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This paper examines the role of case-based reasoning in a problem-solving assistant system, which differs from an autonomous problem solver in that it shares the problem-solving task with a human partner. The paper focuses on the criteria driving the system designer's (or the system's) choice of cases, of representation vocabulary, and of indexing terms, and upon how the assumption of a human in the problem-solving loop influences these criteria. It presents these theoretical considerations in the context of work in progress on lOPS, a case-based intelligent assistant for airline irregular operations scheduling.

To reason about a plan failure requires an appropriate explanation of the failure. Such explanations, as has been argued elsewhere, can be generated by instantiating and adapting abstract knowledge structures. But the two fundamental goals in reasoning about failure, recovering from the failure and repairing the knowledge that led to the failure, require qualitatively different types of explanation. This paper presents an abstract taxonomization of failures, oriented toward the latter problem. Each abstract failure type in the taxonomy is tied to heuristics for recognizing occurrences of failures of that type and for identifying the knowledge that can be repaired to avoid future occurrences of the same failure.

Purpose: An outbreak of the monkeypox virus has been documented in the United States with most cases occurring among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). As monkeypox cases increase among relatively rural states, current public health messaging may not resonate with rural at‐risk populations. Given this, there is a need to assess potential rural‐urban differences in monkeypox behaviors and attitudes among MSM. Methods: A total of 582 eligible MSM completed an online cross‐sectional survey between August 6 and 15, 2022. Participants answered questions about their demographics, sexual behaviors, monkeypox testing and vaccination behaviors, monkeypox media consumption and attitudes, and their intention and attitudes found in the Health Belief Model of getting the monkeypox vaccine. Rural‐urban differences in behaviors and attitudes were assessed with a chi‐square test of independence. Differences in intention to get vaccinated and Health Belief Model factors were assessed with a Mann‐Whitney U test. Findings: Rural MSM, in comparison to their urban counterparts, were found to be less likely to report modifying their behaviors to decrease monkeypox exposure, being susceptible to monkeypox, or perceiving severe consequences acquiring monkeypox. Similarly, rural MSM had a lower intention to get vaccinated for monkeypox. Conclusions: As vaccination uptake among rural populations for vaccine‐preventable diseases remains suboptimal, results from this novel study can inform the development of monkeypox prevention, testing, and vaccination messaging campaigns geared toward rural MSM and other at‐risk populations. It will be important to ensure that monkeypox prevention, testing, and vaccination interventions are available and accessible in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: HIV rates are increasing in rural areas, and adolescents are disproportionately affected. HIV pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a daily pill that is effective at preventing HIV; however, PrEP uptake among adolescents is low. PrEP is dependent on primary care providers (PCPs) prescribing it, but research has overwhelmingly sampled urban PCPs. This study compared the PrEP awareness, practices, and comfort between rural and urban family medicine physicians. Methods: A total of 256 family medicine physicians in the United States were recruited from a Qualtrics panel to complete an online cross‐sectional survey between July 15 and August 9, 2022. Participants completed items assessing their demographic characteristics and PrEP awareness, practices, and comfort. A chi‐square test of independence and multiple logistic regression were used to determine rural/urban differences. Findings: Rural family medicine physicians were less comfortable than urban family medicine physicians in providing sexual risk reduction counseling to adolescents, telling an adolescent patient their HIV test result was HIV positive, and implementing all of the PrEP clinical activities for adolescents. Conclusions: Education, skill‐building, and collaborative partnership interventions could improve the comfort levels of rural family medicine physicians in implementing the PrEP guidelines for their adolescent patients. Future research is needed to understand the factors that explain the differences in PrEP‐related attitudes and practices between urban and rural family medicine physicians. Results from such studies could inform provider‐based interventions that ultimately increase PrEP use and decrease HIV rates among rural adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV service providers are the primary implementers of HIV care services, but rural HIV service providers are under researched. We used an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore rural HIV service providers' lived experiences of working in HIV care, who work in a rural region of a Midwestern state in the United States. From July to August 2019, 15 HIV service providers participated in a one-hour semi-structured telephone interview that elicited their experiences working in the rural HIV care continuum. Participants were tired of constantly educating and working to reduce HIV stigma; however, they received support from family and friends once they educated them about HIV. Participants felt they lacked control over systems and they developed emotional-based coping to address constant occupational stressors. Findings highlight the importance of resiliency and advocacy research and practice across ecological levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]