Case Assignment Research Articles

Optimization of Bit Allocation for Spatial Multiplexing in MIMO VLC System with Smartphones.

This paper focuses on the hardware components of smartphones, namely, the use of displays and cameras in mobile devices as transmitters and receivers to establish a near-field multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) visible light communication (VLC) system. Based on the relationship between the grayscale values of transmitted and received signals, the physical channel responses are detected and approximated with a high-order regression to obtain the channel gain. With the constraint of bit numbers in the MIMO VLC system, an integer-type water-filling scheme was designed for bit allocation to improve transmission efficiency. The physical examinations show that bit error rate (BER) reduction can be 26.4% with Gaussian noise of 30 dB and detected channel gain compared with the equal bit allocation. The optimization of the simulation was confirmed with the bit assignments in real cases.

Surgical Case Volume Needed to Achieve Stable Procedural Proficiency in the General Surgery Chief Resident Year

Introduction: We have previously reported using a resident’s learning curve based on operative time (OT) plateau could determine their procedural proficiency. In this study we hypothesize case volume in the chief resident (CR) year would influence whether a CR could achieve reproducible procedural proficiency based on OT. Methods: We extracted laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LCh), laparoscopic colectomy (LCo), laparoscopic inguinal hernia (LIH) and open inguinal hernia (OIH) performed by general surgery residents in the CR year from 7/2016 to 6/2020 through hospital records with OT, patient type, and case complexity assessed by DRG. We used variance component analyses as well as generalizability and decision studies (D-Study) to determine number of cases needed to achieve desired reliability (> 0.80). Results: In total 1514 cases (LCh=776, LCo=339, LIH=158, OIH=241) were included. On average, CR overall completed 38.3 LCh, 16.9 LCo, 7.8 LIH, and 11.8 OIH. After controlling for CR effect, case complexity (r=0.004) and procedure type (r<0.0001) significantly influenced OT. To achieve stable/reproducible OT in each procedure upon graduation, our CRs (N = 6) were estimated to perform on average 25 LCh, 30 LCo, 26 LIH, and 17 OIH per person. Individual CR had minimal impact on the estimation of case needed. Conclusion: The case volume needed to achieve stable procedural proficiency in LCo, LIH and OIH exceeds average CR case number in our program. This might be also true in other programs. Prospective measurement of OT may allow for individualized CR case assignments and enhance CR readiness for independent practice in general surgery.

Unaccusative verbs in Modern Standard Arabic

PurposeThe purpose of this research was to analyze the unaccusative verb in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) within the framework of MP in order to answer the research question: How does the single argument of an unaccusative verb, that carries the theme theta role and is generated in the object position, receive a nominative case without moving to the [Spec, vP], which is the base subject position?Design/methodology/approachThe analysis in the paper was based on the framework of Minimalist Program (MP) which was proposed by Chomsky (2000). MP concerns economy, simplicity and efficiency in the connection between sound and meaning. Essentially, Chomsky (2000) proposes that faculty of language (FL) contains a computational system that interfaces with external systems, sensorimotor systems and systems of thought. The computational system is based on three operations. The first operation is merge, which combines two syntactic objects to form a new one. It is presented in binary branches that project a hierarchical level. The second operation is agree which establishes syntactic relation for case assignment and agreement. The final operation is move, which composes merge and agree.FindingsThe analysis demonstrated that the sole argument of an accusative verb receives the nominative case in situ. This is due to Locality of Matching in which the agreement holds between the [nom] case on T and NP in internal argument of VP. This is because there is no intervening NP between T and the sole argument in internal argument of VP, which is a base object position.Originality/valueThis research shows that the single argument of the unaccusative verb receives the nominative case in situ. This analysis observes the economic considerations of MP as well as respects the UTAH hypothesis, which rules out the structures where the theme asymmetrically appears as a specifier or a complement.

A dependent case approach to complex event nominals in standard Arabic

AbstractThis paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-based accounts of case in SA are problematic, as they face problems accounting for case assignment in complex event nominals. Using Baker’s (2015) dependent case theory, we argue that there are two modalities of structural case assignment in SA, i.e., the dependent case and the Agree-based case, and that the latter is only available when the former fails to apply. It is also argued that case assignment takes place at Spell Out, the point where phase heads are merged into the structure. We provide evidence that vP in SA is a soft phase and we claim that v in SA is incapable of assigning the accusative case to the object, due to v’s deficiency. We also claim that a DP of the complex nominal type in SA is a hard phase. SAPROis argued to lack a case feature, and it is therefore neither a proper goal for case in the Agree-based case mechanism, nor is it a proper case trigger/competitor in the dependent case mechanism. We believe that the proposed account solves the problems that previous accounts of case in SA face.

Simulated daily readout for maintaining nuclear medicine education in residency training amidst declining case volume: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Simulated daily readout (SDR) is a teaching initiative in radiology and nuclear medicine developed to simulate a resident's experience during periods of case volume reduction. SDR was employed by many training centers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate the perception of radiology residents on the effectiveness of SDR. The SDR was conducted in the nuclear medicine rotations from 2019 to 2020 during the shutdown of the radionuclide imaging facilities using a combination of strategies including case selection, assignment, reporting and feedback. A brief 8-item questionnaire with Likert scale values was completed by radiology residents who participated in the SDR-based nuclear medicine rotations. Thirty-five of 54 residents returned the questionnaire. The majority of residents affirmed the negative impact of the reduction in case volume on their training experiences and perceived that SDR could alleviate the effects. The SDR strategies perceived as more effective were targeted case selection, in-advanced assignment, verbal interpretation and reporting, and verbal feedback. The radiology residents perceived the SDR as an effective tool to preserve their training experiences. The SDR has the potential to be a useful initiative when teaching centers face the threat of declining case volume.

Self-supervised graph neural network with pre-training generative learning for recommendation systems

The case assignment system is an essential system of case management and assignment within the procuratorate and is an important aspect of judicial fairness and efficiency. However, existing methods mostly use manual or random case assignment, which leads to unbalanced case distribution. Moreover, the relationship between prosecutors and case categories usually shows a power-law distribution in real-world data. Therefore, in this paper, we describe the case rationality assignment as a recommendation problem under the power-law distributed data. To solve the above problems, we propose an end-to-end Self-supervised Graph neural network model with Pre-training Generative learning for Recommendation (SGPGRec), the main idea of which is to capture self-supervised signals using intra-node features and inter-node correlations in the data, and generate the data representation by pre-training to improve the recommendation results. To be specific, we designed three auxiliary self-supervised tasks based on the prosecutor-case category interaction graph and the data distribution to obtain feature representations of prosecutors, case categories, and the interaction information between them. Then we constructed an end-to-end graph neural network recommendation model by the interaction information based on the data characteristics of the power-law distribution. Finally, extensive experimental consistency on a real-world dataset from three procuratorates shows that our method is effective compared to several yet competing baseline methods and further supports the development of an intelligent case assignment system with adequate performance.

Managing global HRM integration in international expansion: the case of Geely cross-border acquisition

Learning outcomes This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business. Upon completion of the case study discussion and assignments, students will be able to: (1) understand human resource management in multinational corporations and the importance of cross-cultural management and human resource integration in acquisitions; (2) understand the challenges and solutions faced by multinational corporations in the process of expansion; (3) analysis of what characteristics should be considered in CEO selection for managing a newly acquired company; and (4) analyze how to better promote global human resource management from the dimensions of localized HRM system reform and human resource structure reconstruction. Case overview/synopsis After a long period of negotiation, exploration, suspension and restart, Geely Group finally acquired 49.9% of the shares of DRB’s Proton Holding and 51% of the shares of the luxury car brand, Lotus Group. On the afternoon of May 24, Geely Holding Group held an acquisition signing ceremony with the Malaysia DRB-HICOM Berhad (hereinafter referred to as DRB). Geely’s commercial territory now extended into Southeast Asia, and its product spectrum increased to luxury sports cars.However, the completion of the acquisition did not mean peace of mind. On the contrary, Geely still faced a series of challenges because of differences in cultural background. The national cultures of the two countries (China and Malaysia) were very different, and so were the values of the two enterprises. Facing the challenges of promoting global human resource integration, Geely needs to make a fundamental decision on the HRM mode in the new-acquired company. Should Geely transplant its own management practice into the Proton, or adopt localized HRM philosophy? Which kind of global HRM practice would be more effective for supporting the new-acquired company developments in the future? In the post-acquisition management, how to better realize the global human resources integration become a key problem faced by Geely. Complexity academic level This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

On word order and Case in Old Italian past participle constructions

While in Modern Italian, V1 is mandatory in absolute constructions, no such restriction is operative in Old Italian. On the surface, such a fact could be interpreted as a sign of residual V-to-Comp movement in Modern Italian. However, it is not: In Old Italian, participles targeted a position lower than Comp and, hence, the V1 pattern of Modern Italian is an innovation rather than a residue from the earlier stage. The difference between the two grammars lies in the interaction of independent properties of Old Italian and Modern Italian: First, in Old Italian, two arguments can be case licensed because of the presence of a Tense Phrase in the participle clause. In Modern Italian, where no Tense Phrase is projected, nominative can only be licensed by focus as an instance of default case assignment. Second, a general change relating to information structure has as its consequence that a focused argument is realized post-verbally in Modern Italian, which explains the obligatory V1 pattern.

Exploring Links Between Psychosis and Frontotemporal Dementia Using Multimodal Machine Learning

The behavioral and cognitive symptoms of severe psychotic disorders overlap with those seen in dementia. However, shared brain alterations remain disputed, and their relevance for patients in at-risk disease stages has not been explored so far. To use machine learning to compare the expression of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) patterns of behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), Alzheimer disease (AD), and schizophrenia; estimate predictability in patients with bvFTD and schizophrenia based on sociodemographic, clinical, and biological data; and examine prognostic value, genetic underpinnings, and progression in patients with clinical high-risk (CHR) states for psychosis or recent-onset depression (ROD). This study included 1870 individuals from 5 cohorts, including (1) patients with bvFTD (n = 108), established AD (n = 44), mild cognitive impairment or early-stage AD (n = 96), schizophrenia (n = 157), or major depression (n = 102) to derive and compare diagnostic patterns and (2) patients with CHR (n = 160) or ROD (n = 161) to test patterns' prognostic relevance and progression. Healthy individuals (n = 1042) were used for age-related and cohort-related data calibration. Data were collected from January 1996 to July 2019 and analyzed between April 2020 and April 2022. Case assignments based on diagnostic patterns; sociodemographic, clinical, and biological data; 2-year functional outcomes and genetic separability of patients with CHR and ROD with high vs low pattern expression; and pattern progression from baseline to follow-up MRI scans in patients with nonrecovery vs preserved recovery. Of 1870 included patients, 902 (48.2%) were female, and the mean (SD) age was 38.0 (19.3) years. The bvFTD pattern comprising prefrontal, insular, and limbic volume reductions was more expressed in patients with schizophrenia (65 of 157 [41.2%]) and major depression (22 of 102 [21.6%]) than the temporo-limbic AD patterns (28 of 157 [17.8%] and 3 of 102 [2.9%], respectively). bvFTD expression was predicted by high body mass index, psychomotor slowing, affective disinhibition, and paranoid ideation (R2 = 0.11). The schizophrenia pattern was expressed in 92 of 108 patients (85.5%) with bvFTD and was linked to the C9orf72 variant, oligoclonal banding in the cerebrospinal fluid, cognitive impairment, and younger age (R2 = 0.29). bvFTD and schizophrenia pattern expressions forecasted 2-year psychosocial impairments in patients with CHR and were predicted by polygenic risk scores for frontotemporal dementia, AD, and schizophrenia. Findings were not associated with AD or accelerated brain aging. Finally, 1-year bvFTD/schizophrenia pattern progression distinguished patients with nonrecovery from those with preserved recovery. Neurobiological links may exist between bvFTD and psychosis focusing on prefrontal and salience system alterations. Further transdiagnostic investigations are needed to identify shared pathophysiological processes underlying the neuroanatomical interface between the 2 disease spectra.

Variation in the Occurrence and Interpretation of Articles in Malagasy: A Comparison with Italian

In languages that have a definite article but no indefinite article, the definite article typically maps to definites, and the bare noun maps to indefinites. We investigate this mapping in Malagasy, which imposes an additional restriction: bare nouns cannot be subjects. We ask whether the subject can be interpreted as indefinite, given the obligatory nature of the article. We also look at DPs in other positions (direct object, clefted subjects) to determine whether the mapping between form and meaning is one-to-one. To answer these questions, we administered an on-line questionnaire that presented participants with the choice of the article or the bare noun in the different positions (subject, object, cleft) in contexts that favoured an indefinite/novel interpretation. As predicted, the article was obligatory in subject position, but disfavoured in the object and cleft position. These results confirm current descriptions in the literature. We compare these results with a similar case of definite article in indefinite nominals found in Italian and propose that the article does not carry definiteness features (at least in these cases) but overtly marks (abstract) Case assignment on subjects, while it can remain silent on objects.

Measuring Protein Conformation at Aqueous Interfaces with 2D Infrared Spectroscopy of Emulsions.

Determining the secondary and tertiary structures of proteins at aqueous interfaces is crucial for understanding their function, but measuring these structures selectively at the interface is challenging. Here we demonstrate that two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy of protein stabilized emulsions offers a new route to measuring interfacial protein structure with high levels of detail. We prepared hexadecane/water oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by model LK peptides that are known to fold into either α-helix or β-sheet conformations at hydrophobic interfaces and measured 2D-IR spectra in a transmission geometry. We saw clear spectral signatures of the peptides folding at the interface, with no detectable residue from remaining bulk peptides. Using 2D spectroscopy gives us access to correlation and dynamics data, which enables structural assignment in cases where linear spectroscopy fails. Using the emulsions allows one to study interfacial spectra with standard transmission geometry spectrometers, bringing the richness of 2D-IR to the interface with no additional optical complexity.

An Improved AdaBoost for Prosecutorial Case-Workload Estimation via Case Grouping

Case-workload estimation has always been a complex process and plays a vital role in prosecutorial work. Despite the increasing development of rule-based techniques, artificial intelligence and machine learning have rarely been used to study case-workload estimation problems, leaving many cases processed without quantitative estimation. This paper aims to develop a new case-work estimation method that combines artificial intelligence methods with practical needs and apply it to the case assignment system of the prosecutor’s office. We propose a feature learning model, the improved AdaBoost model, to capture the features of cases for case grouping to estimate case workload. We first learn the case textual data based on the judicial proper noun dictionary, extract the case labels from the case information with the AdaBoost learner, and group and encode each case by fuzzy matching. Then, the extracted vital information estimates case workload based on the length of case processing time and suspects number, respectively. We conducted extensive experiments to compare the proposed method with eight baseline methods, including the traditional AdaBoost classifier, to evaluate the performance of the proposed model on a real prosecution case dataset. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed workload estimation model.

On the CP shell

The system of feature inheritance from C to T entails the syntactic presence of C in any tensed clause where Agree and Case assignment take place. However, the complementizer that, which is conventionally assumed to head a tensed clause, never appears in a main clause in English, and this empirical fact implies that the complementizer occupies a higher syntactic position than C. Here emerges the necessity to postulate a CP shell above CP. The author suggests labeling this shell as cP, headed by the complementizer that. The specifier of little c is the target of wh-movement in embedded clauses whereas the null head C contains various features associated with such syntactic operations as feature inheritance, negative inversion, and wh-movement in main clauses.

Development and Evaluation of a Practiice-Based Assignment in Chronic Kidney Disease to Enhance Clinical Nutrition Coursework

ObjectivesThe objective of this work was to develop and evaluate a novel practice-based clinical nutrition assignment to support competency-based academic nutrition programs that integrate didactic and experiential program components. The target audience was graduate nutrition students enrolled in a clinical nutrition course sequence. MethodsAs an alternative to a traditional “paper and pencil” case study assignment, each student was assigned to conduct an in-person, out-of-class interview with a practicing renal nutritionist. In written assignment directions, students were provided with questions for a structured interview which followed the nutrition care process, i.e., nutrition assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring/evaluation, with application to nutrition management of chronic kidney disease. Subsequently, students responded anonymously to Likert scale questions regarding clinical knowledge and confidence in clinical skills derived from the practice-based assignment compared to their expected gains from a traditional “paper and pencil” case assignment plus an open-ended question. ResultsThe assignment supported clinical nutrition students’ competency in nutrition management of chronic kidney disease and facilitated their networking within the professional nutrition practice community. In class, students shared details of their interview findings from an array of practicing renal nutritionists which generated rich discussions in contrast to a single case study. In evaluating the practice-based assignment, n = 31 students reported on 5 point scales a mean of 4.4 regarding knowledge of clinical nutrition management and a mean of 4.0 regarding confidence in clinical skill derived from the practice-based assignment compared to expectations from a traditional case study assignment (where 5 = better than what I expected and 4 = slightly better than what I expected I would have gained from “paper and pencil” case). ConclusionsThis practice-based assignment in chronic kidney disease provided a unique approach to enhancing clinical nutrition coursework and facilitated an interactive learning environment to support students’ professional growth. Funding SourcesNone.

Improper case

This paper argues that case assignment is impossible in configurations that parallel generalized improper-movement configurations. Thus, like improper movement, there is “improper case.” The empirical motivation comes from (i) the interaction between case and movement and (ii) crossclausal case assignment in Finnish. I propose that improper case is ruled out by the Ban on Improper Case: a DP in [Spec, XP] cannot establish a dependent-case relationship with a lower DP across YP if Y is higher than X in the functional sequence. I show that this constraint falls under a strong version of the Williams Cycle (Williams 1974, 2003, 2013; van Riemsdijk and Williams 1981) and is derived under Williams’s (2003, 2013) analysis of embedding.

Ergativity as a natural manifestation of the &lt;em&gt;v&lt;/em&gt; &gt; EA base

This study proposes an analysis of ergativity based on the hypothesis that, contrary to the standardly assumed structure, the Case assigner v asymmetrically c-commands the base position of all the arguments of the verb, including the external argument. Simply assuming that an EPP feature attracts the closest NP it c-commands, and that a Case feature assigns structural Case to the closest NP it c-commands, we aim at a theory in which ergativity as well as accusativity is a natural manifestation of this universal base, while their differences reflect the parametric differences of the formal features of v.

The case of fragment answers

This paper investigates the case of bare-(pro)nominal fragment answers, and specifically the issues that arise in analyzing the case of fragment DPs from subject questions. I adopt a middle ground approach between competing theories of nonsententials—namely the Ellipsis Approach (Merchant 2004) and the approach of Direct Interpretation (Barton &amp; Progovac 2005)—and propose fragment DPs to be derived from a null vP. For their case forms, I compare two different theories of case—assignment by functional heads and Dependent Case Theory—and hypothesize that fragment DPs construed as the internal argument are realized in dependent case for nominative-accusative languages. Fragment DPs construed as the external argument would be found in their default case form, which is language-specific. Fragment answer data from English, Korean, and Serbian is used to provide crosslinguistic support for this null vP analysis and discussion of case.

A discrete squirrel search algorithm for the surgical cases assignment problem

Surgical cases assignment problem (SCAP) is among the most investigated parts in healthcare scheduling and assignment problems, in which a set of surgical cases are assigned to operating rooms within a specified planning horizon. Several methods have been developed to provide approximate solutions for SCAP. Nevertheless, existing methods underperform at the large-scale instances. In this paper, a discrete squirrel search algorithm (DSSA) is proposed for SCAP with the objective of minimizing total operating cost. First, four heuristics are presented to improve quality and diversity of initial population. Second, a surgical case sequence vector is employed to encode individuals, and a corresponding decoding scheme is designed to construct feasible schedules. Third, several efficient heuristics are embedded into DSSA to enhance the search capacity. Moreover, the Taguchi method of design-of-experiment (DOE) is adopted to explore the influence of parameter settings. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first application of the squirrel search algorithm for SCAP. The effectiveness of DSSA is conducted on a typical benchmark dataset. Computational results and comparisons demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme over the existing methods in solution accuracy and consuming time for solving SCAP.

Improving Assignments for Therapeutic and Prophylactic Treatment Within TB Households. A Potential for Immuno-Diagnosis?

Delays in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) can lead to more severe disease and increased transmission. Contact investigation among household contacts (HHCs) of TB patients is crucial to ensure optimal outcomes. In the context of a prospective cohort study in Palamaner, Southern India, this study attempted to assess the potential of 27 different soluble immune markers to accurately assign HHCs for appropriate treatment. A multiplex bead assay was applied on QuantiFERON (QFT)-nil supernatants collected from 89 HHCs grouped by longitudinal QFT status; M. tuberculosis (Mtb) infected (QFT positive at baseline and follow-up, n = 30), recent QFT converters (QFT-negative at baseline, n = 27) and converted to QFT-positivity within 6 months of exposure (at follow-up, n = 24) and QFT consistent negatives (n = 32). The 29 TB index cases represented Active TB. Active TB cases and HHCs with Mtb infection produced significantly different levels of both pro-inflammatory (IFNγ, IL17, IL8, IP10, MIP-1α, MIP1β, and VEGF) and anti-inflammatory (IL9 and IL1RA) cytokines. We identified a 4-protein signature (bFGF, IFNγ, IL9, and IP10) that correctly classified HHCs with Mtb infection vs. Active TB with a specificity of 92.6%, suggesting that this 4-protein signature has the potential to assign HHCs for either full-length TB treatment or preventive TB treatment. We further identified a 4-protein signature (bFGF, GCSF, IFNγ, and IL1RA) that differentiated HHCs with Mtb infection from QFT consistent negatives with a specificity of 62.5%, but not satisfactory to safely assign HHCs to no preventive TB treatment. QFT conversion, reflecting new Mtb infection, induced an elevated median concentration in nearly two-thirds (19/27) of the analyzed soluble markers compared to the levels measured at baseline. Validation in other studies is warranted in order to establish the potential of the immune biosignatures for optimized TB case detection and assignment to therapeutic and preventive treatment of Mtb infected individuals.

No case tampering once transfer domain is formed!

AbstractThis research article offers empirical evidence from Standard Arabic (SA) that an existing structural case assigned on an element by one head can be overridden by a new structural case assigned by a different head as long as the element (or one of its copies) has not become part of any previous transfer domain defined by the Phase Impenetrability Condition (PIC) (see Chomsky, Noam. 2000. Minimalist inquiries: The framework. In Roger Martin, David Michaels &amp; Juan Uriagereka (eds.),Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik, 89–155. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press). Our main evidence comes from the patterns of case assignment of the overt complementizerʔinnain SA.ʔinnacan only assign case to elements that otherwise bear default case, including a topical object or a topical subject as well as elements that are assigned case by T0such as a contrastively focused subject. On the other hand,ʔinnanever assigns case to a contrastively focused object (that is located in CP) which is argued to be base generated in its thematic position within the transfer domain of v*P. These facts are taken together as evidence that a structural case assigned to elements within a phase is temporary (as it can be overridden) until the transfer takes place. We attribute this to the workings of a transfer principle labelled asThe Case-Chain Uniformity Principle(CCUP) that demands that a non-trivial chain (i.e., a discontinuous entity) be only assigned one case value in the interface.