The Internet of Medical Things(Io MT) is regarded as a critical technology for intelligent healthcare in the foreseeable 6G era. Nevertheless, due to the limited computing power capability of edge devices and task-rel...The Internet of Medical Things(Io MT) is regarded as a critical technology for intelligent healthcare in the foreseeable 6G era. Nevertheless, due to the limited computing power capability of edge devices and task-related coupling relationships, Io MT faces unprecedented challenges. Considering the associative connections among tasks, this paper proposes a computing offloading policy for multiple-user devices(UDs) considering device-to-device(D2D) communication and a multi-access edge computing(MEC)technique under the scenario of Io MT. Specifically,to minimize the total delay and energy consumption concerning the requirement of Io MT, we first analyze and model the detailed local execution, MEC execution, D2D execution, and associated tasks offloading exchange model. Consequently, the associated tasks’ offloading scheme of multi-UDs is formulated as a mixed-integer nonconvex optimization problem. Considering the advantages of deep reinforcement learning(DRL) in processing tasks related to coupling relationships, a Double DQN based associative tasks computing offloading(DDATO) algorithm is then proposed to obtain the optimal solution, which can make the best offloading decision under the condition that tasks of UDs are associative. Furthermore, to reduce the complexity of the DDATO algorithm, the cacheaided procedure is intentionally introduced before the data training process. This avoids redundant offloading and computing procedures concerning tasks that previously have already been cached by other UDs. In addition, we use a dynamic ε-greedy strategy in the action selection section of the algorithm, thus preventing the algorithm from falling into a locally optimal solution. Simulation results demonstrate that compared with other existing methods for associative task models concerning different structures in the Io MT network, the proposed algorithm can lower the total cost more effectively and efficiently while also providing a tradeoff between delay and energy consumption tolerance.展开更多
In current research on task offloading and resource scheduling in vehicular networks,vehicles are commonly assumed to maintain constant speed or relatively stationary states,and the impact of speed variations on task ...In current research on task offloading and resource scheduling in vehicular networks,vehicles are commonly assumed to maintain constant speed or relatively stationary states,and the impact of speed variations on task offloading is often overlooked.It is frequently assumed that vehicles can be accurately modeled during actual motion processes.However,in vehicular dynamic environments,both the tasks generated by the vehicles and the vehicles’surroundings are constantly changing,making it difficult to achieve real-time modeling for actual dynamic vehicular network scenarios.Taking into account the actual dynamic vehicular scenarios,this paper considers the real-time non-uniform movement of vehicles and proposes a vehicular task dynamic offloading and scheduling algorithm for single-task multi-vehicle vehicular network scenarios,attempting to solve the dynamic decision-making problem in task offloading process.The optimization objective is to minimize the average task completion time,which is formulated as a multi-constrained non-linear programming problem.Due to the mobility of vehicles,a constraint model is applied in the decision-making process to dynamically determine whether the communication range is sufficient for task offloading and transmission.Finally,the proposed vehicular task dynamic offloading and scheduling algorithm based on muti-agent deep deterministic policy gradient(MADDPG)is applied to solve the optimal solution of the optimization problem.Simulation results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper is able to achieve lower latency task computation offloading.Meanwhile,the average task completion time of the proposed algorithm in this paper can be improved by 7.6%compared to the performance of the MADDPG scheme and 51.1%compared to the performance of deep deterministic policy gradient(DDPG).展开更多
Introduction: The uncontrolled management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (W3E) causes respiratory problems in the handlers of this waste. The objective was to study the stains associated with respiratory...Introduction: The uncontrolled management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (W3E) causes respiratory problems in the handlers of this waste. The objective was to study the stains associated with respiratory symptoms in W3E handlers. Methods: The study was cross-sectional with an analytical focus on W3E handlers in the informal sector in Ouagadougou. A peer-validated questionnaire collected data on a sample of 161 manipulators. Results: the most common W3E processing tasks were the purchase or sale of W3E (67.70%), its repair (39.75%) and its collection (31.06%). The prevalence of cough was 21.74%, that of wheezing 14.91%, phlegm 12.50% and dyspnea at rest 10.56%. In bivariate analysis, there were significant associations at the 5% level between W3E repair and phlegm (p-value = 0.044), between W3E burning and wheezing (p-value = 0.011) and between W3E and cough (p-value = 0.01). The final logistic regression models suggested that the burning of W3E and the melting of lead batteries represented risk factors for the occurrence of cough with respective prevalence ratios of 4.57 and 4.63. Conclusion: raising awareness on the wearing of personal protective equipment, in particular masks adapted by W3E handlers, favoring those who are dedicated to the burning of electronic waste and the melting of lead could make it possible to reduce the risk of occurrence of respiratory symptoms.展开更多
With the rapid expansion of social media,analyzing emotions and their causes in texts has gained significant importance.Emotion-cause pair extraction enables the identification of causal relationships between emotions...With the rapid expansion of social media,analyzing emotions and their causes in texts has gained significant importance.Emotion-cause pair extraction enables the identification of causal relationships between emotions and their triggers within a text,facilitating a deeper understanding of expressed sentiments and their underlying reasons.This comprehension is crucial for making informed strategic decisions in various business and societal contexts.However,recent research approaches employing multi-task learning frameworks for modeling often face challenges such as the inability to simultaneouslymodel extracted features and their interactions,or inconsistencies in label prediction between emotion-cause pair extraction and independent assistant tasks like emotion and cause extraction.To address these issues,this study proposes an emotion-cause pair extraction methodology that incorporates joint feature encoding and task alignment mechanisms.The model consists of two primary components:First,joint feature encoding simultaneously generates features for emotion-cause pairs and clauses,enhancing feature interactions between emotion clauses,cause clauses,and emotion-cause pairs.Second,the task alignment technique is applied to reduce the labeling distance between emotion-cause pair extraction and the two assistant tasks,capturing deep semantic information interactions among tasks.The proposed method is evaluated on a Chinese benchmark corpus using 10-fold cross-validation,assessing key performance metrics such as precision,recall,and F1 score.Experimental results demonstrate that the model achieves an F1 score of 76.05%,surpassing the state-of-the-art by 1.03%.The proposed model exhibits significant improvements in emotion-cause pair extraction(ECPE)and cause extraction(CE)compared to existing methods,validating its effectiveness.This research introduces a novel approach based on joint feature encoding and task alignment mechanisms,contributing to advancements in emotion-cause pair extraction.However,the study’s limitation lies in the data sources,potentially restricting the generalizability of the findings.展开更多
As an important complement to cloud computing, edge computing can effectively reduce the workload of the backbone network. To reduce latency and energy consumption of edge computing, deep learning is used to learn the...As an important complement to cloud computing, edge computing can effectively reduce the workload of the backbone network. To reduce latency and energy consumption of edge computing, deep learning is used to learn the task offloading strategies by interacting with the entities. In actual application scenarios, users of edge computing are always changing dynamically. However, the existing task offloading strategies cannot be applied to such dynamic scenarios. To solve this problem, we propose a novel dynamic task offloading framework for distributed edge computing, leveraging the potential of meta-reinforcement learning (MRL). Our approach formulates a multi-objective optimization problem aimed at minimizing both delay and energy consumption. We model the task offloading strategy using a directed acyclic graph (DAG). Furthermore, we propose a distributed edge computing adaptive task offloading algorithm rooted in MRL. This algorithm integrates multiple Markov decision processes (MDP) with a sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) network, enabling it to learn and adapt task offloading strategies responsively across diverse network environments. To achieve joint optimization of delay and energy consumption, we incorporate the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) into our framework. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed solution, achieving a 21% reduction in time delay and a 19% decrease in energy consumption compared to alternative task offloading schemes. Moreover, our scheme exhibits remarkable adaptability, responding swiftly to changes in various network environments.展开更多
Fog computing is a key enabling technology of 6G systems as it provides quick and reliable computing,and data storage services which are required for several 6G applications.Artificial Intelligence(AI)algorithms will ...Fog computing is a key enabling technology of 6G systems as it provides quick and reliable computing,and data storage services which are required for several 6G applications.Artificial Intelligence(AI)algorithms will be an integral part of 6G systems and efficient task offloading techniques using fog computing will improve their performance and reliability.In this paper,the focus is on the scenario of Partial Offloading of a Task to Multiple Helpers(POMH)in which larger tasks are divided into smaller subtasks and processed in parallel,hence expediting task completion.However,using POMH presents challenges such as breaking tasks into subtasks and scaling these subtasks based on many interdependent factors to ensure that all subtasks of a task finish simultaneously,preventing resource wastage.Additionally,applying matching theory to POMH scenarios results in dynamic preference profiles of helping devices due to changing subtask sizes,resulting in a difficult-to-solve,externalities problem.This paper introduces a novel many-to-one matching-based algorithm,designed to address the externalities problem and optimize resource allocation within POMH scenarios.Additionally,we propose a new time-efficient preference profiling technique that further enhances time optimization in POMH scenarios.The performance of the proposed technique is thoroughly evaluated in comparison to alternate baseline schemes,revealing many advantages of the proposed approach.The simulation findings indisputably show that the proposed matching-based offloading technique outperforms existing methodologies in the literature,yielding a remarkable 52 reduction in task latency,particularly under high workloads.展开更多
Under the background of training practical compound talents in software engineering,this paper analyzes the problems existing in the current teaching of software engineering courses represented by software project man...Under the background of training practical compound talents in software engineering,this paper analyzes the problems existing in the current teaching of software engineering courses represented by software project management,puts forward the team task mechanism of software engineering courses with AI empowerment and cooperation and competition,develops a unified project management platform to support the implementation of team tasks,and proves the effectiveness of the scheme through the results obtained.展开更多
Cybertwin-enabled 6th Generation(6G)network is envisioned to support artificial intelligence-native management to meet changing demands of 6G applications.Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning(MADRL)technologies dri...Cybertwin-enabled 6th Generation(6G)network is envisioned to support artificial intelligence-native management to meet changing demands of 6G applications.Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning(MADRL)technologies driven by Cybertwins have been proposed for adaptive task offloading strategies.However,the existence of random transmission delay between Cybertwin-driven agents and underlying networks is not considered in related works,which destroys the standard Markov property and increases the decision reaction time to reduce the task offloading strategy performance.In order to address this problem,we propose a pipelining task offloading method to lower the decision reaction time and model it as a delay-aware Markov Decision Process(MDP).Then,we design a delay-aware MADRL algorithm to minimize the weighted sum of task execution latency and energy consumption.Firstly,the state space is augmented using the lastly-received state and historical actions to rebuild the Markov property.Secondly,Gate Transformer-XL is introduced to capture historical actions'importance and maintain the consistent input dimension dynamically changed due to random transmission delays.Thirdly,a sampling method and a new loss function with the difference between the current and target state value and the difference between real state-action value and augmented state-action value are designed to obtain state transition trajectories close to the real ones.Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed methods are effective in reducing reaction time and improving the task offloading performance in the random-delay Cybertwin-enabled 6G networks.展开更多
The widespread adoption of cloud computing has underscored the critical importance of efficient resource allocation and management, particularly in task scheduling, which involves assigning tasks to computing resource...The widespread adoption of cloud computing has underscored the critical importance of efficient resource allocation and management, particularly in task scheduling, which involves assigning tasks to computing resources for optimized resource utilization. Several meta-heuristic algorithms have shown effectiveness in task scheduling, among which the relatively recent Willow Catkin Optimization (WCO) algorithm has demonstrated potential, albeit with apparent needs for enhanced global search capability and convergence speed. To address these limitations of WCO in cloud computing task scheduling, this paper introduces an improved version termed the Advanced Willow Catkin Optimization (AWCO) algorithm. AWCO enhances the algorithm’s performance by augmenting its global search capability through a quasi-opposition-based learning strategy and accelerating its convergence speed via sinusoidal mapping. A comprehensive evaluation utilizing the CEC2014 benchmark suite, comprising 30 test functions, demonstrates that AWCO achieves superior optimization outcomes, surpassing conventional WCO and a range of established meta-heuristics. The proposed algorithm also considers trade-offs among the cost, makespan, and load balancing objectives. Experimental results of AWCO are compared with those obtained using the other meta-heuristics, illustrating that the proposed algorithm provides superior performance in task scheduling. The method offers a robust foundation for enhancing the utilization of cloud computing resources in the domain of task scheduling within a cloud computing environment.展开更多
With the unprecedented prevalence of Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT)and 5G technology,various applications supported by industrial communication systems have generated exponentially increased processing tasks,whic...With the unprecedented prevalence of Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT)and 5G technology,various applications supported by industrial communication systems have generated exponentially increased processing tasks,which makes task assignment inefficient due to insufficient workers.In this paper,an Intelligent and Trustworthy task assignment method based on Trust and Social relations(ITTS)is proposed for scenarios with many tasks and few workers.Specifically,ITTS first makes initial assignments based on trust and social influences,thereby transforming the complex large-scale industrial task assignment of the platform into the small-scale task assignment for each worker.Then,an intelligent Q-decision mechanism based on workers'social relation is proposed,which adopts the first-exploration-then-utilization principle to allocate tasks.Only when a worker cannot cope with the assigned tasks,it initiates dynamic worker recruitment,thus effectively solving the worker shortage problem as well as the cold start issue.More importantly,we consider trust and security issues,and evaluate the trust and social circles of workers by accumulating task feedback,to provide the platform a reference for worker recruitment,thereby creating a high-quality worker pool.Finally,extensive simulations demonstrate ITTS outperforms two benchmark methods by increasing task completion rates by 56.49%-61.53%and profit by 42.34%-47.19%.展开更多
A task allocation problem for the heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm in unknown environments is studied in this paper.Considering that the actual mission environment information may be unknown,the UAV s...A task allocation problem for the heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm in unknown environments is studied in this paper.Considering that the actual mission environment information may be unknown,the UAV swarm needs to detect the environment first and then attack the detected targets.The heterogeneity of UAVs,multiple types of tasks,and the dynamic nature of task environment lead to uneven load and time sequence problems.This paper proposes an improved contract net protocol (CNP) based task allocation scheme,which effectively balances the load of UAVs and improves the task efficiency.Firstly,two types of task models are established,including regional reconnaissance tasks and target attack tasks.Secondly,for regional reconnaissance tasks,an improved CNP algorithm using the uncertain contract is developed.Through uncertain contracts,the area size of the regional reconnaissance task is determined adaptively after this task assignment,which can improve reconnaissance efficiency and resource utilization.Thirdly,for target attack tasks,an improved CNP algorithm using the fuzzy integrated evaluation and the double-layer negotiation is presented to enhance collaborative attack efficiency through adjusting the assignment sequence adaptively and multi-layer allocation.Finally,the effectiveness and advantages of the improved method are verified through comparison simulations.展开更多
The aim of teaching writing isn’t quite clear in the daily classroom teaching. This article emphasises that the aim of teaching writing isn’ t only to test, but to train. The writer analyses the problems in students...The aim of teaching writing isn’t quite clear in the daily classroom teaching. This article emphasises that the aim of teaching writing isn’ t only to test, but to train. The writer analyses the problems in students’ writing and suggests some possible ways for teachers to help students with their writing.展开更多
The earth observation satellites(EOSs)scheduling problem for emergency tasks often presents many challenges.For example,the scheduling calculation should be completed in seconds,the scheduled task rate is supposed to ...The earth observation satellites(EOSs)scheduling problem for emergency tasks often presents many challenges.For example,the scheduling calculation should be completed in seconds,the scheduled task rate is supposed to be as high as possible,the disturbance measure of the scheme should be as low as possible,which may lead to the loss of important observation opportunities and data transmission delays.Existing scheduling algorithms are not designed for these requirements.Consequently,we propose a rolling horizon strategy(RHS)based on event triggering as well as a heuristic algorithm based on direct insertion,shifting,backtracking,deletion,and reinsertion(ISBDR).In the RHS,the driven scheduling mode based on the emergency task arrival and control station time window events are designed to transform the long-term,large-scale problem into a short-term,small-scale problem,which can improve the schedulability of the original scheduling scheme and emergency response sensitivity.In the ISBDR algorithm,the shifting rule with breadth search capability and backtracking rule with depth search capability are established to realize the rapid adjustment of the original plan and improve the overall benefit of the plan and early completion of emergency tasks.Simultaneously,two heuristic factors,namely the emergency task urgency degree and task conflict degree,are constructed to improve the emergency task scheduling guidance and algorithm efficiency.Finally,we conduct extensive experiments by means of simulations to compare the algorithms based on ISBDR and direct insertion,shifting,deletion,and reinsertion(ISDR).The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can improve the timeliness of emergency tasks and scheduling performance,and decrease the disturbance measure of the scheme,therefore,it is more suitable for emergency task scheduling.展开更多
Heterogeneous computing is one effective method of high performance computing with many advantages. Task scheduling is a critical issue in heterogeneous environments as well as in homogeneous environments. A number of...Heterogeneous computing is one effective method of high performance computing with many advantages. Task scheduling is a critical issue in heterogeneous environments as well as in homogeneous environments. A number of task scheduling algorithms for homogeneous environments have been proposed, whereas, a few for heterogeneous environments can be found in the literature. A novel task scheduling algorithm for heterogeneous environments, called the heterogeneous critical task （HCT） scheduling algorithm is presented. By means of the directed acyclic graph and the gantt graph, the HCT algorithm defines the critical task and the idle time slot. After determining the critical tasks of a given task, the HCT algorithm tentatively duplicates the critical tasks onto the processor that has the given task in the idle time slot, to reduce the start time of the given task. To compare the performance of the HCT algorithm with several recently proposed algorithms, a large set of randomly generated applications and the Gaussian elimination application are randomly generated. The experimental result has shown that the HCT algorithm outperforms the other algorithm.展开更多
Satellite observation scheduling plays a significant role in improving the efficiency of satellite observation systems.Although many scheduling algorithms have been proposed,emergency tasks,characterized as importance...Satellite observation scheduling plays a significant role in improving the efficiency of satellite observation systems.Although many scheduling algorithms have been proposed,emergency tasks,characterized as importance and urgency（e.g.,observation tasks orienting to the earthquake area and military conflict area）,have not been taken into account yet.Therefore,it is crucial to investigate the satellite integrated scheduling methods,which focus on meeting the requirements of emergency tasks while maximizing the profit of common tasks.Firstly,a pretreatment approach is proposed,which eliminates conflicts among emergency tasks and allocates all tasks with a potential time-window to related orbits of satellites.Secondly,a mathematical model and an acyclic directed graph model are constructed.Thirdly,a hybrid ant colony optimization method mixed with iteration local search（ACO-ILS） is established to solve the problem.Moreover,to guarantee all solutions satisfying the emergency task requirement constraints,a constraint repair method is presented.Extensive experimental simulations show that the proposed integrated scheduling method is superior to two-phased scheduling methods,the performance of ACO-ILS is greatly improved in both evolution speed and solution quality by iteration local search,and ACO-ILS outperforms both genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm.展开更多
To solve the problem of distributed tasks-platforms scheduling in holonic command and control(C2) organization,the basic elements of the organization are analyzed firstly and the formal description of organizational e...To solve the problem of distributed tasks-platforms scheduling in holonic command and control(C2) organization,the basic elements of the organization are analyzed firstly and the formal description of organizational elements and structure is provided. Based on the improvement of task execution quality,a single task resource scheduling model is established and the solving method based on the m-best algorithm is proposed. For the problem of tactical decision-holon cannot handle tasks with low priority effectively, a distributed resource scheduling collaboration mechanism based on platform pricing and a platform exchange mechanism based on resource capacities are designed. Finally,a series of experiments are designed to prove the effectiveness of these methods. The results show that the proposed distributed scheduling methods can realize the effective balance of platform resources.展开更多
Summary: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors associated with manual lifting tasks using surface electromyography (EMG). 13 volunteers lifted loads of 6 and 13 kg at two speeds and at t...Summary: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors associated with manual lifting tasks using surface electromyography (EMG). 13 volunteers lifted loads of 6 and 13 kg at two speeds and at two horizontal distances in 3 different postures and three boxes of different sizes, from floor to knuckle height, performing 72 lifting tasks. For each lift, the surface electromyography signals from the erector spinae muscles, bilaterally at T_~10 and L_3, was recorded. The ergonomic risk factors associated with manual lifting tasks were evaluated by comparing the average amplitude of EMG signals from the erector spinae muscles. The EMG average amplitude for lifting the load of 13 kg was 14.3 % greater than that for lifting the load of 6 kg (t=-10.93, P<0.01). The EMG average amplitude at the site of L_3 was 10.3 % greater than that at the site of T_~10 (t=-7.98, P<0.01). The EMG average amplitude when performing “fast” lift was 5.9 %greater than the “slow” lift (t=-4.63, P<0.01). The posture of lifting affected the EMG average amplitude. It was lowest with semi-squat posture and greatest with squat posture (F=27.76, P<0.01). The result of multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the loads of lifting, the size of box, horizontal distance, posture of lifting, the site of the spine subjected to force, lifting speed were the factors affecting the EMG average amplitude. The most significant factor was the loads of lifting, followed by the site of the spine subjected to force and the lifting speed in terms of risk. The ergonomic risk factors associated with manual lifting tasks includes the loads, posture, lifting speed, horizontal distance, the site of the spine subjected to force etc. The results of signal amplitude of EMG from the erector spinae muscles showed that semi-squat posture is the best posture for lifting tasks.展开更多
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.62071377,62101442,62201456)Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province(Grant No.2023-YBGY-036,2022JQ-687)The Graduate Student Innovation Foundation Project of Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications under Grant CXJJDL2022003.
文摘The Internet of Medical Things(Io MT) is regarded as a critical technology for intelligent healthcare in the foreseeable 6G era. Nevertheless, due to the limited computing power capability of edge devices and task-related coupling relationships, Io MT faces unprecedented challenges. Considering the associative connections among tasks, this paper proposes a computing offloading policy for multiple-user devices(UDs) considering device-to-device(D2D) communication and a multi-access edge computing(MEC)technique under the scenario of Io MT. Specifically,to minimize the total delay and energy consumption concerning the requirement of Io MT, we first analyze and model the detailed local execution, MEC execution, D2D execution, and associated tasks offloading exchange model. Consequently, the associated tasks’ offloading scheme of multi-UDs is formulated as a mixed-integer nonconvex optimization problem. Considering the advantages of deep reinforcement learning(DRL) in processing tasks related to coupling relationships, a Double DQN based associative tasks computing offloading(DDATO) algorithm is then proposed to obtain the optimal solution, which can make the best offloading decision under the condition that tasks of UDs are associative. Furthermore, to reduce the complexity of the DDATO algorithm, the cacheaided procedure is intentionally introduced before the data training process. This avoids redundant offloading and computing procedures concerning tasks that previously have already been cached by other UDs. In addition, we use a dynamic ε-greedy strategy in the action selection section of the algorithm, thus preventing the algorithm from falling into a locally optimal solution. Simulation results demonstrate that compared with other existing methods for associative task models concerning different structures in the Io MT network, the proposed algorithm can lower the total cost more effectively and efficiently while also providing a tradeoff between delay and energy consumption tolerance.
文摘In current research on task offloading and resource scheduling in vehicular networks,vehicles are commonly assumed to maintain constant speed or relatively stationary states,and the impact of speed variations on task offloading is often overlooked.It is frequently assumed that vehicles can be accurately modeled during actual motion processes.However,in vehicular dynamic environments,both the tasks generated by the vehicles and the vehicles’surroundings are constantly changing,making it difficult to achieve real-time modeling for actual dynamic vehicular network scenarios.Taking into account the actual dynamic vehicular scenarios,this paper considers the real-time non-uniform movement of vehicles and proposes a vehicular task dynamic offloading and scheduling algorithm for single-task multi-vehicle vehicular network scenarios,attempting to solve the dynamic decision-making problem in task offloading process.The optimization objective is to minimize the average task completion time,which is formulated as a multi-constrained non-linear programming problem.Due to the mobility of vehicles,a constraint model is applied in the decision-making process to dynamically determine whether the communication range is sufficient for task offloading and transmission.Finally,the proposed vehicular task dynamic offloading and scheduling algorithm based on muti-agent deep deterministic policy gradient(MADDPG)is applied to solve the optimal solution of the optimization problem.Simulation results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper is able to achieve lower latency task computation offloading.Meanwhile,the average task completion time of the proposed algorithm in this paper can be improved by 7.6%compared to the performance of the MADDPG scheme and 51.1%compared to the performance of deep deterministic policy gradient(DDPG).
文摘Introduction: The uncontrolled management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (W3E) causes respiratory problems in the handlers of this waste. The objective was to study the stains associated with respiratory symptoms in W3E handlers. Methods: The study was cross-sectional with an analytical focus on W3E handlers in the informal sector in Ouagadougou. A peer-validated questionnaire collected data on a sample of 161 manipulators. Results: the most common W3E processing tasks were the purchase or sale of W3E (67.70%), its repair (39.75%) and its collection (31.06%). The prevalence of cough was 21.74%, that of wheezing 14.91%, phlegm 12.50% and dyspnea at rest 10.56%. In bivariate analysis, there were significant associations at the 5% level between W3E repair and phlegm (p-value = 0.044), between W3E burning and wheezing (p-value = 0.011) and between W3E and cough (p-value = 0.01). The final logistic regression models suggested that the burning of W3E and the melting of lead batteries represented risk factors for the occurrence of cough with respective prevalence ratios of 4.57 and 4.63. Conclusion: raising awareness on the wearing of personal protective equipment, in particular masks adapted by W3E handlers, favoring those who are dedicated to the burning of electronic waste and the melting of lead could make it possible to reduce the risk of occurrence of respiratory symptoms.
文摘With the rapid expansion of social media,analyzing emotions and their causes in texts has gained significant importance.Emotion-cause pair extraction enables the identification of causal relationships between emotions and their triggers within a text,facilitating a deeper understanding of expressed sentiments and their underlying reasons.This comprehension is crucial for making informed strategic decisions in various business and societal contexts.However,recent research approaches employing multi-task learning frameworks for modeling often face challenges such as the inability to simultaneouslymodel extracted features and their interactions,or inconsistencies in label prediction between emotion-cause pair extraction and independent assistant tasks like emotion and cause extraction.To address these issues,this study proposes an emotion-cause pair extraction methodology that incorporates joint feature encoding and task alignment mechanisms.The model consists of two primary components:First,joint feature encoding simultaneously generates features for emotion-cause pairs and clauses,enhancing feature interactions between emotion clauses,cause clauses,and emotion-cause pairs.Second,the task alignment technique is applied to reduce the labeling distance between emotion-cause pair extraction and the two assistant tasks,capturing deep semantic information interactions among tasks.The proposed method is evaluated on a Chinese benchmark corpus using 10-fold cross-validation,assessing key performance metrics such as precision,recall,and F1 score.Experimental results demonstrate that the model achieves an F1 score of 76.05%,surpassing the state-of-the-art by 1.03%.The proposed model exhibits significant improvements in emotion-cause pair extraction(ECPE)and cause extraction(CE)compared to existing methods,validating its effectiveness.This research introduces a novel approach based on joint feature encoding and task alignment mechanisms,contributing to advancements in emotion-cause pair extraction.However,the study’s limitation lies in the data sources,potentially restricting the generalizability of the findings.
基金funded by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(J2023-024,J2023-027).
文摘As an important complement to cloud computing, edge computing can effectively reduce the workload of the backbone network. To reduce latency and energy consumption of edge computing, deep learning is used to learn the task offloading strategies by interacting with the entities. In actual application scenarios, users of edge computing are always changing dynamically. However, the existing task offloading strategies cannot be applied to such dynamic scenarios. To solve this problem, we propose a novel dynamic task offloading framework for distributed edge computing, leveraging the potential of meta-reinforcement learning (MRL). Our approach formulates a multi-objective optimization problem aimed at minimizing both delay and energy consumption. We model the task offloading strategy using a directed acyclic graph (DAG). Furthermore, we propose a distributed edge computing adaptive task offloading algorithm rooted in MRL. This algorithm integrates multiple Markov decision processes (MDP) with a sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) network, enabling it to learn and adapt task offloading strategies responsively across diverse network environments. To achieve joint optimization of delay and energy consumption, we incorporate the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) into our framework. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed solution, achieving a 21% reduction in time delay and a 19% decrease in energy consumption compared to alternative task offloading schemes. Moreover, our scheme exhibits remarkable adaptability, responding swiftly to changes in various network environments.
基金supported and funded by theDeanship of Scientific Research at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University(IMSIU)(grant number IMSIU-RP23082).
文摘Fog computing is a key enabling technology of 6G systems as it provides quick and reliable computing,and data storage services which are required for several 6G applications.Artificial Intelligence(AI)algorithms will be an integral part of 6G systems and efficient task offloading techniques using fog computing will improve their performance and reliability.In this paper,the focus is on the scenario of Partial Offloading of a Task to Multiple Helpers(POMH)in which larger tasks are divided into smaller subtasks and processed in parallel,hence expediting task completion.However,using POMH presents challenges such as breaking tasks into subtasks and scaling these subtasks based on many interdependent factors to ensure that all subtasks of a task finish simultaneously,preventing resource wastage.Additionally,applying matching theory to POMH scenarios results in dynamic preference profiles of helping devices due to changing subtask sizes,resulting in a difficult-to-solve,externalities problem.This paper introduces a novel many-to-one matching-based algorithm,designed to address the externalities problem and optimize resource allocation within POMH scenarios.Additionally,we propose a new time-efficient preference profiling technique that further enhances time optimization in POMH scenarios.The performance of the proposed technique is thoroughly evaluated in comparison to alternate baseline schemes,revealing many advantages of the proposed approach.The simulation findings indisputably show that the proposed matching-based offloading technique outperforms existing methodologies in the literature,yielding a remarkable 52 reduction in task latency,particularly under high workloads.
文摘Under the background of training practical compound talents in software engineering,this paper analyzes the problems existing in the current teaching of software engineering courses represented by software project management,puts forward the team task mechanism of software engineering courses with AI empowerment and cooperation and competition,develops a unified project management platform to support the implementation of team tasks,and proves the effectiveness of the scheme through the results obtained.
基金funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant 2019YFB1803301Beijing Natural Science Foundation (L202002)。
文摘Cybertwin-enabled 6th Generation(6G)network is envisioned to support artificial intelligence-native management to meet changing demands of 6G applications.Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning(MADRL)technologies driven by Cybertwins have been proposed for adaptive task offloading strategies.However,the existence of random transmission delay between Cybertwin-driven agents and underlying networks is not considered in related works,which destroys the standard Markov property and increases the decision reaction time to reduce the task offloading strategy performance.In order to address this problem,we propose a pipelining task offloading method to lower the decision reaction time and model it as a delay-aware Markov Decision Process(MDP).Then,we design a delay-aware MADRL algorithm to minimize the weighted sum of task execution latency and energy consumption.Firstly,the state space is augmented using the lastly-received state and historical actions to rebuild the Markov property.Secondly,Gate Transformer-XL is introduced to capture historical actions'importance and maintain the consistent input dimension dynamically changed due to random transmission delays.Thirdly,a sampling method and a new loss function with the difference between the current and target state value and the difference between real state-action value and augmented state-action value are designed to obtain state transition trajectories close to the real ones.Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed methods are effective in reducing reaction time and improving the task offloading performance in the random-delay Cybertwin-enabled 6G networks.
文摘The widespread adoption of cloud computing has underscored the critical importance of efficient resource allocation and management, particularly in task scheduling, which involves assigning tasks to computing resources for optimized resource utilization. Several meta-heuristic algorithms have shown effectiveness in task scheduling, among which the relatively recent Willow Catkin Optimization (WCO) algorithm has demonstrated potential, albeit with apparent needs for enhanced global search capability and convergence speed. To address these limitations of WCO in cloud computing task scheduling, this paper introduces an improved version termed the Advanced Willow Catkin Optimization (AWCO) algorithm. AWCO enhances the algorithm’s performance by augmenting its global search capability through a quasi-opposition-based learning strategy and accelerating its convergence speed via sinusoidal mapping. A comprehensive evaluation utilizing the CEC2014 benchmark suite, comprising 30 test functions, demonstrates that AWCO achieves superior optimization outcomes, surpassing conventional WCO and a range of established meta-heuristics. The proposed algorithm also considers trade-offs among the cost, makespan, and load balancing objectives. Experimental results of AWCO are compared with those obtained using the other meta-heuristics, illustrating that the proposed algorithm provides superior performance in task scheduling. The method offers a robust foundation for enhancing the utilization of cloud computing resources in the domain of task scheduling within a cloud computing environment.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.62072475 and No.62302062in part by the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Number 2023JJ40081。
文摘With the unprecedented prevalence of Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT)and 5G technology,various applications supported by industrial communication systems have generated exponentially increased processing tasks,which makes task assignment inefficient due to insufficient workers.In this paper,an Intelligent and Trustworthy task assignment method based on Trust and Social relations(ITTS)is proposed for scenarios with many tasks and few workers.Specifically,ITTS first makes initial assignments based on trust and social influences,thereby transforming the complex large-scale industrial task assignment of the platform into the small-scale task assignment for each worker.Then,an intelligent Q-decision mechanism based on workers'social relation is proposed,which adopts the first-exploration-then-utilization principle to allocate tasks.Only when a worker cannot cope with the assigned tasks,it initiates dynamic worker recruitment,thus effectively solving the worker shortage problem as well as the cold start issue.More importantly,we consider trust and security issues,and evaluate the trust and social circles of workers by accumulating task feedback,to provide the platform a reference for worker recruitment,thereby creating a high-quality worker pool.Finally,extensive simulations demonstrate ITTS outperforms two benchmark methods by increasing task completion rates by 56.49%-61.53%and profit by 42.34%-47.19%.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (12202293)Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2023NSFSC0393,2022NSFSC1952)。
文摘A task allocation problem for the heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm in unknown environments is studied in this paper.Considering that the actual mission environment information may be unknown,the UAV swarm needs to detect the environment first and then attack the detected targets.The heterogeneity of UAVs,multiple types of tasks,and the dynamic nature of task environment lead to uneven load and time sequence problems.This paper proposes an improved contract net protocol (CNP) based task allocation scheme,which effectively balances the load of UAVs and improves the task efficiency.Firstly,two types of task models are established,including regional reconnaissance tasks and target attack tasks.Secondly,for regional reconnaissance tasks,an improved CNP algorithm using the uncertain contract is developed.Through uncertain contracts,the area size of the regional reconnaissance task is determined adaptively after this task assignment,which can improve reconnaissance efficiency and resource utilization.Thirdly,for target attack tasks,an improved CNP algorithm using the fuzzy integrated evaluation and the double-layer negotiation is presented to enhance collaborative attack efficiency through adjusting the assignment sequence adaptively and multi-layer allocation.Finally,the effectiveness and advantages of the improved method are verified through comparison simulations.
文摘The aim of teaching writing isn’t quite clear in the daily classroom teaching. This article emphasises that the aim of teaching writing isn’ t only to test, but to train. The writer analyses the problems in students’ writing and suggests some possible ways for teachers to help students with their writing.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(71671059)
文摘The earth observation satellites(EOSs)scheduling problem for emergency tasks often presents many challenges.For example,the scheduling calculation should be completed in seconds,the scheduled task rate is supposed to be as high as possible,the disturbance measure of the scheme should be as low as possible,which may lead to the loss of important observation opportunities and data transmission delays.Existing scheduling algorithms are not designed for these requirements.Consequently,we propose a rolling horizon strategy(RHS)based on event triggering as well as a heuristic algorithm based on direct insertion,shifting,backtracking,deletion,and reinsertion(ISBDR).In the RHS,the driven scheduling mode based on the emergency task arrival and control station time window events are designed to transform the long-term,large-scale problem into a short-term,small-scale problem,which can improve the schedulability of the original scheduling scheme and emergency response sensitivity.In the ISBDR algorithm,the shifting rule with breadth search capability and backtracking rule with depth search capability are established to realize the rapid adjustment of the original plan and improve the overall benefit of the plan and early completion of emergency tasks.Simultaneously,two heuristic factors,namely the emergency task urgency degree and task conflict degree,are constructed to improve the emergency task scheduling guidance and algorithm efficiency.Finally,we conduct extensive experiments by means of simulations to compare the algorithms based on ISBDR and direct insertion,shifting,deletion,and reinsertion(ISDR).The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can improve the timeliness of emergency tasks and scheduling performance,and decrease the disturbance measure of the scheme,therefore,it is more suitable for emergency task scheduling.
文摘Heterogeneous computing is one effective method of high performance computing with many advantages. Task scheduling is a critical issue in heterogeneous environments as well as in homogeneous environments. A number of task scheduling algorithms for homogeneous environments have been proposed, whereas, a few for heterogeneous environments can be found in the literature. A novel task scheduling algorithm for heterogeneous environments, called the heterogeneous critical task （HCT） scheduling algorithm is presented. By means of the directed acyclic graph and the gantt graph, the HCT algorithm defines the critical task and the idle time slot. After determining the critical tasks of a given task, the HCT algorithm tentatively duplicates the critical tasks onto the processor that has the given task in the idle time slot, to reduce the start time of the given task. To compare the performance of the HCT algorithm with several recently proposed algorithms, a large set of randomly generated applications and the Gaussian elimination application are randomly generated. The experimental result has shown that the HCT algorithm outperforms the other algorithm.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61104180)the National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program) (97361361)
文摘Satellite observation scheduling plays a significant role in improving the efficiency of satellite observation systems.Although many scheduling algorithms have been proposed,emergency tasks,characterized as importance and urgency（e.g.,observation tasks orienting to the earthquake area and military conflict area）,have not been taken into account yet.Therefore,it is crucial to investigate the satellite integrated scheduling methods,which focus on meeting the requirements of emergency tasks while maximizing the profit of common tasks.Firstly,a pretreatment approach is proposed,which eliminates conflicts among emergency tasks and allocates all tasks with a potential time-window to related orbits of satellites.Secondly,a mathematical model and an acyclic directed graph model are constructed.Thirdly,a hybrid ant colony optimization method mixed with iteration local search（ACO-ILS） is established to solve the problem.Moreover,to guarantee all solutions satisfying the emergency task requirement constraints,a constraint repair method is presented.Extensive experimental simulations show that the proposed integrated scheduling method is superior to two-phased scheduling methods,the performance of ACO-ILS is greatly improved in both evolution speed and solution quality by iteration local search,and ACO-ILS outperforms both genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(6157301761703425)+2 种基金the Aeronautical Science Fund(20175796014)Shaanxi Province Natural Science Foundation(2016JQ60622017JM6062)
文摘To solve the problem of distributed tasks-platforms scheduling in holonic command and control(C2) organization,the basic elements of the organization are analyzed firstly and the formal description of organizational elements and structure is provided. Based on the improvement of task execution quality,a single task resource scheduling model is established and the solving method based on the m-best algorithm is proposed. For the problem of tactical decision-holon cannot handle tasks with low priority effectively, a distributed resource scheduling collaboration mechanism based on platform pricing and a platform exchange mechanism based on resource capacities are designed. Finally,a series of experiments are designed to prove the effectiveness of these methods. The results show that the proposed distributed scheduling methods can realize the effective balance of platform resources.
文摘Summary: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors associated with manual lifting tasks using surface electromyography (EMG). 13 volunteers lifted loads of 6 and 13 kg at two speeds and at two horizontal distances in 3 different postures and three boxes of different sizes, from floor to knuckle height, performing 72 lifting tasks. For each lift, the surface electromyography signals from the erector spinae muscles, bilaterally at T_~10 and L_3, was recorded. The ergonomic risk factors associated with manual lifting tasks were evaluated by comparing the average amplitude of EMG signals from the erector spinae muscles. The EMG average amplitude for lifting the load of 13 kg was 14.3 % greater than that for lifting the load of 6 kg (t=-10.93, P<0.01). The EMG average amplitude at the site of L_3 was 10.3 % greater than that at the site of T_~10 (t=-7.98, P<0.01). The EMG average amplitude when performing “fast” lift was 5.9 %greater than the “slow” lift (t=-4.63, P<0.01). The posture of lifting affected the EMG average amplitude. It was lowest with semi-squat posture and greatest with squat posture (F=27.76, P<0.01). The result of multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the loads of lifting, the size of box, horizontal distance, posture of lifting, the site of the spine subjected to force, lifting speed were the factors affecting the EMG average amplitude. The most significant factor was the loads of lifting, followed by the site of the spine subjected to force and the lifting speed in terms of risk. The ergonomic risk factors associated with manual lifting tasks includes the loads, posture, lifting speed, horizontal distance, the site of the spine subjected to force etc. The results of signal amplitude of EMG from the erector spinae muscles showed that semi-squat posture is the best posture for lifting tasks.
