INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON CASE-BASED REASONING IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES

There has been an explosion of interest in health sciences applications of case-based reasoning (CBR), not only in the traditional CBR in medicine domain, but also in bioinformatics, enabling home health-care technologies, CBR integration, and synergies between CBR and knowledge discovery. This special issue features the best papers from the third workshop on CBR in the health sciences, held at ICCBR-05 in Madrid. It is the third in a series of exciting workshops, the first two of which were held at ICCBR-03, in Trondheim, Norway, and at ECCBR-04, in Madrid, Spain. The nine high-quality papers introduced here represent the research and experience of twenty-two authors working in eight different countries on a wide range of problems and projects. These papers illustrate some of the major trends of current research in CBR in the health sciences, and represent overall an excellent sample of the most recent advances of CBR in the health sciences.     

The application of IT in organisations: Some trends and issues

Abstract

This paper describes some trends and issues in the application of information technology in organisations. Technology trends are outlined in the areas of computing power, telecommunications, networking, software and standards. Some trends in the applications of IT are described with respect to developments in information systems and office automation. Some differences in the likely role of IT in the industrialised and developing countries are discussed. The second half of the paper deals with issues in the management of IT applications in organisations, and issues are identified as being political, organisational and social in nature in addition to technical. A social systems framework is proposed for the analysis of these issues. Some specific IT issues are then discussed involving alternative stakeholder perspectives, the analysis of decision making processes, the process of consultation and communication and the organisational impacts of IT applications.     

Access to information in Europe

Developments in telecommunications, together with the availability of large collections of bibliographic references in computer-readable form, have produced a great change in access to scientific and technical information. Although the major information systems are in the USA, there is rapid development in Europe under the stimulus of the Commission of the European Communities' action plans in this area. Progress in the provision of information systems in Europe is described, and the problems that are still under consideration are discussed.     

The Old-Age Healthy Dependency Ratio in Europe

The aim of this study is to answer the question of whether improvements in the health of the elderly in European countries could compensate for population ageing on the supply side of the labour market. We propose a state-of-health-specific (additive) decomposition of the old-age dependency ratio into an old-age healthy dependency ratio and an old-age unhealthy dependency ratio in order to participate in a discussion of the significance of changes in population health to compensate for the ageing of the labour force. Applying the proposed indicators to the Eurostat's population projection for the years 2010-2050, and assuming there will be equal improvements in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth, we discuss various scenarios concerning future of the European labour force. While improvements in population health are anticipated during the years 2010-2050, the growth in the number of elderly people in Europe may be expected to lead to a rise in both healthy and unhealthy dependency ratios. The healthy dependency ratio is, however, projected to make up the greater part of the old-age dependency ratio. In the European countries in 2006, the value of the old-age dependency ratio was 25. But in the year 2050, with a positive migration balance over the years 2010-2050, there would be 18 elderly people in poor health plus 34 in good health per 100 people in the current working age range of 15-64. In the scenarios developed in this study, we demonstrate that improvements in health and progress in preventing disability will not, by themselves, compensate for the ageing of the workforce. However, coupled with a positive migration balance, at the level and with the age structure assumed in the Eurostat's population projections, these developments could ease the effect of population ageing on the supply side of the European labour market.     

Adaptive solutions to the mutual exclusion problem

Summary Algorithms for mutual exclusion that adapt to the current degree of contention are developed. Afilter and a leader election algorithm form the basic building blocks. The algorithms achieve system response times that are independent of the total number of processes and governed instead by the current degree of contention. The final algorithm achieves a constant amortized system response time. Manhoi Choy was born in 1967 in Hong Kong. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineerings from the University of Hong Kong in 1989, and his M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1991. Currently, he is working on his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His research interests are in the areas of parallel and distributed systems, and distributed algorithms. Ambuj K. Singh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989, an M.S. in Computer Science from Iowa State University in 1984, and a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur in 1982. His research interests are in the areas of adaptive resource allocation, concurrent program development, and distributed shared memory.A preliminary version of the paper appeared in the 12th Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed ComputingWork supported in part by NSF grants CCR-9008628 and CCR-9223094     

Food security problems in sub-Saharan Africa: Operations Research as a tool of analysis

For many years, the author has been involved in teaching and research in the use of Operations Research as a tool of analysis to study food security problems in sub‐Saharan Africa, in particular, grass root problems of poor farmers. The paper presents an introduction to the way Operations Research methods have been applied in case studies and research projects, and discusses in retrospect the author's views on the strengths and limitations of the application of Operations Research. The paper has in particular been written for people who are not familiar with applications of Operations Research in agriculture, and are interested to learn about its potential usefulness in practice. The retrospective part is largely based on food security studies in e.g. Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Bénin, Togo and Eritrea and on participation in several interdisciplinary research programmes in Africa.     

A formal framework for scenario development in support of environmental decision-making

Scenarios are possible future states of the world that represent alternative plausible conditions under different assumptions. Often, scenarios are developed in a context relevant to stakeholders involved in their applications since the evaluation of scenario outcomes and implications can enhance decision-making activities. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of scenario development and proposes a formal approach to scenario development in environmental decision-making. The discussion of current issues in scenario studies includes advantages and obstacles in utilizing a formal scenario development framework, and the different forms of uncertainty inherent in scenario development, as well as how they should be treated. An appendix for common scenario terminology has been attached for clarity. Major recommendations for future research in this area include proper consideration of uncertainty in scenario studies in particular in relation to stakeholder relevant information, construction of scenarios that are more diverse in nature, and sharing of information and resources among the scenario development research community.     

在结构与随机扰动下的大系统的稳定性

在本文中,我们给出了在结构与随机扰动下的动态大系统的稳定性分析,建立了这类大系统的依概率吸引性,依概率一致有界性,依概率大范围渐近稳定性,p吸引性,一致p有界性,和大范围渐近p稳定性的结论。这些结论的假设是由孤立子系统和与其联系的李亚普诺夫函数,受扰系统的结构和作用在子系统上的随机扰动表出的。     

多机器人系统任务分配的研究进展

多机器人系统任务分配是机器人研究领域一个关键的研究课题。从多机器人任务分配分类及问题描述、多机器人任务分配的研究动态等方面对多机器人任务分配进行了综述,并根据近期文献探讨了多机器人系统任务分配需要解决的若干重要问题。     

汉语多重关系复句的关系层次分析

汉语多重关系复句的句法分析问题主要由复句中的关系分析和层次分析两部分组成.将多重关系复句中的层次分析作为研究对象.它是针对多种逻辑或并列关系,按照一定层次组成复杂主从关系复句而进行的关系层次分析过程.为了有效地形式化地表示多重关系复句的层次结构,提出了关系层次树的概念,并以此为基础构造文法,采用部分数据驱动的确定性移进-归约算法实现多重关系复句的关系层次分析.通过开放测试对计算机实现的多重关系复句句法分析器进行考察,93.56%的正确率使所提出的分析方法的有效性和正确性得到了充分的验证.     

Increased synchrony with increase of a low-threshold calcium conductance in a model thalamic network: a phase-shift mechanism

A computer model of a thalamic network was used in order to examine the effects of an isolated augmentation in a low-threshold calcium current. Such an isolated augmentation has been observed in the reticular thalamic (RE) nucleus of the genetic absence epilepsy rat from the Strasbourg (GAERS) model of absence epilepsy. An augmentation of the low-threshold calcium conductance in the RE neurons (gTs) of the model thalamic network was found to lead to an increase in the synchronized firing of the network. This supports the hypothesis that the isolated increase in gTs may be responsible for epileptic activity in the GAERS rat. The increase of gTs in the RE neurons led to a slight increase in the period of the isolated RE neuron firing. In contrast, the low-threshold spike of the RE neuron remained relatively unchanged by the increase of gTs. This suggests that the enhanced synchrony in the network was primarily due to a phase shift in the firing of the RE neurons with respect to the thalamocortical neurons. The ability of this phase-shift mechanism to lead to changes in synchrony was further examined using the model thalamic network. A similar increase in the period of RE neuron oscillations was obtained through an increase in the conductance of the calcium-mediated potassium channel. This change was once again found to increase synchronous firing in the network.     

A Pace of Its Own: The Demography of Ageing in Sri Lanka

The process of demographic ageing in Sri Lanka is striking in comparison to the experience of other countries in South Asia, and in comparison to many developing countries more generally. The proportion of the population older than 60 years in Sri Lanka was much higher—almost double—than in any other country in the region in 2000, and by 2030, it is expected that nearly one of every five Sri Lankans will be elderly. The rapid ageing of the Sri Lankan population is contributing to the emergence of several policy issues that will undoubtedly become more acute in the years to come. The primary aim of this paper is to examine the magnitude, characteristics and determinants of demographic ageing in Sri Lanka, a country whose demography has received little international attention, and discuss some of the implications of this ageing process for selected policy issues.     

Deflationary Regulation of Market Equilibrium

Deflation in economy is defined as a result of reduction of the amount of money in circulation by the Central Bank and the financial sector, which violated the equilibrium. The equilibrium can be restored by the market system in the process of regulating the production of goods through reduction in the number of employed in the production sector in the context of consumer demand. To restore the growth of production of goods and overcome deflationary period, the Central Bank, at the cost of capital employed in production, should establish the amount of money in circulation that ensures the necessary level of inflation. As a result, overcoming the deflation leads to a financial catastrophe with high unemployment and hyperinflation.     

Automata with Multivalued Input and Their Behavior in Random Environments

In the last quarter century, the interests of the investigators of automata have ranged over many problems, from algorithms for economical and reliable relay-type automata to abstract theory, including problems of representability of events in various automata. Among the many topics of that theory, much attention has recently been devoted to behavior of automata in competitive situations and games. The interest in these topics was stimulated by developments in physiology and psychology, by attempts to explain the development of purposeful behavior in animals and by the desire to simulate behavioral acts. Later, it was found that the results achieved in this field were useful in several complex control problems, in particular, the control of industrial plants, and this led to new problems in the theory. In this paper we shall sketch out an approach to the problem of behavior of automata in various situations (environments).     

计算机辅助设计课程在机械制图教学中的初探

首先阐述计算机辅助设计在高职类院校计算机专业课程中开设的必要性。再结合教师实际教学经验,分块讨论计算机辅助设计在机械制图中的应用,给出相应教学内容及教学方法,以便更好地为高职院校课程的开设提供帮助。     

In vivo characterization of renal auto-antigens involved in human auto-immune diseases: the case of membranous glomerulonephritis

Renal auto-immune diseases represent a major source of morbidity in humans. For many years the knowledge on mechanisms of auto-immunity involving the kidney has been uniquely based on animal models. However, these findings often could not be readily translated to humans owing to notably difference in antigen expression by human podocytes. One example is Heymann nephritis (HN), the experimental model of human membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN), which is obtained in rats by injecting antibodies against megalin, a protein that is not present in human glomeruli. Human studies could not be done in the past since sequencing required too much material exceeding what obtainable from tissue biopsies in vivo. Research is now on the way to identify auto-antigens and isolate specific auto-antibodies in humans. New technology developments based on tissue microdissection and proteomical analysis have facilitated the recent discoveries, allowing direct analysis of human tissue in vivo. Major advances on the pathogenesis of MGN, the prototype for the formation and glomerular deposition of auto-antibodies, are now in progress. Two independent groups have, in fact, demonstrated the existence of specific IgG(4) against phospholipase A2 receptor, aldose reductase and Mn-superoxide dismutase in glomerular eluates and in plasma of a prominent part of patients with MGN, suggesting a major role of these proteins as auto-antigens in human MGN. This review will focalize these aspects outlining the contribution of proteomics in most recent developments.     

A comparison of models for fusion of the auditory and visual sensors in speech perception

Though a large amount of psychological and physiological evidence of audio-visual integration in speech has been collected in the last 20 years, there is no agreement about the nature of the fusion process. We present the main experimental data, and describe the various models proposed in the literature, together with a number of studies in the field of automatic audiovisual speech recognition. We discuss these models in relation to general proposals arising from psychology in the field of intersensory interaction, or from the field of vision and robotics in the field of sensor fusion. Then we examine the characteristics of four main models, in the light of psychological data and formal properties, and we present the results of a modelling study on audio-visual recognition of French vowels in noise. We conclude in favor of the relative superiority of a model in which the auditory and visual inputs are projected and fused in a common representation space related to motor properties of speech objects, the fused representation being further classified for lexical access.     

Stability of nonlinear hybrid dynamical systems with time delay via sum of squares decomposition

Considering an infinite number of eigenvalues for time delay systems, it is difficult to determine their stability. We have developed a new approach for the stability test of time delay nonlinear hybrid systems. Construction of Lyapunov functions for hybrid systems is generally a difficult task, but once these functions are found, stability’s analysis of the system is straight-forward. In this paper both delay-independent and delay-dependent stability tests are proposed, based on the construction of appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals. The methodology is based on the sum of squares decomposition of multivariate polynomials and the algorithmic construction is achieved through the use of semidefinite programming. The reduction techniques provide numerical solution of large-scale instances; otherwise they will be computationally infeasible to solve. The introduced method can be used for hybrid systems with linear or nonlinear vector fields. Finally simulation results show the correctness and validity of the designed method. Recommended by Editorial Board member Young Soo Suh under the direction of Editor Jae Weon Choi. The authors wish to express their thanks to Dr. A. Papachristodoulou and Dr. M. Peet for their helpful comments and suggestions. Mohammad Ali Badamchizadeh was born in Tabriz, Iran, in December 1975. He received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Tabriz in 1998 and the M.Sc. degree in Control Engineering from University of Tabriz in 2001. He received the Ph.D. degree in Control Engineering from University of Tabriz in 2007. He is now an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Tabriz. His research interests include Hybrid dynamical systems, Stability of systems, Time delay systems, Robot path planning. Sohrab Khanmohammadi received the B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Sharif University, Iran in 1977 and the M.Sc. degree in Automatic from University Paul Sabatie, France in 1980 and the Ph.D. degree in Automatic from National University, ENSAE, France in 1983. He is now a Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Tabriz. His research interests are Fuzzy control, Artificial Intelligence applications in control and simulation on industrial systems and human behavior. Gasem Alizadeh was born in Tabriz, Iran in 1967. He received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University, Iran in 1990 and the M.Sc. degree from Khajeh Nasir Toosi University, Iran in 1993 and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Tarbiat Modarres University, Iran in 1998. From 1998, he is a Member of University of Tabriz in Iran. His research interests are robust and optimal control, guidance, navigation and adaptive control. Ali Aghagolzadeh was born in Babol, Iran. He received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, and the M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1988 from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL. He also attended the School of Electrical Engineering at Purdue University in August 1998 where he was also employed as a part-time research assistant and received the Ph.D. degree in 1991. He is currently an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran. His research interests include digital signal and image processing, image coding and communication, computer vision, and image analysis.