Developing Behavioral Coding to Understand Family Communication Breakdown in Dementia Care

Communication breakdown is a challenge for family caregivers of persons living with dementia. We adapted established theory and scales for computer-assisted behavioral coding to characterize caregiver communication for a secondary analysis. We developed verbal, nonverbal, and breakdown coding schemes and established reliability (κ > .85). Within the 221 family caregiving videos analyzed, 55% of exchanges were interactive, 30% were silence, 4% consisted of talking to self or others, and 8% included a breakdown. An average of 2.4 ( SD = 1.9) breakdowns occurred per observation and were successfully resolved 85% of the time, with 31% being resolved most successfully following only one flag and repair strategy. Caregivers were the primary speakers (67%); their communication preceded most breakdown (65%), and they primarily initiated the repairs after a breakdown (70%). Common repair strategies included clarifications (31%), asking questions (24%), and repeating information (24%). Associations between communication strategies and repair success will provide evidence for caregiver training.

Imperfect Repair Strategies for Two-Dimensional Warranty

<p>When a repairable product under warranty fails, the manufacturer (warrantor) has the choice to either repair or replace the failed product. When repairing a failed product, the degree of repair which affects the working condition of the product can vary, and this is assumed to have an impact on the cost of the repair. The main motivation of this study is to develop a warranty repair strategy that minimizes the costs associated with servicing the warranty. In this research, the product coverage is represented by a two-dimensional rectangular region with a free-replacement warranty. We propose an imperfect repair strategy that suggests employing imperfect repairs of a predefined degree, in prespecified subregions of the warranty region. The aim is to then minimize the expected warranty servicing cost to the manufacturer by determining the optimal partitioning of the warranty region for the chosen degrees of repair. Two imperfect repair models are considered, and for both, the expressions for the distribution of the times to imperfect repair and the expected warranty servicing cost per product sold are derived. We numerically illustrate our findings and compare the expected costs of the proposed imperfect repair strategy with those of previously developed repair-replacement warranty strategies.</p>

Imperfect Repair Strategies for Two-Dimensional Warranty

<p>When a repairable product under warranty fails, the manufacturer (warrantor) has the choice to either repair or replace the failed product. When repairing a failed product, the degree of repair which affects the working condition of the product can vary, and this is assumed to have an impact on the cost of the repair. The main motivation of this study is to develop a warranty repair strategy that minimizes the costs associated with servicing the warranty. In this research, the product coverage is represented by a two-dimensional rectangular region with a free-replacement warranty. We propose an imperfect repair strategy that suggests employing imperfect repairs of a predefined degree, in prespecified subregions of the warranty region. The aim is to then minimize the expected warranty servicing cost to the manufacturer by determining the optimal partitioning of the warranty region for the chosen degrees of repair. Two imperfect repair models are considered, and for both, the expressions for the distribution of the times to imperfect repair and the expected warranty servicing cost per product sold are derived. We numerically illustrate our findings and compare the expected costs of the proposed imperfect repair strategy with those of previously developed repair-replacement warranty strategies.</p>

Imperfect Repair Strategies for Two-Dimensional Warranty

<p>When a repairable product under warranty fails, the manufacturer (warrantor) has the choice to either repair or replace the failed product. When repairing a failed product, the degree of repair which affects the working condition of the product can vary, and this is assumed to have an impact on the cost of the repair. The main motivation of this study is to develop a warranty repair strategy that minimizes the costs associated with servicing the warranty. In this research, the product coverage is represented by a two-dimensional rectangular region with a free-replacement warranty. We propose an imperfect repair strategy that suggests employing imperfect repairs of a predefined degree, in prespecified subregions of the warranty region. The aim is to then minimize the expected warranty servicing cost to the manufacturer by determining the optimal partitioning of the warranty region for the chosen degrees of repair. Two imperfect repair models are considered, and for both, the expressions for the distribution of the times to imperfect repair and the expected warranty servicing cost per product sold are derived. We numerically illustrate our findings and compare the expected costs of the proposed imperfect repair strategy with those of previously developed repair-replacement warranty strategies.</p>

Optimal Planning of the Mobile Cargo Ropeway Repair Strategy

The focus of this research is to increase the reliability of mobile cargo ropeways formed by autonomous self-propelled transport units. The article deals with the development of a method for forming an effective technical and economic strategy for the restoration during planned repairs of those structural elements of transport units that can lead to critical failures of the ropeway. The method involves predicting the kinetics of the probability of failure-free operation of the ropeway during the entire life of its operation on the basis of predicting the failure-free operation of key elements of the transport units, the failure of which leads to an emergency disruption of the ropeway. In the process of integrating the system of Chapman-Kolmogorov differential equations, its periodic reformation is performed at the time of planned repairs, which allows us to take into account the need for a discrete change in the probability of failure-free operation of the restored structural elements. As a criterion for the optimality of the repairs strategy, the condition for obtaining the minimum total cost of repairs is used, while ensuring the average probability of failure-free operation. The formation of such an optimal strategy includes planning the schedules, number, time points, volume and cost of restoration work. The effectiveness of the repair strategy is determined by the total number of planned repairs and the minimum permissible probability of critical failure of structural elements. Conditions have been established under which further improvement of the level of ropeway reliability becomes an economically unprofitable task.

Strategies to Enhance the Resilience of an Urban Rail Transit Network

An urban rail transit (URT) system is an important component of an urban infrastructure system; however, it is vulnerable to disturbances, such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Constructing a highly resilient URT network has practical significance for enhancing its capability to respond to disturbances. In this paper, models are developed to optimize a URT network’s structure with regard to resilience and to enhance the resilience of a disrupted URT network. A bi-level programming model that aims to maximize a URT network’s global accessibility and global efficiency is formulated to optimize the structure of the network. A novel repair strategy, called the simulation repair strategy, is proposed to enhance the resilience of a disrupted URT network by optimizing the repair sequence of failed stations. The models are utilized to enhance the resilience of the Chengdu subway network. The result indicates that the bi-level programming model guides the construction of new links to optimize the structure of the Chengdu subway network. Deliberate attacks are more harmful to the Chengdu subway network than random attacks. The network’s operators need to pay attention to the operations of critical stations (e.g., Chunxi Road station and Tianfu Square station) to prevent disturbances from exerting considerable negative effects on the network’s normal operations. The simulation repair strategy exhibits higher repair efficiency than the conventional repair strategy, and it effectively enhances the resilience of the disrupted Chengdu subway network.

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated in vivo Genetic Correction in a Mouse Model of Hemophilia A

Hemophilia A (HA), a common bleeding disorder caused by a deficiency of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII), has long been considered an attractive target for gene therapy studies. However, full-length F8 cDNA cannot be packaged efficiently by adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors. As the second most prevalent mutation causing severe HA, F8 intron 1 inversion (Inv1) is caused by an intrachromosomal recombination, leaving the majority of F8 (exons 2–26) untranscribed. In theory, the truncated gene could be rescued by integrating a promoter and the coding sequence of exon 1. To test this strategy in vivo, we generated an HA mouse model by deleting the promoter region and exon 1 of F8. Donor DNA and CRISPR/SaCas9 were packaged into AAV vectors and injected into HA mice intravenously. After treatment, F8 expression was restored and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) was shortened. We also compared two liver-specific promoters and two types of integrating donor vectors. When an active promoter was used, all of the treated mice survived the tail-clip challenge. This is the first report of an in vivo gene repair strategy with the potential to treat a recurrent mutation in HA patients.