Set Of Strategies Research Articles

Quantification of metabolic niche occupancy dynamics in a Baltic Sea bacterial community.

Progress in molecular methods has enabled the monitoring of bacterial populations in time. Nevertheless, understanding community dynamics and its links with ecosystem functioning remains challenging due to the tremendous diversity of microorganisms. Conceptual frameworks that make sense of time series of taxonomically rich bacterial communities, regarding their potential ecological function, are needed. A key concept for organizing ecological functions is the niche, the set of strategies that enable a population to persist and define its impacts on the surroundings. Here we present a framework based on manifold learning to organize genomic information into potentially occupied bacterial metabolic niches over time. Manifold learning tries to uncover low-dimensional data structures in high-dimensional data sets that can be used to describe the data in reduced dimensions. We apply the method to re-construct the dynamics of putatively occupied metabolic niches using a long-term bacterial time series from the Baltic Sea, the Linnaeus Microbial Observatory (LMO). The results reveal a relatively low-dimensional space of occupied metabolic niches comprising groups of taxa with similar functional capabilities. Time patterns of occupied niches were strongly driven by seasonality. Some metabolic niches were dominated by one bacterial taxon, whereas others were occupied by multiple taxa, depending on the season. These results illustrate the power of manifold learning approaches to advance our understanding of the links between community composition and functioning in microbial systems. IMPORTANCE The increase in data availability of bacterial communities highlights the need for conceptual frameworks to advance our understanding of these complex and diverse communities alongside the production of such data. To understand the dynamics of these tremendously diverse communities, we need tools to identify overarching strategies and describe their role and function in the ecosystem in a comprehensive way. Here, we show that a manifold learning approach can coarse grain bacterial communities in terms of their metabolic strategies and that we can thereby quantitatively organize genomic information in terms of potentially occupied niches over time. This approach, therefore, advances our understanding of how fluctuations in bacterial abundances and species composition can relate to ecosystem functions and it can facilitate the analysis, monitoring, and future predictions of the development of microbial communities.

Effective strategies for controlling physical fitness in 7-8 year old tennis players for optimal health and performance

Background and Study Aim. Physical fitness is crucial for the health and performance of young tennis players. Controlling physical fitness in 7-8 year old tennis players is particularly important as this is a critical period for physical development, and habits formed during this age can have long-lasting effects on health outcomes. The purpose of this article is to provide effective strategies for controlling physical fitness in 7-8 year old tennis players to promote optimal health and performance. Materials and Methods. This study involved 12 young tennis players aged 7-8 years with 1-2 years of sports experience who participated at a tennis court "Park" in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The sports school program was used to train the young tennis players, and control of the level of physical fitness was determined using tests. Relevant literature was reviewed to identify effective strategies for controlling physical fitness in young tennis players, which were then organized and presented in a concise and practical manner. Results. The article presents a set of effective strategies for controlling physical fitness in 7-8 year old tennis players. The strategies include the incorporation of various physical activities, such as agility drills, strength training, and cardiovascular exercises, along with healthy dietary habits, adequate rest, and hydration. Conclusions. Implementing effective strategies for controlling physical fitness in 7-8 year old tennis players can help promote optimal health and performance. The strategies presented in this article can serve as a useful guide for coaches, parents, and young tennis players looking to improve their physical fitness and overall health.

From Ruptures to Continuities: Czechoslovak Cultural Heritage in Non-Fiction Cinema 1948-1956

The article examines the post-war trajectory of the Czechoslovak politics of cultural heritage, its public presentation and circulation through the medium of non-fiction film. Specifically, it investigates the genres of ethnographic, geographic, and art films released after the political transformation in 1948 that brought the country under the direct influence of the Soviet Union. It describes the professional infrastructure and networks within which the fields of cultural heritage preservation and non-fiction cinema were operating and analyses their interactions in the realm of film production. Through the analysis of the film production background, audio-visual content itself, and related period visual ­culture, it finds a set of different narrative strategies used for public presentation of cultural heritage. These narratives are then placed in the context of the official cultural ideology. It exposes continuities that can be traced between the communist cultural politics introduced after the communist takeover in 1948 and the pre-WWII Czechoslovak cultural politics. The analysis shows the diversity within the film production whose primary goal was to celebrate and represent the national cultural heritage in and outside the country, and therefore understands these films as important tools of national and international cultural politics.

Mitigating misinformation about the COVID-19 infodemic on social media: A conceptual framework.

Based on the literature review, there are negative health outcomes during a social media infodemic because of the spread of misinformation on social media. The study concluded that by implementing a set of strategies and activities identified through the framework, health information can be managed on social media to improve health outcomes.

0170 When to Sleep and Work to Optimize Alertness

Abstract Introduction Currently, millions of individuals work outside of the conventional 9-to-5 work shift and are often required to sleep at times that are not conducive to maximizing restorative sleep. This insufficient sleep leads to health and cognitive performance impairments that compromise workers’ safety and productivity. This can be mitigated by sleeping at the time of day that maximizes the restorative benefits of sleep and working at favorable hours, within their particular opportunity windows. Here, we present an optimization algorithm to identify sleep and work schedules that maximize alertness during work hours, while reducing impairment during non-working hours to the greatest extent possible. Methods We developed an optimization algorithm that searches through a large number of possible sleep and work schedules to identify the one that maximizes alertness during work times, while meeting user-provided constraints, such as the periods during which the user has flexible opportunities to sleep and work. To generate the possible sleep and work schedules, we used the well-validated Unified Model of Performance (UMP), including its ability to predict sleep latency and sleep duration. To assess the algorithm, we simulated four experimental studies, where we compared the effectiveness of the sleep schedules obtained by the algorithm against those of the sleep schedules used in the studies. In addition, we tested the algorithm’s ability to simultaneously optimize sleep and work schedules in one of the studies. Results Using the same amount of sleep as in the studies, the algorithm proposed sleep schedules that optimally allocated sleep, reducing alertness impairment during work hours by an average of 29%. Similarly, by simultaneously optimizing sleep and work schedules during a recovery period following a chronic sleep-restriction challenge, the algorithm’s solutions resulted in recovery to baseline alertness levels two days earlier than the conventional 9-to-5 work schedule. Conclusion Our work provides the first quantitative tool to optimize sleep and work schedules and complements other existing fatigue-management tools to provide a more comprehensive set of countermeasure strategies to mitigate alertness impairment due to limited sleep. Support (if any)

Tendencies and strategy for sustainable development: Lithuania-Ukraine

The actuality of the topic lies in the interest in the results of socio-economic activity and the need to increase the current level of achieving sustainable development, which, in turn, requires the improvement of the appropriate methodological and managerial tools. The methodological basis of the article became historical method, method of reconstruction of cause-and-effect relationships, dialectical method, method of system-structural analysis and synthesis, economic-statistical method. The purpose of the research is to develop a theory of ensuring sustainable development. The main task, which implementation leads to the achievement of the research goal, is the formation of a strategy and environment for sustainable development, which, in turn, calls for the analysis of sustainable development trends. The results of work. The tendencies of changes in the index of sustainable development in the Republic of Lithuania and in Ukraine for the period of 2015-2021 were evaluated and compared. The rate of change of this index in the Republic of Lithuania every year, except for 2020-2021, changed the value of the dynamics to the opposite; in Ukraine - the negative value of this indicator was observed during 2015-2016. A set of management strategies for ensuring sustainable development is proposed, which consists of the following types (survival, existence, limited growth and growth) and a methodology for determining these types of strategies. To determine the type of strategy, a matrix field has been developed, which separate zone corresponds to one of the types of strategy. The current condition and dynamics of sustainable development goals in Ukraine are in the quadrants of the "Relative growth" and "Growth" matrix. The value of achieving the goals of sustainable development in the Republic of Lithuania was approximately the same in the "Existence", "Limited growth", and "Growth" zones. An environment for ensuring sustainable development has been formed, which consists of internal and external parts, includes political, financial, economic and organizational conditions.

Ni-Catalyzed Electro-Reductive Cross-Electrophile Couplings of Alkyl Amine-Derived Radical Precursors with Aryl Iodides.

In recent years, the "Escape-from-Flatland" trend has prompted the synthetic community to develop a set of cross-coupling strategies to introduce sp3-carbon-based fragments in organic compounds. This study presents a novel nickel-catalyzed electrochemical methodology for reductive cross-electrophile coupling. The method enables C(sp2)-C(sp3) linkages using inexpensive amine-derived radical precursors and aryl iodides. The use of electrochemistry as a power source reduces waste and avoids chemical reductants, making this approach a more sustainable alternative to traditional cross-coupling methods.

The 'chessboard of healing strategies': A cardiological application.

The question of how to adaptively cope with chronic illnesses, aging, and other sources of bodily impairment is crucial for patients and clinicians alike, though sometimes overlooked in the focus on biomedical treatment. To examine the array of strategies available to patients and their practitioners, to employ in the face of bodily breakdown. Co-written by a philosopher and cardiologist, this article uses a detailed case study of a patient suffering a myocardial infarction leading to chronic heart failure, with examples of effective or suboptimal care. This enables a discussion of how the clinician or clinical team can best facilitate existential healing, that is, adaptive and creative resilience in the face of chronic impairment. We outline a "chessboard of healing," involving the possibility-spaces for dealing constructively with bodily breakdown. This set of strategies is shown to be nonarbitrary, drawn directly from contemporary work on the phenomenology of the lived body. For example, as we both experience the body as that which 'I am', and as that which 'I have', separable from the self, patients can react to illness by moving towards their bodies in modes of listening and befriending, or away from their body, ignoring or detaching themselves from symptoms. Then too, as the body is ever changing in time, one can seek restoration to a previous state, or transformation to new patterns of bodily usage, including passage into a whole new life-narrative.

Adaptive switching for communication profiles in underwater acoustic modems based on reinforcement learning

The underwater acoustic (UWA) channel is a complex and stochastic process with large spatial and temporal dynamics. This work studies the adaptation of the communication strategy to channel dynamics. Specifically, a set of communication strategies are considered, including Frequency-Hopped Binary Frequency Shift Keying (FH-BFSK), Single-Carrier (SC) communication, and multicarrier communication. Based on the channel condition, a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm, the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) method along with a Gumbel-softmax scheme is employed for intelligent and adaptive switching among those communication strategies. The adaptive switching is performed on a transmission block-by-block basis, with the goal of maximizing long-term system performance. The reward function is defined based on the energy efficiency (EE) and the spectral efficiency (SE) of the communication strategies. Simulation results and experimental data processing results reveal that the proposed method outperforms a random selection method and a direct feedback method in time-varying channels.

Sign‐indefinite static output feedback Nash strategy for mean‐field stochastic systems

AbstractWe study static output feedback (SOF) Nash strategies for mean‐field stochastic systems. The study assumes a linear‐quadratic form of the cost functional, but the sign of the weighting matrix is indefinite. Moreover, the worst‐case disturbances are assumed to be of unconventional SOF form leading to a saddle‐point equilibrium. First, after defining the problem for the single‐player case, the necessary conditions for the existence of saddle‐point equilibrium are established. Then, we consider Nash games for mean‐field stochastic systems. Note that the cost functional associated with the mean‐field term is assumed to be of SOF form. We establish the necessary conditions for the Nash equilibrium using the cross‐coupled stochastic algebraic matrix equations (CCSAME). A new decomposition algorithm is proposed to avoid the challenges of solving high‐dimensional CCSAMEs. We also apply weakly coupled systems theory to propose a decentralized approximated reduced‐order Nash strategy. The degree of cost degradation of the decentralized strategy compared with the centralized strategy is derived more accurately than existing results. Finally, we illustrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed strategy set through numerical examples.

Neutrosophic CEBOM-MACONT model for sustainable management of end-of-life tires

Management of end-of-life tires (ELTs) has evolved into an important sustainability requirement that should follow circular economy principles. It is increasingly important to find environmentally-friendly and cost-effective solutions for ELT management, particularly in the context of large freight transportation companies. Selecting the most sustainable solution from the set of available ELT management strategies, such as retreading, recycling, energy recovery, and landfilling, presents a decision-making challenge for authorities. This study aims to introduce a practical evaluation framework comprised of strategy alternatives and key decision-making criteria to support transportation companies in managing ELT flows. Also, the research introduces an advanced two-stage neutrosophic decision support model to solve the addressed problem and reveal the most sustainable strategy. The model is based on the integration of the cross-entropy-based optimization model (CEBOM) method and mixed aggregation by comprehensive normalization technique (MACONT) under the type-2 neutrosophic number (T2NN) environment. Prominent features of T2NN-CEBOM are hybrid weighting sub-framework and processing controllability. Distinguished characteristics of T2NN-MACONT are average referencing, triple-normalization support, modeling of risk attitude behavior, adjustable ordering schemes, and an advanced scoring system. The real-life study of one of the largest German freight transportation companies that operates along an important European transit route offers practical insights for decision-makers when evaluating ELT management strategies. The research findings show that retreading is the most sustainable solution. The eight sensitivity analyses confirm the high robustness of the introduced decision-support model. The comparative analysis reveals the superiority of T2NN-CEBOM-MACONT for employment in practical settings.

Knowledge-Based Investigation of Seismic Vulnerability Assessment and Compatible Strengthening Design of an Existing Masonry Building

Most existing masonry buildings were built without following code regulations for seismic criteria. Hence, their performance compared to the demands of the current codes, for both seismic and static actions, could be very low. In engineering practice, strengthening interventions can be pursued at different levels, based on qualitative assessments of masonry structures. Firstly, the structures are evaluated through in situ inspections. Then, based on the structural system of the building a strengthening design is proposed. The design can be targeted at guaranteeing a box behavior of structures acting through macro-elements, or at strengthening the in-plane capacity of piers and spandrels. However, lower cognitive levels may drive inaccurate impressions about the capacity of structures, leading to unreliable strengthening solutions. While in some cases the confidence factor could underestimate the effects of the reinforcements, in other cases lower knowledge levels could lead to incorrect reinforcements that do not provide helpful solutions. In this paper, the issues concerning the strengthening design of masonry structures are presented and discussed with regard to an existing building. The construction is a 20th century masonry building used as a nursing home for elderly persons. The study follows a knowledge-based procedure where, after achievement of the highest knowledge level and the proposal of compatible and effective strengthening interventions, the analysis of the potential effects of achieving lower knowledge levels is discussed both in terms of vulnerability computations and in terms of strengthening effectiveness. Regarding vulnerability assessment, a lower knowledge level leads to non-conservative results, with an increase in the estimated capacity of around 80%. Critical evaluation of the different configurations for the case study makes it clear that for the considered masonry building the mortar investigation represented the most important parameter to be investigated. The proposal of strengthening interventions before assessment of this parameter may lead to ineffective improvements resulting in index values lower than 0.60. The study represents the opportunity to assess comparisons in the setting of different investigation strategies and their effect on the definition of the strengthening solutions.

Being an Emotionally Intelligent Leader through the Nine-Layer Model of Emotional Intelligence—The Supporting Role of New Technologies

Several years ago, a characteristic of leadership was the intelligence index, but in recent years this has changed, and emotional intelligence is considered an important parameter for a leader. A leader who shows a high index of emotional intelligence can activate his/her human potential and subsequently others. There is a large body of literature on “what” great leaders should do, but more emphasis needs to be placed on “how” to develop such leaders by focusing on detailed individual behavior change and self-development. The current article aims to investigate the concept of emotional intelligence and describe the levels of the emotional intelligence pyramid model and how these are reflected in the role of leadership. The theoretical model is complemented by a set of metacognitive and metaemotional strategies while emphasizing the role of technologies to provide fertile ground for the implementation of emotional intelligence skills in leadership. The strategies framework provides a training paradigm for implementation in education and working environments. The results of this article provide a new theoretical framework of the emotional skills a leader must possess, and they also provide a useful framework for cultivating them, which will promote long-term human capital development and help everyone achieve educational and professional success. The pyramid model of emotional intelligence and its strategies can have practical applications in any form of leadership, as research has shown a positive correlation between these two concepts.

Combining Radiofrequency Ablation with Hepatic Resection for Liver-Only Colorectal Metastases: A Propensity-Score Based Analysis of Long-Term Outcomes.

Combining liver resection (LR) with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is nowadays an accepted option for treating colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs), but the number of lesions ablated is regularly described as a recurrence risk factor. In this study, we report our experience and determine the impact of RFA on long-term outcomes. This is a retrospective study including patients undergoing LR with or without RFA for CRLM. All variables influencing disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were examined through a Cox regression analysis before and after propensity-score matching (PSM). Among the 128 patients included, 71 (55.5%) underwent LR alone and 57 (44.5%) underwent LR+RFA. With univariate analysis, LR+RFA showed a significantly worse DFS than LR alone (p = 0.028), which was not confirmed after PSM (p = 0.064). Thermal ablation did not influence DSS before or after matching (p = 0.282 and p = 0.189). When analyzing the subgroups of patients according to number of RFAs performed, no difference in long-term outcomes was observed (after PSM: p = 0.192 for DFS and p = 0.624 for DSS). Analysis of site of recurrence revealed that neither performing an RFA (p = 0.893) nor the number of lesions ablated (p = 0.093, p = 0.550, and p = 0.087 for 1, 2, and ≥ 2 RFAs) were associated with an increased risk of liver-only relapse. In the setting of a parenchymal sparing strategy, combining RFA with LR is safe in terms of oncological outcomes. Tumor burden, rather than RFA performed, independently influences risk of recurrence and patient survival.

Importance-Based Ray Strategies for Dynamic Diffuse Global Illumination

In this paper, we propose a first and efficient ray allocation technique for Dynamic Diffuse Global Illumination (DDGI) using Multiple Importance Sampling (MIS). Our technique, IS-DDGI, extends DDGI by incorporating a set of importance-based ray strategies that analyze, allocate, and manage ray resources on the GPU. We combine these strategies with an adaptive historical and temporal frame-to-frame analysis for an effective reuse of information and a set of GPU-based optimizations for speeding up ray allocation and reducing memory bandwidth. Our IS-DDGI achieves similar visual quality to DDGI with a speedup of 1.27x to 2.47x in total DDGI time and 3.29x to 6.64x in probes ray tracing time over previous technique [Majercik et al. 2021]. Most speedup of IS-DDGI comes from probes ray tracing speedup.

Exploring the Self Through Habit and Memory

Throughout his career, Beckett’s characters are, in a perpetual exploration of their inner world, for they begin to realize that knowledge of the self is just as elusive as knowledge of the outside world. This loss of self, which marks all of Beckett's characters deeply, leaves them in a kind of no man's-land between an unknowable external world and an untraceable self. Without a solid foundation for their beliefs, whether in the outer world of objects or the inner world of the self. Hence, Beckett's characters find themselves in a position of extreme epistemological weakness. Without a doubt, Beckett's most enduring contribution to world literature is his portrayal of this interstitial zone of uncertainty between subject and object. In dealing with the outside world, the Beckettian character adopts a habit that serves as both protector and prisoner. This habit refers to a set of thoughts, strategies, and (re)actions that memory calls upon throughout the attempts to make sense of and negotiate the world. Through these habitual adjustment processes, time divides self from self and subject from object, ensuring that we neither remain the same nor grasp the dynamic object-in-itself. However, habit distorts this temporal dynamism, suggesting that subjects and objects are fundamentally unchanged from one moment to the next. By using psychological research methodology as well as Proust's concept of habit, which examines the relationship between voluntary and involuntary memory and the ego's surface, This paper is twofold: first, to explore Beckett’s use of habit and memory in his controversial play Waiting for Godot to discover his self-identity, and second to demonstrate how Beckett's characters eventually fail in achieving their authentic selves.

The Generalized Stackelberg Equilibrium of the Two-Person Stopping Game

In modeling the bilateral selection of states of the process, Dynkin (Dokl Akad Nauk USSR 185:241–288, 1969) proposed a two-person game in which players use stopping moments as strategies. The purpose of this work is to present a model of the game in which the players have different information about the process itself, as well as various laws to stop the process and accept its state. The game model uses the stochastic process apparatus, in particular, the ability to create different filters for the same process. The sets of stopping moments based on different filters are not identical, which allows us to model different sets of strategies for players. We show that the follower, by observing the behavior of a rational leader, can recover information that is lost due to the lack of complete observation of the state of the process. In the competition of two opponents for the maximum of the i.i.d. sequence, one of whom has access to full information and the other only knows their relative ranks, we found the generalized Stackelberg equilibrium. If the priority of a player observing the relative ranks is less than 50%, then that player modifies his strategy based on the behavior of the second player. For a player with full information, information about the behavior of the player observing the relative ranks is useless.

Building Bridges and Mending Fences: Cultural Conflict and Cultural Brokering between Academic and Immigrant Communities

Our objective is to illustrate how to create and maintain a healthy flow of carefully curated communication between a research team and a community of interest using the principles of cultural brokering. We begin with a brief critical review of the existing literature on cultural brokering between immigrant and academic communities. We follow this review with a case study of cultural brokering between a research team at Tulane University and the Vietnamese American immigrant community in New Orleans. We draw upon specific examples from an ongoing collaboration to illustrate types of cultural conflict that are common to academic and community collaborations, and we discuss how different types and features of cultural brokering have helped to resolve these conflicts and keep the project(s) moving forward. We summarize a set of traits, potential roles/contributions, and training and operating strategies for a cultural broker.

Evaluating Culturalization Strategies for Sustainable Tourism Development in Uzbekistan

Tourism is one of the fastest-growing and most visible sectors of the global economy, contributing significantly to boosting a nation’s economy. Currently, tourism-led economic growth considering sustainable approaches is becoming increasingly important in public policy. Recent urban and regional studies have begun to focus on the sustainability of tourism from social, economic, environmental, and cultural perspectives. The research aims to identify the most important issues and barriers to sustainable tourism development in Uzbekistan and proposes the most effective culturalization strategies to overcome those barriers. This paper involves the application of Global RPM (Globalization, Rationality, Professionalism, and Morality) analysis in combination with SANEL HERMES (Sightseeing, Admission paying, Night touring, Experiencing, Learning, Healing, Enjoying, Rest and Relaxing, Memento shopping, Eating and Drinking, and Staying) model based on data from a variety of sources, including literature review, participation interview, tourist survey, and expert questionnaire to identify and classify influencing factors that show existing barriers to sustainable tourism in Uzbekistan. Finally, a set of culturalization strategies is proposed, evaluated, and ranked by experts using a Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix. The results of the survey have shown that tourism activities are currently not sustainable in a satisfactory manner. However, if the policymakers consider the relevant strategies and take this study into account, as well as its findings, then Uzbekistan can be made more attractive in terms of sustainable tourism.

IMPROVING PATIENT SAFETY USING TECHNOLOGY

The patient safety culture has historically contributed to the avoidance of adverse events in healthcare organizations. With this, it has become essential that professionals be involved in risk management strategies. This article aims to present a case study of a hospital in the city of Franca/SP, where a set of strategies focused on patient identification was developed. A set of strategies was carried out with the support of technology. The result was a decrease in errors in the assistance process.