A demand-driven approach for a multi-agent system in Supply Chain Management

This paper presents the architecture of a multi-agent decision support system for Supply Chain Management (SCM) which has been designed to compete in the TAC SCM game. The behaviour of the system is demand-driven and the agents plan, predict, and react dynamically to changes in the market. The main strength of the system lies in the ability of the Demand agent to predict customer winning bid prices - the highest prices the agent can offer customers and still obtain their orders. This paper investigates the effect of the ability to predict customer order prices on the overall performance of the system. Four strategies are proposed and compared for predicting such prices. The experimental results reveal which strategies are better and show that there is a correlation between the accuracy of the models' predictions and the overall system performance: the more accurate the prediction of customer order prices, the higher the profit. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Primary melanotic schwannoma with typical histology

Abstract We present a case of a 17-year male with a soft tissue density spreading from the neural foramina (T3) of the spinal cord and involving the right upper thoracic cavity. We managed the patient through surgical intervention and resected the complete tumor. Gross definition and microscopic findings of the resected tissue revealed the definitive diagnosis of melanotic schwannoma. The histological characteristics in this case were very specific and harbour an important diagnostic clue for this rare disease. Malignant melanoma was ruled out on the basis of histological findings. The patient recovered completely and was healthy on one-year follow-up

Measuring diversity in medical reports based on categorized attributes and international classification systems

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Narrative medical reports do not use standardized terminology and often bring insufficient information for statistical processing and medical decision making. Objectives of the paper are to propose a method for measuring diversity in medical reports written in any language, to compare diversities in narrative and structured medical reports and to map attributes and terms to selected classification systems.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A new method based on a general concept of f-diversity is proposed for measuring diversity of medical reports in any language. The method is based on categorized attributes recorded in narrative or structured medical reports and on international classification systems. Values of categories are expressed by terms. Using SNOMED CT and ICD 10 we are mapping attributes and terms to predefined codes. We use f-diversities of Gini-Simpson and Number of Categories types to compare diversities of narrative and structured medical reports. The comparison is based on attributes selected from the Minimal Data Model for Cardiology (MDMC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We compared diversities of 110 Czech narrative medical reports and 1119 Czech structured medical reports. Selected categorized attributes of MDMC had mostly different numbers of categories and used different terms in narrative and structured reports. We found more than 60% of MDMC attributes in SNOMED CT. We showed that attributes in narrative medical reports had greater diversity than the same attributes in structured medical reports. Further, we replaced each value of category (term) used for attributes in narrative medical reports by the closest term and the category used in MDMC for structured medical reports. We found that relative Gini-Simpson diversities in structured medical reports were significantly smaller than those in narrative medical reports except the "Allergy" attribute.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Terminology in narrative medical reports is not standardized. Therefore it is nearly impossible to map values of attributes (terms) to codes of known classification systems. A high diversity in narrative medical reports terminology leads to more difficult computer processing than in structured medical reports and some information may be lost during this process. Setting a standardized terminology would help healthcare providers to have complete and easily accessible information about patients that would result in better healthcare.</p

Do Stress Responses Promote Leukemia Progression? An Animal Study Suggesting a Role for Epinephrine and Prostaglandin-E2 through Reduced NK Activity

In leukemia patients, stress and anxiety were suggested to predict poorer prognosis. Oncological patients experience ample physiological and psychological stress, potentially leading to increased secretion of stress factors, including epinephrine, corticosteroids, and prostaglandins. Here we tested whether environmental stress and these stress factors impact survival of leukemia-challenged rats, and studied mediating mechanisms. F344 rats were administered with a miniscule dose of 60 CRNK-16 leukemia cells, and were subjected to intermittent forced swim stress or to administration of physiologically relevant doses of epinephrine, prostaglandin-E2 or corticosterone. Stress and each stress factor, and/or their combinations, doubled mortality rates when acutely applied simultaneously with, or two or six days after tumor challenge. Acute administration of the β-adrenergic blocker nadolol diminished the effects of environmental stress, without affecting baseline survival rates. Prolonged β-adrenergic blockade or COX inhibition (using etodolac) also increased baseline survival rates, possibly by blocking tumor-related or normal levels of catecholamines and prostaglandins. Searching for mediating mechanisms, we found that each of the stress factors transiently suppressed NK activity against CRNK-16 and YAC-1 lines on a per NK basis. In contrast, the direct effects of stress factors on CRNK-16 proliferation, vitality, and VEGF secretion could not explain or even contradicted the in vivo survival findings. Overall, it seems that environmental stress, epinephrine, and prostaglandins promote leukemia progression in rats, potentially through suppressing cell mediated immunity. Thus, patients with hematological malignancies, which often exhibit diminished NK activity, may benefit from extended β-blockade and COX inhibition

The role of psychologists in international migration research: complementing other expertise and an interdisciplinary way forward

This research note addresses the current and potential future role of psychologists in the study of international migration. It reviews ways in which psychologists have contributed to the study of migration, as well as ways in which psychological scholarship could be integrated with work from other social science fields. Broadly, the note discusses four major contributions that psychology brings to the study of international migration—studying migrants’ internal psychological experiences, incorporating a developmental perspective, conducting experimental studies, and integrating across levels of analysis. Given the position of psychology as a ‘hub science’ connecting more traditional social sciences with health and medical sciences, we argue for a more prominent role for psychologists within the study of international migration. Such a role is intended to complement the roles of other social scientists and to create a more interdisciplinary way forward for the field of migration studies. The research note concludes with an agenda for further scholarship on migration.Development Psychopathology in context: clinical setting

The influence of haptic feedback on hand movement regularity in elderly adults

"Eight elderly adults and eight young adults were requested to perform circular movements with the hand through a commercial haptic platform, under different conditions in an ecological setting: with visual feedback, and with a force field produced by the machine. Measures of kinematics and movement regularity (maximum velocity, duration, mean square jerk, and its normalized form) were captured to determine the effect of these feedbacks on hand kinematics. In the elderly group, regularity was lower when haptic feedback was given in combination with visual feedback as compared to providing haptic feedback alone. This effect appeared also in the group of young adults, and outlines the possibility that the ability to integrate different feedbacks may need more time to be learned, even if the feedbacks are generated to facilitate movements.

Appocrine hidrocystoma of the finger

An apocrine hidrocystoma occurring on the finger of a 55-year-old man is reported. The lesion presented as a solitary, painless cystic nodule on the dorsal aspect of the middle phalanx of the index finger. Apocrine hidrocystoma is a benign tumour developed from apocrine sweat glands, but the location of the lesion was, however, not consistent with reported locations of apocrine glands in the adult.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Haptic Feedback Affects Movement Regularity of Upper Extremity Movements in Elderly Adults

Eight elderly adults were requested to perform circle movements with the hand through a commercial haptic platform, in two different conditions: with visual feedback, and with a facilitating force field produced by the machine. A measure of movement regularity (the mean square jerk in its normalized form) were captured to determine the effect of these feedbacks on hand kinematics. Regularity was higher when haptics feedback was given alone (MSJratio 6.48 +/- 0.15), as compared to combining it with visual feedback (MSJratio 7.46 +/- 0.18). We interpreted these differences as the ability to process visual information in trajectory tracking conditions as higher than the one to cope with external force fields, also when provided as a hypothetically facilitating one