Challenges of human-machine collaboration in risky decision-making

The purpose of this paper is to delineate the research challenges of human-machine collaboration in risky decision-making.Technological advances in machine intelligence have enabled a growing number of applications in human-machine collaborative decisionmaking.Therefore,it is desirable to achieve superior performance by folly leveraging human and machine capabilities.In risky decision-making,a human decisionmaker is vulnerable to cognitive biases when judging the possible outcomes of a risky event,whereas a machine decision-maker cannot handle new and dynamic contexts with incomplete information well.We first summarize features of risky decision-making and possible biases of human decision-makers therein.Then,we argue the necessity and urgency of advancing human-machine collaboration in risky decision-making.Afterward,we review the literature on human-machine collaboration in a general decision context,from the perspectives of human-machine organization,relationship,and collaboration.Lastly,we propose challenges of enhancing human-machine communication and teamwork in risky decisionmaking,followed by future research avenues.

Robust and Trustworthy Data Sharing Framework Leveraging On-Chain and Off-Chain Collaboration

The proliferation of Internet of Things(IoT)systems has resulted in the generation of substantial data,presenting new challenges in reliable storage and trustworthy sharing.Conventional distributed storage systems are hindered by centralized management and lack traceability,while blockchain systems are limited by low capacity and high latency.To address these challenges,the present study investigates the reliable storage and trustworthy sharing of IoT data,and presents a novel system architecture that integrates on-chain and off-chain data manage systems.This architecture,integrating blockchain and distributed storage technologies,provides high-capacity,high-performance,traceable,and verifiable data storage and access.The on-chain system,built on Hyperledger Fabric,manages metadata,verification data,and permission information of the raw data.The off-chain system,implemented using IPFS Cluster,ensures the reliable storage and efficient access to massive files.A collaborative storage server is designed to integrate on-chain and off-chain operation interfaces,facilitating comprehensive data operations.We provide a unified access interface for user-friendly system interaction.Extensive testing validates the system’s reliability and stable performance.The proposed approach significantly enhances storage capacity compared to standalone blockchain systems.Rigorous reliability tests consistently yield positive outcomes.With average upload and download throughputs of roughly 20 and 30 MB/s,respectively,the system’s throughput surpasses the blockchain system by a factor of 4 to 18.

Digital Twin Technology of Human-Machine Integration in Cross-Belt Sorting System

The Chinese express delivery industry processes nearly 110 billion items in 2022,averaging an annual growth rate of 200%.Among the various types of sorting systems used for handling express items,cross-belt sorting systems stand out as the most crucial.However,despite their high degree of automation,the workload for operators has intensified owing to the surging volume of express items.In the era of Industry 5.0,it is imperative to adopt new technologies that not only enhance worker welfare but also improve the efficiency of cross-belt systems.Striking a balance between efficiency in handling express items and operator well-being is challenging.Digital twin technology offers a promising solution in this respect.A realization method of a human-machine integrated digital twin is proposed in this study,enabling the interaction of biological human bodies,virtual human bodies,virtual equipment,and logistics equipment in a closed loop,thus setting an operating framework.Key technologies in the proposed framework include a collection of heterogeneous data from multiple sources,construction of the relationship between operator fatigue and operation efficiency based on physiological measurements,virtual model construction,and an online optimization module based on real-time simulation.The feasibility of the proposed method was verified in an express distribution center.

Global collaboration of eye research--personal experience

On December 9,2023,I was privileged to be honored and participate in the Dr.Chi Chao Chan Symposium on Global Collaboration of Eye Research as the Global Eye Genetic Consortium(GEGC)session,which was held in the 16th Congress of the Asia-Pacific Vitreo-Retina Society(APVRS)in Hong Kong.Along with my talk on“Global collaboration of eye research:personal experience”,other prominent international speakers provided their own perspectives on opportunities for networking,collaboration,and exchange of ideas with global leaders and experts in ophthalmic practice,research,and education.

Community detection on elite mathematicians’collaboration network

Purpose:This study focuses on understanding the collaboration relationships among mathematicians,particularly those esteemed as elites,to reveal the structures of their communities and evaluate their impact on the field of mathematics.Design/methodology/approach:Two community detection algorithms,namely Greedy Modularity Maximization and Infomap,are utilized to examine collaboration patterns among mathematicians.We conduct a comparative analysis of mathematicians’centrality,emphasizing the influence of award-winning individuals in connecting network roles such as Betweenness,Closeness,and Harmonic centrality.Additionally,we investigate the distribution of elite mathematicians across communities and their relationships within different mathematical sub-fields.Findings:The study identifies the substantial influence exerted by award-winning mathematicians in connecting network roles.The elite distribution across the network is uneven,with a concentration within specific communities rather than being evenly dispersed.Secondly,the research identifies a positive correlation between distinct mathematical sub-fields and the communities,indicating collaborative tendencies among scientists engaged in related domains.Lastly,the study suggests that reduced research diversity within a community might lead to a higher concentration of elite scientists within that specific community.Research limitations:The study’s limitations include its narrow focus on mathematicians,which may limit the applicability of the findings to broader scientific fields.Issues with manually collected data affect the reliability of conclusions about collaborative networks.Practical implications:This study offers valuable insights into how elite mathematicians collaborate and how knowledge is disseminated within mathematical circles.Understanding these collaborative behaviors could aid in fostering better collaboration strategies among mathematicians and institutions,potentially enhancing scientific progress in mathematics.Originality/value:The study adds value to understanding collaborative dynamics within the realm of mathematics,offering a unique angle for further exploration and research.

Privacy-Preserving Healthcare and Medical Data Collaboration Service System Based on Blockchain and Federated Learning

As the volume of healthcare and medical data increases from diverse sources,real-world scenarios involving data sharing and collaboration have certain challenges,including the risk of privacy leakage,difficulty in data fusion,low reliability of data storage,low effectiveness of data sharing,etc.To guarantee the service quality of data collaboration,this paper presents a privacy-preserving Healthcare and Medical Data Collaboration Service System combining Blockchain with Federated Learning,termed FL-HMChain.This system is composed of three layers:Data extraction and storage,data management,and data application.Focusing on healthcare and medical data,a healthcare and medical blockchain is constructed to realize data storage,transfer,processing,and access with security,real-time,reliability,and integrity.An improved master node selection consensus mechanism is presented to detect and prevent dishonest behavior,ensuring the overall reliability and trustworthiness of the collaborative model training process.Furthermore,healthcare and medical data collaboration services in real-world scenarios have been discussed and developed.To further validate the performance of FL-HMChain,a Convolutional Neural Network-based Federated Learning(FL-CNN-HMChain)model is investigated for medical image identification.This model achieves better performance compared to the baseline Convolutional Neural Network(CNN),having an average improvement of 4.7%on Area Under Curve(AUC)and 7%on Accuracy(ACC),respectively.Furthermore,the probability of privacy leakage can be effectively reduced by the blockchain-based parameter transfer mechanism in federated learning between local and global models.

NAVIGATING CHALLENGES TOGETHER 3rd AIWW calls for regional and global collaboration in the field of water resources

The 3rd Asia International Water Week (AIWW),themed"Enhancing Our Future Water Security,"concluded in Beijing on September 26.Delegates from the many Asian countries attending the event widelyrecognized the water governance philosophy proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping:"prioritizing water conservation,balancing water distribution in time and space,and taking a systematic approach to water management with the synergy of government and market."

Runout prediction of potential landslides based on the multi-source data collaboration analysis on historical cases

Long runout landslides involve a massive amount of energy and can be extremely hazardous owing to their long movement distance,high mobility and strong destructive power.Numerical methods have been widely used to predict the landslide runout but a fundamental problem remained is how to determine the reliable numerical parameters.This study proposes a framework to predict the runout of potential landslides through multi-source data collaboration and numerical analysis of historical landslide events.Specifically,for the historical landslide cases,the landslide-induced seismic signal,geophysical surveys,and possible in-situ drone/phone videos(multi-source data collaboration)can validate the numerical results in terms of landslide dynamics and deposit features and help calibrate the numerical(rheological)parameters.Subsequently,the calibrated numerical parameters can be used to numerically predict the runout of potential landslides in the region with a similar geological setting to the recorded events.Application of the runout prediction approach to the 2020 Jiashanying landslide in Guizhou,China gives reasonable results in comparison to the field observations.The numerical parameters are determined from the multi-source data collaboration analysis of a historical case in the region(2019 Shuicheng landslide).The proposed framework for landslide runout prediction can be of great utility for landslide risk assessment and disaster reduction in mountainous regions worldwide.

Effects of nursing team communication and collaboration on treatment outcomes in intensive care unit patients with severe pneumonia

BACKGROUND Severe pneumonia is a common severe respiratory infection worldwide,and its treatment is challenging,especially for patients in the intensive care unit(ICU).AIM To explore the effect of communication and collaboration between nursing teams on the treatment outcomes of patients with severe pneumonia in ICU.METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 60 patients with severe pneumonia who were treated at the ICU of the hospital between January 1,2021 and December 31,2023.We compared and analyzed the respiratory mechanical indexes[airway resistance(Raw),mean airway pressure(mPaw),peak pressure(PIP)],blood gas analysis indexes(arterial oxygen saturation,arterial oxygen partial pressure,and oxygenation index),and serum inflammatory factor levels[C-reactive protein(CRP),procalcitonin(PCT),cortisol(COR),and high mobility group protein B1(HMGB1)]of all patients before and after treatment.RESULTS Before treatment,there was no significant difference in respiratory mechanics index and blood gas analysis index between 2 groups(P>0.05).However,after treatment,the respiratory mechanical indexes of patients in both groups were significantly improved,and the improvement of Raw,mPaw,plateau pressure,PIP and other indexes in the combined group after communication and collaboration with the nursing team was significantly better than that in the single care group(P<0.05).The serum CRP and PCT levels of patients were significantly decreased,and the difference was statistically significant compared with that of nursing group alone(P<0.05).The levels of serum COR and HMGB1 before and after treatment were also significantly decreased between the two groups.CONCLUSION The communication and collaboration of the nursing team have a significant positive impact on respiratory mechanics indicators,blood gas analysis indicators and serum inflammatory factor levels in the treatment of severe pneumonia patients in ICU.

Dynamic business process modeling and verification for inter-organizational collaboration

To achieve an on-demand and dynamic composition model of inter-organizational business processes, a new approach for business process modeling and verification is introduced by using the pi-calculus theory. A new business process model which is multi-role, multi-dimensional, integrated and dynamic is proposed relying on inter-organizational collaboration. Compatible with the traditional linear sequence model, the new model is an M x N multi-dimensional mesh, and provides horizontal and vertical formal descriptions for the collaboration business process model. Finally, the pi-calculus theory is utilized to verify the deadlocks, livelocks and synchronization of the example models. The result shows that the proposed approach is efficient and applicable in inter-organizational business process modeling.

Intercultural Collaboration in Group Work at Chinese Universities

The empirical work on intercultural communication issues at university settings have mainly focused on the minority cul-tural groups and the majority groups are usually neglected.Most Chinese scholars are engaged in the development of cross-cultural communication competence of the Chinese EFL learners,the few researches on intercultural relations in Chinese universities are also on the international students.To compare the attitudes and motivations of both the International Students in China(ISCs)and the Chinese Home Students(CHSs)in intercultural collaboration(IC)in the group work,group discussion and questionnaire survey areemployed.Survey of the 445 CHSs and 87 ISCs show that the IC environment at Chinese universities is far from satisfactory.Those who have IC experiences find they have encountered difficulties in adapting to each other's language,race,religion,agenda,etc.Chinese students'language difficulty is regarded both groups as the first obstacle in their collaboration,but personality is the first concern in their choice of a workmate.Neither language proficiency nor IC courses are significant factor in their motivation for IC involvement.What they want most is the real collaboration opportunities and programs.The findings may provide some reference for Chinese universities in their construction of international and intercultural campus environment.

Autonomous process collaboration framework for C4ISR system interoperation

Interoperability plays an important role in the joint command, control, communication, computer, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance(C4 ISR) operations. Coordinating and integrating operational processes to fulfill a common mission are challenged by the ever-changing battlefield and hence requires a cross-organizational process management that produces an autonomous, flexible and adaptable architecture for collaborative process evolution. The traditional business process collaboration pattern is based on the predefined "public-view" perspective and cannot meet the requirement of the joint task operations. This paper proposes a flexible visibility control mechanism and a dynamic collaboration framework for modeling and generating collaborative processes. The mechanism allows collaborators to define a set of visibility rules to generate different views of the private processes for different collaborations, which gives a great flexibility for the collaboration initiator to decide on an appropriate collaboration pattern. The framework supports collaborators to dynamically and recursively add a new process or even a new organization to an existing collaboration. Moreover, a formal representation of the processes and a set of generation algorithms are provided to consolidate the proposed theory.

Deep Learning for EMG-based Human-Machine Interaction:A Review

Electromyography(EMG)has already been broadly used in human-machine interaction(HMI)applications.Determining how to decode the information inside EMG signals robustly and accurately is a key problem for which we urgently need a solution.Recently,many EMG pattern recognition tasks have been addressed using deep learning methods.In this paper,we analyze recent papers and present a literature review describing the role that deep learning plays in EMG-based HMI.An overview of typical network structures and processing schemes will be provided.Recent progress in typical tasks such as movement classification,joint angle prediction,and force/torque estimation will be introduced.New issues,including multimodal sensing,inter-subject/inter-session,and robustness toward disturbances will be discussed.We attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of current research by discussing the advantages,challenges,and opportunities brought by deep learning.We hope that deep learning can aid in eliminating factors that hinder the development of EMG-based HMI systems.Furthermore,possible future directions will be presented to pave the way for future research.

Fully Fabric-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators as Self-Powered Human-Machine Interactive Keyboards

Combination flexible and stretchable textiles with self-powered sensors bring a novel insight into wearable functional electronics and cyber security in the era of Internet of Things.This work presents a highly flexible and self-powered fully fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerator(F-TENG)with sandwiched structure for biomechanical energy harvesting and real-time biometric authentication.The prepared F-TENG can power a digital watch by low-frequency motion and respond to the pressure change by the fall of leaves.A self-powered wearable keyboard(SPWK)is also fabricated by integrating large-area F-TENG sensor arrays,which not only can trace and record electrophysiological signals,but also can identify individuals’typing characteristics by means of the Haar wavelet.Based on these merits,the SPWK has promising applications in the realm of wearable electronics,self-powered sensors,cyber security,and artificial intelligences.

Human-machine compatibility and dynamic analysis of a novel unpowered and self-adaptive shoulder rehabilitation exoskeleton

To reduce the complexity of the configuration and control strategy for shoulder rehabilitation exoskeleton,a 2R1R1P2R serial of shoulder exoskeleton based on gravity balance is proposed.Based on three basic rotatory shoulder joints,an exact kinematic constraint system can be formed between the exoskeleton and the upper arm by introducing a passive sliding pair and a center of glenohumeral(CGH)unpowered compensation mechanism,which realizes the human-machine kinematic compatibility.Gravity balance is used in the CGH compensation mechanism to provide shoulder joint support.Meanwhile,the motion of the compensation mechanism is pulled by doing reverse leading through the arm to realize the kinematic self-adaptive,which decreases control complexity.Besides,a simple and intuitive spring adjustment strategy is proposed to ensure the gravity balance of any prescribed quality.Furthermore,according to the influencing factors analysis of the scapulohumeral rhythm,the kinematic analysis of CGH mechanism is performed,which shows that the mechanism can fit the trajectory of CGH under various conditions.Finally,the dynamic simulation of the mechanism is carried out.Results indicate that the compensation torques are reduced to below 0.22 N·m,and the feasibility of the mechanism is also verified.

Clustering approach based on hierarchical expansion for community detection of scientific collaboration network

This study presents a clustering algorithm based on hierarchical expansion to solve the problem of community detection in scientific collaboration network. The characteristics of achievements information related to scientific and technological domains are analyzed,and then an ontology that represents their latent collaborative relations is built to detect clusters from the collaboration network. A case study is conducted to collect a data set of research achievements in the electric vehicle field and better clustering results are obtained. A hierarchical recommendation framework that enriches the domain ontologies and retrieves more relevant information resources is proposed in the last part of this paper. This work also lays out a novel insight into the exploitation of scientific collaboration network to better classify achievements information.

Spatial Structure,Hierarchy and Formation Mechanisms of Scientific Collaboration Networks:Evidence of the Belt and Road Regions

Scientific collaboration has become an important part of the people-to-people exchanges in the Belt and Road initiative,and remarkable progress has been made since 2013.Taking the 65 countries along the Belt and Road(BRI countries)as the research areas and using collaborated Web of Science(WOS)core collection papers to construct an international scientific collaboration matrix,the paper explores the spatial structure,hierarchy and formation mechanisms of scientific collaboration networks of 65 countries along the Belt and Road.The results show that:1)Beyond the Belt and Road regions(BRI regions),Central&Eastern Europe,China and West Asia&North Africa have formed a situation in which they all have the most external links with other countries beyond BRI regions.China has the dominant role over other BRI countries in generating scientific links.The overall spatial structure has changed to a skeleton structure consisting of many dense regions,such as Europe,North America,East Asia and Oceania.2)Within the Belt and Road regions,Central&Eastern Europe has become the largest collaboration partner with other sub-regions in BRI countries.The spatial structure of scientific collaboration networks has transformed from the‘dual core’composed of China and the Central&Eastern Europe region,to the‘multi-polarization’composed of‘one zone and multi-points’.3)The hierarchical structure of scientific collaboration networks presents a typical‘core-periphery’structure,and changes from‘single core’to‘double cores’.4)Among the formation mechanisms of scientific collaboration networks,scientific research strength and social proximity play the most important roles,while geographical distance gradually weakens the hindrance to scientific collaboration.

China's landscape in oncology drug research:perspectives from research collaboration networks

Objective： Better understanding of China＇s landscape in oncology drug research is of great significance for discovering anti-cancer drugs in future. This article differs from previous studies by focusing on Chinese oncology drug research communities in co-publication networks at the institutional level. Moreover, this research aims to explore structures and behaviors of relevant research units by thematic community analysis and to address policy recommendations. Methods： This research used social network analysis to define an institutions network and to identify a community network which is characterized by thematic content. Results： A total of 675 sample articles from 2008 through 2012 were retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded （SCIE） database of Web of Science, and top institutions and institutional pairs are highlighted for further discussion. Meanwhile, this study revealed that institutions based in the Chinese mainland are located in a relatively central position, Taiwan＇s institutions are closely assembled on the side, and Hong Kong＇s units located in the middle of the Chinese mainland＇s and Taiwan＇s. Spatial division and institutional hierarchy are still critical barriers to research collaboration in the field of anti-cancer drugs in China. In addition, the communities focusing on hot research areas show the higher nodal degree, whereas communities giving more attention to rare research subjects are relatively marginalized to the periphery of network. Conclusions= This paper offers policy recommendations to accelerate cross-regional cooperation, such as through developing information technology and increasing investment. The brokers should focus more on outreach to other institutions. Finally, participation in topics of common interest is conducive to improved efficiency in research and development （R＆D） resource allocation.

Global trends in international research collaboration, 1980-2021

Purpose:The aim of this study is to analyze the evolution of international research collaboration from 1980 to 2021.The study examines the main global patterns as well as those specific to individual countries,country groups,and different areas of research.Design/methodology/approach:The study is based on the Web of Science Core collection database.More than 50 million publications are analyzed using co-authorship data.International collaboration is defined as publications having authors affiliated with institutions located in more than one country.Findings:At the global level,the share of publications representing international collaboration has gradually increased from 4.7%in 1980 to 25.7%in 2021.The proportion of such publications within each country is higher and,in 2021,varied from less than 30%to more than 90%.There are notable disparities in the temporal trends,indicating that the process of internationalization has impacted countries in different ways.Several factors such as country size,income level,and geopolitics may explain the variance.Research limitations:Not all international research collaboration results in joint co-authored scientific publications.International co-authorship is a partial indicator of such collaboration.Another limitation is that the applied full counting method does not take into account the number of authors representing in each country in the publication.Practical implications:The study provides global averages,indicators,and concepts that can provide a useful framework of reference for further comparative studies of international research collaboration.Originality/value:Long-term macro-level studies of international collaboration are rare,and as a novelty,this study includes an analysis by the World Bank’s division of countries into four income groups.

Measuring and Visualizing Research Collaboration and Productivity

Purpose： This paper presents findings of a quasi-experimental assessment to gauge the research productivity and degree of interdisciplinarity of research center outputs. Of special interest, we share an enriched visualization of research co-authoring patterns. Design/methodology/approach： We compile publications by 45 researchers in each of 1） the iUTAH project, which we consider here to be analogous to a ＂research center,＂ 2） CG1-a comparison group of participants in two other Utah environmental research centers, and 3） CG2--a comparison group of Utah university environmental researchers not associated with a research center. We draw bibliometric data from Web of Science and from Google Scholar. We gather publications for a period before iUTAH had been established （2010-2012） and a period after （2014-2016）. We compare these research outputs in terms of publications and citations thereto. We also measure interdisciplinarity using Integration scoring and generate science overlay maps to locate the research publications across disciplines. Findings： We find that participation in the iUTAH project appears to increase research outputs （publications in the After period） and increase research citation rates relative to the comparison group researchers （although CG 1 research remains most cited, as it was in the Before period）. Most notably, participation in iUTAH markedly increases co-authoring among researchers--in general; and for junior, as well as senior, faculty; for men and women： across organizations; and across disciplines. Research limitations： The quasi-experimental design necessarily generates suggestive, not definitively causal, findings because of the imperfect controls. Practical implications： This study demonstrates a viable approach for research assessment of a center or program for which random assignment of control groups is not possible. It illustrates use of bibliometric indicators to inform R＆D program management. Originality/value： New visualizations of researcher collaboration provide compelling comparisons of the extent and nature of social networking among target cohorts.