Improved Scatter Search Algorithm for Multi-skilled Personnel Scheduling of Ship Block Painting

This paper focuses on the optimization method for multi-skilled painting personnel scheduling.The budget working time analysis is carried out considering the influence of operating area,difficulty of spraying area,multi-skilled workers,and worker’s efficiency,then a mathematical model is established to minimize the completion time. The constraints of task priority,paint preparation,pump management,and neighbor avoidance in the ship block painting production are considered. Based on this model,an improved scatter search(ISS)algorithm is designed,and the hybrid approximate dynamic programming(ADP)algorithm is used to improve search efficiency. In addition,the two solution combination methods of path-relinking and task sequence combination are used to enhance the search breadth and depth. The numerical experimental results show that ISS has a significant advantage in solving efficiency compared with the solver in small scale instances;Compared with the scatter search algorithm and genetic algorithm,ISS can stably improve the solution quality. Verified by the production example,ISS effectively shortens the total completion time of the production,which is suitable for scheduling problems in the actual painting production of the shipyard.

The Level of Psychosocial Skills of Nurses Caring for Cancer Patients and Affecting Factors:Results of a Multicenter Study

Caring for cancer patients requires both technical and psychosocial nursing skills.The aim of this study was to determine the psychosocial care skill levels of nurses and affecting factors.This multicenter,cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,189 nurses providing direct care to adult cancer patients in 32 hospitals in 12 geographical regions of Turkey.A questionnaire,the Psychosocial Skills Form,and the Professional Quality of Life Scale were used to collect the data.Nurses’psychosocial skill level was in the range of 2.72±0.98 and 2.47±0.89 out of four points.Communication skills such as empathic response,active listening,and the ability to provide information were found to be at a higher level than skills such as the activation of social support systems,therapeutic touch,and development of coping methods.Approximately 40%of nurses had received psychosocial care training,and 87%were interested in receiving additional psychosocial training.Gender,educational status,previous training in psychosocial care,and work experience with cancer patients were shown to affect psychosocial skill levels.There was a positive relationship between the level of psychosocial skills and the level of compassion satisfaction,and a negative relationship between the level of psychosocial skills and the level of burnout and compassion fatigue(p<0.05).Nurses perceive themselves as having a medium to high level of psychosocial skills yet desire additional training.The results of this study may contribute to the development of training programs according to the needs of nurses who care for cancer patients.

Mutual information oriented deep skill chaining for multi‐agent reinforcement learning

Multi‐agent reinforcement learning relies on reward signals to guide the policy networks of individual agents.However,in high‐dimensional continuous spaces,the non‐stationary environment can provide outdated experiences that hinder convergence,resulting in ineffective training performance for multi‐agent systems.To tackle this issue,a novel reinforcement learning scheme,Mutual Information Oriented Deep Skill Chaining(MioDSC),is proposed that generates an optimised cooperative policy by incorporating intrinsic rewards based on mutual information to improve exploration efficiency.These rewards encourage agents to diversify their learning process by engaging in actions that increase the mutual information between their actions and the environment state.In addition,MioDSC can generate cooperative policies using the options framework,allowing agents to learn and reuse complex action sequences and accelerating the convergence speed of multi‐agent learning.MioDSC was evaluated in the multi‐agent particle environment and the StarCraft multi‐agent challenge at varying difficulty levels.The experimental results demonstrate that MioDSC outperforms state‐of‐the‐art methods and is robust across various multi‐agent system tasks with high stability.

Improvement in Patient Mobility Following Short-Term Rehabilitation in Skilled Nursing Facilities

Background: Mobility in older adults can be impaired after acute illness or hospitalization, and the level of severity can be used as a predictor of one’s ability to return to independent living. Patients are often referred to skilled nursing facilities in hopes of improving their mobility. We wanted to prove that rehabilitative services at Skilled Nursing Facilities improve overall outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from 4612 patients admitted for short-term rehabilitation in a large nursing home chain in California. Our aim was to determine whether patients’ mobility scores, as measured by rehabilitative staff, significantly improved by time of discharge compared to their scores at admission. Mobility scores were rated from 1 to 6, with 1 being the most dependent on aid and 6 being the most independent, over a variety of tasks at admission and compared to scores at discharge. Pearson’s correlations were performed to determine if there were significant relationships in the data: the Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to describe the relationships between patient admission to a skilled nursing facility and medical improvement upon discharge. Results: The study demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in patients’ mobility scores upon discharge, with Medicare insured patients showing on average 57% improvement and Managed Care insured patients showing on average 59% improvement. Additionally, admission scores appeared to be predictive of the patient’s outcome at discharge. Conclusions: The values and consistency of improvement support the use of acute rehabilitative services in skilled nursing facilities. An equation can be formulated that evaluates patients’ estimated mobility statuses upon discharge from facilities based on their conditions on their arrivals. With this, new interventions can be studied and compared to the current standard of care by using these measurements. They can determine if further improvements can be made to increase patient outcomes.

Improvement of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) for Patients Treated in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs)

Background: Self-care tasks or activities of daily living (ADL)’s performance are often disrupted after an older adult sustains an injury or illness, which can be a determining factor for discharge placement after hospitalization, or it can determine the level of assistance required after discharge from a skilled nursing facility (SNF). We believe that comprehensive rehabilitation can improve a patient’s overall functioning during their short term stay in SNFs. The purpose of this study is to determine if an individual’s level of independence improved after admission to a skilled nursing facility and procurement of rehabilitation services. Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed 4612 nursing home patients in California who underwent rehabilitative services at skilled nursing facilities to determine how the patients responded to their environments, therapy interventions, and any other additional supportive measures. The records of patients who were admitted for short-term rehabilitation were reviewed in a blinded fashion, looking specifically at Section GG of the Minimum Data Set (MDS). Self-Care Section GG scores recorded by rehabilitative staff provide objective data and measure patients’ levels of assistance that were required. Each activity is scored from 1, being completely dependent, to 6, being entirely independent, with varying levels of assistance with scores in between. The admission scores versus the discharge scores can be compared to determine if a patient improved their level of functioning upon discharge. Results: Utilizing the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, a strong correlation of improvement in ADL performance on Section GG between the admission and discharge scores was identified, implying significant improvement in functional independence upon discharge. The average percent improvement for Managed Care patients was ~35.4% and ~39.4% for Medicare patients. Conclusions: The results support the benefits of rehabilitation services in skilled nursing facilities, and the data suggests that admission scores can be used as a predictive tool for functional outcomes.

基于Multi-Agent的无人机集群体系自主作战系统设计

针对无人集群自主作战体系设计中的关键问题,提出基于Multi-Agent的无人集群自主作战系统设计方法。建立无人集群各节点的Agent模型及其推演规则;对于仿真系统模块化和通用化的需求,设计系统互操作式接口和无人集群自主作战的交互关系;开展无人集群系统仿真推演验证。仿真结果表明,所提设计方案不仅能够有效开展并完成自主作战网络生成-集群演化-效能评估的全过程动态演示验证,而且能够通过重复随机试验进一步评估无人集群的协同作战效能,最后总结了集群协同作战的策略和经验。

联合物理层与MAC层的multi-TRP上行重叠传输处理机制

针对非理想回程下现有协议难以有效处理多传输接收节点(multi-TRP)场景中多定时提前(multi-TA)导致的严重上行链路(UL)重叠传输问题,联合改进物理层复用技术和介质访问控制(MAC)令牌桶技术,提出了一种新型的UL重叠传输处理机制。该新型机制通过改进物理层重叠信道识别流程、复用要求及复用规则,将物理层复用信息与重叠信息反馈至MAC层,并对MAC层令牌桶技术进行优化。通过仿真实验对所提机制与现有协议机制进行对比,结果表明,在逻辑时隙不可重叠和可重叠2种情形下,物理上行控制信道(PUCCH)实际复用数量性能平均提升了57.58%和49.40%,物理上行共享信道(PUSCH)实际可用资源数量性能平均提升了12.09%和26.03%;优先级最高逻辑信道实际占用资源数量性能平均提升了33.33%和45.48%。

基于Multi-Agent的水电站变压器故障诊断系统

为了精准、快速完成水电站变压器的故障诊断,设计基于Multi-Agent的水电站变压器故障诊断系统。变压器状态监控agent将检测到的变压器故障信息发送给系统管理agent,系统管理agent通过通信agent将变压器故障信息发送给变压器故障诊断agent,变压器故障诊断agent利用小波变换方法提取变压器故障特征,并将其作为IFOA-SVM模型输入,完成变压器故障分类后,获取变压器故障诊断结果,该结果通过通信agent显示给用户。实验表明,该系统可有效诊断变压器故障诊断,诊断成功率受系统故障信息丢失率的影响较小,诊断耗时、耗能小,并具有较高故障诊断成功率。

Philosophizing in skilled nursing care: Must or nice?

To become a professional nurse requires that nurses learn to think in a right way. Thinker nurses strive to be clear, accurate, logical, complete, precise and faire in their practice and manner. In other words, a thinker nurse is a philosopher who has the ability of reasoning, critical and reflective thinking. In many investigations, the role of critical or reflective thinking is explored, but in this review article, we are trying to introduce a comprehensive concept that involves all these elements of thinking skills. It is philosophizing.

Socio-Demographic and Maternal Determinants of Birth Preparedness among Pregnant Women Seeking Skilled Birth Services at a Rural General Hospital, Mid Western Uganda

Background: Although the practice of preparing for childbirth among pregnant women is associated with 24.0% and 53.0% reduction in neonatal and maternal mortality respectively in low income countries, it remains inadequately practiced in Uganda. This study sought to assess socio-demographic and maternal determinants of birth preparedness among pregnant women at one of the rural hospitals in Uganda. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted among 332 pregnant women in first stage of normal labour between April and May 2017 at Kagadi hospital, mid western Uganda. In order to understand socio-demographic and maternal determinants of birth preparedness, we considered overall level of birth preparedness as our dependent variable and determined it using five elements. Data were collected using a researcher administered questionnaire. We used descriptive statistics to understand characteristics of respondents and multivariable logistic regression model to determine factors associated with birth preparedness. Results: Only 94 (28.3%) of the 332 pregnant women who were included in the study were prepared for childbirth. We found that male partners having secondary level of education (aOR 1.86, CI 1.107 - 3.243, p 0.02), discussing birth plan with spouse (aOR 1.97, CI 1.06 - 3.490, p 0.03), monthly income of at least eighty three dollars (aOR 2.98, CI 1.847 - 5.981, p 0.002), being escorted by the spouse during ANC visit (aOR 1.73, CI 1.010 - 2.964, p 0.04), intention to conceive (aOR 1.99, CI 1.087 - 3.65, p 0.026) and being health educated about birth preparedness during antenatal visit (aOR 1.90, CI 1.006 - 3.59, p 0.048) were associated with birth preparedness. Conclusion and Recommendations: We observed that the level of birth preparedness among respondents was associated with many socio-demographic and maternal factors. To scale up birth preparedness in rural settings, we recommend improving household financial income, reducing contraceptive unmet needs, male involvement and health education services to couples during antenatal visits.

Adolescent suicide risk factors and the integration of socialemotional skills in school-based prevention programs

Adolescents are considered one of the most vulnerable groups affected by suicide.Rapid changes in adolescents’physical and mental states,as well as in their lives,significantly and undeniably increase the risk of suicide.Psychological,social,family,individual,and environmental factors are important risk factors for suicidal behavior among teenagers and may contribute to suicide risk through various direct,indirect,or combined pathways.Social-emotional learning is considered a powerful intervention measure for addressing the crisis of adolescent suicide.When deliberately cultivated,fostered,and enhanced,selfawareness,self-management,social awareness,interpersonal skills,and responsible decision-making,as the five core competencies of social-emotional learning,can be used to effectively target various risk factors for adolescent suicide and provide necessary mental and interpersonal support.Among numerous suicide intervention methods,school-based interventions based on social-emotional competence have shown great potential in preventing and addressing suicide risk factors in adolescents.The characteristics of school-based interventions based on social-emotional competence,including their appropriateness,necessity,cost-effectiveness,comprehensiveness,and effectiveness,make these interventions an important means of addressing the crisis of adolescent suicide.To further determine the potential of school-based interventions based on social-emotional competence and better address the issue of adolescent suicide,additional financial support should be provided,the combination of socialemotional learning and other suicide prevention programs within schools should be fully leveraged,and cooperation between schools and families,society,and other environments should be maximized.These efforts should be considered future research directions.

Effect of health education based on information-motivationbehavioral skills model on patients with unilateral vestibular dysfunction

BACKGROUND Vestibular dysfunction(VH)is a common concomitant symptom of late peri-pheral vestibular lesions,which can be trauma,poisoning,infection,heredity,and neurodegeneration,but about 50%of the causes are unknown.The study uses the information-motivation-behavioral skills(IMB)model for health education,effectively improve the quality of life,increase their self-confidence,reduce anxiety and depression,and effectively improve the psychological state of patients.AIM To explore the effect of health education based on the IMB model on the degree of vertigo,disability,anxiety and depression in patients with unilateral vestibular hypofunction.METHODS The clinical data of 80 patients with unilateral vestibular hypofunction from January 2019 to December 2021 were selected as the retrospective research objects,and they were divided into the control group and the observation group with 40 cases in each group according to different nursing methods.Among them,the control group was given routine nursing health education and guidance,and the observation group was given health education and guidance based on the IMB model.The changes in self-efficacy,anxiety and depression,and quality of life of patients with unilateral VH were compared between the two groups.RESULTS There was no significant difference in General Self-Efficacy Scale(GSES)scale scores between the two groups of patients before nursing(P>0.05),which was comparable;after nursing,the GSES scale scores of the two groups were higher than those before nursing.The nursing group was higher than the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the scores of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS)and anxiety and depression subscales between the two groups before nursing(P>0.05).After nursing,the HADS score,anxiety,and depression subscale scores of the two groups of patients were lower than those before nursing,and the nursing group was lower than the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).After nursing,the Dizziness Handicap Inventory(DHI)scale and DHI-P,DHI-E and DHI-F scores in the two groups were decreased,and the scores in the nursing group were lower than those in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Health education based on the IMB model can effectively improve patients'quality of life,increase self-efficacy of patients with unilateral vestibular hypofunction,enhance patients'confidence,enable patients to resume normal work and life as soon as possible,reduce patients'anxiety and depression,and effectively improve patients'psychological status.

Skill Analysis of Highly Skilled Worker in Optical Fiber Fusion Splicing

In this study, information related to optical fiber fusion splicing skills is consolidated by extracting explicit knowledge of the proficiency levels of skilled technicians in two ways. The first is to visually capture and quantify those skills by identifying differences in the skill levels of a nationally certified technician and a highly skilled expert technician using motion capture software, the other is to explore the relevance of the operation and thinking processes by interviewing the expert technician and then attempt to quantify empirical tacit knowledge by an analysis of mobile tracking views using motion capture software. The results show that a technician＇s ability to engage in ＂sensory thinking＂, such as the proper management of visual and tactile cues, is the most important component of his or her proficiency during optical fiber fusion splicing operations, and it was clear that operations were complemented when work path movements were reduced.

A multi-screen collaboration-based low-cost portable dry-lab simulator for basic laparoscopic skills training: A technical note

Laparoscopic skills training has always been crucial for novice surgeons. Readily accessible equipment, aswell as structured training curriculum should be provided to guarantee adequate practice hours and skillproficiency. Dry-lab training is typically adopted before animal model surgery, usually comprising ofpurpose-built bulky simulators that is neither accessible nor portable. In this technical note, we designed ahome-made simulator, using two 4 L water jugs as operating space that are communicated inside, plus anobservation hole taped in between to mimic the triangular working space of laparoscopic surgery. Imagingwas achieved via smartphone camera, which was wirelessly connected to a laptop and a projector for realtime display on multiple screens, using built-in multi-screen collaboration software. A self-regulated andproficiency-based training curriculum was adopted. This dry-lab simulator is low-cost, highly portable andeasily replicable for basic laparoscopic skills training for the beginners to intermediate surgeons, whichmay serve as a good way for the standardized residency and specialist training program.

Effect of information-motivation-behavioral skills model based perioperative nursing on pain in patients with gallstones

BACKGROUND The incidence of cholecystolithiasis is on the rise.Use of information,motivation,and behavioral skills can play a positive role in promoting changes in individual health behaviors.However,reports on the effects of information-motivationbehavioral(IMB)skills model based high-quality nursing as a perioperative nursing intervention for patients with gallstones are nonexistent.AIM To explore the application of IMB skills model based high-quality nursing in patients with gallstones.METHODS Two hundred and sixteen patients with cholecystolithiasis treated at our hospital from January 2022 to January 2023 were enrolled and divided into a control,highquality,and combined nursing groups,with 72 patients in each group.The control,high-quality,and combination groups received conventional,high-quality,and IMB skills model based perioperative nursing services,respectively.Differences in clinical indicators,stress levels,degree of pain,emotional state,and quality of life were observed,and complications and nursing satisfaction among the three groups were evaluated.RESULTS After nursing,the time to recovery of gastrointestinal function in the high-quality and combined nursing groups was significantly shorter than that of the control group,with the recovery of gastrointestinal function being the fastest in the combined nursing group(P<0.05).After nursing intervention,cortisol and norepinephrine levels in the high-quality and combined nursing groups were closer to normal than those of the control group 24 h after surgery,with the combined nursing group having the closest to normal levels(P<0.05).After 3 and 7 d of intervention,the patients’pain significantly improved,which was more prominent in the highquality and combination groups.Meanwhile,the pain score in the combination group was significantly lower than those of the control and high-quality nursing groups(P<0.05).After nursing intervention,the emotional states of all patients improved,and the scores of patients in the combination group were significantly lower than those of the control and high-quality nursing groups.The quality of life of patients in the high-quality and combined nursing groups significantly improved after nursing intervention compared to that of the control group,with the combined nursing group having the highest quality of life score.After intervention,the incidence of complications in the high-quality and combination groups was significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.05),but the difference between the combination and high-quality nursing groups was not significant.Nursing satisfaction of patients in the high-quality and combination groups was significantly higher than that of the control group,with the nursing satisfaction being the highest in the combination group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION IMB skills model based nursing can improve surgical stress levels,degrees of pain,emotional state,quality of life,and nursing satisfaction of patients with gallstones and reduce the incidence of complications.

The role of intangible capital in wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers in China

Wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers has increased rapidly in China, right along with its major trading partner--the United States. Trade liberalization and technological improvement have been proposed as causes for the inequality, yet trade liberalization and technological improvement have set the stage for another, possibly more important, cause of the inequality： the movement of intangible capital to China. Intangible capital works synergistically with other inputs to make skilled-workers and tangible capital more valuable. Once the accumulated tangible capital reaches a certain level, its lower unit cost will attract the inflow of intangible capital, which will further expand the demand for skilled workers. As a result, wage inequality becomes larger in China. This paper takes the first step in an attempt to understand the role that the movement of intangible capital plays in the increasing wage inequality in China, and sets out several possible policy prescriptions for China to deal with this inequality.

Franchisees Can Claim to Be Entrepreneurially Skilled or Not Three-Pronged Perceptions

Entrepreneurial skills determine the success or failure of a business operator. Researchers in the field of franchising, however, believe that to succeed as a franchisee, a business operator does not have to have high entrepreneurial skill levels. This study, titled ＂Whether Franchisees Can Claim to be Entrepreneurially Skilled--Three-Pronged Perceptions＂, surveyed 32 franchisees, 45 experts, and 64 independent entrepreneurs. It hypothesized that： （1） Independent entrepreneurs have higher skill levels than franchisees; （2） independent entrepreneurs＇ performance is better than franchisees＇ due to the differences in skill levels. Each of the franchisees and independent entrepreneurs was asked to rate themselves on a Likert scale against a list of traits or characteristics believed to determine levels of entrepreneurship. The experts were requested to rank within the scale whether independent entrepreneurs excel in entrepreneurial skills at the expense of franchisees. Franchisees ranked themselves at 3.5, on average, while independent entrepreneurs ranked themselves at 4.2 in the scale 1-5, with 5 indicating highest skill. On this basis, Hypothesis 1 is proved correct, i.e. independent entrepreneurs have higher entrepreneurial skill levels and at least they perceive themselves so. Experts, with an average rating of 3.4 within the scale, also seem to agree that independent entrepreneurs excel in entrepreneurial skills at the expense of franchisees. Using sales revenue and sales per employee as measure of performance, the study established average sales for franchised units at P275,038, while those for independent entrepreneurs were P86,437. Sales per employee ranged between P6 118 and P23,170 for franchised units, and between P8,207 and P 14,281 for independent entrepreneurs. This leads to the rejection of hypothesis 2 （Note： P denotes Botswana Pula. P9,0253 = US$1 as at 09/09/14）. Multivariate tests demonstrated, through Wilk＇s Lambda Test Statistic, that the profiles deviated significantly from parallelism. The study therefore concluded that while independent entrepreneurs are more skilled than franchisees, their performance is inferior to that of franchisees. This conclusion might persuade many countries to promote franchising as a strategy.

A Method to Measure Eye-Hand Coordination for Extracting Skilled Elements-Simultaneous Measurement of Eye-Gaze and Hand Location-

The purpose of this study was to construct bases for exploring the process of skill acquisition from the viewpoint of eye-hand coordination. The information obtained from eye-gaze is closely related to physical movements in any activity. It is important to establish a method to measure eye-hand coordination for extracting skilled elements and understanding the skill acquisition process. Using a system which consists of an eye mark recorder and a three-dimensional location measurement device, a method for measuring eye-hand coordination was proposed on the basis of the simultaneous measurement of eye-gaze and brush tip locations. After describing the measurement algorithm, the eye-hand coordination during calligraphy was exemplified. More concretely, using such a system, an attempt was made to show that the relationship between the line of eye-gaze and the brush tip stroke was different between a novice and an expert. In such a way, we suggested that the proposed method is promising for exploring the process of skill acquisition.

Skill Assessment of North American Multi-Models Ensemble (NMME) for June-September (JJAS) Seasonal Rainfall over Ethiopia

In recent years, there has been increasing demand for high-resolution seasonal climate forecasts at sufficient lead times to allow response planning from users in agriculture, hydrology, disaster risk management, and health, among others. This paper examines the forecasting skill of the North American Multi-model Ensemble (NMME) over Ethiopia during the June to September (JJAS) season. The NMME, one of the multi-model seasonal forecasting systems, regularly generates monthly seasonal rainfall forecasts over the globe with 0.5 - 11.5 months lead time. The skill and predictability of seasonal rainfall are assessed using 28 years of hindcast data from the NMME models. The forecast skill is quantified using canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and root mean square error. The results show that the NMME models capture the JJAS seasonal rainfall over central, northern, and northeastern parts of Ethiopia while exhibiting weak or limited skill across western and southwestern Ethiopia. The performance of each model in predicting the JJAS seasonal rainfall is variable, showing greater skill in predicting dry conditions. Overall, the performance of the multi-model ensemble was not consistently better than any single ensemble member. The correlation of observed and predicted seasonal rainfall for the better performing models—GFDL-CM2p5-FLOR-A06, CMC2-CanCM4, GFDL-CM2p5-FLOR-B01 and NASA-GMAO-062012—is 0.68, 0.58, 0.52, and 0.5, respectively. The COLA-RSMAS-CCSM4, CMC1- CanCM3 and NCEP-CFSv2 models exhibit less skill, with correlations less than 0.4. In general, the NMME offers promising skill to predict seasonal rainfall over Ethiopia during the June-September (JJAS) season, motivating further work to assess its performance at longer lead times.