A Scheduling Approach for the Combination Scheme and Train Timetable of a Heavy-Haul Railway

Heavy-haul railway transport is a critical mode of regional bulk cargo transport. It dramatically improves the freight transport capacity of railway lines by combining several unit trains into one combined train. In order to improve the efficiency of the heavy-haul transport system and reduce the transportation cost, a critical problem involves arranging the combination scheme in the combination station (CBS) and scheduling the train timetable along the trains’ journey. With this consideration, this paper establishes two integer programming models in stages involving the train service plan problem (TSPP) model and train timetabling problem (TTP) model. The TSPP model aims to obtain a train service plan according to the freight demands by minimizing the operation cost. Based on the train service plan, the TTP model is to simultaneously schedule the combination scheme and train timetable, considering the utilization optimal for the CBS. Then, an effective hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) is designed to solve the model and obtain the combination scheme and train timetable. Finally, some experiments are implemented to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed approaches and demonstrate the effectiveness of the HGA.

Expanding and Sustaining Breastfeeding in the Sick and Premature Babies in Thailand

The clinical guidance for human milk (HM) feeding for sick and premature babies in Thailand was developed in 2013 to help improve their breastfeeding rates.ObjectiveTo expand breastfeeding (BF) for sick and premature babies using the clinical guidance, develop a monitoring system, and to integrate the practice into the national routine newborn care for sick babies.MethodVolunteer tertiary care hospitals were recruited to implement the clinical guidance. The development of a monitoring and evaluation system was done by the multidisciplinary team and volunteer hospitals. The integration into routine national care practice was done by including it in the national neonatal service plan of Thailand.ResultsThirty-eight pilot tertiary care hospitals volunteered for implementing the program. The proposed outcome indicators of rate of exclusive BF sick babies at hospital discharge and at 6 months of life for the volunteer hospitals were 62.97% and 41.76%, respectively. Since its integration into the national service plan in 2019, a total of 98 hospitals have been included in the program.ConclusionThe integration of the clinical guidance into the national service plan is essential for sustaining BF of sick, premature babies in the country.

A Model for Integrating Rail Services with other Transportation Modalities: Identifying the Best Practices and the Gaps for California’s Next State Rail Plan

The California State Rail Plan (CSRP) is among the best rail plan documents published by any jurisdiction in the United States to date. As such, the CSRP is used in this paper as the basis of comparison to other state rail service plans. These plans will have been submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on record as of June 2020—as required under Section 303 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008. The purpose of this paper is to identify the best practices and gaps that may inform California and other states in their future rail service plan development. This paper is grounded in the realization that, while the general outline of FRA requirements is uniform for all states, the actual content and inclusion of these requirements in the myriad state plans varies greatly. For example, California was granted an exception to help update FRA Rail Plan Guidance for its 2018 Rail Plan, other states have complained that FRA guidance and requirements on rail service planning have put state rail agencies in the position of constantly writing plans with little or no time to implement them. Throughout this research, the authors identify all the elements of FRA guidelines as reflected in the CSRP and rail plans of other states. This report also identifies the best features and planning strategies that may inform and improve the state rail planning process going forward, steps that will positively contribute to the public benefit of enhanced rail systems.

Research on Key Technologies of Data Service Based on Adaptive Deep Learning

With the widespread adoption of big data technology, the diversity of data sources is continuously evolving. Data service technology is a technology derived from providing effective data interfaces for data applications. Based on the adaptive deep learning algorithm, this study proposes an improved service plan. First, the problem of randomly selecting the sending location of the data packet in the asynchronous random service scheme was analyzed, which leads to the waste of channel resources. Then, combined with the adaptive deep learning algorithm, an adaptive service scheme is specified. For the problem of large delay, the data frame is divided into multiple uniform position intervals. Therefore, the user learns the position interval until the user tends to select a position within the fixed position interval to send the data packet. Furthermore, in the algorithm’s iterative process, adaptive deep learning was usedbased on the ability of the algorithm to perform intensive learning. A detailed analysis of the various scenarios, the essential mode of the technology, and the computer simulation of the throughput and packet loss rate indicators of the proposed scheme in the three environments are provided to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme.

Effects of a national policy advocating rational drug use on decreases in outpatient antibiotic prescribing rates in Thailand

Objective: This study examined the effects of a national policy advocating rational drug use (RDU), namely, the ‘RDU Service Plan’, starting in fiscal year 2017 and implemented by the Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), on trends in antibiotic prescribing rates for outpatients. The policy was implemented subsequent to a voluntary campaign involving 136 hospitals, namely, the ‘RDU Hospital Project’, which was implemented during fiscal years 2014-2016. Methods: Hospital-level antibiotic prescribing rates in fiscal years 2014-2019 for respiratory infections, acute diarrhea, and fresh wounds were aggregated for two hospital groups using equally weighted averages: early adopters of RDU activities through the RDU Hospital Project and late adopters under the RDU Service Plan. Pre-/post-policy annual changes in the prescribing levels and trends were compared between the two groups using an interrupted time-series analysis. Results: In fiscal years 2014-2016, decreases in antibiotic prescribing rates for respiratory infections and acute diarrhea in both groups reflected a trend that existed before the RDU Service Plan was implemented. The immediate effect of the RDU Service Plan policy occurred in fiscal year 2017, when the prescribing level among the late adopters dropped abruptly for all three conditions with a greater magnitude than in the decrease among the early adopters, despite nonsignificant differences. The medium-term effect of the RDU Service Plan was identified through a further decreasing trend during fiscal years 2017-2019 for all conditions in both groups, except for acute diarrhea among the early adopters. Conclusions: The national policy on rational drug use effectively reduced antibiotic prescribing for common but questionable outpatient conditions.

Effects of a national policy advocating rational drug use on decreases in outpatient antibiotic prescribing rates in Thailand

Objective: This study examined the effects of a national policy advocating rational drug use (RDU), namely, the ‘RDU Service Plan’, starting in fiscal year 2017 and implemented by the Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), on trends in antibiotic prescribing rates for outpatients. The policy was implemented subsequent to a voluntary campaign involving 136 hospitals, namely, the ‘RDU Hospital Project’, which was implemented during fiscal years 2014-2016. Methods: Hospital-level antibiotic prescribing rates in fiscal years 2014-2019 for respiratory infections, acute diarrhea, and fresh wounds were aggregated for two hospital groups using equally weighted averages: early adopters of RDU activities through the RDU Hospital Project and late adopters under the RDU Service Plan. Pre-/post-policy annual changes in the prescribing levels and trends were compared between the two groups using an interrupted time-series analysis. Results: In fiscal years 2014-2016, decreases in antibiotic prescribing rates for respiratory infections and acute diarrhea in both groups reflected a trend that existed before the RDU Service Plan was implemented. The immediate effect of the RDU Service Plan policy occurred in fiscal year 2017, when the prescribing level among the late adopters dropped abruptly for all three conditions with a greater magnitude than in the decrease among the early adopters, despite nonsignificant differences. The medium-term effect of the RDU Service Plan was identified through a further decreasing trend during fiscal years 2017-2019 for all conditions in both groups, except for acute diarrhea among the early adopters. Conclusions: The national policy on rational drug use effectively reduced antibiotic prescribing for common but questionable outpatient conditions.

The Task of Analyzing the Effectiveness of Repair and Maintenance Work of Complex Technical Equipment

The article presents the problem of analyzing the efficiency of maintenance and repair of complex technical equipment, shows a number of problem statements that reflect the problems of choosing the optimal service plan within the sequence of operations. The scalar and vector representations of the problem are considered, and a scheme for implementing an approach to evaluating the effectiveness of repair and maintenance plans is proposed.

KOMUNIKASI TERAPEUTIK DALAM KONSELING ANTARA KONSELOR DAN PASIEN PENYALAHGUNAAN NARKOBADI KLINIK BADAN NARKOTIKA NASIONAL PROVINSI JAWA BARAT

The purpose of this study was to determine Therapeutic Communication in Counseling between Counselors and Drug Abuse Patients. To answer the research objectives, the four focus of the researcher, namely the pre-interaction phase, the orientation phase, the working phase, and the termination phase of Counselor Therapeutic Communication in Rehabilitating Drug Abuse Patients at the National Narcotics Agency Clinic of West Java Province.This study uses qualitative research methods with descriptive studies. The number of informants in this study were four people, consisting of three key informants and one supporting informant. Data collection techniques used in this study are literature study, internet searching, indepth interviews, non-participant observation and documentation.The results of research conducted by the Clinical Counselor of the National Narcotics Board of West Java Province are the pre-interaction phase where the counselor studies patient data. The orientation phase in which the counselor performs the Screening approach and builds trusting relationships with the patient and the Assessment of the counselor ensures patient safety as well as establishes a counseling service plan, and a termination phase where a drug abuse counseling service has been completed and will be referred to post-rehabilitation