

A substantial part of the operating costs of public transport is attributable to drivers, whose efficient use therefore is important. The compilation of optimal work packages is difficult, being NP-hard. In practice, algorithmic advances and enhanced computing power have led to significant progress in achieving better schedules. However, differences in labor practices among modes of transport and operating companies make production of a truly general system with acceptable performance a difficult proposition. TRACS II has overcome these difficulties, being used with success by a substantial number of bus and train operators. Many theoretical aspects of the system have been published previously. This paper shows for the first time how theory and practice have been brought together, explaining the many features which have been added to the algorithmic kernel to provide a user-friendly and adaptable system designed to provide maximum flexibility in practice. We discuss the extent to which users have been involved in system development, leading to many practical successes, and we summarize some recent achievements

Improved Squeaky Wheel Optimisation for Driver Scheduling

This paper presents a technique called Improved Squeaky Wheel Optimisation for driver scheduling problems. It improves the original Squeaky Wheel Optimisations effectiveness and execution speed by incorporating two additional steps of Selection and Mutation which implement evolution within a single solution. In the ISWO, a cycle of Analysis-Selection-Mutation-Prioritization-Construction continues until stopping conditions are reached. The Analysis step first computes the fitness of a current solution to identify troublesome components. The Selection step then discards these troublesome components probabilistically by using the fitness measure, and the Mutation step follows to further discard a small number of components at random. After the above steps, an input solution becomes partial and thus the resulting partial solution needs to be repaired. The repair is carried out by using the Prioritization step to first produce priorities that determine an order by which the following Construction step then schedules the remaining components. Therefore, the optimisation in the ISWO is achieved by solution disruption, iterative improvement and an iterative constructive repair process performed. Encouraging experimental results are reported

The coming together of allosteric and phosphorylation mechanisms in the molecular integration of A2A heteroreceptor complexes in the dorsal and ventral striatal-pallidal GABA neurons

The role of adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) and striatal-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase (STEP) interactions in the striatal-pallidal GABA neurons was recently discussed in relation to A2AR overexpression and cocaine-induced increases of brain adenosine levels. As to phosphorylation, combined activation of A2AR and metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) in the striatal-pallidal GABA neurons appears necessary for phosphorylation of the GluA1 unit of the AMPA receptor to take place. Robert Yasuda (J Neurochem 152: 270–272, 2020) focused on finding a general mechanism by which STEP activation is enhanced by increased A2AR transmission in striatal-pallidal GABA neurons expressing A2AR and dopamine D2 receptor. In his Editorial, he summarized in a clear way the significant effects of A2AR activation on STEP in the dorsal striatal-pallidal GABA neurons which involves a rise of intracellular levels of calcium causing STEP activation through its dephosphorylation. However, the presence of the A2AR in an A2AR-fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) heteroreceptor complex can be required in the dorsal striatal-pallidal GABA neurons for the STEP activation. Furthermore, Won et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116: 8028–8037, 2019) found in mass spectrometry experiments that the STEP splice variant STEP(61) can bind to mGluR5 and inactivate it. In addition, A2AR overexpression can lead to increased formation of A2AR-mGluR5 heterocomplexes in ventral striatal-pallidal GABA neurons. It involves enhanced facilitatory allosteric interactions leading to increased Gq-mediated mGluR5 signaling activating STEP. The involvement of both A2AR and STEP in the actions of cocaine on synaptic downregulation was also demonstrated. The enhancement of mGluR5 protomer activity by the A2AR protomer in A2AR-mGluR5 heterocomplexes in the nucleus accumbens shell appears to have a novel significant role in STEP mechanisms by both enhancing the activation of STEP and being a target for STEP(61)

A two-phase approach for real-world train unit scheduling

A two-phase approach for the train unit scheduling problem is proposed. The first phase assigns and sequences train trips to train units temporarily ignoring some station infrastructure details. Real-world scenarios such as compatibility among traction types and banned/restricted locations and time allowances for coupling/ decoupling are considered. Its solutions would be near-operable. The second phase focuses on satisfying the remaining station detail requirements, such that the solutions would be fully operable. The first phase is modeled as an integer fixed-charge multicommodity flow (FCMF) problem. A branch-and-price approach is proposed to solve it. Experiments have shown that it is only capable of handling problem instances within about 500 train trips. The train company collaborating in this research operates over 2400 train trips on a typical weekday. Hence, a heuristic has been designed for compacting the problem instance to a much smaller size before the branch-and-price solver is applied. The process is iterative with evolving compaction based on the results from the previous iteration, thereby converging to near-optimal results. The second phase is modeled as a multidimensional matching problem with a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation. A column-and-dependentrow generation method for it is under development

Dietary advice for muscularity, leanness and weight control in Men's Health magazine: a content analysis

Background: The dietary content of advice in men’s lifestyle magazines has not been closely scrutinised. Methods: We carried out an analysis of such content in all 2009 issues (n = 11) of Men’s Health (MH) focusing on muscularity, leanness and weight control. Results: Promotion of a mesomorphic body image underpinned advice to affect muscle building and control weight. Diet advice was underpinned by a strong pseudo-scientific discourse, with citation of expert sources widely used to legitimise the information. Frequently multiple dietary components were advocated within one article e.g. fat, omega-3 fatty acids, thiamine, zinc and high-glycaemic index foods. Furthermore advice would cover numerous nutritional effects, e.g. strengthening bones, reducing stress and boosting testosterone, with little contextualisation. The emphasis on attainment of a mesomorphic body image permitted promotion of slimming diets. Advice to increase calorie and protein intake to augment muscle mass was frequent (183 and 262 references, respectively). Such an anabolic diet was advised in various ways, including consumption of traditional protein foods (217 references) and sports foods (107 references), thereby replicating muscle magazines’ support for nutritional supplements. Although advice to increase consumption of red meat was common (52 references), fish and non-flesh sources of protein (eggs, nuts & pulses, and soy products) together exceeded red meat in number of recommendations (206 references). Advice widely asserted micronutrients and phytochemicals from plant food (161 references) as being important in muscle building. This emphasis diverges from stereotypical gender-based food consumption patterns. Dietary advice for control of body weight largely replicated that of muscularity, with strong endorsement to consume fruits and vegetables (59 references), diets rich in nuts and pulses and fish (66 references), as well as specific micronutrients and phytochemicals (62 references). Notably there was emphasis on fat-burning, good fats and consumption of single foods, with relatively little mention of dietary restriction. Conclusions: Despite the widespread use of scientific information to endorse dietary advice, the content, format and scientific basis of dietary content of MH leaves much to be desired. The dietary advice as provided may not be conducive to public health

Bladder cancer index: cross-cultural adaptation into Spanish and psychometric evaluation

BACKGROUND: The Bladder Cancer Index (BCI) is so far the only instrument applicable across all bladder cancer patients, independent of tumor infiltration or treatment applied. We developed a Spanish version of the BCI, and assessed its acceptability and metric properties. METHODS: For the adaptation into Spanish we used the forward and back-translation method, expert panels, and cognitive debriefing patient interviews. For the assessment of metric properties we used data from 197 bladder cancer patients from a multi-center prospective study. The Spanish BCI and the SF-36 Health Survey were self-administered before and 12 months after treatment. Reliability was estimated by Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was assessed through the multi-trait multi-method matrix. The magnitude of change was quantified by effect sizes to assess responsiveness. RESULTS: Reliability coefficients ranged 0.75-0.97. The validity analysis confirmed moderate associations between the BCI function and bother subscales for urinary (r = 0.61) and bowel (r = 0.53) domains; conceptual independence among all BCI domains (r ≤ 0.3); and low correlation coefficients with the SF-36 scores, ranging 0.14-0.48. Among patients reporting global improvement at follow-up, pre-post treatment changes were statistically significant for the urinary domain and urinary bother subscale, with effect sizes of 0.38 and 0.53. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish BCI is well accepted, reliable, valid, responsive, and similar in performance compared to the original instrument. These findings support its use, both in Spanish and international studies, as a valuable and comprehensive tool for assessing quality of life across a wide range of bladder cancer patients