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Abstract Key nodes are similar to important hubs in a network structure, which can directly determine the robustness and stability of the network. By effectively identifying and protecting these critical nodes, the robustness of the network can be improved, making it more resistant to external interference and attacks. There are various topology analysis methods for a given network, but key node identification methods often focus on either local attributes or global attributes. Designing an algorithm that combines both attributes can improve the accuracy of key node identification. In this paper, the constraint coefficient of a weakly connected network is calculated based on the Salton indicator, and a hierarchical tenacity global coefficient is obtained by an improved K-Shell decomposition method. Then, a hierarchical comprehensive key node identification algorithm is proposed which can comprehensively indicate the local and global attributes of the network nodes. Experimental results on real network datasets show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the other classic algorithms in terms of connectivity, average remaining edges, sensitivity and monotonicity.

Abstract Since Charles Leslie introduced the concept of “medical pluralism” in the early 1970s, there has been a steady stream of research in this domain. Based on a case study of a Dong (ethnic group) village in China, this paper attempts to present the complex operation of pluralistic healthcare and looks into the fundamental issues of pluralistic medical research. Results find that first, the future of pluralistic medical care system is in a flux. Second, plural medical care systems are in a state of symbiosis, which is dynamically compatible with local disease classifications. Third, the different elements of a pluralistic medical care system are in competition with each other, which depends on the maintenance of the daily doctor-patient relationship in the local society. This in-depth exploration of medical pluralism not only deepens the understanding of the topic itself, but also integrates the topic into local society and ordinary ethics.

This paper investigates the distributed fault detection problem for linear discrete time-varying heterogeneous multi-agent systems under relative output information. Due to the lack of absolute outputs, an augmented model is built by stacking all local relative output information. Then, the fault detection problem consisting of residual-generation and residual-evaluation is handled using the $H_{\infty }$ filtering framework. The residual-generation problem is actually a minimization problem of an indefinite quadratic form, and the Krein space-Kalman filtering theory is applied, which results in a low computational burden despite the time-varying characteristic. Using the Krein space theory, a necessary and sufficient condition for the minimum is derived, and a residual-generation algorithm is developed. Further, a residual-evaluation mechanism is designed by constructing an evaluation function and detecting faults by comparing it with a threshold. Finally, two illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed fault detection approach.

Abstract Background Since 1998, China has gradually moved toward voluntary uncompensated blood donation. In some cities, the shortage of platelets has been noticeably severe. Mutual assistance that collects blood from one’s family and social networks is a potential solution. The measure, however, turned out problematic. There are donors who choose to donate platelets over whole blood without compensations, and donate platelets directly to blood banks instead of via the mutual assistance system. This study explores reasons behind their choices qualitatively. Methods This report is based on data conducted from January to February 2018; 25 uncompensated regular platelet donors were interviewed. The blood component donation service team in Guangzhou facilitated the data collection process and referred prospectively eligible blood donors to our research team. The interviews took about 30 min to two hours to complete. The qualitative data were analyzed by using the software ATLAS.ti 8. Results Platelet donation takes a much long time than whole blood donation and requires complicated processes. It may also cause discomfort as the other blood components are returned to the body, causing physical and psychological distress due to worries about contamination. Thus, platelet donation tends to involve higher time and psychological costs than whole blood donation. Yet, it has short collection intervals that allows for more frequent donations, and urgency of a severer shortage than whole blood. Hence, regular platelet donors may feel higher significance in platelet donation than whole blood donation, with the belief that more lives would be saved. Some whole blood donors thus switched to become platelet donors. Mutual assistance blood donation was not chosen by the participants for platelet donation, because such donations may exert moral pressure to both the donors and recipients. Furthermore, “acquaintance” has been loosely defined; the system has sometimes been manipulated to become profit-making monetary transactions. It hence failed. Conclusions The practice of platelet donation reinforces the understanding that blood donation is a gift giving process performed among strangers. A safe and sustainable voluntary blood supply can only be secured in the absence of monetary transactions and moral pressure.

The inertial measurement unit and ultra-wide band signal (IMU-UWB) combined indoor positioning system has a nonlinear state equation and a linear measurement equation. In order to improve the computational efficiency and the localization performance in terms of the estimation accuracy, the federated derivative cubature Kalman filtering (FDCKF) method is proposed by combining the traditional Kalman filtering and the cubature Kalman filtering. By implementing the proposed FDCKF method, the observations of the UWB and the IMU can be effectively fused; particularly, the IMU can be continuously calibrated by UWB so that it does not generate cumulative errors. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through numerical simulations, in which FDCKF was compared with the federated cubature Kalman filter (FCKF) and the federated unscented Kalman filter (FUKF), respectively.