Community perception on OPD performance of a teaching hospital in Gondar town

An empirical study for the effectiveness of recombination in a genetic-based classifier system applied to the field of ion chromatography is presented. From a comparison of the classifier system with and without crossover it followed that recombination was unable to make a significant contribution to the classification results. Despite this ineffectiveness, the genetic algorithm was a legitimate choice for solving the present classification problem because its population-based properties were of greater importance than the issue of whether or not recombination significantly added to the performance. These findings prompt the testing of other classifier systems as well, in order to reveal the extent to which the presented results can be classified.     

Identification of Structural Systems Using an Evolutionary Strategy

The problem of system identification is an inverse problem of difficult solution. Currently, difficulties lie in the development of algorithms that use measured data from the system to characterize it without significant a priori knowledge of the system. In this paper, a parameter estimation technique based on an evolution strategy (an optimization algorithm inspired by natural evolution) is presented to overcome some of the difficulties encountered in the field. Using this method, a set of direct problems is solved instead of directly tackling the inverse problem. If the uniqueness of the identification solution is guaranteed for the assumed model and the available data, this heuristic method is able to find a solution without incurring restrictions of other classical optimization methods, like the need for reliable initial estimates and convergence to local optima. Some results obtained with this algorithm are presented for the identification of 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) and a 10?DOF structural system under conditions including limited input/output data, noise polluted signals, and no prior knowledge of mass, damping, or stiffness of the system.     

基于遗传算法的炼钢-连铸重计划方法

针对多约束的炼钢-连铸重计划问题,提出了一种按扰动时炉次的状态进行炉次分类求解的重计划方法.将重计划问题中的约束分成强制约束和柔性约束两类,针对正在作业炉次设计了基于时间顺推和遗传算法的混合算法,针对未作业炉次设计了基于时间倒推和遗传算法的混合算法,通过强制约束结合混合算法搜寻可行解,然后在可行解中利用柔性约束搜寻最优解.采用钢厂的生产实绩数据进行仿真实验验证了该方法的可行性和有效性.      

Constrained Fuzzy c-Mean Clustering Algorithm for Determining Bridge Let Projects

Bridge engineers need to group bridges to determine adequate let projects based on their proximities, types of work, costs, and cost constraints for each clustered let project after bridges to be treated yearly are identified. This process is time-consuming and typically performed manually. First, this paper presents the formulation of a bridge clustering problem for determining let projects by considering the bridge proximity and type of work with preference membership functions to simulate the actual decision-making process. Second, a constrained fuzzy c-mean (FCM) clustering algorithm is presented to resolves this problem. A case study using the subset of bridges in the state of Georgia with the hypothetical treatments and costs was used to test the developed algorithm and to demonstrate its capability. The results show that the developed constrained FCM clustering algorithm can, in seconds, effectively determine adequate let projects by clustering bridges while meeting cost constraints. The presented formulation also allows incorporation of additional factors such as preference of clustering bridges with the same route number or same route type that are important to other state Departments of Transportation. Finally, conclusions about the benefits and characteristics of the developed algorithm are summarized, and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

一种改进的Ad Hoc网络路由协议AODV-DD

针对AODV路由协议进行本地修复时存在节点移动剧烈区域本地修复重复发生和本地修复没有考虑已存在下游链路的问题,提出一种新的带决策的双向修复AODV路由协议（AODV—DD）,新协议对AODV的本地修复算法进行了改进,根据节点本地修复次数对是否发生本地修复进行决策,并且在修复时进行双向修复的算法优化。NS2中的仿真实验表明,改进本地修复算法后的路由协议性能有了一定的提升,尤其在时间延迟方面有较大的改进。     

应急救援物资车辆运输路线多目标优化

运用运筹学中图论及多目标优化的理论和方法建立应急救援物资车辆最佳运输路线的选择模型,并基于启发式算法求解该模型.从静态网络应急物资车辆运输路线的双目标优化问题入手,设计适合本文模型的算法,并将之推广至含有三个及三个以上优化目标的路线选择问题.引入时间扩展图的概念,将动态网络中的最佳运输路线问题转化为静态网络中的路径选择问题.算法实质是通过构造辅助决策函数实现Dijstra算法的调用,并在辅助函数构成的搜索空间上寻找最优解,是一种快速的、近似的算法.利用随机路网和真实路网测试本文算法,测试结果与本文的理论分析一致,证明本文算法在应急救援物资车辆运输路线的多目标优化问题中可行且有较好的应用效果.      

Efficient Hybrid Genetic Algorithm for Resource Leveling via Activity Splitting

Resource leveling problem is an attractive field of research in project management. Traditionally, a basic assumption of this problem is that network activities could not be split. However, in real-world projects, some activities can be interrupted and resumed in different time intervals but activity splitting involves some cost. The main contribution of this paper lies in developing a practical algorithm for resource leveling in large-scale projects. A novel hybrid genetic algorithm is proposed to tackle multiple resource-leveling problems allowing activity splitting. The proposed genetic algorithm is equipped with a novel local search heuristic and a repair mechanism. To evaluate the performance of the algorithm, we have generated and solved a new set of network instances containing up to 5,000 activities with multiple resources. For small instances, we have extended and solved an existing mixed integer programming model to provide a basis for comparison. Computational results demonstrate that, for large networks, the proposed algorithm improves the leveling criterion at least by 76% over the early schedule solutions. A case study on a tunnel construction project has also been examined.     

遗忘遗传算法及其在信用评分中的应用

为解决局部最优问题,将遗忘机制引入传统遗传算法中,提出了一种改进的遗忘遗传算法,给出了一种遗忘算子及其遗忘概率,通过在遗传过程中遗忘某些基因,增加了算法的搜索空间,使算法跳出局部最优,从而最大限度地避免早熟收敛.将该算法用于不同欠费率下的电信客户初始信用评分,找到信用权重的优化解,较好地解决了对高欠费率群体进行信用评分时,信用权重的适应值偏低的问题.实验结果表明所提算法有效可行.与标准遗传算法相比,本文所提算法可以获得更高质量的解.      

Simultaneous Estimation of System and Input Parameters from Output Measurements

System identification of very large structures is of necessity accomplished by analyzing output measurements, as in the case of ambient vibration surveys. Conventional techniques typically identify system parameters by assuming (arguably) that the input is locally Gaussian white, and in so doing, effectively reduce the number of degrees of freedom of the estimation problem to a more tractable number. This paper describes a new approach that has several novel attributes, among them, elimination of the need for the Gaussian white input assumption. The approach involves a filter applied to an identification problem formulated in the frequency domain. The filter simultaneously estimates both system parameters and input excitation characteristics. The estimates we obtain are not guaranteed to be unique (as is true in all other approaches: simultaneous estimation of both system and input possesses too many degrees of freedom to guarantee uniqueness); but we do, nonetheless, identify system parameters and input excitation characteristics that are physically plausible and intuitively reasonable, without making input excitation assumptions. Simulated and laboratory experimental data are used to verify the algorithm and demonstrate its advantages over conventional approaches.     

Determination of the Critical Slip Surface Using Artificial Fish Swarms Algorithm

The writers have come across a difficult stability analysis problem where there are several “strong” local minima. Several well known heuristic global minimum methods fail to locate the global minimum for this case, and the writers finally adopt the artificial fish swarms algorithm to overcome this difficult problem. This optimization algorithm is demonstrated to be effective and efficient for normal problems. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, three difficult examples are considered. The sensitivity of the proposed algorithm with respect to the parameters used for the global optimization algorithm will also be investigated in this paper.     

基于HITHS算法的多节点多加工路线订单接受问题研究

针对具有提前/拖期特点的多节点多加工路线订单接受问题,提出采用改进NEH启发式算法、局部搜索和智能调谐和声搜索算法的混合智能调谐和声搜索算法(HITHS)来求解问题.该算法首先在初始解空间中采用改进NEH启发式算法产生部分初始解,然后利用智能调谐和声搜索算法更新初始解,在更新过程中再利用局部搜索的互换、交换和逆序操作使其避免陷入局部最优解,从而形成问题的近似最优解.最后采用所提出的混合算法对该问题进行算例分析,并和基本和声搜索算法进行比较,表明了混合算法的有效性和可行性.      

DORA Algorithm for Network Flow Models with Improved Stability and Convergence Properties

A new methodology for the solution of shallow water equations is applied for the computation of the unsteady-state flow in an urban drainage network. The inertial terms are neglected in the momentum equations and the solution is decoupled into one kinematic and one diffusive component. After a short presentation of the DORA (Double ORder Approximation) methodology in the case of a single open channel, the new methodology is applied to the case of a sewer network. The transition from partial to full section and vice versa is treated without the help of the Preissmann approximation. The algorithm also allows the computation of the diffusive component in the case of vertical topographic discontinuities, without the introduction of any internal boundary conditions and without any change in the structure of the linear system matrix. The algorithm is tested on one field example, and its performance is compared with the performance of other popular commercial codes.     

Disruption to word or letter processing? The origins of case-mixing effects

MiXeD-cAsE stimuli have long been used to test whether word recognition is based on holistic visual information or preliminary letter identification. However, without knowing which properties of mixed-case stimuli disrupt processing, it is not possible to determine which visual units mediate word recognition. The present studies examined the effects of case mixing on word and nonword naming as a function of (a) whether spaces were inserted between letters and (b) whether letter size was alternated independent of letter case. The results suggest that case-mixing disruption effects are due to at least 2 factors: the introduction of inappropriate grouping between letters with the same size and case, and the disruption of transletter features. The data support a model of visual lexical access based on the input from multiple visually based units.     

Degeneracy and discrete receiver operating characteristic rating data

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Observer performance studies sometimes use too few cases for estimating diagnostic accuracy from binormal receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. One important problem is degenerate data sets. We compared a new algorithm, RSCORE4, with the exact-solution approach to degeneracy in ROCFIT and with the Wilcoxon statistic. METHODS: Degenerate ROC solutions result from empty cells in the data matrix. We addressed this problem by adding a small constant to empty cells in a maximum-likelihood program, RSCORE4. When this method failed, the program branched to a pattern-search algorithm. We tested the program in a series of Monte Carlo studies. RESULTS: RSCORE4 converged to nondegenerate solutions in every case and gave results closer to population values than ROCFIT or Wilcoxon. ROCFIT converged to exact-fit degenerate solutions, those with zero or infinite parameter values, in more than 40% of the samples. The Wilcoxon statistic was biased. CONCLUSION: RSCORE4 seems to outperform other currently recommended methods for dealing with degeneracy.     

Paroxetine in the treatment of Chinese patients with depressive episode: a double-blind randomized comparison with imipramine

The application of the concept of ray vector fields to optical systems is reexamined. Paraxial or linear optics defines a four-dimensional ray vector field for any optical system: the vector field maps the incident ray vector into the emergent ray vector. In the case of thin systems, including thin astigmatic lenses, one can define a vector field of reduced dimensionality: the vector field is two-dimensional and maps the ray's incident position into the change in reduced direction. When the index of refraction is the same before and after a thin system, the change in reduced direction is the reduced deflection through the system or the reduced prismatic effect. Contrary to what has recently been claimed, this type of two-dimensional vector field does not apply in general to thick systems. However, a number of different types of two-dimensional vector fields can be defined for various particular classes of optical systems. Thick systems differ qualitatively from thin systems. They do not have equivalent thin lenses and cannot generally be replaced by thin lenses. Equations are derived for the change in reduced direction and deflection for a ray through optical systems in general and through separated two- and three-lens systems in particular.     

Effects on Decision Quality of Supporting Multi-attribute Evaluation in Groups

In this study the effectiveness of multi-attribute utility (MAU) decision support in groups is evaluated for personnel selection problems differing in complexity. Subjects were asked to make an initial individual decision with or without MAU decision support. Next individuals formed small groups and were asked to reach a decision about the same problem. Groups received either MAU support or no support. Results show that for relatively simple problems the most effective method is to provide subjects with both individual and group decision support. Here, decision support had a clear impact on subjects' preferences and the level of agreement between group members. In addition, satisfaction with the decision and the decision procedure was relatively high. Overall, decision support improved communication; subjects reported to find the problem easier, to have more influence on the group decision, and to find it easier to express their opinions. For more complex problems, however, decision making without group support (whether preceded by individual support or not) was evaluated most favorably. Individual decision support in this condition was sometimes better than no support; i.e., there was a lower reported problem difficulty, a higher satisfaction with the group decision, and a higher reported influence on the group decision. The effectiveness of group MAU decision support for complex problems was evaluated less favorably.     

Efficacy of indirect haemolysis test in the diagnosis of human brucellosis

The authors report one operated case of traumatic sternal segmental dislocation in a child, and propose a mechanism for this uncommon lesion. A fourteen year old boy was admitted in emergency for anterior chest pain, occurring during an exercise in parallel bars without any fall. X ray showed traumatic dislocation of the upper sternal segment. After 12 hours, because of bad clinical tolerance (pain, dyspnea with sweats and disphagia) reduction and plate stabilization (Senegas plate) was performed with immediate pain relief. The boy returned to school after 10 days. Plate was removed two months later after healing, with good clinical and radiological results. According to rare published cases, conservative treatment can be proposed in very young children because of dislocation remodeling. By others, in case of bad tolerance, surgical treatment is suggested despite the inconvenient of device's removal. The originality of this case is the indirect lesion mechanism. Hypothesis is given by authors. Treatment by plate is easy and gives immediate pain relief with good clinical and radiological results in teen-agers.     

Gene recognition via spliced sequence alignment

Gene recognition is one of the most important problems in computational molecular biology. Previous attempts to solve this problem were based on statistics, and applications of combinatorial methods for gene recognition were almost unexplored. Recent advances in large-scale cDNA sequencing open a way toward a new approach to gene recognition that uses previously sequenced genes as a clue for recognition of newly sequenced genes. This paper describes a spliced alignment algorithm and software tool that explores all possible exon assemblies in polynomial time and finds the multiexon structure with the best fit to a related protein. Unlike other existing methods, the algorithm successfully recognizes genes even in the case of short exons or exons with unusual codon usage; we also report correct assemblies for genes with more than 10 exons. On a test sample of human genes with known mammalian relatives, the average correlation between the predicted and actual proteins was 99%. The algorithm correctly reconstructed 87% of genes and the rare discrepancies between the predicted and real exon-intron structures were caused either by short (less than 5 amino acids) initial/terminal exons or by alternative splicing. Moreover, the algorithm predicts human genes reasonably well when the homologous protein is nonvertebrate or even prokaryotic. The surprisingly good performance of the method was confirmed by extensive simulations: in particular, with target proteins at 160 accepted point mutations (PAM) (25% similarity), the correlation between the predicted and actual genes was still as high as 95%.     

Explicit Pseudodynamic Algorithm with Improved Stability Properties

An explicit pseudodynamic algorithm with an improved stability property is proposed herein. This algorithm is shown to be unconditionally stable for any linear elastic systems and any instantaneous stiffness softening systems. The most attracting stability property is that it can have unconditional stability for the instantaneous hardening systems with the instantaneous degree of nonlinearity less than or equal to 2. This property has never been found among the currently available explicit algorithms. Hence, it may be applied to perform a general pseudodynamic test without considering the stability problem since it is rare for a civil engineering structure whose instantaneous degree of nonlinearity is greater than 2. This explicit algorithm can be implemented as a common explicit pseudodynamic algorithm, such as the use of the Newmark explicit method, since it does not involve any iteration procedure. In addition, it possesses comparable accuracy as that of a general second-order accurate integration method such as the Newmark explicit method. Both numerical and error propagation properties are analytically studied and numerical experiments are used to confirm these properties. Actual pseudodynamic tests attested to the feasibility of this proposed explicit pseudodynamic algorithm.     

At the coalface--medical ethics in practice. First, do no harm

When a physician acts as both doctor and researcher conflicts can develop. When a doctor does not know whether a patient is taking active drug or placebo, any new medical problems can result in a dilemma. Is the patient's suffering a side effect of the medication or is this a new medical problem? Mrs W's case demonstrates the problem that can occur when the physician is blinded in the name of research.