An Efficient Execution Framework of Two-Part Execution Scenario Analysis

Response Time Analysis ( RTA ) is an important and promising technique for analyzing the schedulability of real-time tasks under both Global Fixed-Priority ( G-FP ) scheduling and Global Earliest Deadline First ( G-EDF ) scheduling. Most existing RTA methods for tasks under global scheduling are dominated by partitioned scheduling, due to the pessimism of the -based interference calculation where is the number of processors. Two-part execution scenario is an effective technique that addresses this pessimism at the cost of efficiency. The major idea of two-part execution scenario is to calculate a more accurate upper bound of the interference by dividing the execution of the target job into two parts and calculating the interference on the target job in each part. This article proposes a novel RTA execution framework that improves two-part execution scenario by reducing some unnecessary calculation, without sacrificing accuracy of the schedulability test. The key observation is that, after the division of the execution of the target job, two-part execution scenario enumerates all possible execution time of the target job in the first part for calculating the final Worst-Case Response Time ( WCRT ). However, only some special execution time can cause the final result. A set of experiments is conducted to test the performance of the proposed execution framework and the result shows that the proposed execution framework can improve the efficiency of two-part execution scenario analysis by up to in terms of the execution time.

First-Line ICI Monotherapies for Advanced Non-small-cell Lung Cancer Patients With PD-L1 of at Least 50%: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Objective: Three immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), pembrolizumab, atezolizumab and cemiplimab, have been successively approved as first-line treatments for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with programmed cell death ligand 1(PD-L1) expression of at least 50%. This study was designed to compare the cost-effectiveness of these three novel therapies in this patient population.Material and Methods: Using Markov model and network meta-analysis, we conducted separate cost-effectiveness analyses for cemiplimab, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab among advanced NSCLC patients with PD-L1 of at least 50% from the United States health care sector perspective. Health states included progression-free survival, progressive disease, end-stage disease, and death. Clinical efficacy and safety data were derived from phase III clinical trials and health state utilities and costs data were collected from published resources. Two scenario analyses were conducted to assess the impact of varying subsequent anticancer therapies on the cost-effectiveness of these 3 ICIs and cost-effectiveness of pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy versus these 3 first-line ICI monotherapies.Results: In base case analysis, cemiplimab compared with pembrolizumab was associated with a gain of 0.44 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and an increased cost of $23,084, resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $52,998/QALY; cemiplimab compared with atezolizumab was associated with a gain of 0.13 QALYs and a decreased cost of $104,642, resulting in its dominance of atezolizumab. The first scenario analysis yielded similar results as our base case analysis. The second scenario analysis founded the ICERs for pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy were $393,359/QALY, $190,994/QALY and $33,230/QALY, respectively, compared with cemiplimab, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab.Conclusion: For advanced NSCLC patients with PD-L1 of at least 50%, cemiplimab was a cost-effective option compared with pembrolizumab and a dominant alternative against atezolizumab. Our scenario analysis results supported the cemiplimab plus chemotherapy as a second-line therapy and suggested an extended QALY but overwhelming cost linking to pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy.

Analyzing the Contribution of Human Mobility to Changes in Air Pollutants: Insights from the COVID-19 Lockdown in Wuhan

During the COVID-19 lockdown in Wuhan, transportation, industrial production and other human activities declined significantly, as did the NO2 concentration. In order to assess the relative contributions of different factors to reductions in air pollutants, we implemented sensitivity experiments by Random Forest (RF) models, with the comparison of the contributions of meteorological conditions, human mobility, and emissions from industry and households between different periods. In addition, we conducted scenario analyses to suggest an appropriate limit for control of human mobility. Different mechanisms for air pollutants were shown in the pre-pandemic, pre-lockdown, lockdown, and post-pandemic periods. Wind speed and the Within-city Migration index, representing intra-city mobility intensity, were excluded from stepwise multiple linear models in the pre-lockdown and lockdown periods. The results of sensitivity experiments show that, in the COVID-19 lockdown period, 73.3% of the reduction can be attributed to decreased human mobility. In the post-pandemic period, meteorological conditions control about 42.2% of the decrease, and emissions from industry and households control 40.0%, while human mobility only contributes 17.8%. The results of the scenario analysis suggest that the priority of restriction should be given to human mobility within the city than other kinds of human mobility. The reduction in the NO2 concentration tends to be smaller when human mobility within the city decreases by more than 70%. A limit of less than 40% on the control of the human mobility can achieve a better effect, especially in cities with severe traffic pollution.

Regional Complex of Southeast Asia: A Case of Applied Analysis Focused on the Situation in Myanmar

This paper uses the method of applied analysis of regional complexes developed at the Centre for Comprehensive Chinese Studies and Regional Projects, MGIMO University (Moscow, Russia). Its scientific relevance is defined by the importance of understanding the international and political situation in and around Myanmar. The aim of this study is a scientific exploration of the Rohingya crisis by means of applied methods of regional analysis, designed by the author. This methodology aims to trace scenarios of the development of international and political situations in the region based on the types of interactions within the Southeast Asian regional complex. The article offers the authors own definition of regional complex that builds on the works of Alexei D. Voskressenski, introduces an algorithm of scenario analysis, outlines six ideal types of regional complexes, and defines stable and unstable types of regional complexes. The first part of the article is devoted to current approaches in the study of regional problems in International Relations and World Regional Studies; the second part describes the authors conception of applied international political analysis of regional complexes; and the third part contains an example of the application of scenario analysis to specific regional and domestic affairs - in this case, the contemporary situation in Myanmars Rakhine State. The research yields the following results: 1) by using a combination of the methods of news monitoring and event analysis, the author collected information on political processes in Rakhine over the last five years; 2) this information was arranged according to the matrix compiled by the author, which characterized the situation development according to the negative (-5-1) and positive (+1+5) scenarios; 3) based on the results of the aforesaid analysis, the author comes to a conclusion on the character and intensity of the Rohingya crisis and describes possible ways of its settlement.

Economic Evaluation of First-Line Camrelizumab for Advanced Non-small-cell Lung Cancer in China

Background: As the first domestic PD-1 antibody approved for lung cancer in China, camrelizumab has exhibited proven effectiveness for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, the cost-effectiveness of this new regimen remains to be investigated.Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of camrelizumab combination therapy vs. chemotherapy for previously untreated patients with advanced, non-squamous NSCLC without Alk or Egfr genomic aberrations from the perspective of China's healthcare system.Methods: Based on the CameL trial, the study developed a three-health state Markov model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of adding camrelizumab to chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone in NSCLC patients. The analysis models were conducted for patients unselected by PD-L1 tumor expression (the base case) and the patient subgroup with PD-L1-expressing tumors (≥1%). Primary model outcomes included the costs in US dollars and health outcomes in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) as well as the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) under a willingness-to-pay threshold of $31,500 per QALY. Additionally, a scenario analysis that adjusted within-trial crossover was employed to evaluate camrelizumab combination therapy compared to chemotherapy without subsequent use of PD1/PD-L1 antibodies.Results: Camrelizumab combination therapy was more costly and provided additional 0.11 QALYs over chemotherapy in the base case analysis (0.86 vs. 0.75 QALYs), 0.12 QALYs over chemotherapy in the subgroup analysis (0.99 vs. 0.88 QALYs), and 0.34 QALYs over chemotherapy in the scenario analysis (0.86 vs. 0.52 QALYs). Correspondingly, the ICER was $63,080 per QALY, $46,311 per QALY, and $30,591 per QALY, in the base case, the subgroup, and the scenario analysis, respectively. One-way sensitivity analyses revealed that ICERs of the base case and the subgroup analysis were most sensitive to the cost of camrelizumab, the cost of pemetrexed. Besides, the base case and subgroup analysis were more sensitive to the risk of neutrophil count decreased in the camrelizumab and the utility of stable disease, respectively.Conclusion: Although camrelizumab combination therapy is not cost-effective as first-line therapy for NSCLC patients in China in the base case, adjusting within-trial crossover would move the treatment regimen toward cost-effectiveness in the scenario analysis.