Ranking procedure for partial discriminant analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beckman, R.J.; Johnson, M.E.

1981-09-01

A rank procedure developed by Broffitt, Randles, and Hogg (1976) is modified to control the conditional probability of misclassification given that classification has been attempted. This modification leads to a useful solution to the two-population partial discriminant analysis problem for even moderately sized training sets.

Rutgers University Subcontract B611610 Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Soundarajan, Sucheta; Eliassi-Rad, Tina; Gallagher, Brian

Given an incomplete (i.e., partially-observed) network, which nodes should we actively probe in order to achieve the highest accuracy for a given network feature? For example, consider a cyber-network administrator who observes only a portion of the network at time t and wants to accurately identify the most important (e.g., highest PageRank) nodes in the complete network. She has a limited budget for probing the network. Of all the nodes she has observed, which should she probe in order to most accurately identify the important nodes? We propose a novel and scalable algorithm, MaxOutProbe, and evaluate it w.r.t. four networkmore » features (largest connected component, PageRank, core-periphery, and community detection), five network sampling strategies, and seven network datasets from different domains. Across a range of conditions, MaxOutProbe demonstrates consistently high performance relative to several baseline strategies« less

Top-d Rank Aggregation in Web Meta-search Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Qizhi; Xiao, Han; Zhu, Shanfeng

In this paper, we consider the rank aggregation problem for information retrieval over Web making use of a kind of metric, the coherence, which considers both the normalized Kendall-τ distance and the size of overlap between two partial rankings. In general, the top-d coherence aggregation problem is defined as: given collection of partial rankings Π = {τ 1,τ 2, ⋯ , τ K }, how to find a final ranking π with specific length d, which maximizes the total coherence Φ(π,Pi)=sum_{i=1}^K Φ(π,tau_i). The corresponding complexity and algorithmic issues are discussed in this paper. Our main technical contribution is a polynomial time approximation scheme (PTAS) for a restricted top-d coherence aggregation problem.

Highly accelerated cardiac cine parallel MRI using low-rank matrix completion and partial separability model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyu, Jingyuan; Nakarmi, Ukash; Zhang, Chaoyi; Ying, Leslie

2016-05-01

This paper presents a new approach to highly accelerated dynamic parallel MRI using low rank matrix completion, partial separability (PS) model. In data acquisition, k-space data is moderately randomly undersampled at the center kspace navigator locations, but highly undersampled at the outer k-space for each temporal frame. In reconstruction, the navigator data is reconstructed from undersampled data using structured low-rank matrix completion. After all the unacquired navigator data is estimated, the partial separable model is used to obtain partial k-t data. Then the parallel imaging method is used to acquire the entire dynamic image series from highly undersampled data. The proposed method has shown to achieve high quality reconstructions with reduction factors up to 31, and temporal resolution of 29ms, when the conventional PS method fails.

Capacity of MIMO free space optical communications using multiple partially coherent beams propagation through non-Kolmogorov strong turbulence.

PubMed

Deng, Peng; Kavehrad, Mohsen; Liu, Zhiwen; Zhou, Zhou; Yuan, Xiuhua

2013-07-01

We study the average capacity performance for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) free-space optical (FSO) communication systems using multiple partially coherent beams propagating through non-Kolmogorov strong turbulence, assuming equal gain combining diversity configuration and the sum of multiple gamma-gamma random variables for multiple independent partially coherent beams. The closed-form expressions of scintillation and average capacity are derived and then used to analyze the dependence on the number of independent diversity branches, power law α, refractive-index structure parameter, propagation distance and spatial coherence length of source beams. Obtained results show that, the average capacity increases more significantly with the increase in the rank of MIMO channel matrix compared with the diversity order. The effect of the diversity order on the average capacity is independent of the power law, turbulence strength parameter and spatial coherence length, whereas these effects on average capacity are gradually mitigated as the diversity order increases. The average capacity increases and saturates with the decreasing spatial coherence length, at rates depending on the diversity order, power law and turbulence strength. There exist optimal values of the spatial coherence length and diversity configuration for maximizing the average capacity of MIMO FSO links over a variety of atmospheric turbulence conditions.

The interplay between QSAR/QSPR studies and partial order ranking and formal concept analyses.

PubMed

Carlsen, Lars

2009-04-17

The often observed scarcity of physical-chemical and well as toxicological data hampers the assessment of potentially hazardous chemicals released to the environment. In such cases Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships/Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSAR/QSPR) constitute an obvious alternative for rapidly, effectively and inexpensively generatng missing experimental values. However, typically further treatment of the data appears necessary, e.g., to elucidate the possible relations between the single compounds as well as implications and associations between the various parameters used for the combined characterization of the compounds under investigation. In the present paper the application of QSAR/QSPR in combination with Partial Order Ranking (POR) methodologies will be reviewed and new aspects using Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) will be introduced. Where POR constitutes an attractive method for, e.g., prioritizing a series of chemical substances based on a simultaneous inclusion of a range of parameters, FCA gives important information on the implications associations between the parameters. The combined approach thus constitutes an attractive method to a preliminary assessment of the impact on environmental and human health by primary pollutants or possibly by a primary pollutant well as a possible suite of transformation subsequent products that may be both persistent in and bioaccumulating and toxic. The present review focus on the environmental - and human health impact by residuals of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (heptyl) and its transformation products as an illustrative example.

Memory Efficient Ranking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moffat, Alistair; And Others

1994-01-01

Describes an approximate document ranking process that uses a compact array of in-memory, low-precision approximations for document length. Combined with another rule for reducing the memory required by partial similarity accumulators, the approximation heuristic allows the ranking of large document collections using less than one byte of memory…

Daily Interpersonal Experience Partially Explains the Association Between Social Rank and Physical Health.

PubMed

Cundiff, Jenny M; Kamarck, Thomas W; Manuck, Stephen B

2016-12-01

Socioeconomic position is a well-established risk factor for poor physical health. This study examines whether the effects of lower social rank on physical health may be accounted for by differences in daily social experience. In a large community sample (N = 475), we examined whether subjective social rank is associated with self-rated health, in part, through positive and negative perceptions of daily interpersonal interactions, assessed using ecological momentary assessment. Higher social rank was associated with higher average perceived positivity of social interactions in daily life (e.g., B = .18, p < .001), but not with perceived negativity of social interactions. Further, the association between social rank and self-rated physical health was partially accounted for by differences in perceived positivity of social interactions. This effect was independent of well-characterized objective markers of SES and personality traits. Differences in the quality of day-to-day social interactions is a viable pathway linking lower social rank to poorer physical health.

Ecological scenarios analyzed and evaluated by a shallow lake model.

PubMed

Kardaetz, Sascha; Strube, Torsten; Brüggemann, Rainer; Nützmann, Gunnar

2008-07-01

We applied the complex ecosystem model EMMO, which was adopted to the shallow lake Müggelsee (Germany), in order to evaluate a large set of ecological scenarios. By means of EMMO, 33 scenarios and 17 indicators were defined to characterize their effects on the lake ecosystem. The indicators were based on model outputs of EMMO and can be separated into biological indicators, such as chlorophyll-a and cyanobacteria, and hydro-chemical indicators, such as phosphorus. The question to be solved was, what is the ranking of the scenarios based on their characterization by these 17 indicators? And how can we handle high quantities of complex data within evaluation procedures? The scenario evaluation was performed by partial order theory which, however, did not provide a clear result. By subsequently applying the hierarchical cluster analysis (complete linkage) it was possible to reduce the data matrix to indicator and scenario representatives. Even though this step implies losses of information, it simplifies the application of partial order theory and the post processing by METEOR. METEOR is derived from partial order theory and allows the stepwise aggregation of indicators, which subsequently leads to a distinct and clear decision. In the final evaluation result the best scenario was the one which defines a minimum nutrient input and no phosphorus release from the sediment while the worst scenario is characterized by a maximum nutrient input and extensive phosphorus release from the sediment. The reasonable and comprehensive results show that the combination of partial order, cluster analysis and METEOR can handle big amounts of data in a very clear and transparent way, and therefore is ideal in the context of complex ecosystem models, like that we applied.

On the Possibility of Ill-Conditioned Covariance Matrices in the First-Order Two-Step Estimator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrison, James L.; Axelrod, Penina; Kasdin, N. Jeremy

1997-01-01

The first-order two-step nonlinear estimator, when applied to a problem of orbital navigation, is found to occasionally produce first step covariance matrices with very low eigenvalues at certain trajectory points. This anomaly is the result of the linear approximation to the first step covariance propagation. The study of this anomaly begins with expressing the propagation of the first and second step covariance matrices in terms of a single matrix. This matrix is shown to have a rank equal to the difference between the number of first step states and the number of second step states. Furthermore, under some simplifying assumptions, it is found that the basis of the column space of this matrix remains fixed once the filter has removed the large initial state error. A test matrix containing the basis of this column space and the partial derivative matrix relating first and second step states is derived. This square test matrix, which has dimensions equal to the number of first step states, numerically drops rank at the same locations that the first step covariance does. It is formulated in terms of a set of constant vectors (the basis) and a matrix which can be computed from a reference trajectory (the partial derivative matrix). A simple example problem involving dynamics which are described by two states and a range measurement illustrate the cause of this anomaly and the application of the aforementioned numerical test in more detail.

The Interplay between QSAR/QSPR Studies and Partial Order Ranking and Formal Concept Analyses

PubMed Central

Carlsen, Lars

2009-01-01

The often observed scarcity of physical-chemical and well as toxicological data hampers the assessment of potentially hazardous chemicals released to the environment. In such cases Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships/Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSAR/QSPR) constitute an obvious alternative for rapidly, effectively and inexpensively generatng missing experimental values. However, typically further treatment of the data appears necessary, e.g., to elucidate the possible relations between the single compounds as well as implications and associations between the various parameters used for the combined characterization of the compounds under investigation. In the present paper the application of QSAR/QSPR in combination with Partial Order Ranking (POR) methodologies will be reviewed and new aspects using Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) will be introduced. Where POR constitutes an attractive method for, e.g., prioritizing a series of chemical substances based on a simultaneous inclusion of a range of parameters, FCA gives important information on the implications associations between the parameters. The combined approach thus constitutes an attractive method to a preliminary assessment of the impact on environmental and human health by primary pollutants or possibly by a primary pollutant well as a possible suite of transformation subsequent products that may be both persistent in and bioaccumulating and toxic. The present review focus on the environmental – and human health impact by residuals of the rocket fuel 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (heptyl) and its transformation products as an illustrative example. PMID:19468330

World University Ranking Systems: An Alternative Approach Using Partial Least Squares Path Modelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jajo, Nethal K.; Harrison, Jen

2014-01-01

University rankings are key drivers in national and institutional strategic planning. The increase in the number of university ranking systems and the diversity of methods and indicators used by these systems necessitate the development of an index that can measure a university's performance in all these systems at once. This article presents…

Low-rank coal oil agglomeration

DOEpatents

Knudson, Curtis L.; Timpe, Ronald C.

1991-01-01

A low-rank coal oil agglomeration process. High mineral content, a high ash content subbituminous coals are effectively agglomerated with a bridging oil which is partially water soluble and capable of entering the pore structure, and usually coal derived.

Low-rank coal oil agglomeration

DOEpatents

Knudson, C.L.; Timpe, R.C.

1991-07-16

A low-rank coal oil agglomeration process is described. High mineral content, a high ash content subbituminous coals are effectively agglomerated with a bridging oil which is partially water soluble and capable of entering the pore structure, and is usually coal-derived.

Quantum Google in a Complex Network

PubMed Central

Paparo, Giuseppe Davide; Müller, Markus; Comellas, Francesc; Martin-Delgado, Miguel Angel

2013-01-01

We investigate the behaviour of the recently proposed Quantum PageRank algorithm, in large complex networks. We find that the algorithm is able to univocally reveal the underlying topology of the network and to identify and order the most relevant nodes. Furthermore, it is capable to clearly highlight the structure of secondary hubs and to resolve the degeneracy in importance of the low lying part of the list of rankings. The quantum algorithm displays an increased stability with respect to a variation of the damping parameter, present in the Google algorithm, and a more clearly pronounced power-law behaviour in the distribution of importance, as compared to the classical algorithm. We test the performance and confirm the listed features by applying it to real world examples from the WWW. Finally, we raise and partially address whether the increased sensitivity of the quantum algorithm persists under coordinated attacks in scale-free and random networks. PMID:24091980

Aspects of decision support in water management--example Berlin and Potsdam (Germany) I--spatially differentiated evaluation.

PubMed

Simon, Ute; Brüggemann, Rainer; Pudenz, Stefan

2004-04-01

Decisions about sustainable development demand spatially differentiated evaluations. As an example, we demonstrate the evaluation of water management strategies in the cities of Berlin and Potsdam (Germany) with respect to their ecological effects in 14 sections of the surface water system. Two decision support systems were compared, namely PROMETHEE, which is designed to obtain a clear decision (linear ranking), and Hasse Diagram Technique (HDT), normally providing more than one favourable solution (partial order). By PROMETHEE, the spatial differentiation had unwanted effects on the result, negating the stakeholders determined weighting of indicators. Therefore, the stakeholder can barely benefit from the convenience of obtaining a clear decision (linear ranking). In contrast, the result obtained by HDT was not influenced by spatial differentiation. Furthermore, HDT provided helpful tools to analyse the evaluation result, such as the concept of antagonistic indicators to discover conflicts in the evaluation process.

A rotation-translation invariant molecular descriptor of partial charges and its use in ligand-based virtual screening

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Measures of similarity for chemical molecules have been developed since the dawn of chemoinformatics. Molecular similarity has been measured by a variety of methods including molecular descriptor based similarity, common molecular fragments, graph matching and 3D methods such as shape matching. Similarity measures are widespread in practice and have proven to be useful in drug discovery. Because of our interest in electrostatics and high throughput ligand-based virtual screening, we sought to exploit the information contained in atomic coordinates and partial charges of a molecule. Results A new molecular descriptor based on partial charges is proposed. It uses the autocorrelation function and linear binning to encode all atoms of a molecule into two rotation-translation invariant vectors. Combined with a scoring function, the descriptor allows to rank-order a database of compounds versus a query molecule. The proposed implementation is called ACPC (AutoCorrelation of Partial Charges) and released in open source. Extensive retrospective ligand-based virtual screening experiments were performed and other methods were compared with in order to validate the method and associated protocol. Conclusions While it is a simple method, it performed remarkably well in experiments. At an average speed of 1649 molecules per second, it reached an average median area under the curve of 0.81 on 40 different targets; hence validating the proposed protocol and implementation. PMID:24887178

Nongeneric positive partial transpose states of rank five in 3×3 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, Leif Ove; Myrheim, Jan

In 3×3 dimensions, entangled mixed states that are positive under partial transposition (PPT states) must have rank at least four. These rank four states are completely understood. We say that they have rank (4,4) since both a state ρ and its partial transpose ρP have rank four. The next problem is to understand the extremal PPT states of rank (5,5). We call two states SL⊗SL-equivalent if they are related by a product transformation. A generic rank (5,5) PPT state ρ is extremal, and both ρ and ρP have six product vectors in their ranges, and no product vectors in their kernels. The three numbers {6,6;0} are SL⊗SL-invariants that help us classify the state. There is no analytical understanding of such states. We have studied numerically a few types of nongeneric rank five PPT states, in particular, states with one or more product vectors in their kernels. We find an interesting new analytical construction of all rank four extremal PPT states, up to SL⊗SL-equivalence, where they appear as boundary states on one single five-dimensional face on the set of normalized PPT states. The interior of the face consists of rank (5,5) states with four common product vectors in their kernels, it is a simplex of separable states surrounded by entangled PPT states. We say that a state ρ is SL⊗SL-symmetric if ρ and ρP are SL⊗SL-equivalent, and is genuinely SL⊗SL-symmetric if it is SL⊗SL-equivalent to a state τ with τ=τP. Genuine SL⊗SL-symmetry implies a special form of SL⊗SL-symmetry. We have produced numerically, by a special method, a random sample of rank (5,5) SL⊗SL-symmetric states. About 50 of these are of type {6,6;0}, among those all are extremal and about half are genuinely SL⊗SL-symmetric. All these genuinely SL⊗SL-symmetric states can be transformed to have a circulant form. We find however that this is not a generic property of genuinely SL⊗SL-symmetric states. The remaining SL⊗SL-symmetric states found in the search have product vectors in their kernels, and they inspired us to study such states without regard to SL⊗SL-symmetry.

Model of Decision Making through Consensus in Ranking Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarigan, Gim; Darnius, Open

2018-01-01

The basic problem to determine ranking consensus is a problem to combine some rankings those are decided by two or more Decision Maker (DM) into ranking consensus. DM is frequently asked to present their preferences over a group of objects in terms of ranks, for example to determine a new project, new product, a candidate in a election, and so on. The problem in ranking can be classified into two major categories; namely, cardinal and ordinal rankings. The objective of the study is to obtin the ranking consensus by appying some algorithms and methods. The algorithms and methods used in this study were partial algorithm, optimal ranking consensus, BAK (Borde-Kendal)Model. A method proposed as an alternative in ranking conssensus is a Weighted Distance Forward-Backward (WDFB) method, which gave a little difference i ranking consensus result compare to the result oethe example solved by Cook, et.al (2005).

5 CFR 302.304 - Order of consideration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... States Code, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each other qualified applicant in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (2) Order B. (i) The name of each qualified preference...'s reemployment list, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each qualified...

5 CFR 302.304 - Order of consideration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... States Code, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each other qualified applicant in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (2) Order B. (i) The name of each qualified preference...'s reemployment list, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each qualified...

5 CFR 302.304 - Order of consideration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... States Code, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each other qualified applicant in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (2) Order B. (i) The name of each qualified preference...'s reemployment list, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each qualified...

5 CFR 302.304 - Order of consideration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... States Code, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each other qualified applicant in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (2) Order B. (i) The name of each qualified preference...'s reemployment list, in the order of his/her numerical ranking. (ii) The name of each qualified...

Rank-Order and Paired Comparisons as the Basis for Measurement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linacre, John M.

Three case studies are presented demonstrating the application of straight-forward Rasch techniques to rank order data. Paired comparisons are the simplest form of rank ordering. A consumer preference test with 56 pairs of cups of coffee tasted by each of 26 consumers illustrates analysis of these rankings. When subjects are allowed the option of…

Low-rank coal oil agglomeration product and process

DOEpatents

Knudson, Curtis L.; Timpe, Ronald C.; Potas, Todd A.; DeWall, Raymond A.; Musich, Mark A.

1992-01-01

A selectively-sized, raw, low-rank coal is processed to produce a low ash and relative water-free agglomerate with an enhanced heating value and a hardness sufficient to produce a non-decrepitating, shippable fuel. The low-rank coal is treated, under high shear conditions, in the first stage to cause ash reduction and subsequent surface modification which is necessary to facilitate agglomerate formation. In the second stage the treated low-rank coal is contacted with bridging and binding oils under low shear conditions to produce agglomerates of selected size. The bridging and binding oils may be coal or petroleum derived. The process incorporates a thermal deoiling step whereby the bridging oil may be completely or partially recovered from the agglomerate; whereas, partial recovery of the bridging oil functions to leave as an agglomerate binder, the heavy constituents of the bridging oil. The recovered oil is suitable for recycling to the agglomeration step or can serve as a value-added product.

Low-rank coal oil agglomeration product and process

DOEpatents

Knudson, C.L.; Timpe, R.C.; Potas, T.A.; DeWall, R.A.; Musich, M.A.

1992-11-10

A selectively-sized, raw, low-rank coal is processed to produce a low ash and relative water-free agglomerate with an enhanced heating value and a hardness sufficient to produce a non-degradable, shippable fuel. The low-rank coal is treated, under high shear conditions, in the first stage to cause ash reduction and subsequent surface modification which is necessary to facilitate agglomerate formation. In the second stage the treated low-rank coal is contacted with bridging and binding oils under low shear conditions to produce agglomerates of selected size. The bridging and binding oils may be coal or petroleum derived. The process incorporates a thermal deoiling step whereby the bridging oil may be completely or partially recovered from the agglomerate; whereas, partial recovery of the bridging oil functions to leave as an agglomerate binder, the heavy constituents of the bridging oil. The recovered oil is suitable for recycling to the agglomeration step or can serve as a value-added product.

Why, When, and How to Take into Account the Uncertainty Involved in Career Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gati, Itamar

1990-01-01

Theoretically analyzes career decisions under uncertainty, when career decision maker ranks options rather than choosing best one. Found that how decisions were framed affected ranking of options and quality of decisions. Analysis showed that the rank order of options in optimal ranking always coincided with the rank order of the options by their…

SH c realization of minimal model CFT: triality, poset and Burge condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukuda, M.; Nakamura, S.; Matsuo, Y.; Zhu, R.-D.

2015-11-01

Recently an orthogonal basis of {{W}}_N -algebra (AFLT basis) labeled by N-tuple Young diagrams was found in the context of 4D/2D duality. Recursion relations among the basis are summarized in the form of an algebra SH c which is universal for any N. We show that it has an {{S}}_3 automorphism which is referred to as triality. We study the level-rank duality between minimal models, which is a special example of the automorphism. It is shown that the nonvanishing states in both systems are described by N or M Young diagrams with the rows of boxes appropriately shuffled. The reshuffling of rows implies there exists partial ordering of the set which labels them. For the simplest example, one can compute the partition functions for the partially ordered set (poset) explicitly, which reproduces the Rogers-Ramanujan identities. We also study the description of minimal models by SH c . Simple analysis reproduces some known properties of minimal models, the structure of singular vectors and the N-Burge condition in the Hilbert space.

The effect of unfavourable and favourable social comparisons on paranoid ideation: An experimental study.

PubMed

Ascone, Leonie; Jaya, Edo S; Lincoln, Tania M

2017-09-01

Low social rank is associated with paranoia, but there is a lack of evidence for causality. We tested the effects of social comparisons on negative affect and paranoia with an online social rank paradigm, and whether striving to avoid inferiority or fears of social rejection moderated paranoid reactions. Female students (N = 172) were randomly exposed to one of two validated online profiles depicting a same-aged, high (unfavourable comparison) vs. low rank (favourable comparison) female student. Moderators were assessed at baseline. Social rank, anxiety, sadness and paranoia were assessed pre and post profile-exposure. There was a large effect of the experimental manipulation on social rank (p < 0.001, η 2 partial  = 0.191). The manipulations had no effects on anxiety and paranoia (p > 0.38). Sadness was significantly altered (p = 0.016, η 2 partial  = 0.033). There were significant moderation effects between the experimental conditions and insecure striving (trend-level) as well as fears of rejection. Our findings may be biased (overestimation of effects) as students are likely to be more competitive compared to the general population. Our rank manipulations did not alter paranoia. This suggests that changes in the cognitive representation of social rank alone - without triggering a strong emotional response - do not suffice to evoke paranoia. Although our results do not support the notion that threats to social rank cause paranoid symptoms, they suggest that threats to social rank are more likely to trigger paranoid states in those who are insecure in regard to their social position. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Periodic Limb Movements and White Matter Hyperintensities in First-Ever Minor Stroke or High-Risk Transient Ischemic Attack.

PubMed

Boulos, Mark I; Murray, Brian J; Muir, Ryan T; Gao, Fuqiang; Szilagyi, Gregory M; Huroy, Menal; Kiss, Alexander; Walters, Arthur S; Black, Sandra E; Lim, Andrew S; Swartz, Richard H

2017-03-01

Emerging evidence suggests that periodic limb movements (PLMs) may contribute to the development of cerebrovascular disease. White matter hyperintensities (WMHs), a widely accepted biomarker for cerebral small vessel disease, are associated with incident stroke and death. We evaluated the association between increased PLM indices and WMH burden in patients presenting with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), while controlling for vascular risk factors and stroke severity. Thirty patients presenting within 2 weeks of a first-ever minor stroke or high-risk TIA were prospectively recruited. PLM severity was measured with polysomnography. WMH burden was quantified using the Age Related White Matter Changes (ARWMC) scale based on neuroimaging. Partial Spearman's rank-order correlations and multiple linear regression models tested the association between WMH burden and PLM severity. Greater WMH burden was correlated with elevated PLM index and stroke volume. Partial Spearman's rank-order correlations demonstrated that the relationship between WMH burden and PLM index persisted despite controlling for vascular risk factors. Multivariate linear regression models revealed that PLM index was a significant predictor of an elevated ARWMC score while controlling for age, stroke volume, stroke severity, hypertension, and apnea-hypopnea index. The quantity of PLMs was associated with WMH burden in patients with first-ever minor stroke or TIA. PLMs may be a risk factor for or marker of WMH burden, even after considering vascular risk factors and stroke severity. These results invite further investigation of PLMs as a potentially useful target to reduce WMH and stroke burden. © Sleep Research Society (SRS) 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Bayesian Inference of Natural Rankings in Incomplete Competition Networks

PubMed Central

Park, Juyong; Yook, Soon-Hyung

2014-01-01

Competition between a complex system's constituents and a corresponding reward mechanism based on it have profound influence on the functioning, stability, and evolution of the system. But determining the dominance hierarchy or ranking among the constituent parts from the strongest to the weakest – essential in determining reward and penalty – is frequently an ambiguous task due to the incomplete (partially filled) nature of competition networks. Here we introduce the “Natural Ranking,” an unambiguous ranking method applicable to a round robin tournament, and formulate an analytical model based on the Bayesian formula for inferring the expected mean and error of the natural ranking of nodes from an incomplete network. We investigate its potential and uses in resolving important issues of ranking by applying it to real-world competition networks. PMID:25163528

Bayesian Inference of Natural Rankings in Incomplete Competition Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Juyong; Yook, Soon-Hyung

2014-08-01

Competition between a complex system's constituents and a corresponding reward mechanism based on it have profound influence on the functioning, stability, and evolution of the system. But determining the dominance hierarchy or ranking among the constituent parts from the strongest to the weakest - essential in determining reward and penalty - is frequently an ambiguous task due to the incomplete (partially filled) nature of competition networks. Here we introduce the ``Natural Ranking,'' an unambiguous ranking method applicable to a round robin tournament, and formulate an analytical model based on the Bayesian formula for inferring the expected mean and error of the natural ranking of nodes from an incomplete network. We investigate its potential and uses in resolving important issues of ranking by applying it to real-world competition networks.

24 CFR 599.401 - Ranking of applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Ranking of applications. 599.401... Communities § 599.401 Ranking of applications. (a) Ranking order. Rural and urban applications will be ranked... applications ranked first. (b) Separate ranking categories. After initial ranking, both rural and urban...

Rank Order Entropy: why one metric is not enough

PubMed Central

McLellan, Margaret R.; Ryan, M. Dominic; Breneman, Curt M.

2011-01-01

The use of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship models to address problems in drug discovery has a mixed history, generally resulting from the mis-application of QSAR models that were either poorly constructed or used outside of their domains of applicability. This situation has motivated the development of a variety of model performance metrics (r2, PRESS r2, F-tests, etc) designed to increase user confidence in the validity of QSAR predictions. In a typical workflow scenario, QSAR models are created and validated on training sets of molecules using metrics such as Leave-One-Out or many-fold cross-validation methods that attempt to assess their internal consistency. However, few current validation methods are designed to directly address the stability of QSAR predictions in response to changes in the information content of the training set. Since the main purpose of QSAR is to quickly and accurately estimate a property of interest for an untested set of molecules, it makes sense to have a means at hand to correctly set user expectations of model performance. In fact, the numerical value of a molecular prediction is often less important to the end user than knowing the rank order of that set of molecules according to their predicted endpoint values. Consequently, a means for characterizing the stability of predicted rank order is an important component of predictive QSAR. Unfortunately, none of the many validation metrics currently available directly measure the stability of rank order prediction, making the development of an additional metric that can quantify model stability a high priority. To address this need, this work examines the stabilities of QSAR rank order models created from representative data sets, descriptor sets, and modeling methods that were then assessed using Kendall Tau as a rank order metric, upon which the Shannon Entropy was evaluated as a means of quantifying rank-order stability. Random removal of data from the training set, also known as Data Truncation Analysis (DTA), was used as a means for systematically reducing the information content of each training set while examining both rank order performance and rank order stability in the face of training set data loss. The premise for DTA ROE model evaluation is that the response of a model to incremental loss of training information will be indicative of the quality and sufficiency of its training set, learning method, and descriptor types to cover a particular domain of applicability. This process is termed a “rank order entropy” evaluation, or ROE. By analogy with information theory, an unstable rank order model displays a high level of implicit entropy, while a QSAR rank order model which remains nearly unchanged during training set reductions would show low entropy. In this work, the ROE metric was applied to 71 data sets of different sizes, and was found to reveal more information about the behavior of the models than traditional metrics alone. Stable, or consistently performing models, did not necessarily predict rank order well. Models that performed well in rank order did not necessarily perform well in traditional metrics. In the end, it was shown that ROE metrics suggested that some QSAR models that are typically used should be discarded. ROE evaluation helps to discern which combinations of data set, descriptor set, and modeling methods lead to usable models in prioritization schemes, and provides confidence in the use of a particular model within a specific domain of applicability. PMID:21875058

Binding affinity toward human prion protein of some anti-prion compounds - Assessment based on QSAR modeling, molecular docking and non-parametric ranking.

PubMed

Kovačević, Strahinja; Karadžić, Milica; Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Sanja; Jevrić, Lidija

2018-01-01

The present study is based on the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis of binding affinity toward human prion protein (huPrP C ) of quinacrine, pyridine dicarbonitrile, diphenylthiazole and diphenyloxazole analogs applying different linear and non-linear chemometric regression techniques, including univariate linear regression, multiple linear regression, partial least squares regression and artificial neural networks. The QSAR analysis distinguished molecular lipophilicity as an important factor that contributes to the binding affinity. Principal component analysis was used in order to reveal similarities or dissimilarities among the studied compounds. The analysis of in silico absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) parameters was conducted. The ranking of the studied analogs on the basis of their ADMET parameters was done applying the sum of ranking differences, as a relatively new chemometric method. The main aim of the study was to reveal the most important molecular features whose changes lead to the changes in the binding affinities of the studied compounds. Another point of view on the binding affinity of the most promising analogs was established by application of molecular docking analysis. The results of the molecular docking were proven to be in agreement with the experimental outcome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigating a Judgemental Rank-Ordering Method for Maintaining Standards in UK Examinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Beth; Bramley, Tom

2008-01-01

A new judgemental method of equating raw scores on two tests, based on rank-ordering scripts from both tests, has been developed by Bramley. The rank-ordering method has potential application as a judgemental standard-maintaining mechanism, because given a mark on one test (e.g. the A grade boundary mark), the equivalent mark (i.e. at the same…

Controlling for Response Order Effects in Ranking Items Using Latent Choice Factor Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vriens, Ingrid; Moors, Guy; Gelissen, John; Vermunt, Jeroen K.

2017-01-01

Measuring values in sociological research sometimes involves the use of ranking data. A disadvantage of a ranking assignment is that the order in which the items are presented might influence the choice preferences of respondents regardless of the content being measured. The standard procedure to rule out such effects is to randomize the order of…

Relationships between genotype x environment interactions and rank orders for a set of genotypes tested in different environments.

PubMed

Hühn, M; Lotito, S; Piepho, H P

1993-09-01

Multilocation trials in plant breeding lead to cross-classified data sets with rows=genotypes and columns=environments, where the breeder is particularly interested in the rank orders of the genotypes in the different environments. Non-identical rank orders are the result of genotype x environment interactions. Not every interaction, however, causes rank changes among the genotypes (rank-interaction). From a breeder's point of view, interaction is tolerable only as long as it does not affect the rank orders. Therefore, the question arises of under which circumstances does interaction become rank-interaction. This paper contributes to our understanding of this topic. In our study we emphasized the detection of relationships between the similarity of the rank orders (measured by Kendall's coefficient of concordance W) and the functions of the diverse variance components (genotypes, environments, interaction, error). On the basis of extensive data sets on different agricultural crops (faba bean, fodder beet, sugar beet, oats, winter rape) obtained from registration trials (1985-1989) carried out in the Federal Republic of Germany, we obtained the following as main result: W ≅ σ 2 (g) /(σ 2 (g) + σ 2 (v) ) where σ 2 (g) =genotypic variance and σ 2 (v) = σ 2 (ge) + σ 2 (o) /L with σ 2 (ge) =interaction variance, σ 2 (o) =error variance and L=number of replications.

Toward two-dimensional search engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ermann, L.; Chepelianskii, A. D.; Shepelyansky, D. L.

2012-07-01

We study the statistical properties of various directed networks using ranking of their nodes based on the dominant vectors of the Google matrix known as PageRank and CheiRank. On average PageRank orders nodes proportionally to a number of ingoing links, while CheiRank orders nodes proportionally to a number of outgoing links. In this way, the ranking of nodes becomes two dimensional which paves the way for the development of two-dimensional search engines of a new type. Statistical properties of information flow on the PageRank-CheiRank plane are analyzed for networks of British, French and Italian universities, Wikipedia, Linux Kernel, gene regulation and other networks. A special emphasis is done for British universities networks using the large database publicly available in the UK. Methods of spam links control are also analyzed.

The Structural and Rank-Order Stability of Temperament in Young Children Based on a Laboratory-Observational Measure

PubMed Central

Dyson, Margaret W.; Olino, Thomas M.; Durbin, C. Emily; Goldsmith, H. Hill; Bufferd, Sara J.; Miller, Anna R.; Klein, Daniel N.

2015-01-01

It is generally assumed that temperament traits exhibit structural and rank-order stability over time. Most of the research on structural and rank-order stability has relied on parent-report measures. The present study used an alternative approach, a laboratory-observational measure (Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery [Lab-TAB]), to examine the structural and rank-order stability of temperament traits in a community sample of young children (N = 447). Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we found that a similar five-factor structure consisting of the dimensions of Positive Affect/Interest, Sociability, Dysphoria, Fear/Inhibition, and Impulsivity vs. Constraint provided an adequate fit to the data at both age 3 and 6 years, suggesting good structural stability. Moreover, all five latent factors exhibited significant, albeit modest, rank-order stability from age 3 to 6. In addition, there were significant heterotypic associations of age 3 Sociability with age 6 PA/Interest, and age 3 Impulsivity vs. Constraint with age 6 Fear/Inhibition. PMID:25894709

Airway morphometry in the lungs as depicted in chest CT examinations variability of measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leader, J. K.; Zheng, Bin; Scuirba, Frank C.; Coxson, Harvey O.; Weissfeld, Joel L.; Fuhrman, Carl R.; Maitz, Glenn S.; Gur, David

2006-03-01

The purpose of the study was to decrease the variability of computed tomographic airway measurements. We to developed and evaluated a novel computer scheme to automatically segment airways depicted on chest CT examinations at the level of the lobar and segmental bronchi and to decrease. The computer scheme begins with manual selection of a seed point within the airway from which the airway wall and lumen are automatically segmented and airway pixels were assigned full or partial membership to the lumen or wall. Airway pixels not assigned full membership to the lumen (< -900 HU) or wall (> 0 HU) were assigned partial membership to the lumen and wall. In fifteen subjects with no visible signs of emphysema and a range of pulmonary obstruction from none to severe, airway measures were compared to pulmonary function parameters in a rank order analysis to evaluate measuring a single airway versus multiple airways. The quality of the automated airway segmentation was visually acceptable. The Pearson Correlation coefficients for the ranking of FEV I versus wall area percent (percent of total airway size) and FVC versus wall area percent were 0.164 and 0.175 for a single measurement, respectively, and were 0.243 and 0.239 for multiple measurements, respectively. Our preliminary results suggest that averaging the measurements from multiple airways may improve the relation between airway measures and lung function compared to measurement from a single airway, which improve quantification of airway remodeling in COPD patients.

Job-related diseases and occupations within a large workers' compensation data set.

PubMed

Leigh, J P; Miller, T R

1998-03-01

The objective of this report is to describe workers' job-related diseases and the occupations associated with those diseases. The methods include aggregation and analysis of job-related disease and occupation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Supplementary Data System (SDS) for 1985 and 1986--the last years of data available with workers' compensation categories: death, permanent total, permanent partial, and temporary total and partial. Diseases are ranked according to their contribution to the four workers' compensation (WC) categories and also ranked within occupations according to the number of cases. Occupations are ranked according to their contribution to specific diseases within one of the four categories. The following diseases comprise the greatest numbers of deaths: heart attacks, asbestosis, silicosis, and stroke. Within the permanent total category, the diseases with the greatest contributions are heart attack, silicosis, strokes, and inflammation of the joints. For the permanent partial category, they are hearing loss, inflammation of joints, carpal tunnel syndrome, and heart attacks. For the temporary total and partial category, they are: inflammation of joints, carpal tunnel syndrome, dermatitis, and toxic poisoning. Hearing loss or inflammation of joints are associated with more than 300 occupations. Circulatory diseases comprise a larger share of job-related diseases than is generally acknowledged. Occupations contributing the most heart attack deaths are truck drivers, managers, janitors, supervisors, firefighters, and laborers. Ratios of numbers of deaths to numbers of disabilities are far higher for illnesses than injuries. Occupations that are consistent in their high ranking on most lists involving a variety of conditions include nonconstruction laborers, janitors, and construction laborers. The large SDS, though dated, provides a tentative national look at the broad spectrum of occupational diseases as defined by WC and the occupations associated with those diseases in 1985 and 1986. Some description of the spectrum of diseases encountered today is possible especially for occupations, such as those mentioned above for which employment has expanded in the 1990s.

Can streamlined multi-criteria decision analysis be used to implement shared decision making for colorectal cancer screening?

PubMed Central

Dolan, James G.; Boohaker, Emily; Allison, Jeroan; Imperiale, Thomas F.

2013-01-01

Background Current US colorectal cancer screening guidelines that call for shared decision making regarding the choice among several recommended screening options are difficult to implement. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is an established methodology well suited for supporting shared decision making. Our study goal was to determine if a streamlined form of MCDA using rank order based judgments can accurately assess patients’ colorectal cancer screening priorities. Methods We converted priorities for four decision criteria and three sub-criteria regarding colorectal cancer screening obtained from 484 average risk patients using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in a prior study into rank order-based priorities using rank order centroids. We compared the two sets of priorities using Spearman rank correlation and non-parametric Bland-Altman limits of agreement analysis. We assessed the differential impact of using the rank order-based versus the AHP-based priorities on the results of a full MCDA comparing three currently recommended colorectal cancer screening strategies. Generalizability of the results was assessed using Monte Carlo simulation. Results Correlations between the two sets of priorities for the seven criteria ranged from 0.55 to 0.92. The proportions of absolute differences between rank order-based and AHP-based priorities that were more than ± 0.15 ranged from 1% to 16%. Differences in the full MCDA results were minimal and the relative rankings of the three screening options were identical more than 88% of the time. The Monte Carlo simulation results were similar. Conclusion Rank order-based MCDA could be a simple, practical way to guide individual decisions and assess population decision priorities regarding colorectal cancer screening strategies. Additional research is warranted to further explore the use of these methods for promoting shared decision making. PMID:24300851

Dynamical Analysis of an SEIT Epidemic Model with Application to Ebola Virus Transmission in Guinea.

PubMed

Li, Zhiming; Teng, Zhidong; Feng, Xiaomei; Li, Yingke; Zhang, Huiguo

2015-01-01

In order to investigate the transmission mechanism of the infectious individual with Ebola virus, we establish an SEIT (susceptible, exposed in the latent period, infectious, and treated/recovery) epidemic model. The basic reproduction number is defined. The mathematical analysis on the existence and stability of the disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium is given. As the applications of the model, we use the recognized infectious and death cases in Guinea to estimate parameters of the model by the least square method. With suitable parameter values, we obtain the estimated value of the basic reproduction number and analyze the sensitivity and uncertainty property by partial rank correlation coefficients.

Explosive percolation on directed networks due to monotonic flow of activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waagen, Alex; D'Souza, Raissa M.; Lu, Tsai-Ching

2017-07-01

An important class of real-world networks has directed edges, and in addition, some rank ordering on the nodes, for instance the popularity of users in online social networks. Yet, nearly all research related to explosive percolation has been restricted to undirected networks. Furthermore, information on such rank-ordered networks typically flows from higher-ranked to lower-ranked individuals, such as follower relations, replies, and retweets on Twitter. Here we introduce a simple percolation process on an ordered, directed network where edges are added monotonically with respect to the rank ordering. We show with a numerical approach that the emergence of a dominant strongly connected component appears to be discontinuous. Large-scale connectivity occurs at very high density compared with most percolation processes, and this holds not just for the strongly connected component structure but for the weakly connected component structure as well. We present analysis with branching processes, which explains this unusual behavior and gives basic intuition for the underlying mechanisms. We also show that before the emergence of a dominant strongly connected component, multiple giant strongly connected components may exist simultaneously. By adding a competitive percolation rule with a small bias to link uses of similar rank, we show this leads to formation of two distinct components, one of high-ranked users, and one of low-ranked users, with little flow between the two components.

Clinical prognostic significance and pro-metastatic activity of RANK/RANKL via the AKT pathway in endometrial cancer.

PubMed

Wang, Jing; Liu, Yao; Wang, Lihua; Sun, Xiao; Wang, Yudong

2016-02-02

RANK/RANKL plays a key role in metastasis of certain malignant tumors, which makes it a promising target for developing novel therapeutic strategies for cancer. However, the prognostic value and pro-metastatic activity of RANK in endometrial cancer (EC) remain to be determined. Thus, the present study investigated the effect of RANK on the prognosis of EC patients, as well as the pro-metastatic activity of EC cells. The results indicated that those with high expression of RANK showed decreased overall survival and progression-free survival. Statistical analysis revealed the positive correlations between RANK/RANKL expression and metastasis-related factors. Additionally, RANK/RANKL significantly promoted cell migration/invasion via activating AKT/β-catenin/Snail pathway in vitro. However, RANK/RANKL-induced AKT activation could be suppressed after osteoprotegerin (OPG) treatment. Furthermore, the combination of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) and RANKL could in turn attenuate the effect of RANKL alone. Similarly, MPA could partially inhibit the RANK-induced metastasis in an orthotopic mouse model via suppressing AKT/β-catenin/Snail pathway. Therefore, therapeutic inhibition of MPA in RANK/RANKL-induced metastasis was mediated by AKT/β-catenin/Snail pathway both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting a potential target of RANK for gene-based therapy for EC.

Does the Introduction of the Ranking Task in Valuation Studies Improve Data Quality and Reduce Inconsistencies? The Case of the EQ-5D-5L.

PubMed

Ramos-Goñi, Juan M; Rand-Hendriksen, Kim; Pinto-Prades, Jose Luis

2016-06-01

Time trade-off (TTO)-based valuation studies for the three-level version of the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D) typically started off with a ranking task (ordering the health states by preference). This was not included in the protocol for the five-level EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L) valuation study. To test whether reintroducing a ranking task before the composite TTO (C-TTO) could help to reduce inconsistencies in C-TTO responses and improve the data quality. Respondents were randomly assigned to three study arms. The control arm was the present EQ-5D-5L study protocol, without ranking. The second arm (ranking without sorting) preceded the present protocol by asking respondents to rank the target health states using physical cards. The states were then valued in random order using C-TTO. In the third arm (ranking and sorting), the ranked states remained visible through the C-TTO tasks and the order of valuation was determined by the ranking. The study used only 10 EQ-5D-5L health states. We compared the C-TTO-based inconsistent pairs of health states and ties. The final sample size was 196 in the control arm, 205 in the ranking without sorting arm, and 199 in the ranking and sorting arm. The percentages of ties by respondents were 15.1%, 12.5%, and 12.6% for the control arm, the ranking without sorting arm, and the ranking and sorting arm, respectively. The extra cost for adding the ranking task was about 15%. The benefit does not justify the effort involved in the ranking task. For this reason, the addition of the ranking task to the present EQ-5D-5L valuation protocol is not an attractive option. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Index of stations; surface-water data-collections network of Texas, September 1993

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gandara, S.C.; Jones, R.E.

1995-01-01

Table 1 shows the station number and name, latitude and longitude, type of station, and the office principally responsible for collection of the data. An 8-digit permanent numerical designation for all gaging stations has been adopted on a nationwide basis; stations are numbered and listed in downstream order. In the downstream direction along the main stem, all stations on a tributary entering between two main-stem stations are listed between them. A similar order is followed in listing stations by first rank, second rank, and other ranks of tributaries. The rank of any tributary with respect to the stream to which it is an immediate tributary is indicated by an indention in the table. Each indention represents one rank. This downstream order and system of indention shows which gaging stations are on tributaries between any two stations on a main stem and the rank of the tributary on which each gaging station is situated.

Index of stations: surface-water data-collection network of Texas, September 1995

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gandara, S.C.; Jones, R.E.

1996-01-01

Table 1 shows the station number and name, latitude and longitude, type of station, and the office responsible for the collection of the data and the record. An 8-digit permanent numerical designation for all gaging stations has been adopted on a nationwide basis; stations are numbered and listed in downstream order. In the downstream direction along the main stem, all stations on a tributary entering between two main-stem stations are listed between them. A similar order is followed in listing stations by first rank, second rank, and other ranks of tributaries. The rank of any tributary with respect to the stream to which it is an immediate tributary is indicated by an indention in the table. Each indention represents one rank. This downstream order and system of indention shows which gaging stations are on tributaries between any two stations on a main stem and the rank of the tributary on which each gaging station is situated.

A Ranking Approach on Large-Scale Graph With Multidimensional Heterogeneous Information.

PubMed

Wei, Wei; Gao, Bin; Liu, Tie-Yan; Wang, Taifeng; Li, Guohui; Li, Hang

2016-04-01

Graph-based ranking has been extensively studied and frequently applied in many applications, such as webpage ranking. It aims at mining potentially valuable information from the raw graph-structured data. Recently, with the proliferation of rich heterogeneous information (e.g., node/edge features and prior knowledge) available in many real-world graphs, how to effectively and efficiently leverage all information to improve the ranking performance becomes a new challenging problem. Previous methods only utilize part of such information and attempt to rank graph nodes according to link-based methods, of which the ranking performances are severely affected by several well-known issues, e.g., over-fitting or high computational complexity, especially when the scale of graph is very large. In this paper, we address the large-scale graph-based ranking problem and focus on how to effectively exploit rich heterogeneous information of the graph to improve the ranking performance. Specifically, we propose an innovative and effective semi-supervised PageRank (SSP) approach to parameterize the derived information within a unified semi-supervised learning framework (SSLF-GR), then simultaneously optimize the parameters and the ranking scores of graph nodes. Experiments on the real-world large-scale graphs demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms the algorithms that consider such graph information only partially.

Maximising information recovery from rank-order codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sen, B.; Furber, S.

2007-04-01

The central nervous system encodes information in sequences of asynchronously generated voltage spikes, but the precise details of this encoding are not well understood. Thorpe proposed rank-order codes as an explanation of the observed speed of information processing in the human visual system. The work described in this paper is inspired by the performance of SpikeNET, a biologically inspired neural architecture using rank-order codes for information processing, and is based on the retinal model developed by VanRullen and Thorpe. This model mimics retinal information processing by passing an input image through a bank of Difference of Gaussian (DoG) filters and then encoding the resulting coefficients in rank-order. To test the effectiveness of this encoding in capturing the information content of an image, the rank-order representation is decoded to reconstruct an image that can be compared with the original. The reconstruction uses a look-up table to infer the filter coefficients from their rank in the encoded image. Since the DoG filters are approximately orthogonal functions, they are treated as their own inverses in the reconstruction process. We obtained a quantitative measure of the perceptually important information retained in the reconstructed image relative to the original using a slightly modified version of an objective metric proposed by Petrovic. It is observed that around 75% of the perceptually important information is retained in the reconstruction. In the present work we reconstruct the input using a pseudo-inverse of the DoG filter-bank with the aim of improving the reconstruction and thereby extracting more information from the rank-order encoded stimulus. We observe that there is an increase of 10 - 15% in the information retrieved from a reconstructed stimulus as a result of inverting the filter-bank.

On the hierarchy of partially invariant submodels of differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golovin, Sergey V.

2008-07-01

It is noted that the partially invariant solution (PIS) of differential equations in many cases can be represented as an invariant reduction of some PISs of the higher rank. This introduces a hierarchic structure in the set of all PISs of a given system of differential equations. An equivalence of the two-step and the direct ways of construction of PISs is proved. The hierarchy simplifies the process of enumeration and analysis of partially invariant submodels to the given system of differential equations. In this framework, the complete classification of regular partially invariant solutions of ideal MHD equations is given.

Ranking of concern, based on environmental indexes, for pharmaceutical and personal care products: an application to the Spanish case.

PubMed

Ortiz de García, Sheyla; Pinto, Gilberto Pinto; García-Encina, Pedro A; Irusta Mata, Rubén I

2013-11-15

A wide range of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) are present in the environment, and many of their adverse effects are unknown. The emergence of new compounds or changes in regulations have led to dynamical studies of occurrence, impact and treatment, which consider geographical areas and trends in consumption and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. A Quantitative study of Structure-Activity Relationship ((Q)SAR) was performed to assess the possible adverse effects of ninety six PPCPs and metabolites with negligible experimental data and establish a ranking of concern, which was supported by the EPA EPI Suite™ interface. The environmental and toxicological indexes, the persistence (P), the bioaccumulation (B), the toxicity (T) (extensive) and the occurrence in Spanish aquatic environments (O) (intensive) were evaluated. The most hazardous characteristics in the largest number of compounds were generated by the P index, followed by the T and B indexes. A high number of metabolites has a concern score equal to or greater than their parent compounds. Three PBT and OPBT rankings of concern were proposed using the total and partial ranking method (supported by a Hasse diagram) by the Decision Analysis by Ranking Techniques (DART) tool, which was recently recommended by the European Commission. An analysis of the sensibility of the relative weights of these indexes has been conducted. Hormones, antidepressants (and their metabolites), blood lipid regulators and all of the personal care products considered in this study were at the highest levels of risk according to the PBT and OPBT total rankings. Furthermore, when the OPBT partial ranking was performed, X-ray contrast media, H2 blockers and some antibiotics were included at the highest level of concern. It is important to improve and incorporate useful indexes for the predicted environmental impact of PPCPs and metabolites and thus focus experimental analysis on the compounds that require urgent attention. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determining hospital performance based on rank ordering: is it appropriate?

PubMed

Anderson, Judy; Hackman, Mark; Burnich, Jeff; Gurgiolo, Thomas R

2007-01-01

An increasing number of "pay for performance" initiatives for hospitals and physicians ascribe performance by ranking hospitals or physicians on quality of care measures. Payment is subsequently based on where a hospital or physician ranks among peers. This study examines the variability of ranking hospitals on quality of care measures and its impact on comparing hospital performance. Variability in the ranks of 3 quality of care measures was examined: discharge instruction for congestive heart failure, use of beta-blockers at discharge for heart attack, and timing of initial antibiotic therapy within 4 hours of admission to the hospital for pneumonia. The data are available on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Web site as part of the Hospital Quality Alliance project. We found that considerable uncertainty exists in ranking of hospitals on these measures, which calls into question the use of rank ordering as a determinant of performance.

Class Rank Weighs Down True Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guskey, Thomas R.

2014-01-01

The process of determining class rank does not help students achieve more or reach higher levels of proficiency. Evidence indicates ranking students may diminish students' motivation. High school educators argue that they are compelled to rank-order graduating students because selective colleges and universities require information about…

Index of surface-water stations in Texas, January 1984

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carrillo, E.R.; Buckner, H.D.

1984-01-01

This index shows the station number and name, latitude and longitude, type of data collected, and the office principally responsible for the data collection (table 1). An 8-digit permanent numerical designation for gaging stations has been adopted on a nationwide basis; stations are numbered and listed in downstream order. In the downstream direction along the main stem, all stations on a tributary entering above a main-stem station are listed before that station. A tributary entering between two main-stem stations is listed between them. A similar order is followed in listing stations on first rank, second rank, and other ranks of tributaries. To indicate the rank of any tributary on which a gaging station is situated and the stream to which it is an immediate tributary, each indention in the listing of gaging stations represent one rank. This downstream order and system of indention show which gaging stations are on tributaries between any two stations on a main stem and the rank of the tributary on which each gaging station is situated. On plates 1 and 2 the 8-digit station number is abbreviated because of space limitation.

Index of surface-water stations in Texas, January 1985

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carrillo, E.R.; Buckner, H.D.; Rawson, Jack

1984-01-01

This index shows the station number -and name, latitude and longitude, type of data collected, and the office principally responsible for the data collection (table 1). An 8-digit permanent numerical designation for gaging stations has been adopted on a nationwide basis; stations are numbered and listed in downstream order. In the downstream direction along the main stem, all stations on a tributary entering above a main-stem station are listed before that station. A tributary entering between two main-stem stations is listed between them. A similar order is followed in listing stations on first rank, second rank, and other ranks of tributaries. To indicate the rank of any tributary on which a gaging station is situated and the stream to which it is an immediate tributary, each indention in the listing of gaging stations represent one rank. This downstream order and system of indention show which gaging stations are on tributaries between any two stations on a main stem and the rank of the tributary on which each gaging station is situated. On plates 1 and 2, the 8-digit station number is abbreviated because of space limitation.

Index of surface-water stations in Texas, January 1987

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rawson, Jack; Carrillo, E.R.; Buckner, H.D.

1987-01-01

This index shows the station number and name, latitude and longitude, type of data collected, and the office principally responsible for the data collection (table 1). An 8-digit permanent numerical designation for gaging stations has been adopted on a nationwide basis; stations are numbered and listed in downstream order. In the downstream direction along the main stem, all stations on a tributary entering above a main-stem station are listed before that station. A tributary entering between two main-stem stations is listed between them. A similar order is followed in listing stations on first rank, second rank, and other ranks of tributaries. To indicate the rank of any tributary on which a gaging station is situated and the stream to which it is an immediate tributary, each indention in the listing of gaging stations represent one rank. This downstream order and system of indention show which gaging stations are on tributaries between any two stations on a main stem and the rank of the tributary on which each gaging station is situated. On plates 1 and 2, the 8-digit station number is abbreviated because of space limitation.

Index of surface-water stations in Texas, January 1988

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rawson, Jack; Carrillo, E.R.; Buckner, H.D.

1988-01-01

This index shows the station number and name, latitude and longitude, type of data collected, and the office principally responsible for the data collection (table 1). An 8-digit permanent numerical designation for gaging stations has been adopted on a nationwide basis; stations are numbered and listed in downstream order. In the downstream direction along the main stem, all stations on a tributary entering above a main-stem station are listed before that station. A tributary entering between two main-stem stations is listed between them. A similar order is followed in listing stations on first rank, second rank, and other ranks of tributaries. To indicate the rank of any tributary on which a gaging station is situated and the stream to which it is an immediate tributary, each indention in the listing of gaging stations represent one rank. This downstream order and system of indention show which gaging stations are on tributaries between any two stations on a main stem and the rank of the tributary on which each gaging station is situated. On plates 1 and 2, the 8-digit station number is abbreviated because of space limitation.

A Case-Based Reasoning Method with Rank Aggregation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jinhua; Du, Jiao; Hu, Jian

2018-03-01

In order to improve the accuracy of case-based reasoning (CBR), this paper addresses a new CBR framework with the basic principle of rank aggregation. First, the ranking methods are put forward in each attribute subspace of case. The ordering relation between cases on each attribute is got between cases. Then, a sorting matrix is got. Second, the similar case retrieval process from ranking matrix is transformed into a rank aggregation optimal problem, which uses the Kemeny optimal. On the basis, a rank aggregation case-based reasoning algorithm, named RA-CBR, is designed. The experiment result on UCI data sets shows that case retrieval accuracy of RA-CBR algorithm is higher than euclidean distance CBR and mahalanobis distance CBR testing.So we can get the conclusion that RA-CBR method can increase the performance and efficiency of CBR.

Rank-based testing of equal survivorship based on cross-sectional survival data with or without prospective follow-up.

PubMed

Chan, Kwun Chuen Gary; Qin, Jing

2015-10-01

Existing linear rank statistics cannot be applied to cross-sectional survival data without follow-up since all subjects are essentially censored. However, partial survival information are available from backward recurrence times and are frequently collected from health surveys without prospective follow-up. Under length-biased sampling, a class of linear rank statistics is proposed based only on backward recurrence times without any prospective follow-up. When follow-up data are available, the proposed rank statistic and a conventional rank statistic that utilizes follow-up information from the same sample are shown to be asymptotically independent. We discuss four ways to combine these two statistics when follow-up is present. Simulations show that all combined statistics have substantially improved power compared with conventional rank statistics, and a Mantel-Haenszel test performed the best among the proposal statistics. The method is applied to a cross-sectional health survey without follow-up and a study of Alzheimer's disease with prospective follow-up. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

24 CFR 599.405 - Selection of Renewal Communities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... will then select the highest ranking Category 1 urban area nominations, but will not exceed a total of... will then select, in rank order, the highest ranking Category 1 area nominations, whether urban or... Category 1 is less than six, HUD will select the highest ranking rural area applications in Category 2...

Rank-based estimation in the {ell}1-regularized partly linear model for censored outcomes with application to integrated analyses of clinical predictors and gene expression data.

PubMed

Johnson, Brent A

2009-10-01

We consider estimation and variable selection in the partial linear model for censored data. The partial linear model for censored data is a direct extension of the accelerated failure time model, the latter of which is a very important alternative model to the proportional hazards model. We extend rank-based lasso-type estimators to a model that may contain nonlinear effects. Variable selection in such partial linear model has direct application to high-dimensional survival analyses that attempt to adjust for clinical predictors. In the microarray setting, previous methods can adjust for other clinical predictors by assuming that clinical and gene expression data enter the model linearly in the same fashion. Here, we select important variables after adjusting for prognostic clinical variables but the clinical effects are assumed nonlinear. Our estimator is based on stratification and can be extended naturally to account for multiple nonlinear effects. We illustrate the utility of our method through simulation studies and application to the Wisconsin prognostic breast cancer data set.

Characterization of the effects of neurokinins on canine antral muscle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koelbel, C.B.; Mayer, E.A.; Van Deventer, G.

1988-12-01

The excitation of longitudinal antral muscle by substance P (SP) involves both a myogenic and a cholinergic effect. To examine if these responses are mediated by different neurokinin receptors, the authors studied the mechanical response and the release of ({sup 3}H)acetylcholine from antral muscle strips in response to SP, substance P methylester (SPME), neurokinin A (NKA), neurokinin B (NKB), and several nonmammalian tachykinins. All peptides studied showed a dose-dependent inotropic and chronotropic effect on spontaneous phasic contractions. This ionotropic effect in longitudinal muscle was partially atropine sensitive for SPME, SP, and NKB but not for NKA, whereas neither atropine normore » tetrodotoxin had an effect in circular muscle. In longitudinal muscle, all three neurokinins were equipotent. In longitudinal muscle treated with atropine and in circular muscle, the rank order of potency for the inotropic response was NKA > NKB > SP > SPME. For the chronotropic response the rank order was SPME, SP > NKA > NKB. NKA, NKB, and SP caused a dose-dependent, tetrodotoxin-sensitive increase in ({sup 3}H)acetylcholine release from strips preincubated with ({sup 3}H)choline. NKA was significantly more potent to release ({sup 3}H)acetylcholine than either NKB or SP. The stimulated release was inhibited by (D-Ala{sup 2},D-Met{sup 5})methionine enkephalinamide and the SP antagonist, spantide. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that NKA is the natural ligand mediating the myogenic inotropic response in both muscle layers and the cholinergic response in longitudinal muscle.« less

Validation of an image-based technique to assess the perceptual quality of clinical chest radiographs with an observer study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yuan; Choudhury, Kingshuk R.; McAdams, H. Page; Foos, David H.; Samei, Ehsan

2014-03-01

We previously proposed a novel image-based quality assessment technique1 to assess the perceptual quality of clinical chest radiographs. In this paper, an observer study was designed and conducted to systematically validate this technique. Ten metrics were involved in the observer study, i.e., lung grey level, lung detail, lung noise, riblung contrast, rib sharpness, mediastinum detail, mediastinum noise, mediastinum alignment, subdiaphragm-lung contrast, and subdiaphragm area. For each metric, three tasks were successively presented to the observers. In each task, six ROI images were randomly presented in a row and observers were asked to rank the images only based on a designated quality and disregard the other qualities. A range slider on the top of the images was used for observers to indicate the acceptable range based on the corresponding perceptual attribute. Five boardcertificated radiologists from Duke participated in this observer study on a DICOM calibrated diagnostic display workstation and under low ambient lighting conditions. The observer data were analyzed in terms of the correlations between the observer ranking orders and the algorithmic ranking orders. Based on the collected acceptable ranges, quality consistency ranges were statistically derived. The observer study showed that, for each metric, the averaged ranking orders of the participated observers were strongly correlated with the algorithmic orders. For the lung grey level, the observer ranking orders completely accorded with the algorithmic ranking orders. The quality consistency ranges derived from this observer study were close to these derived from our previous study. The observer study indicates that the proposed image-based quality assessment technique provides a robust reflection of the perceptual image quality of the clinical chest radiographs. The derived quality consistency ranges can be used to automatically predict the acceptability of a clinical chest radiograph.

Low rank approach to computing first and higher order derivatives using automatic differentiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reed, J. A.; Abdel-Khalik, H. S.; Utke, J.

2012-07-01

This manuscript outlines a new approach for increasing the efficiency of applying automatic differentiation (AD) to large scale computational models. By using the principles of the Efficient Subspace Method (ESM), low rank approximations of the derivatives for first and higher orders can be calculated using minimized computational resources. The output obtained from nuclear reactor calculations typically has a much smaller numerical rank compared to the number of inputs and outputs. This rank deficiency can be exploited to reduce the number of derivatives that need to be calculated using AD. The effective rank can be determined according to ESM by computingmore » derivatives with AD at random inputs. Reduced or pseudo variables are then defined and new derivatives are calculated with respect to the pseudo variables. Two different AD packages are used: OpenAD and Rapsodia. OpenAD is used to determine the effective rank and the subspace that contains the derivatives. Rapsodia is then used to calculate derivatives with respect to the pseudo variables for the desired order. The overall approach is applied to two simple problems and to MATWS, a safety code for sodium cooled reactors. (authors)« less

Unextendible product bases and extremal density matrices with positive partial transpose

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oyvind Sollid, Per; Magne Leinaas, Jon; Myrheim, Jan

2011-10-15

In bipartite quantum systems of dimension 3x3, entangled states that are positive under partial transposition (PPT) can be constructed with the use of unextendible product bases (UPBs). As discussed in a previous publication, all the lowest rank entangled PPT states of this system seem to be equivalent, under SL x SL transformations, to states that are constructed in this way. Here we consider a possible generalization of the UPB constuction to low-rank entangled PPT states in higher dimensions. The idea is to give up the condition of orthogonality of the product vectors, while keeping the relation between the density matrixmore » and the projection on the subspace defined by the UPB. We examine first this generalization for the 3x3 system where numerical studies indicate that one-parameter families of such generalized states can be found. Similar numerical searches in higher dimensional systems show the presence of extremal PPT states of similar form. Based on these results we suggest that the UPB construction of the lowest rank entangled states in the 3x3 system can be generalized to higher dimensions, with the use of nonorthogonal UPBs.« less

Basic Psychiatric Literature: I. Books*†

PubMed Central

Woods, Joan B.; Pieper, Sam; Frazier, Shervert H.

1968-01-01

Widely varying recommended reading lists for psychiatry residents were obtained from 140 AMA-approved training programs. Approximately 4,000 articles, 2,800 books, and 200 serials were listed. The number of recommendations for each book was counted, and a rank-order determined. A second rank-order was determined from the lists of those eighty-seven programs which indicated that their material covered the “basic” literature; a third rank-order was determined from the number of residents using the lists. All rank-orders agreed on the “most recommended” book and the first eighteen books; there was a 92 percent correlation through the first 453 books. One-third of the “basic” recommendations were for the first 104 books; one-third for the next 349 books, and one-third for the remaining 1,994 books. The subject matter of the first 104 books indicated that the currently most popular subjects in psychiatry are psychoanalytic theories of personality, schizophrenia, psychotherapy, and child psychiatry. A list of the 104 most recommended books is appended. PMID:4874980

76 FR 76457 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-07

... provide diversified exposure to select economies around the world. The Sub-Adviser will rank countries on... its proprietary country ranking model, the Sub-Adviser ranks countries on a monthly basis in order to... growth) factor groups. 3. Rank Countries: Each month the Sub-Adviser will use the weighted individual...

77 FR 4079 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Order Granting Approval of Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-26

... diversified exposure to select economies around the world. The Sub-Adviser will rank countries on a monthly... of global equity returns. Through its country ranking model, the Sub-Adviser ranks countries on a... (e.g., earnings growth) factor groups. 3. Rank Countries: Each month the Sub-Adviser will use the...

Sensitivity Analysis of the Integrated Medical Model for ISS Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodenow, D. A.; Myers, J. G.; Arellano, J.; Boley, L.; Garcia, Y.; Saile, L.; Walton, M.; Kerstman, E.; Reyes, D.; Young, M.

2016-01-01

Sensitivity analysis estimates the relative contribution of the uncertainty in input values to the uncertainty of model outputs. Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient (PRCC) and Standardized Rank Regression Coefficient (SRRC) are methods of conducting sensitivity analysis on nonlinear simulation models like the Integrated Medical Model (IMM). The PRCC method estimates the sensitivity using partial correlation of the ranks of the generated input values to each generated output value. The partial part is so named because adjustments are made for the linear effects of all the other input values in the calculation of correlation between a particular input and each output. In SRRC, standardized regression-based coefficients measure the sensitivity of each input, adjusted for all the other inputs, on each output. Because the relative ranking of each of the inputs and outputs is used, as opposed to the values themselves, both methods accommodate the nonlinear relationship of the underlying model. As part of the IMM v4.0 validation study, simulations are available that predict 33 person-missions on ISS and 111 person-missions on STS. These simulated data predictions feed the sensitivity analysis procedures. The inputs to the sensitivity procedures include the number occurrences of each of the one hundred IMM medical conditions generated over the simulations and the associated IMM outputs: total quality time lost (QTL), number of evacuations (EVAC), and number of loss of crew lives (LOCL). The IMM team will report the results of using PRCC and SRRC on IMM v4.0 predictions of the ISS and STS missions created as part of the external validation study. Tornado plots will assist in the visualization of the condition-related input sensitivities to each of the main outcomes. The outcomes of this sensitivity analysis will drive review focus by identifying conditions where changes in uncertainty could drive changes in overall model output uncertainty. These efforts are an integral part of the overall verification, validation, and credibility review of IMM v4.0.

Partial Roc Reveals Superiority of Mutual Rank of Pearson's Correlation Coefficient as a Coexpression Measure to Elucidate Functional Association of Genes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obayashi, Takeshi; Kinoshita, Kengo

2013-01-01

Gene coexpression analysis is a powerful approach to elucidate gene function. We have established and developed this approach using vast amount of publicly available gene expression data measured by microarray techniques. The coexpressed genes are used to estimate gene function of the guide gene or to construct gene coexpression networks. In the case to construct gene networks, researchers should introduce an arbitrary threshold of gene coexpression, because gene coexpression value is continuous value. In the viewpoint to introduce common threshold of gene coexpression, we previously reported rank of Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC) is more useful than the original PCC value. In this manuscript, we re-assessed the measure of gene coexpression to construct gene coexpression network, and found that mutual rank (MR) of PCC showed better performance than rank of PCC and the original PCC in low false positive rate.

Parts and 'holes': gaps in rational number sense among children with vs. without mathematical learning disabilities.

PubMed

Mazzocco, Michèle M M; Devlin, Kathleen T

2008-09-01

Many middle-school students struggle with decimals and fractions, even if they do not have a mathematical learning disability (MLD). In the present longitudinal study, we examined whether children with MLD have weaker rational number knowledge than children whose difficulty with rational numbers occurs in the absence of MLD. We found that children with MLD failed to accurately name decimals, to correctly rank order decimals and/or fractions, and to identify equivalent ratios (e.g. 0.5 = 1/2); they also 'identified' incorrect equivalents (e.g. 0.05 = 0.50). Children with low math achievement but no MLD accurately named decimals and identified equivalent pairs, but failed to correctly rank order decimals and fractions. Thus failure to accurately name decimals was an indicator of MLD; but accurate naming was no guarantee of rational number knowledge - most children who failed to correctly rank order fractions and decimals tests passed the naming task. Most children who failed the ranking tests at 6th grade also failed at 8th grade. Our findings suggest that a simple task involving naming and rank ordering fractions and decimals may be a useful addition to in-class assessments used to determine children's learning of rational numbers.

Higgs mechanism in higher-rank symmetric U(1) gauge theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulmash, Daniel; Barkeshli, Maissam

2018-06-01

We use the Higgs mechanism to investigate connections between higher-rank symmetric U(1 ) gauge theories and gapped fracton phases. We define two classes of rank-2 symmetric U(1 ) gauge theories: the (m ,n ) scalar and vector charge theories, for integer m and n , which respect the symmetry of the square (cubic) lattice in two (three) spatial dimensions. We further provide local lattice rotor models whose low-energy dynamics are described by these theories. We then describe in detail the Higgs phases obtained when the U(1 ) gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken to a discrete subgroup. A subset of the scalar charge theories indeed have X-cube fracton order as their Higgs phase, although we find that this can only occur if the continuum higher-rank gauge theory breaks continuous spatial rotational symmetry. However, not all higher-rank gauge theories have fractonic Higgs phases; other Higgs phases possess conventional topological order. Nevertheless, they yield interesting novel exactly solvable models of conventional topological order, somewhat reminiscent of the color code models in both two and three spatial dimensions. We also investigate phase transitions in these models and find a possible direct phase transition between four copies of Z2 gauge theory in three spatial dimensions and X-cube fracton order.

A novel application of PageRank and user preference algorithms for assessing the relative performance of track athletes in competition.

PubMed

Beggs, Clive B; Shepherd, Simon J; Emmonds, Stacey; Jones, Ben

2017-01-01

Ranking enables coaches, sporting authorities, and pundits to determine the relative performance of individual athletes and teams in comparison to their peers. While ranking is relatively straightforward in sports that employ traditional leagues, it is more difficult in sports where competition is fragmented (e.g. athletics, boxing, etc.), with not all competitors competing against each other. In such situations, complex points systems are often employed to rank athletes. However, these systems have the inherent weakness that they frequently rely on subjective assessments in order to gauge the calibre of the competitors involved. Here we show how two Internet derived algorithms, the PageRank (PR) and user preference (UP) algorithms, when utilised with a simple 'who beat who' matrix, can be used to accurately rank track athletes, avoiding the need for subjective assessment. We applied the PR and UP algorithms to the 2015 IAAF Diamond League men's 100m competition and compared their performance with the Keener, Colley and Massey ranking algorithms. The top five places computed by the PR and UP algorithms, and the Diamond League '2016' points system were all identical, with the Kendall's tau distance between the PR standings and '2016' points system standings being just 15, indicating that only 5.9% of pairs differed in their order between these two lists. By comparison, the UP and '2016' standings displayed a less strong relationship, with a tau distance of 95, indicating that 37.6% of the pairs differed in their order. When compared with the standings produced using the Keener, Colley and Massey algorithms, the PR standings appeared to be closest to the Keener standings (tau distance = 67, 26.5% pair order disagreement), whereas the UP standings were more similar to the Colley and Massey standings, with the tau distances between these ranking lists being only 48 (19.0% pair order disagreement) and 59 (23.3% pair order disagreement) respectively. In particular, the UP algorithm ranked 'one-off' victors more highly than the PR algorithm, suggesting that the UP algorithm captures alternative characteristics to the PR algorithm, which may more suitable for predicting future performance in say knockout tournaments, rather than for use in competitions such as the Diamond League. As such, these Internet derived algorithms appear to have considerable potential for objectively assessing the relative performance of track athletes, without the need for complicated points equivalence tables. Importantly, because both algorithms utilise a 'who beat who' model, they automatically adjust for the strength of the competition, thus avoiding the need for subjective decision making.

Phase portraits of the full symmetric Toda systems on rank-2 groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorin, A. S.; Chernyakov, Yu. B.; Sharygin, G. I.

2017-11-01

We continue investigations begun in our previous works where we proved that the phase diagram of the Toda system on special linear groups can be identified with the Bruhat order on the symmetric group if all eigenvalues of the Lax matrix are distinct or with the Bruhat order on permutations of a multiset if there are multiple eigenvalues. We show that the phase portrait of the Toda system and the Hasse diagram of the Bruhat order coincide in the case of an arbitrary simple Lie group of rank 2. For this, we verify this property for the two remaining rank-2 groups, Sp(4,ℝ) and the real form of G2.

Twenty-Eighth Annual Rank-Order Distribution of Administrative Salaries Paid, 1994-95.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville. Office of Institutional Research.

This report presents comparative data collected from 103 state-supported universities or university systems in 47 states, and 38 university systems representing 30 states, on the administrative salaries they paid in 1994-95. The salaries are presented in rank-order (from highest to lowest) to facilitate comparisons of a participant's relative…

Thirtieth Annual Rank-Order Distribution of Administrative Salaries Paid, 1996-97.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville. Office of Institutional Research.

This report presents comparative data collected from 87 state-supported universities in 45 states, and 27 university systems representing 21 states, on the administrative salaries they paid in 1996-97. The salaries are presented in rank-order (from highest to lowest) to facilitate comparisons of a participant's relative standing with other…

Twenty-Ninth Annual Rank-Order Distribution of Administrative Salaries Paid, 1995-96.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville. Office of Institutional Research.

This report presents comparative data collected from 98 state-supported universities in 47 states, and 38 university systems representing 30 states, on the administrative salaries they paid in 1994-95. The salaries are presented in rank-order (from highest to lowest) to facilitate comparisons of a participant's relative standing with other…

Molecular Phylogeny of the Astrophorida (Porifera, Demospongiae p) Reveals an Unexpected High Level of Spicule Homoplasy

PubMed Central

Cárdenas, Paco; Xavier, Joana R.; Reveillaud, Julie; Schander, Christoffer; Rapp, Hans Tore

2011-01-01

Background The Astrophorida (Porifera, Demospongiae p) is geographically and bathymetrically widely distributed. Systema Porifera currently includes five families in this order: Ancorinidae, Calthropellidae, Geodiidae, Pachastrellidae and Thrombidae. To date, molecular phylogenetic studies including Astrophorida species are scarce and offer limited sampling. Phylogenetic relationships within this order are therefore for the most part unknown and hypotheses based on morphology largely untested. Astrophorida taxa have very diverse spicule sets that make them a model of choice to investigate spicule evolution. Methodology/Principal Findings With a sampling of 153 specimens (9 families, 29 genera, 89 species) covering the deep- and shallow-waters worldwide, this work presents the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Astrophorida, using a cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene partial sequence and the 5′ end terminal part of the 28S rDNA gene (C1-D2 domains). The resulting tree suggested that i) the Astrophorida included some lithistid families and some Alectonidae species, ii) the sub-orders Euastrophorida and Streptosclerophorida were both polyphyletic, iii) the Geodiidae, the Ancorinidae and the Pachastrellidae were not monophyletic, iv) the Calthropellidae was part of the Geodiidae clade (Calthropella at least), and finally that v) many genera were polyphyletic (Ecionemia, Erylus, Poecillastra, Penares, Rhabdastrella, Stelletta and Vulcanella). Conclusion The Astrophorida is a larger order than previously considered, comprising ca. 820 species. Based on these results, we propose new classifications for the Astrophorida using both the classical rank-based nomenclature (i.e., Linnaean classification) and the phylogenetic nomenclature following the PhyloCode, independent of taxonomic rank. A key to the Astrophorida families, sub-families and genera incertae sedis is also included. Incongruences between our molecular tree and the current classification can be explained by the banality of convergent evolution and secondary loss in spicule evolution. These processes have taken place many times, in all the major clades, for megascleres and microscleres. PMID:21494664

SEDIMENT-HOSTED PRECIOUS METAL DEPOSITS.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bagby, W.C.; Pickthorn, W.J.; Goldfarb, R.; Hill, R.A.

1984-01-01

The Dee mine is a sediment-hosted, disseminated gold deposit in the Roberts Mountains allochthon of north central Nevada. Soil samples were collected from the C-horizon in undisturbed areas over the deposit in order to investigate the usefulness of soil geochemistry in identifying this type of deposit. Each sample was sieved to minus 80 mesh and analyzed quantitatively for Au, Ag, As, Sb, Hg, Tl and semi-quantitative data for an additional 31 elements. Rank sum analysis is successful for the Au, Ag, As, Sb, Hg, Tl suite, even though bedrock geology is disregarded. This method involves data transformation into a total element signature by ranking the data in ascending order and summing the element ranks for each sample. The rank sums are then divided into percentile groups and plotted. The rank sum plot for the Dee soils unequivocally identifies three of four known ore zones.

The Functions and Dysfunctions of College Rankings: An Analysis of Institutional Expenditure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jeongeun

2018-01-01

College rankings have become a powerful influence in higher education. While the determinants of educational quality are not clearly defined, college rankings designate an institution's standing in a numerical order based on quantifiable measurements that focus primarily on institutional resources. Previous research has identified the…

75 FR 41262 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Order Approving...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-15

... striking and ranking the arbitrators on the lists. Currently, FINRA sends the parties lists of available... arbitrators from the parties' ranking lists. However, after each side exercises its strikes, typically only... arbitrators during the ranking and striking stage of the arbitrator appointment process. In instances where...

Using rank-order geostatistics for spatial interpolation of highly skewed data in a heavy-metal contaminated site.

PubMed

Juang, K W; Lee, D Y; Ellsworth, T R

2001-01-01

The spatial distribution of a pollutant in contaminated soils is usually highly skewed. As a result, the sample variogram often differs considerably from its regional counterpart and the geostatistical interpolation is hindered. In this study, rank-order geostatistics with standardized rank transformation was used for the spatial interpolation of pollutants with a highly skewed distribution in contaminated soils when commonly used nonlinear methods, such as logarithmic and normal-scored transformations, are not suitable. A real data set of soil Cd concentrations with great variation and high skewness in a contaminated site of Taiwan was used for illustration. The spatial dependence of ranks transformed from Cd concentrations was identified and kriging estimation was readily performed in the standardized-rank space. The estimated standardized rank was back-transformed into the concentration space using the middle point model within a standardized-rank interval of the empirical distribution function (EDF). The spatial distribution of Cd concentrations was then obtained. The probability of Cd concentration being higher than a given cutoff value also can be estimated by using the estimated distribution of standardized ranks. The contour maps of Cd concentrations and the probabilities of Cd concentrations being higher than the cutoff value can be simultaneously used for delineation of hazardous areas of contaminated soils.

Learning to rank diversified results for biomedical information retrieval from multiple features.

PubMed

Wu, Jiajin; Huang, Jimmy; Ye, Zheng

2014-01-01

Different from traditional information retrieval (IR), promoting diversity in IR takes consideration of relationship between documents in order to promote novelty and reduce redundancy thus to provide diversified results to satisfy various user intents. Diversity IR in biomedical domain is especially important as biologists sometimes want diversified results pertinent to their query. A combined learning-to-rank (LTR) framework is learned through a general ranking model (gLTR) and a diversity-biased model. The former is learned from general ranking features by a conventional learning-to-rank approach; the latter is constructed with diversity-indicating features added, which are extracted based on the retrieved passages' topics detected using Wikipedia and ranking order produced by the general learning-to-rank model; final ranking results are given by combination of both models. Compared with baselines BM25 and DirKL on 2006 and 2007 collections, the gLTR has 0.2292 (+16.23% and +44.1% improvement over BM25 and DirKL respectively) and 0.1873 (+15.78% and +39.0% improvement over BM25 and DirKL respectively) in terms of aspect level of mean average precision (Aspect MAP). The LTR method outperforms gLTR on 2006 and 2007 collections with 4.7% and 2.4% improvement in terms of Aspect MAP. The learning-to-rank method is an efficient way for biomedical information retrieval and the diversity-biased features are beneficial for promoting diversity in ranking results.

Peering is not a formal indicator of subordination in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

PubMed

Stevens, Jeroen M G; Vervaecke, Hilde; De Vries, Han; Van Elsacker, Linda

2005-03-01

It has been suggested that peering behavior in bonobos is a formal signal acknowledging social dominance status. We investigated whether peering meets the published criteria for a formal signal of subordination in five captive groups of bonobos. The degree of linearity in the set of peering relationships was significantly high in all study groups, and a linear rank order was found. However, unidirectionality was low, and there was little correspondence between the peering order and the agonistic dominance rank. Therefore, peering does not satisfy the criteria of a formal subordination indicator. We also studied the relation between peering and agonistic dominance rank, age, and sex. Animals directed peering significantly more often at high-ranking animals in four of the groups. We suggest that peering is indirectly related to dominance rank by the resource-holding potential of individuals. In contexts where dominant individuals can monopolize resources, peerers may direct their attention at those high-ranking animals. When resources are distributed more evenly, high-ranking animals may peer down the hierarchy. We speculate on the reasons why a formal dominance or subordination signal appears to be absent in bonobos. Copyright (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

CoMSIA and Docking Study of Rhenium Based Estrogen Receptor Ligand Analogs

PubMed Central

Wolohan, Peter; Reichert, David E.

2007-01-01

OPLS all atom force field parameters were developed in order to model a diverse set of novel rhenium based estrogen receptor ligands whose relative binding affinities (RBA) to the estrogen receptor alpha isoform (ERα) with respect to 17β-Estradiol were available. The binding properties of these novel rhenium based organometallic complexes were studied with a combination of Comparative Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis (CoMSIA) and docking. A total of 29 estrogen receptor ligands consisting of 11 rhenium complexes and 18 organic ligands were docked inside the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of ERα utilizing the program Gold. The top ranked pose was used to construct CoMSIA models from a training set of 22 of the estrogen receptor ligands which were selected at random. In addition scoring functions from the docking runs and the polar volume (PV) were also studied to investigate their ability to predict RBA ERα. A partial least-squares analysis consisting of the CoMSIA steric, electrostatic and hydrophobic indices together with the polar volume proved sufficiently predictive having a correlation coefficient, r2, of 0.94 and a cross-validated correlation coefficient, q2, utilizing the leave one out method of 0.68. Analysis of the scoring functions from Gold showed particularly poor correlation to RBA ERα which did not improve when the rhenium complexes were extracted to leave the organic ligands. The combined CoMSIA and polar volume model ranked correctly the ligands in order of increasing RBA ERα, illustrating the utility of this method as a prescreening tool in the development of novel rhenium based estrogen receptor ligands. PMID:17280694

Selection for family medicine residency training in Canada: How consistently are the same students ranked by different programs?

PubMed

Wycliffe-Jones, Keith; Hecker, Kent G; Schipper, Shirley; Topps, Maureen; Robinson, Jeanine; Abedin, Tasnima

2018-02-01

To examine the consistency of the ranking of Canadian and US medical graduates who applied to Canadian family medicine (FM) residency programs between 2007 and 2013. Descriptive cross-sectional study. Family medicine residency programs in Canada. All 17 Canadian medical schools allowed access to their anonymized program rank-order lists of students applying to FM residency programs submitted to the first iteration of the Canadian Resident Matching Service match from 2007 to 2013. The rank position of medical students who applied to more than 1 FM residency program on the rank-order lists submitted by the programs. Anonymized ranking data submitted to the Canadian Resident Matching Service from 2007 to 2013 by all 17 FM residency programs were used. Ranking data of eligible Canadian and US medical graduates were analyzed to assess the within-student and between-student variability in rank score. These covariance parameters were then used to calculate the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for all programs. Program descriptions and selection criteria were also reviewed to identify sites with similar profiles for subset ICC analysis. Between 2007 and 2013, the consistency of ranking by all programs was fair at best (ICC = 0.34 to 0.39). The consistency of ranking by larger urban-based sites was weak to fair (ICC = 0.23 to 0.36), and the consistency of ranking by sites focusing on training for rural practice was weak to moderate (ICC = 0.16 to 0.55). In most cases, there is a low level of consistency of ranking of students applying for FM training in Canada. This raises concerns regarding fairness, particularly in relation to expectations around equity and distributive justice in selection processes. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Complex sources of variance in female dominance rank in a nepotistic society

PubMed Central

Lea, Amanda J.; Learn, Niki H.; Theus, Marcus J.; Altmann, Jeanne; Alberts, Susan C.

2016-01-01

Many mammalian societies are structured by dominance hierarchies, and an individual’s position within this hierarchy can influence reproduction, behaviour, physiology and health. In nepotistic hierarchies, which are common in cercopithecine primates and also seen in spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta, adult daughters are expected to rank immediately below their mother, and in reverse age order (a phenomenon known as ‘youngest ascendancy’). This pattern is well described, but few studies have systematically examined the frequency or causes of departures from the expected pattern. Using a longitudinal data set from a natural population of yellow baboons, Papio cynocephalus, we measured the influence of maternal kin, paternal kin and group size on female rank positions at two life history milestones, menarche and first live birth. At menarche, most females (73%) ranked adjacent to their family members (i.e. the female held an ordinal rank in consecutive order with other members of her maternal family); however, only 33% of females showed youngest ascendancy within their matriline at menarche. By the time they experienced their first live birth, many females had improved their dominance rank: 78% ranked adjacent to their family members and 49% showed youngest ascendancy within their matriline. The presence of mothers and maternal sisters exerted a powerful influence on rank outcomes. However, the presence of fathers, brothers and paternal siblings did not produce a clear effect on female dominance rank in our analyses, perhaps because females in our data set co-resided with variable numbers and types of paternal and male relatives. Our results also raise the possibility that female body size or competitive ability may influence dominance rank, even in this classically nepotistic species. In total, our analyses reveal that the predictors of dominance rank in nepotistic rank systems are much more complex than previously thought. PMID:26997663

Accurate age estimation in small-scale societies

PubMed Central

Smith, Daniel; Gerbault, Pascale; Dyble, Mark; Migliano, Andrea Bamberg; Thomas, Mark G.

2017-01-01

Precise estimation of age is essential in evolutionary anthropology, especially to infer population age structures and understand the evolution of human life history diversity. However, in small-scale societies, such as hunter-gatherer populations, time is often not referred to in calendar years, and accurate age estimation remains a challenge. We address this issue by proposing a Bayesian approach that accounts for age uncertainty inherent to fieldwork data. We developed a Gibbs sampling Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that produces posterior distributions of ages for each individual, based on a ranking order of individuals from youngest to oldest and age ranges for each individual. We first validate our method on 65 Agta foragers from the Philippines with known ages, and show that our method generates age estimations that are superior to previously published regression-based approaches. We then use data on 587 Agta collected during recent fieldwork to demonstrate how multiple partial age ranks coming from multiple camps of hunter-gatherers can be integrated. Finally, we exemplify how the distributions generated by our method can be used to estimate important demographic parameters in small-scale societies: here, age-specific fertility patterns. Our flexible Bayesian approach will be especially useful to improve cross-cultural life history datasets for small-scale societies for which reliable age records are difficult to acquire. PMID:28696282

Model reduction method using variable-separation for stochastic saddle point problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Lijian; Li, Qiuqi

2018-02-01

In this paper, we consider a variable-separation (VS) method to solve the stochastic saddle point (SSP) problems. The VS method is applied to obtain the solution in tensor product structure for stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs) in a mixed formulation. The aim of such a technique is to construct a reduced basis approximation of the solution of the SSP problems. The VS method attempts to get a low rank separated representation of the solution for SSP in a systematic enrichment manner. No iteration is performed at each enrichment step. In order to satisfy the inf-sup condition in the mixed formulation, we enrich the separated terms for the primal system variable at each enrichment step. For the SSP problems by regularization or penalty, we propose a more efficient variable-separation (VS) method, i.e., the variable-separation by penalty method. This can avoid further enrichment of the separated terms in the original mixed formulation. The computation of the variable-separation method decomposes into offline phase and online phase. Sparse low rank tensor approximation method is used to significantly improve the online computation efficiency when the number of separated terms is large. For the applications of SSP problems, we present three numerical examples to illustrate the performance of the proposed methods.

Accurate age estimation in small-scale societies.

PubMed

Diekmann, Yoan; Smith, Daniel; Gerbault, Pascale; Dyble, Mark; Page, Abigail E; Chaudhary, Nikhil; Migliano, Andrea Bamberg; Thomas, Mark G

2017-08-01

Precise estimation of age is essential in evolutionary anthropology, especially to infer population age structures and understand the evolution of human life history diversity. However, in small-scale societies, such as hunter-gatherer populations, time is often not referred to in calendar years, and accurate age estimation remains a challenge. We address this issue by proposing a Bayesian approach that accounts for age uncertainty inherent to fieldwork data. We developed a Gibbs sampling Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that produces posterior distributions of ages for each individual, based on a ranking order of individuals from youngest to oldest and age ranges for each individual. We first validate our method on 65 Agta foragers from the Philippines with known ages, and show that our method generates age estimations that are superior to previously published regression-based approaches. We then use data on 587 Agta collected during recent fieldwork to demonstrate how multiple partial age ranks coming from multiple camps of hunter-gatherers can be integrated. Finally, we exemplify how the distributions generated by our method can be used to estimate important demographic parameters in small-scale societies: here, age-specific fertility patterns. Our flexible Bayesian approach will be especially useful to improve cross-cultural life history datasets for small-scale societies for which reliable age records are difficult to acquire.

Rank-Order Distribution of Administrative Salaries Paid, 1985-86. Nineteenth Annual Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville. Office of Institutional Research.

Results of a survey of salaries of full-time administrators at public, doctoral-granting institutions for 1985-1986 are presented. Rank order distributions of 12-month administrative salaries are provided for 156 state universities in 49 states and 33 university systems in 27 states. Salary data for 151 universities in 47 states are also arranged…

Rank-Order Distribution of Administrative Salaries Paid, 1986-87. Twentieth Annual Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville. Office of Institutional Research.

Results of a survey of salaries of full-time administrators at public, doctoral-granting institutions for 1986-1987 are presented. Rank order distributions of 12-month administrative salaries are provided for 151 state universities in 49 states and 29 university systems in 23 states. Salary data for 151 universities are also arranged into the nine…

Twenty-Seventh Annual Rank-Order Distribution of Administrative Salaries Paid, 1993-94.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville. Office of Institutional Research.

This study presents comparative data collected from 85 state-supported universities or university systems in 45 states, and 35 university systems representing 28 states on the administrative salaries they paid in 1993-94. The salaries are presented in rank-order (from highest to lowest) to facilitate comparisons of a particular position's salary…

Establishing Trustworthiness When Students Read Multiple Documents Containing Conflicting Scientific Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bråten, Ivar; Braasch, Jason L. G.; Strømsø, Helge I.; Ferguson, Leila E.

2015-01-01

Students read six documents that varied in terms of their perspectives on a scientific issue and the trustworthiness of the source features. After reading, students wrote essays, rank-ordered the documents according to perceived trustworthiness, and provided reasons for their rank-order decisions. Students put the most trust in a textbook and a…

Optimal resource states for local state discrimination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandyopadhyay, Somshubhro; Halder, Saronath; Nathanson, Michael

2018-02-01

We study the problem of locally distinguishing pure quantum states using shared entanglement as a resource. For a given set of locally indistinguishable states, we define a resource state to be useful if it can enhance local distinguishability and optimal if it can distinguish the states as well as global measurements and is also minimal with respect to a partial ordering defined by entanglement and dimension. We present examples of useful resources and show that an entangled state need not be useful for distinguishing a given set of states. We obtain optimal resources with explicit local protocols to distinguish multipartite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and graph states and also show that a maximally entangled state is an optimal resource under one-way local operations and classical communication to distinguish any bipartite orthonormal basis which contains at least one entangled state of full Schmidt rank.

A Ranking Method for Evaluating Constructed Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Attali, Yigal

2014-01-01

This article presents a comparative judgment approach for holistically scored constructed response tasks. In this approach, the grader rank orders (rather than rate) the quality of a small set of responses. A prior automated evaluation of responses guides both set formation and scaling of rankings. Sets are formed to have similar prior scores and…

Rank Weighting in Multiattribute Utility Decision Making: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Equal Weights.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-09-01

set change are discussed in relation to the conditions of Wainer’s (Wainer, 1976) ’ equal weights theorem’ and the resulting sensitivity to weighting of...as equal weights. Rank weighting of importance dimensions demonstrate marked improvement of approximation as reflected in both Pearson and rank order

GeoSearcher: Location-Based Ranking of Search Engine Results.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watters, Carolyn; Amoudi, Ghada

2003-01-01

Discussion of Web queries with geospatial dimensions focuses on an algorithm that assigns location coordinates dynamically to Web sites based on the URL. Describes a prototype search system that uses the algorithm to re-rank search engine results for queries with a geospatial dimension, thus providing an alternative ranking order for search engine…

Reduced Crystallization Temperature Methodology for Polymer Selection in Amorphous Solid Dispersions: Stability Perspective.

PubMed

Bhugra, Chandan; Telang, Chitra; Schwabe, Robert; Zhong, Li

2016-09-06

API-polymer interactions, used to select the right polymeric matrix with an aim to stabilize an amorphous dispersion, are routinely studied using spectroscopic and/or calorimetric techniques (i.e., melting point depression). An alternate selection tool has been explored to rank order polymers for formation of stable amorphous dispersions as a pragmatic method for polymer selection. Reduced crystallization temperature of API, a parameter introduced by Zhou et al.,1 was utilized in this study for rank ordering interactions in API-polymeric systems. The trends in reduced crystallization temperature monitored over polymer concentration range of up to 20% polymer loading were utilized to calculate "crystallization parameter" or CP for two model systems (nifedipine and BI ABC). The rank order of CP, i.e., a measure of API-polymer interaction, for nifedipine followed the order PVP > PVP-VA > Soluplus > HPMCAS > PV Ac > PAA. This rank ordering was correlated to published results of molecular interactions and physical stability for nifedipine. A different rank ordering was observed for BI ABC: PAA > PVP > HPMCAS > Soluplus > PVPV-VA > PVAc. Interactions for BI ABC were not as differentiated when compared to nifedipine based on CP trends. BI ABC dispersions at drug loadings between 40 and 60% were physically stable for prolonged periods under ICH conditions as well as accelerated stress. We propose that large CP differences among polymers could be predictive of stability outcomes. Acceptable stability at pharmaceutically relevant drug loadings would suggest that the relative influence of downstream processes, such as polymer solubility in various solvents, process suitability and selection, and more importantly supersaturation potential, should be higher compared to stability considerations while developing compounds like BI ABC.

A novel application of PageRank and user preference algorithms for assessing the relative performance of track athletes in competition

PubMed Central

Shepherd, Simon J.; Emmonds, Stacey; Jones, Ben

2017-01-01

Ranking enables coaches, sporting authorities, and pundits to determine the relative performance of individual athletes and teams in comparison to their peers. While ranking is relatively straightforward in sports that employ traditional leagues, it is more difficult in sports where competition is fragmented (e.g. athletics, boxing, etc.), with not all competitors competing against each other. In such situations, complex points systems are often employed to rank athletes. However, these systems have the inherent weakness that they frequently rely on subjective assessments in order to gauge the calibre of the competitors involved. Here we show how two Internet derived algorithms, the PageRank (PR) and user preference (UP) algorithms, when utilised with a simple ‘who beat who’ matrix, can be used to accurately rank track athletes, avoiding the need for subjective assessment. We applied the PR and UP algorithms to the 2015 IAAF Diamond League men’s 100m competition and compared their performance with the Keener, Colley and Massey ranking algorithms. The top five places computed by the PR and UP algorithms, and the Diamond League ‘2016’ points system were all identical, with the Kendall’s tau distance between the PR standings and ‘2016’ points system standings being just 15, indicating that only 5.9% of pairs differed in their order between these two lists. By comparison, the UP and ‘2016’ standings displayed a less strong relationship, with a tau distance of 95, indicating that 37.6% of the pairs differed in their order. When compared with the standings produced using the Keener, Colley and Massey algorithms, the PR standings appeared to be closest to the Keener standings (tau distance = 67, 26.5% pair order disagreement), whereas the UP standings were more similar to the Colley and Massey standings, with the tau distances between these ranking lists being only 48 (19.0% pair order disagreement) and 59 (23.3% pair order disagreement) respectively. In particular, the UP algorithm ranked ‘one-off’ victors more highly than the PR algorithm, suggesting that the UP algorithm captures alternative characteristics to the PR algorithm, which may more suitable for predicting future performance in say knockout tournaments, rather than for use in competitions such as the Diamond League. As such, these Internet derived algorithms appear to have considerable potential for objectively assessing the relative performance of track athletes, without the need for complicated points equivalence tables. Importantly, because both algorithms utilise a ‘who beat who’ model, they automatically adjust for the strength of the competition, thus avoiding the need for subjective decision making. PMID:28575009

Knowledge extraction from evolving spiking neural networks with rank order population coding.

PubMed

Soltic, Snjezana; Kasabov, Nikola

2010-12-01

This paper demonstrates how knowledge can be extracted from evolving spiking neural networks with rank order population coding. Knowledge discovery is a very important feature of intelligent systems. Yet, a disproportionally small amount of research is centered on the issue of knowledge extraction from spiking neural networks which are considered to be the third generation of artificial neural networks. The lack of knowledge representation compatibility is becoming a major detriment to end users of these networks. We show that a high-level knowledge can be obtained from evolving spiking neural networks. More specifically, we propose a method for fuzzy rule extraction from an evolving spiking network with rank order population coding. The proposed method was used for knowledge discovery on two benchmark taste recognition problems where the knowledge learnt by an evolving spiking neural network was extracted in the form of zero-order Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy IF-THEN rules.

A novel iris transillumination grading scale allowing flexible assessment with quantitative image analysis and visual matching.

PubMed

Wang, Chen; Brancusi, Flavia; Valivullah, Zaheer M; Anderson, Michael G; Cunningham, Denise; Hedberg-Buenz, Adam; Power, Bradley; Simeonov, Dimitre; Gahl, William A; Zein, Wadih M; Adams, David R; Brooks, Brian

2018-01-01

To develop a sensitive scale of iris transillumination suitable for clinical and research use, with the capability of either quantitative analysis or visual matching of images. Iris transillumination photographic images were used from 70 study subjects with ocular or oculocutaneous albinism. Subjects represented a broad range of ocular pigmentation. A subset of images was subjected to image analysis and ranking by both expert and nonexpert reviewers. Quantitative ordering of images was compared with ordering by visual inspection. Images were binned to establish an 8-point scale. Ranking consistency was evaluated using the Kendall rank correlation coefficient (Kendall's tau). Visual ranking results were assessed using Kendall's coefficient of concordance (Kendall's W) analysis. There was a high degree of correlation among the image analysis, expert-based and non-expert-based image rankings. Pairwise comparisons of the quantitative ranking with each reviewer generated an average Kendall's tau of 0.83 ± 0.04 (SD). Inter-rater correlation was also high with Kendall's W of 0.96, 0.95, and 0.95 for nonexpert, expert, and all reviewers, respectively. The current standard for assessing iris transillumination is expert assessment of clinical exam findings. We adapted an image-analysis technique to generate quantitative transillumination values. Quantitative ranking was shown to be highly similar to a ranking produced by both expert and nonexpert reviewers. This finding suggests that the image characteristics used to quantify iris transillumination do not require expert interpretation. Inter-rater rankings were also highly similar, suggesting that varied methods of transillumination ranking are robust in terms of producing reproducible results.

Scleral Lenses in the Management of Corneal Irregularity and Ocular Surface Disease.

PubMed

Shorter, Ellen; Harthan, Jennifer; Nau, Cherie B; Nau, Amy; Barr, Joseph T; Hodge, David O; Schornack, Muriel M

2017-09-29

To describe current practice patterns regarding the use of scleral lens therapy in the management of corneal irregularity and ocular surface disease among eye care providers who fit scleral lenses. The Scleral Lenses in Current Ophthalmic Practice: an Evaluation (SCOPE) study group conducted an electronic survey of eye care providers from January 15 to March 31, 2015. Respondents ranked management options for corneal irregularity in the order in which they would generally consider their use. Respondents also ranked options for the management of ocular surface disease in the order in which they would use each of the treatments. Results for each option were analyzed as percentage first-place ranking; percentage first-, second-, or third-place ranking; and mean rank score. Survey responses were obtained from 723 providers who had fit 5 or more scleral lenses. Of these respondents, 629 ranked options for management of corneal irregularity and 612 ranked options for management of ocular surface disease. Corneal rigid gas-permeable lenses were the first option for management of corneal irregularity for 44% of respondents, and scleral lenses were the first option for 34% of respondents. Lubricant drops were the first therapeutic recommendation for ocular surface disease for 84% of respondents, and scleral lenses were ranked first by 6% of respondents. Scleral lenses rank second only to corneal rigid gas-permeable lenses for management of corneal irregularity. Scleral lenses are generally considered after other medical intervention and before surgery for the management of ocular surface disease.

Evaluating the Rank-Ordering Method for Standard Maintaining

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bramley, Tom; Gill, Tim

2010-01-01

The rank-ordering method for standard maintaining was designed for the purpose of mapping a known cut-score (e.g. a grade boundary mark) on one test to an equivalent point on the test score scale of another test, using holistic expert judgements about the quality of exemplars of examinees' work (scripts). It is a novel application of an old…

Combining partially ranked data in plant breeding and biology: II. Analysis with Rasch model.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Many years of breeding experiments, germplasm screening, and molecular biologic experimentation have generated volumes of sequence, genotype, and phenotype information that have been stored in public data repositories. These resources afford genetic and genomic researchers the opportunity to handle ...

A test of different menu labeling presentations.

PubMed

Liu, Peggy J; Roberto, Christina A; Liu, Linda J; Brownell, Kelly D

2012-12-01

Chain restaurants will soon need to disclose calorie information on menus, but research on the impact of calorie labels on food choices is mixed. This study tested whether calorie information presented in different formats influenced calories ordered and perceived restaurant healthfulness. Participants in an online survey were randomly assigned to a menu with either (1) no calorie labels (No Calories); (2) calorie labels (Calories); (3) calorie labels ordered from low to high calories (Rank-Ordered Calories); or (4) calorie labels ordered from low to high calories that also had red/green circles indicating higher and lower calorie choices (Colored Calories). Participants ordered items for dinner, estimated calories ordered, and rated restaurant healthfulness. Participants in the Rank-Ordered Calories condition and those in the Colored Calories condition ordered fewer calories than the No Calories group. There was no significant difference in calories ordered between the Calories and No Calories groups. Participants in each calorie label condition were significantly more accurate in estimating calories ordered compared to the No Calories group. Those in the Colored Calories group perceived the restaurant as healthier. The results suggest that presenting calorie information in the modified Rank-Ordered or Colored Calories formats may increase menu labeling effectiveness. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching Gateways and Bridges To Rank Broadcast Messages for Educational Networks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Losee, Robert M., Jr.

Messages entering an educational information distribution network may be ranked for an ordered introduction into the network to maximize the timeliness of message arrivals over the set of users. Electronic mail, EDI documents, and broadcast news may be ranked by the users who choose to examine those messages of interest or benefit to themselves.…

Global University Rankings: The "Olympic Games" of Higher Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yudkevich, Maria; Altbach, Philip G.; Rumbley, Laura E.

2015-01-01

Global university rankings are often thought of as games, defined by roles and rules that universities must play in order to confirm their legitimacy and gain visibility as actors in the global academic market. While some countries are well represented at the top of rankings charts, others are just joining the race and testing out different…

Efficient Tensor Completion for Color Image and Video Recovery: Low-Rank Tensor Train.

PubMed

Bengua, Johann A; Phien, Ho N; Tuan, Hoang Duong; Do, Minh N

2017-05-01

This paper proposes a novel approach to tensor completion, which recovers missing entries of data represented by tensors. The approach is based on the tensor train (TT) rank, which is able to capture hidden information from tensors thanks to its definition from a well-balanced matricization scheme. Accordingly, new optimization formulations for tensor completion are proposed as well as two new algorithms for their solution. The first one called simple low-rank tensor completion via TT (SiLRTC-TT) is intimately related to minimizing a nuclear norm based on TT rank. The second one is from a multilinear matrix factorization model to approximate the TT rank of a tensor, and is called tensor completion by parallel matrix factorization via TT (TMac-TT). A tensor augmentation scheme of transforming a low-order tensor to higher orders is also proposed to enhance the effectiveness of SiLRTC-TT and TMac-TT. Simulation results for color image and video recovery show the clear advantage of our method over all other methods.

Current biomedical scientific impact (2013) of institutions, academic journals and researchers in the Republic of Macedonia.

PubMed

Spiroski, Mirko

2014-01-01

To analyse current ranking (2013) of institutions, journals and researchers in the Republic of Macedonia. the country rankings of R. Macedonia were analyzed with SCImago Country & Journal Rank (SJR) for subject area Medicine in the years 1996-2013, and ordered by H-index. SCImago Institutions Rankings for 2013 was used for the scientific impact of biomedical institutions in the Republic of Macedonia. Journal metrics from Elsevier for the Macedonian scholarly journals for the period 2009-2013 were performed. Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), the Impact per Publication (IPP), and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) were analysed. Macedonian scholarly biomedical journals included in Google Scholar metrics (2013, 2012) were analysed with h5-index and h5-median (June 2014). A semantic analysis of the PubMed database was performed with GoPubMed on November 2, 2014 in order to identify published papers from the field of biomedical sciences affiliated with the country of Macedonia. Harzing's Publish or Perish software was used for author impact analysis and the calculation of the Hirsh-index based on Google Scholar query. The rank of subject area Medicine of R. Macedonia according to the SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) is 110th in the world and 17th in Eastern Europe. Of 20 universities in Macedonia, only Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, and the University St Clement of Ohrid, Bitola, are listed in the SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) for 2013. A very small number of Macedonian scholarly journals is included in Web of Sciences (2), PubMed (1), PubMed Central (1), SCOPUS (6), SCImago (6), and Google Scholar metrics (6). The rank of Hirsh index (h-index) was different from the rank of number of abstracts indexed in PubMed for the top 20 authors from R. Macedonia. The current biomedical scientific impact (2013) of institutions, academic journals and researchers in R. Macedonia is very low. There is an urgent need for organized measures to improve the quality and output of institutions, scholarly journals, and researchers in R. Macedonia in order to achieve higher international standards.

Learning to rank image tags with limited training examples.

PubMed

Songhe Feng; Zheyun Feng; Rong Jin

2015-04-01

With an increasing number of images that are available in social media, image annotation has emerged as an important research topic due to its application in image matching and retrieval. Most studies cast image annotation into a multilabel classification problem. The main shortcoming of this approach is that it requires a large number of training images with clean and complete annotations in order to learn a reliable model for tag prediction. We address this limitation by developing a novel approach that combines the strength of tag ranking with the power of matrix recovery. Instead of having to make a binary decision for each tag, our approach ranks tags in the descending order of their relevance to the given image, significantly simplifying the problem. In addition, the proposed method aggregates the prediction models for different tags into a matrix, and casts tag ranking into a matrix recovery problem. It introduces the matrix trace norm to explicitly control the model complexity, so that a reliable prediction model can be learned for tag ranking even when the tag space is large and the number of training images is limited. Experiments on multiple well-known image data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework for tag ranking compared with the state-of-the-art approaches for image annotation and tag ranking.

A face for all seasons: Searching for context-specific leadership traits and discovering a general preference for perceived health

PubMed Central

Spisak, Brian R.; Blaker, Nancy M.; Lefevre, Carmen E.; Moore, Fhionna R.; Krebbers, Kleis F. B.

2014-01-01

Previous research indicates that followers tend to contingently match particular leader qualities to evolutionarily consistent situations requiring collective action (i.e., context-specific cognitive leadership prototypes) and information processing undergoes categorization which ranks certain qualities as first-order context-general and others as second-order context-specific. To further investigate this contingent categorization phenomenon we examined the “attractiveness halo”—a first-order facial cue which significantly biases leadership preferences. While controlling for facial attractiveness, we independently manipulated the underlying facial cues of health and intelligence and then primed participants with four distinct organizational dynamics requiring leadership (i.e., competition vs. cooperation between groups and exploratory change vs. stable exploitation). It was expected that the differing requirements of the four dynamics would contingently select for relatively healthier- or intelligent-looking leaders. We found perceived facial intelligence to be a second-order context-specific trait—for instance, in times requiring a leader to address between-group cooperation—whereas perceived health is significantly preferred across all contexts (i.e., a first-order trait). The results also indicate that facial health positively affects perceived masculinity while facial intelligence negatively affects perceived masculinity, which may partially explain leader choice in some of the environmental contexts. The limitations and a number of implications regarding leadership biases are discussed. PMID:25414653

SpikeTemp: An Enhanced Rank-Order-Based Learning Approach for Spiking Neural Networks With Adaptive Structure.

PubMed

Wang, Jinling; Belatreche, Ammar; Maguire, Liam P; McGinnity, Thomas Martin

2017-01-01

This paper presents an enhanced rank-order-based learning algorithm, called SpikeTemp, for spiking neural networks (SNNs) with a dynamically adaptive structure. The trained feed-forward SNN consists of two layers of spiking neurons: 1) an encoding layer which temporally encodes real-valued features into spatio-temporal spike patterns and 2) an output layer of dynamically grown neurons which perform spatio-temporal classification. Both Gaussian receptive fields and square cosine population encoding schemes are employed to encode real-valued features into spatio-temporal spike patterns. Unlike the rank-order-based learning approach, SpikeTemp uses the precise times of the incoming spikes for adjusting the synaptic weights such that early spikes result in a large weight change and late spikes lead to a smaller weight change. This removes the need to rank all the incoming spikes and, thus, reduces the computational cost of SpikeTemp. The proposed SpikeTemp algorithm is demonstrated on several benchmark data sets and on an image recognition task. The results show that SpikeTemp can achieve better classification performance and is much faster than the existing rank-order-based learning approach. In addition, the number of output neurons is much smaller when the square cosine encoding scheme is employed. Furthermore, SpikeTemp is benchmarked against a selection of existing machine learning algorithms, and the results demonstrate the ability of SpikeTemp to classify different data sets after just one presentation of the training samples with comparable classification performance.

Multi-criteria evaluation of sources for self-help domestic water supply

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nnaji, C. C.; Banigo, A.

2018-03-01

Two multi-criteria decision analysis methods were employed to evaluate six water sources. The analytical hierarchical process (AHP) ranked borehole highest with a rank of 0.321 followed by water board with a rank of 0.284. The other sources ranked far below these two as follows: water tanker (0.139), rainwater harvesting (0.117), shallow well (0.114) and stream (0.130). The Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) ranked water board highest with a rank of 0.865, followed by borehole with a value of 0.778. Quality and risk of contamination were found to be the most influential criteria while seasonality was the least.

Identifying known unknowns using the US EPA's CompTox ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Chemical features observed using high-resolution mass spectrometry can be tentatively identified using online chemical reference databases by searching molecular formulae and monoisotopic masses and then rank-ordering of the hits using appropriate relevance criteria. The most likely candidate “known unknowns,” which are those chemicals unknown to an investigator but contained within a reference database or literature source, rise to the top of a chemical list when rank-ordered by the number of associated data sources. The U.S. EPA’s CompTox Chemistry Dashboard is a curated and freely available resource for chemistry and computational toxicology research, containing more than 720,000 chemicals of relevance to environmental health science. In this research, the performance of the Dashboard for identifying “known unknowns” was evaluated against that of the online ChemSpider database, one of the primary resources used by mass spectrometrists, using multiple previously studied datasets reported in the peer-reviewed literature totaling 162 chemicals. These chemicals were examined using both applications via molecular formula and monoisotopic mass searches followed by rank-ordering of candidate compounds by associated references or data sources. A greater percentage of chemicals ranked in the top position when using the Dashboard, indicating an advantage of this application over ChemSpider for identifying known unknowns using data source ranking. Addition

Student understanding of first order RC filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coppens, Pieter; Van den Bossche, Johan; De Cock, Mieke

2017-12-01

A series of interviews with second year electronics engineering students showed several problems with understanding first-order RC filters. To better explore how widespread these problems are, a questionnaire was administered to over 150 students in Belgium. One question asked to rank the output voltage of a low-pass filter with an AC or DC input signal while a second asked to rank the output voltages of a high-pass filter with doubled or halved resistor and capacitor values. In addition to a discussion of the rankings and students' consistency, the results are compared to the most common reasoning patterns students used to explain their rankings. Despite lecture and laboratory instruction, students not only rarely recognize the circuits as filters, but also fail to correctly apply Kirchhoff's laws and Ohm's law to arrive at a correct answer.

5-D interpolation with wave-front attributes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yujiang; Gajewski, Dirk

2017-11-01

Most 5-D interpolation and regularization techniques reconstruct the missing data in the frequency domain by using mathematical transforms. An alternative type of interpolation methods uses wave-front attributes, that is, quantities with a specific physical meaning like the angle of emergence and wave-front curvatures. In these attributes structural information of subsurface features like dip and strike of a reflector are included. These wave-front attributes work on 5-D data space (e.g. common-midpoint coordinates in x and y, offset, azimuth and time), leading to a 5-D interpolation technique. Since the process is based on stacking next to the interpolation a pre-stack data enhancement is achieved, improving the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of interpolated and recorded traces. The wave-front attributes are determined in a data-driven fashion, for example, with the Common Reflection Surface (CRS method). As one of the wave-front-attribute-based interpolation techniques, the 3-D partial CRS method was proposed to enhance the quality of 3-D pre-stack data with low S/N. In the past work on 3-D partial stacks, two potential problems were still unsolved. For high-quality wave-front attributes, we suggest a global optimization strategy instead of the so far used pragmatic search approach. In previous works, the interpolation of 3-D data was performed along a specific azimuth which is acceptable for narrow azimuth acquisition but does not exploit the potential of wide-, rich- or full-azimuth acquisitions. The conventional 3-D partial CRS method is improved in this work and we call it as a wave-front-attribute-based 5-D interpolation (5-D WABI) as the two problems mentioned above are addressed. Data examples demonstrate the improved performance by the 5-D WABI method when compared with the conventional 3-D partial CRS approach. A comparison of the rank-reduction-based 5-D seismic interpolation technique with the proposed 5-D WABI method is given. The comparison reveals that there are significant advantages for steep dipping events using the 5-D WABI method when compared to the rank-reduction-based 5-D interpolation technique. Diffraction tails substantially benefit from this improved performance of the partial CRS stacking approach while the CPU time is comparable to the CPU time consumed by the rank-reduction-based method.

PCOGR: phylogenetic COG ranking as an online tool to judge the specificity of COGs with respect to freely definable groups of organisms.

PubMed

Meereis, Florian; Kaufmann, Michael

2004-10-15

The rapidly increasing number of completely sequenced genomes led to the establishment of the COG-database which, based on sequence homologies, assigns similar proteins from different organisms to clusters of orthologous groups (COGs). There are several bioinformatic studies that made use of this database to determine (hyper)thermophile-specific proteins by searching for COGs containing (almost) exclusively proteins from (hyper)thermophilic genomes. However, public software to perform individually definable group-specific searches is not available. The tool described here exactly fills this gap. The software is accessible at http://www.uni-wh.de/pcogr and is linked to the COG-database. The user can freely define two groups of organisms by selecting for each of the (current) 66 organisms to belong either to groupA, to the reference groupB or to be ignored by the algorithm. Then, for all COGs a specificity index is calculated with respect to the specificity to groupA, i. e. high scoring COGs contain proteins from the most of groupA organisms while proteins from the most organisms assigned to groupB are absent. In addition to ranking all COGs according to the user defined specificity criteria, a graphical visualization shows the distribution of all COGs by displaying their abundance as a function of their specificity indexes. This software allows detecting COGs specific to a predefined group of organisms. All COGs are ranked in the order of their specificity and a graphical visualization allows recognizing (i) the presence and abundance of such COGs and (ii) the phylogenetic relationship between groupA- and groupB-organisms. The software also allows detecting putative protein-protein interactions, novel enzymes involved in only partially known biochemical pathways, and alternate enzymes originated by convergent evolution.

Beyond classic risk adjustment: Socioeconomic status and hospital performance in urologic oncology surgery.

PubMed

Odisho, Anobel Y; Etzioni, Ruth; Gore, John L

2018-06-15

Safety-net hospitals (SNHs) care for more patients of low socioeconomic status (SES) than non-SNHs and are disproportionately punished under SES-naive Medicare readmission risk-adjustment models. This study was designed to develop a risk-adjustment framework that incorporates SES and to assess the impact on readmission rates. California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data from 2007 to 2011 were used to identify patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer (n = 3771) or partial nephrectomy (PN; n = 5556) or radical nephrectomy (RN; n = 13,136) for kidney cancer. Unadjusted hospital rankings and predicted rankings under models simulating the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program were compared with predicted rankings under models incorporating SES and hospital factors. SES, derived from a multifactorial neighborhood score, was calculated from US Census data. The 30-day readmission rate was 26.1% for RC, 8.3% for RN, and 9.5% for PN. The addition of SES, geographic, and hospital factors changed hospital rankings significantly in comparison with the base model (P < .01) except for SES for RC (P = .07) and SES and rural factors for PN (P = .12). For RN and PN, the addition of SES predicted lower percentile ranks for SNHs and thus improved observed-to-expected rankings (P < .01). For RC, there were no changes in hospital rankings. SES is important for risk adjustments for complex surgical procedures such as RC. Patient SES affects overall hospital rankings across cohorts, and critically, it differentially and punitively affects rankings for SNHs for some procedures. Cancer 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society. © 2018 American Cancer Society.

Prioritising and planning of urban stormwater treatment in the Alna watercourse in Oslo.

PubMed

Nordeidet, B; Nordeide, T; Astebøl, S O; Hvitved-Jacobsen, T

2004-12-01

The Oslo municipal Water and Sewage Works (VAV) intends to improve the water quality in the Alna watercourse, in particular, with regards to the biological diversity. In order to reduce existing discharges of polluted urban stormwater, a study has been carried out to rank subcatchment areas in descending order of magnitude and to assess possible measures. An overall ranking methodology was developed in order to identify and select the most suitable subcatchment areas for further assessment studies (74 subcatchment/drainage areas). The municipality's comprehensive geographical information system (GIS) was applied as a base for the ranking. A weighted ranking based on three selected parameters was chosen from several major influencing factors, namely total yearly discharge (kg pollution/year), specific pollution discharge (kg/area/year) and existing stormwater system (pipe lengths/area). Results show that the highest 15 ranked catchment areas accounted for 70% of the total calculated pollution load of heavy metals. The highest ranked areas are strongly influenced by three major highways. Based on the results from similar field studies, it would be possible to remove 75-85% of total solids and about 50-80% of heavy metals using wet detention ponds as Best Available Technology (BAT). Based on the final ranking, two subcatchment areas were selected for further practical assessment of possible measures. VAV plans to use wet detention ponds, in combination with other measures when relevant, to treat the urban runoff. Using calculated loading and aerial photographs (all done in the same GIS environment), a preliminary sketch design and location of ponds were performed. The resulting GIS methodology for urban stormwater management will be used as input to a holistic and long-term planning process for the management of the watercourse, taking into account future urban development and other pollution sources.

The Eyes Have It: Young Children's Discrimination of Age in Masked and Unmasked Facial Photographs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Gillian; Smith, Peter K.

1984-01-01

Investigates preschool children's ability (n = 30) to discriminate age, and subject's use of different facial areas in ranking facial photographs into age order. Results indicate subjects from 3 to 9 years can successfully rank the photos. Compared with other facial features, the eye region was most important for success in the age ranking task.…

Nurturing Quality of Higher Education through National Ranking: A Potential Empowerment Model for Developing Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kusumastuti, Dyah; Idrus, Nirwan

2017-01-01

This paper reviews the recently introduced National Higher Education ranking system in Indonesia in order to evaluate its potential as a sustainable model to improve the quality of higher education in the country. It is a scaffold towards an established world-universities ranking system that may prove formidable for a developing country. This…

Consumer preference in ranking walking function utilizing the walking index for spinal cord injury II.

PubMed

Patrick, M; Ditunno, P; Ditunno, J F; Marino, R J; Scivoletto, G; Lam, T; Loffree, J; Tamburella, F; Leiby, B

2011-12-01

Blinded rank ordering. To determine consumer preference in walking function utilizing the walking Index for spinal cord injury II (WISCI II) in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI)from the Canada, the Italy and the United States of America. In all, 42 consumers with incomplete SCI (25 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar) from Canada (12/42), Italy (14/42) and the United States of America (16/42) ranked the 20 levels of the WISCI II scale by their individual preference for walking. Subjects were blinded to the original ranking of the WISCI II scale by clinical scientists. Photographs of each WISCI II level used in a previous pilot study were randomly shuffled and rank ordered. Percentile, conjoint/cluster and graphic analyses were performed. All three analyses illustrated consumer ranking followed a bimodal distribution. Ranking for two levels with physical assistance and two levels with a walker were bimodal with a difference of five to six ranks between consumer subgroups (quartile analysis). The larger cluster (N=20) showed preference for walking with assistance over the smaller cluster (N=12), whose preference was walking without assistance and more devices. In all, 64% (27/42) of consumers ranked WISCI II level with no devices or braces and 1 person assistance higher than multiple levels of the WISCI II requiring no assistance. These results were unexpected, as the hypothesis was that consumers would rank independent walking higher than walking with assistance. Consumer preference for walking function should be considered in addition to objective measures in designing SCI trials that use significant improvement in walking function as an outcome measure.

Learning to Predict Combinatorial Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vembu, Shankar

2009-12-01

The major challenge in designing a discriminative learning algorithm for predicting structured data is to address the computational issues arising from the exponential size of the output space. Existing algorithms make different assumptions to ensure efficient, polynomial time estimation of model parameters. For several combinatorial structures, including cycles, partially ordered sets, permutations and other graph classes, these assumptions do not hold. In this thesis, we address the problem of designing learning algorithms for predicting combinatorial structures by introducing two new assumptions: (i) The first assumption is that a particular counting problem can be solved efficiently. The consequence is a generalisation of the classical ridge regression for structured prediction. (ii) The second assumption is that a particular sampling problem can be solved efficiently. The consequence is a new technique for designing and analysing probabilistic structured prediction models. These results can be applied to solve several complex learning problems including but not limited to multi-label classification, multi-category hierarchical classification, and label ranking.

The contact sport of rough surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpick, Robert W.

2018-01-01

Describing the way two surfaces touch and make contact may seem simple, but it is not. Fully describing the elastic deformation of ideally smooth contacting bodies, under even low applied pressure, involves second-order partial differential equations and fourth-rank elastic constant tensors. For more realistic rough surfaces, the problem becomes a multiscale exercise in surface-height statistics, even before including complex phenomena such as adhesion, plasticity, and fracture. A recent research competition, the “Contact Mechanics Challenge” (1), was designed to test various approximate methods for solving this problem. A hypothetical rough surface was generated, and the community was invited to model contact with this surface with competing theories for the calculation of properties, including contact area and pressure. A supercomputer-generated numerical solution was kept secret until competition entries were received. The comparison of results (2) provides insights into the relative merits of competing models and even experimental approaches to the problem.

Examining the Process of Responding to Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values Items: Should Ideal Point Scoring Methods Be Considered?

PubMed

Ling, Ying; Zhang, Minqiang; Locke, Kenneth D; Li, Guangming; Li, Zonglong

2016-01-01

The Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values (CSIV) is a 64-item self-report measure of goals from each octant of the interpersonal circumplex. We used item response theory methods to compare whether dominance models or ideal point models best described how people respond to CSIV items. Specifically, we fit a polytomous dominance model called the generalized partial credit model and an ideal point model of similar complexity called the generalized graded unfolding model to the responses of 1,893 college students. The results of both graphical comparisons of item characteristic curves and statistical comparisons of model fit suggested that an ideal point model best describes the process of responding to CSIV items. The different models produced different rank orderings of high-scoring respondents, but overall the models did not differ in their prediction of criterion variables (agentic and communal interpersonal traits and implicit motives).

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eliazar, Iddo, E-mail: eliazar@post.tau.ac.il

Rank distributions are collections of positive sizes ordered either increasingly or decreasingly. Many decreasing rank distributions, formed by the collective collaboration of human actions, follow an inverse power-law relation between ranks and sizes. This remarkable empirical fact is termed Zipf’s law, and one of its quintessential manifestations is the demography of human settlements — which exhibits a harmonic relation between ranks and sizes. In this paper we present a comprehensive statistical-physics analysis of rank distributions, establish that power-law and exponential rank distributions stand out as optimal in various entropy-based senses, and unveil the special role of the harmonic relation betweenmore » ranks and sizes. Our results extend the contemporary entropy-maximization view of Zipf’s law to a broader, panoramic, Gibbsian perspective of increasing and decreasing power-law and exponential rank distributions — of which Zipf’s law is one out of four pillars.« less

[A rank-order method for the integrated assessment of trends in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates in the subjects of the Russian Federation in 2006-2012].

PubMed

Artamonova, G V; Maksimov, S A; Tabakaev, M V; Barbarash, L S

2016-01-01

To rank the subjects of the Russian Federation by the trend direction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (including mortality from coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases) as a whole and at able-bodied age. The investigation used mortality rates from to the 2006 and 2012 data available in the Federal State Statistics Service on 81 subjects of the Russian Federation. According to mortality rates, each region was assigned a rank in 2006 and 2012. Trends in rank changes in the Russian Federation's regions were analyzed. A cluster analysis was used to group the subjects of the Russian Federation by trends in rank changes. The cluster analysis of rank changes from 2006 to 2012 could combine the Russian Federation's regions into 10 groups showing the similar trends in all-cause and circulatory disease mortality rates. Overall, the results of the ranking and further clusterization of the regions of the Russian Federation correspond to the trends in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates according to the data of other Russian investigations, by qualitatively complementing them. The trend rank-order method permits a comprehensive comparative analysis of changes in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the subjects of the Russian Federation both as a whole and at able-bodied age, which provides qualitatively new information complementing the universally accepted approaches to studying the population's mortality.

Nexus Between Protein–Ligand Affinity Rank-Ordering, Biophysical Approaches, and Drug Discovery

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

The confluence of computational and biophysical methods to accurately rank-order the binding affinities of small molecules and determine structures of macromolecular complexes is a potentially transformative advance in the work flow of drug discovery. This viewpoint explores the impact that advanced computational methods may have on the efficacy of small molecule drug discovery and optimization, particularly with respect to emerging fragment-based methods. PMID:24900579

Pharmacological characterization of extracellular acidification rate responses in human D2(long), D3 and D4.4 receptors expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells

PubMed Central

Coldwell, M C; Boyfield, I; Brown, A M; Stemp, G; Middlemiss, D N

1999-01-01

This study characterized pharmacologically the functional responses to agonists at human dopamine D2(long) (hD2), D3 (hD3) and D4.4 (hD4) zreceptors separately expressed in cloned cells using the cytosensor microphysiometer. Dopaminergic receptor agonists caused increases in extracellular acidification rate in adherent Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) clones expressing hD2, hD3 or hD4 receptors. Acidification rate responses to agonists in other cell lines expressing these receptors were smaller than those in adherent CHO cells. The time courses and maximum increases in acidification rate of the agonist responses in adherent CHO cells were different between the three dopamine receptor clones. Responses were blocked by pretreatment of cells with pertussis toxin or amiloride analogues. Most agonists had full intrinsic activity at each of the dopamine receptor subtypes, as compared to quinpirole, however both enantiomers of UH-232 and (−)3-PPP were partial agonists in this assay system. The functional potency of full agonists at each of the three receptors expressed in CHO cells was either higher than, or similar to, the apparent inhibition constants (Ki) determined in [125I]-iodosulpride competition binding studies. Functional selectivities of the agonists were less than radioligand binding selectivities. The rank orders of agonist potencies and selectivities were similar, but not identical, to the rank orders of radioligand binding affinities and selectivities. The dopamine receptor antagonists, iodosulpride and clozapine, had no effect on basal acidification rates but inhibited acidification responses in CHO cells to quinpirole in an apparently competitive manner. Antagonist potencies closely matched their radioligand binding affinities in these cells. PMID:10455259

Criteria for Initial Appointment in Rank and Subsequent Promotion for Faculty in Two-Year Public Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orf, Michael A.

2013-01-01

The growth of community colleges over the last five decades has not been met with a commensurate expansion of knowledge about policy development. In order to address this gap in knowledge, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of rank among two-year colleges in the United States; to identify the criteria used to determine rank upon hire for…

Hidden and antiferromagnetic order as a rank-5 superspin in URu2Si2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rau, Jeffrey G.; Kee, Hae-Young

2012-06-01

We propose a candidate for the hidden order in URu2Si2: a rank-5 E type spin-density wave between uranium 5f crystal-field doublets Γ7(1) and Γ7(2), breaking time-reversal and lattice tetragonal symmetry in a manner consistent with recent torque measurements [Okazaki , ScienceSCIEAS0036-807510.1126/science.1197358 331, 439 (2011)]. We argue that coupling of this order parameter to magnetic probes can be hidden by crystal-field effects, while still having significant effects on transport, thermodynamics, and magnetic susceptibilities. In a simple tight-binding model for the heavy quasiparticles, we show the connection between the hidden order and antiferromagnetic phases arises since they form different components of this single rank-5 pseudospin vector. Using a phenomenological theory, we show that the experimental pressure-temperature phase diagram can be qualitatively reproduced by tuning terms which break pseudospin rotational symmetry. As a test of our proposal, we predict the presence of small magnetic moments in the basal plane oriented in the [110] direction ordered at the wave vector (0,0,1).

Applications of singular value analysis and partial-step algorithm for nonlinear orbit determination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryne, Mark S.; Wang, Tseng-Chan

1991-01-01

An adaptive method in which cruise and nonlinear orbit determination problems can be solved using a single program is presented. It involves singular value decomposition augmented with an extended partial step algorithm. The extended partial step algorithm constrains the size of the correction to the spacecraft state and other solve-for parameters. The correction is controlled by an a priori covariance and a user-supplied bounds parameter. The extended partial step method is an extension of the update portion of the singular value decomposition algorithm. It thus preserves the numerical stability of the singular value decomposition method, while extending the region over which it converges. In linear cases, this method reduces to the singular value decomposition algorithm with the full rank solution. Two examples are presented to illustrate the method's utility.

Accelerated High-Dimensional MR Imaging with Sparse Sampling Using Low-Rank Tensors

PubMed Central

He, Jingfei; Liu, Qiegen; Christodoulou, Anthony G.; Ma, Chao; Lam, Fan

2017-01-01

High-dimensional MR imaging often requires long data acquisition time, thereby limiting its practical applications. This paper presents a low-rank tensor based method for accelerated high-dimensional MR imaging using sparse sampling. This method represents high-dimensional images as low-rank tensors (or partially separable functions) and uses this mathematical structure for sparse sampling of the data space and for image reconstruction from highly undersampled data. More specifically, the proposed method acquires two datasets with complementary sampling patterns, one for subspace estimation and the other for image reconstruction; image reconstruction from highly undersampled data is accomplished by fitting the measured data with a sparsity constraint on the core tensor and a group sparsity constraint on the spatial coefficients jointly using the alternating direction method of multipliers. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated in MRI applications; it may also have applications beyond MRI. PMID:27093543

Extremes in ecology: Avoiding the misleading effects of sampling variation in summary analyses

USGS Publications Warehouse

Link, W.A.; Sauer, J.R.

1996-01-01

Surveys such as the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) produce large collections of parameter estimates. One's natural inclination when confronted with lists of parameter estimates is to look for the extreme values: in the BBS, these correspond to the species that appear to have the greatest changes in population size through time. Unfortunately, extreme estimates are liable to correspond to the most poorly estimated parameters. Consequently, the most extreme parameters may not match up with the most extreme parameter estimates. The ranking of parameter values on the basis of their estimates are a difficult statistical problem. We use data from the BBS and simulations to illustrate the potential misleading effects of sampling variation in rankings of parameters. We describe empirical Bayes and constrained empirical Bayes procedures which provide partial solutions to the problem of ranking in the presence of sampling variation.

Combustion and gasification characteristics of chars from four commercially significant coals of different rank. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nsakala, N.Y.; Patel, R.L.; Lao, T.C.

1982-09-01

The combustion and gasification kinetics of four size graded coal chars were investigated experimentally in Combustion Engineering's Drop Tube Furnace System (DTFS). The chars were prepared in the DTFS from commercially significant coals representing a wide range of rank; these included a Pittsburgh No. 8 Seam hvAb coal, an Illinois No. 6 Seam hvCb coal, a Wyoming Sub C, and a Texas Lignite A. Additionally, a number of standard ASTM and special bench scale tests were performed on the coals and chars to characterize their physicochemical properties. Results showed that the lower rank coal chars were more reactive than themore » higher rank coal chars and that combustion reactions of chars were much faster than the corresponding gasification reactions. Fuel properties, temperature, and reactant gas partial pressure had a significant influence on both combustion and gasification, and particle size had a mild but discernible influence on gasification. Fuel reactivities were closely related to pore structure. Computer simulation of the combustion and gasification performances of the subject samples in the DTFS supported the experimental findings.« less

The Cantor-Bendixson Rank of Certain Bridgeland-Smith Stability Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aulicino, David

2018-01-01

We provide a novel proof that the set of directions that admit a saddle connection on a meromorphic quadratic differential with at least one pole of order at least two is closed, which generalizes a result of Bridgeland and Smith, and Gaiotto, Moore, and Neitzke. Secondly, we show that this set has finite Cantor-Bendixson rank and give a tight bound. Finally, we present a family of surfaces realizing all possible Cantor-Bendixson ranks. The techniques in the proof of this result exclusively concern Abelian differentials on Riemann surfaces, also known as translation surfaces. The concept of a "slit translation surface" is introduced as the primary tool for studying meromorphic quadratic differentials with higher order poles.

Comparison of health care professionals' self-assessments of standards of care and patients' opinions on the care they received in hospital: observational study

PubMed Central

Durieux, P; Bissery, A; Dubois, S; Gasquet, I; Coste, J

2004-01-01

Objectives: To compare the views of healthcare professionals and patients regarding compliance with standards of care concerning patient information. Design: Self-rated questionnaire survey. Setting: Nine wards in short stay French hospitals. Participants: 939 patients and 359 healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, assistants and other professionals). Main outcome measure: Patients' and healthcare professionals' views of compliance with 20 standards of patient care described in the French accreditation manual. Comparison of the rank order of the standards within the two samples. Results: The response rate was 61.5% in the patient group and 85.8% in the healthcare professionals. The rank orders for the 20 items were similar in both groups (Spearman rank order correlation 0.6, p = 0.004). The two items ranked highest by healthcare professionals ("consent request for a surgical procedure" and "the doctors ask the visitors to leave the room before examining a patient") were also the two ranked highest by the patients. Three items were ranked low by both groups: "consent request for students to be present", "health education given to patients", and "possibility to express satisfaction during discharge". Patients were more satisfied with their pain management than were healthcare providers. Professionals were more satisfied with the social services than the patients. Conclusion: There are both similarities and differences between patients' and healthcare professionals' views of care. Accurate assessments of quality performed during the accreditation procedure require that both patients' and professionals' views be taken into account. PMID:15175490

An Automated Energy Detection Algorithm Based on Consecutive Mean Excision

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-01-01

present in the RF spectrum. 15. SUBJECT TERMS RF spectrum, detection threshold algorithm, consecutive mean excision, rank order filter , statistical...Median 4 3.1.9 Rank Order Filter (ROF) 4 3.1.10 Crest Factor (CF) 5 3.2 Statistical Summary 6 4. Algorithm 7 5. Conclusion 8 6. References 9...energy detection algorithm based on morphological filter processing with a semi- disk structure. Adelphi (MD): Army Research Laboratory (US); 2018 Jan

Student Practices, Learning, and Attitudes When Using Computerized Ranking Tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kevin M.; Prather, E. E.; Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars CATS

2011-01-01

Ranking Tasks are a novel type of conceptual exercise based on a technique called rule assessment. Ranking Tasks present students with a series of four to eight icons that describe slightly different variations of a basic physical situation. Students are then asked to identify the order, or ranking, of the various situations based on some physical outcome or result. The structure of Ranking Tasks makes it difficult for students to rely strictly on memorized answers and mechanical substitution of formulae. In addition, by changing the presentation of the different scenarios (e.g., photographs, line diagrams, graphs, tables, etc.) we find that Ranking Tasks require students to develop mental schema that are more flexible and robust. Ranking tasks may be implemented on the computer which requires students to order the icons through drag-and-drop. Computer implementation allows the incorporation of background material, grading with feedback, and providing additional similar versions of the task through randomization so that students can build expertise through practice. This poster will summarize the results of a study of student usage of computerized ranking tasks. We will investigate 1) student practices (How do they make use of these tools?), 2) knowledge and skill building (Do student scores improve with iteration and are there diminishing returns?), and 3) student attitudes toward using computerized Ranking Tasks (Do they like using them?). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Experimental congruence of interval scale production from paired comparisons and ranking for image evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handley, John C.; Babcock, Jason S.; Pelz, Jeff B.

2003-12-01

Image evaluation tasks are often conducted using paired comparisons or ranking. To elicit interval scales, both methods rely on Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgment in which objects closer in psychological space are more often confused in preference comparisons by a putative discriminal random process. It is often debated whether paired comparisons and ranking yield the same interval scales. An experiment was conducted to assess scale production using paired comparisons and ranking. For this experiment a Pioneer Plasma Display and Apple Cinema Display were used for stimulus presentation. Observers performed rank order and paired comparisons tasks on both displays. For each of five scenes, six images were created by manipulating attributes such as lightness, chroma, and hue using six different settings. The intention was to simulate the variability from a set of digital cameras or scanners. Nineteen subjects, (5 females, 14 males) ranging from 19-51 years of age participated in this experiment. Using a paired comparison model and a ranking model, scales were estimated for each display and image combination yielding ten scale pairs, ostensibly measuring the same psychological scale. The Bradley-Terry model was used for the paired comparisons data and the Bradley-Terry-Mallows model was used for the ranking data. Each model was fit using maximum likelihood estimation and assessed using likelihood ratio tests. Approximate 95% confidence intervals were also constructed using likelihood ratios. Model fits for paired comparisons were satisfactory for all scales except those from two image/display pairs; the ranking model fit uniformly well on all data sets. Arguing from overlapping confidence intervals, we conclude that paired comparisons and ranking produce no conflicting decisions regarding ultimate ordering of treatment preferences, but paired comparisons yield greater precision at the expense of lack-of-fit.

[Dynamic changes of inflammation-related indices in venous thromboembolism and the association between these indices and venous thromboembolism].

PubMed

Liu, Fang-fang; Zhai, Zhen-guo; Yang, Yuan-hua; Wang, Jun; Wang, Chen

2013-06-25

To evaluate the dynamic changes of inflammation-related indices in blood during the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and the association between these indices and VTE. A total of 95 VTE hospitalized patients(41 males,54 females) were recruited from Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital from January 2010 to December 2010. Comparisons of inflammation-related indices including white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil (NE), fibrinogen (FBG), C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were conducted between VTE patients and normal ranges. And the dynamic changes of these indices during the development of VTE were evaluated. Then they were divided into subgroups according to disease stage, gender, age, VTE type, body mass index, smoking status and clinical manifestations. And statistical analyses were performed to elucidate the associations between these indices and VTE. The levels of NE and CRP in VTE patients (0.72, 15.0 mg/L) and ESR in male VTE patients (20.0 mm/1 h) were elevated compared with normal ranges; while WBC (male 7.27×10(9)/L, female 8.67×10(9)/L), FBG (male 3621 mg/L, female 3201 mg/L) and female ESR (19.5 mm/1 h) in VTE patients were within the normal ranges. The level of CRP was higher in acute (mean rank order value: 49.72) and sub-acute (mean rank order value: 44.80) VTE patients than chronic VTE patients (mean rank order value: 30.25). The level of FBG, CRP and ESR in patients ≥ 50 years old increased versus those <50 years old (mean rank order values 48.83 vs 34.53, 44.32 vs 28.90 and 45.95 vs 27.84 respectively), the patients whose body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m(2) had higher WBC level than those whose BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) (mean rank order values 52.96 vs 36.46); smoking VTE patients had elevated FBG and CRP levels than non-smoking VTE patients (mean rank order values 57.75 vs 42.69 and 53.92 vs 37.75 respectively); compared with those without clinical manifestations of periphery pulmonary artery involved, the patients with clinical manifestations had higher levels of FBG, CRP and ESR (mean rank order values 59.24 vs 37.39, 52.68 vs 33.19 and 50.08 vs 36.55 respectively). The above differences had statistical significance (all P < 0.05). Some inflammation-related indices frequently used in clinical settings become elevated in VTE patients. Part of these indices show higher levels in VTE acute and sub-acute stages, and in older, non-obese, smoking and periphery pulmonary artery involved VTE patients.

Quantifying aflatoxins in peanuts using fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with multi-way methods: Resurrecting second-order advantage in excitation-emission matrices with rank overlap problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sajjadi, S. Maryam; Abdollahi, Hamid; Rahmanian, Reza; Bagheri, Leila

2016-03-01

A rapid, simple and inexpensive method using fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with multi-way methods for the determination of aflatoxins B1 and B2 in peanuts has been developed. In this method, aflatoxins are extracted with a mixture of water and methanol (90:10), and then monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy producing EEMs. Although the combination of EEMs and multi-way methods is commonly used to determine analytes in complex chemical systems with unknown interference(s), rank overlap problem in excitation and emission profiles may restrain the application of this strategy. If there is rank overlap in one mode, there are several three-way algorithms such as PARAFAC under some constraints that can resolve this kind of data successfully. However, the analysis of EEM data is impossible when some species have rank overlap in both modes because the information of the data matrix is equivalent to a zero-order data for that species, which is the case in our study. Aflatoxins B1 and B2 have the same shape of spectral profiles in both excitation and emission modes and we propose creating a third order data for each sample using solvent as a new additional selectivity mode. This third order data, in turn, converted to the second order data by augmentation, a fact which resurrects the second order advantage in original EEMs. The three-way data is constructed by stacking augmented data in the third way, and then analyzed by two powerful second order calibration methods (BLLS-RBL and PARAFAC) to quantify the analytes in four kinds of peanut samples. The results of both methods are in good agreement and reasonable recoveries are obtained.

Selection of Sustainable Processes using Sustainability ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Chemical products can be obtained by process pathways involving varying amounts and types of resources, utilities, and byproduct formation. When such competing process options such as six processes for making methanol as are considered in this study, it is necessary to identify the most sustainable option. Sustainability of a chemical process is generally evaluated with indicators that require process and chemical property data. These indicators individually reflect the impacts of the process on areas of sustainability, such as the environment or society. In order to choose among several alternative processes an overall comparative analysis is essential. Generally net profit will show the most economic process. A mixed integer optimization problem can also be solved to identify the most economic among competing processes. This method uses economic optimization and leaves aside the environmental and societal impacts. To make a decision on the most sustainable process, the method presented here rationally aggregates the sustainability indicators into a single index called sustainability footprint (De). Process flow and economic data were used to compute the indicator values. Results from sustainability footprint (De) are compared with those from solving a mixed integer optimization problem. In order to identify the rank order of importance of the indicators, a multivariate analysis is performed using partial least square variable importance in projection (PLS-VIP)

Integrative Approach to Quality Assessment of Medical Journals Using Impact Factor, Eigenfactor, and Article Influence Scores

PubMed Central

Rizkallah, Jacques; Sin, Don D.

2010-01-01

Background Impact factor (IF) is a commonly used surrogate for assessing the scientific quality of journals and articles. There is growing discontent in the medical community with the use of this quality assessment tool because of its many inherent limitations. To help address such concerns, Eigenfactor (ES) and Article Influence scores (AIS) have been devised to assess scientific impact of journals. The principal aim was to compare the temporal trends in IF, ES, and AIS on the rank order of leading medical journals over time. Methods The 2001 to 2008 IF, ES, AIS, and number of citable items (CI) of 35 leading medical journals were collected from the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) and the http://www.eigenfactor.org databases. The journals were ranked based on the published 2008 ES, AIS, and IF scores. Temporal score trends and variations were analyzed. Results In general, the AIS and IF values provided similar rank orders. Using ES values resulted in large changes in the rank orders with higher ranking being assigned to journals that publish a large volume of articles. Since 2001, the IF and AIS of most journals increased significantly; however the ES increased in only 51% of the journals in the analysis. Conversely, 26% of journals experienced a downward trend in their ES, while the rest experienced no significant changes (23%). This discordance between temporal trends in IF and ES was largely driven by temporal changes in the number of CI published by the journals. Conclusion The rank order of medical journals changes depending on whether IF, AIS or ES is used. All of these metrics are sensitive to the number of citable items published by journals. Consumers should thus consider all of these metrics rather than just IF alone in assessing the influence and importance of medical journals in their respective disciplines. PMID:20419115

Poisson statistics of PageRank probabilities of Twitter and Wikipedia networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frahm, Klaus M.; Shepelyansky, Dima L.

2014-04-01

We use the methods of quantum chaos and Random Matrix Theory for analysis of statistical fluctuations of PageRank probabilities in directed networks. In this approach the effective energy levels are given by a logarithm of PageRank probability at a given node. After the standard energy level unfolding procedure we establish that the nearest spacing distribution of PageRank probabilities is described by the Poisson law typical for integrable quantum systems. Our studies are done for the Twitter network and three networks of Wikipedia editions in English, French and German. We argue that due to absence of level repulsion the PageRank order of nearby nodes can be easily interchanged. The obtained Poisson law implies that the nearby PageRank probabilities fluctuate as random independent variables.

A comparison of partial order technique with three methods of multi-criteria analysis for ranking of chemical substances.

PubMed

Lerche, Dorte; Brüggemann, Rainer; Sørensen, Peter; Carlsen, Lars; Nielsen, Ole John

2002-01-01

An alternative to the often cumbersome and time-consuming risk assessments of chemical substances could be more reliable and advanced priority setting methods. An elaboration of the simple scoring methods is provided by Hasse Diagram Technique (HDT) and/or Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). The present study provides an in depth evaluation of HDT relative to three MCA techniques. The new and main methodological step in the comparison is the use of probability concepts based on mathematical tools such as linear extensions of partially ordered sets and Monte Carlo simulations. A data set consisting of 12 High Production Volume Chemicals (HPVCs) is used for illustration. It is a paradigm in this investigation to claim that the need of external input (often subjective weightings of criteria) should be minimized and that the transparency should be maximized in any multicriteria prioritisation. The study illustrates that the Hasse diagram technique (HDT) needs least external input, is most transparent and is least subjective. However, HDT has some weaknesses if there are criteria which exclude each other. Then weighting is needed. Multi-Criteria Analysis (i.e. Utility Function approach, PROMETHEE and concordance analysis) can deal with such mutual exclusions because their formalisms to quantify preferences allow participation e.g. weighting of criteria. Consequently MCA include more subjectivity and loose transparency. The recommendation which arises from this study is that the first step in decision making is to run HDT and as the second step possibly is to run one of the MCA algorithms.

Effects of pyrazole partial agonists on HCA(2) -mediated flushing and VLDL-triglyceride levels in mice.

PubMed

Li, Zhaosha; Blad, Clara C; van der Sluis, Ronald J; de Vries, Henk; Van Berkel, Theo J C; Ijzerman, Adriaan P; Hoekstra, Menno

2012-10-01

Niacin can effectively treat dyslipidaemic disorders. However, its clinical use is limited due to the cutaneous flushing mediated by the nicotinic acid receptor HCA(2) . In the current study, we evaluated two partial agonists for HCA(2) , LUF6281 and LUF6283, with respect to their anti-dyslipidaemic potential and cutaneous flushing effect. In vitro potency and efficacy studies with niacin and the two HCA(2) partial agonists were performed using HEK293T cells stably expressing human HCA(2) . Normolipidaemic C57BL/6 mice received either niacin or the HCA(2) partial agonists (400 mg·kg(-1) ·day(-1) ) once a day for 4 weeks for evaluation of their effects in vivo. Radioligand competitive binding assay showed K(i) values for LUF6281 and LUF6283 of 3 and 0.55 µM. [(35) S]-GTPγS binding revealed the rank order of their potency as niacin > LUF6283 > LUF6281. All three compounds reduced plasma VLDL-triglyceride concentrations similarly, while LUF6281 and LUF6283, in contrast to niacin, did not also exhibit the unwanted flushing side effect in C57BL/6 mice. Niacin reduced the expression of lipolytic genes HSL and ATGL in adipose tissue by 50%, whereas LUF6281 and LUF6283 unexpectedly did not. In contrast, the decrease in VLDL-triglyceride concentration induced by LUF6281 and LUF6283 was associated with a parallel >40% reduced expression of APOB within the liver. The current study identifies LUF6281 and LUF6283, two HCA(2) partial agonists of the pyrazole class, as promising drug candidates to achieve the beneficial lipid lowering effect of niacin without producing the unwanted flushing side effect. © 2012 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology © 2012 The British Pharmacological Society.

Social Rank, Stress, Fitness, and Life Expectancy in Wild Rabbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Holst, Dietrich; Hutzelmeyer, Hans; Kaetzke, Paul; Khaschei, Martin; Schönheiter, Ronald

Wild rabbits of the two sexes have separate linear rank orders, which are established and maintained by intensive fights. The social rank of individuals strongly influence their fitness: males and females that gain a high social rank, at least at the outset of their second breeding season, have a much higher lifetime fitness than subordinate individuals. This is because of two separate factors: a much higher fecundity and annual reproductive success and a 50% longer reproductive life span. These results are in contrast to the view in evolutionary biology that current reproduction can be increased only at the expense of future survival and/or fecundity. These concepts entail higher physiological costs in high-ranking mammals, which is not supported by our data: In wild rabbits the physiological costs of social positions are caused predominantly by differential psychosocial stress responses that are much lower in high-ranking than in low-ranking individuals.

Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis for Unordered Categorical Outcomes with Incomplete Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmid, Christopher H.; Trikalinos, Thomas A.; Olkin, Ingram

2014-01-01

We develop a Bayesian multinomial network meta-analysis model for unordered (nominal) categorical outcomes that allows for partially observed data in which exact event counts may not be known for each category. This model properly accounts for correlations of counts in mutually exclusive categories and enables proper comparison and ranking of…

Monograph On Tensor Notations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sirlin, Samuel W.

1993-01-01

Eight-page report describes systems of notation used most commonly to represent tensors of various ranks, with emphasis on tensors in Cartesian coordinate systems. Serves as introductory or refresher text for scientists, engineers, and others familiar with basic concepts of coordinate systems, vectors, and partial derivatives. Indicial tensor, vector, dyadic, and matrix notations, and relationships among them described.

76 FR 38206 - Public Land Order No. 7772; Partial Revocation of the Executive Order dated April 17, 1926; Idaho

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-29

... (IDI-35073)] Public Land Order No. 7772; Partial Revocation of the Executive Order dated April 17, 1926; Idaho AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Public Land Order. SUMMARY: This order partially revokes a withdrawal created by an Executive Order insofar as it affects 369.68 acres of public...

Selection of suitable e-learning approach using TOPSIS technique with best ranked criteria weights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, Husam Jasim; Kasim, Maznah Mat; Shaharanee, Izwan Nizal Mohd

2017-11-01

This paper compares the performances of four rank-based weighting assessment techniques, Rank Sum (RS), Rank Reciprocal (RR), Rank Exponent (RE), and Rank Order Centroid (ROC) on five identified e-learning criteria to select the best weights method. A total of 35 experts in a public university in Malaysia were asked to rank the criteria and to evaluate five e-learning approaches which include blended learning, flipped classroom, ICT supported face to face learning, synchronous learning, and asynchronous learning. The best ranked criteria weights are defined as weights that have the least total absolute differences with the geometric mean of all weights, were then used to select the most suitable e-learning approach by using TOPSIS method. The results show that RR weights are the best, while flipped classroom approach implementation is the most suitable approach. This paper has developed a decision framework to aid decision makers (DMs) in choosing the most suitable weighting method for solving MCDM problems.

Partial budget of the discounted annual benefit of mastitis control strategies.

PubMed

Allore, H G; Erb, H N

1998-08-01

The objective of this study was to rank the benefits associated with various mastitis control strategies in simulated herds with intramammary infections caused by Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus spp. other than Strep. agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, and Escherichia coli. The control strategies tested were prevention, vaccination for E. coli, lactation therapy, and dry cow antibiotic therapy. Partial budgets were based on changes caused by mastitis control strategies from the mean values for milk, fat, and protein yields of the control herd and the number of cows that were culled under a fixed mastitis culling criterion. Each annual benefit (dollars per cow per year) of a mastitis control strategy was compared with the revenue for the control herd and was calculated under two different milk pricing plans (3.5% milk fat and multiple-component pricing), three net replacement costs, and three prevalences of pathogen-specific intramammary infection. Twenty replicates of each control strategy were run with SIMMAST (a dynamic discrete event stochastic simulation model) for 5 simulated yr. Rankings of discounted annual benefits differed only slightly according to milk pricing plans within a pathogen group but differed among the pathogen groups. Differences in net replacement costs for cows culled because of mastitis did not change the ranking of control strategies within a pathogen group. Both prevention and dry cow therapy were important mastitis control strategies. For herds primarily infected with environmental pathogens, strategies that included vaccination for mastitis caused by E. coli dominated strategies that did not include vaccination against this microorganism.

Stability and change of personality across the life course: the impact of age and major life events on mean-level and rank-order stability of the Big Five.

PubMed

Specht, Jule; Egloff, Boris; Schmukle, Stefan C

2011-10-01

Does personality change across the entire life course, and are those changes due to intrinsic maturation or major life experiences? This longitudinal study investigated changes in the mean levels and rank order of the Big Five personality traits in a heterogeneous sample of 14,718 Germans across all of adulthood. Latent change and latent moderated regression models provided 4 main findings: First, age had a complex curvilinear influence on mean levels of personality. Second, the rank-order stability of Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness, and Agreeableness all followed an inverted U-shaped function, reaching a peak between the ages of 40 and 60 and decreasing afterward, whereas Conscientiousness showed a continuously increasing rank-order stability across adulthood. Third, personality predicted the occurrence of several objective major life events (selection effects) and changed in reaction to experiencing these events (socialization effects), suggesting that personality can change due to factors other than intrinsic maturation. Fourth, when events were clustered according to their valence, as is commonly done, effects of the environment on changes in personality were either overlooked or overgeneralized. In sum, our analyses show that personality changes throughout the life span, but with more pronounced changes in young and old ages, and that this change is partly attributable to social demands and experiences. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

The celebrity appeal questionnaire: sex, entertainment, or leadership.

PubMed

Stever, Gayle S

2008-08-01

The Celebrity Appeal Questionnaire was constructed to operationalize constructs related to why fans are attracted to their favorite celebrities and was developed for use with fan bases for specific celebrities. This revised version asked fans of a specific celebrity to rank order three roles they might see the target celebrity playing in society with an option to not rank them at all. Of 409 respondents attending Josh Groban fan club meetings, 75% said Groban's most important role in society was as a leader and role model in trying to make the world a better place. A factor analysis of correlations of Likert-type scale ratings and an analysis relating those factors back to the rank orderings support the internal reliability and validity of the questionnaire.

Higher Rank ABJM Wilson Loops from Matrix Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cookmeyer, Jonathan; Liu, James; Zayas, Leopoldo

2017-01-01

We compute the expectation values of 1/6 supersymmetric Wilson Loops in ABJM theory in higher rank representations. Using standard matrix model techniques, we calculate the expectation value in the rank m fully symmetric and fully antisymmetric representation where m is scaled with N. To leading order, we find agreement with the classical action of D6 and D2 branes in AdS4 ×CP3 respectively. Further, we compute the first subleading order term, which, on the AdS side, makes a prediction for the one-loop effective action of the corresponding D6 and D2 branes. Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY 1559988 and the US Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-SC0007859.

Optical ranked-order filtering using threshold decomposition

DOEpatents

Allebach, Jan P.; Ochoa, Ellen; Sweeney, Donald W.

1990-01-01

A hybrid optical/electronic system performs median filtering and related ranked-order operations using threshold decomposition to encode the image. Threshold decomposition transforms the nonlinear neighborhood ranking operation into a linear space-invariant filtering step followed by a point-to-point threshold comparison step. Spatial multiplexing allows parallel processing of all the threshold components as well as recombination by a second linear, space-invariant filtering step. An incoherent optical correlation system performs the linear filtering, using a magneto-optic spatial light modulator as the input device and a computer-generated hologram in the filter plane. Thresholding is done electronically. By adjusting the value of the threshold, the same architecture is used to perform median, minimum, and maximum filtering of images. A totally optical system is also disclosed.

An Evaluation of Techniques for Ranking Academic Information Systems Journals

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-23

business schools . The instructions were to rank the top ten journals in order of decreasing importance. An importance/prestige index was 4 created...in the samples taken by each study could account for the variation in ranking. Doke and Luke (1987) surveyed deans of business schools (with...is unknown. Doke and Luke (1987) sent 45 their surveys primarily to business schools , whereas the surveys in our study went directly to MIS faculty

Interrelating the breakage and composition of mined and drill core coal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Terril Edward

Particle size distribution of coal is important if the coal is to be beneficiated, or if a coal sales contract includes particle size specifications. An exploration bore core sample of coal ought to be reduced from its original cylindrical form to a particle size distribution and particle composition that reflects, insofar as possible, a process stream of raw coal it represents. Often, coal cores are reduced with a laboratory crushing machine, the product of which does not match the raw coal size distribution. This study proceeds from work in coal bore core reduction by Australian investigators. In this study, as differentiated from the Australian work, drop-shatter impact breakage followed by dry batch tumbling in steel cylinder rotated about its transverse axis are employed to characterize the core material in terms of first-order and zeroth-order breakage rate constants, which are indices of the propensity of the coal to degrade during excavation and handling. Initial drop-shatter and dry tumbling calibrations were done with synthetic cores composed of controlled low-strength concrete incorporating fly ash (as a partial substitute for Portland cement) in order to reduce material variables and conserve difficult-to-obtain coal cores. Cores of three different coalbeds--Illinois No. 6, Upper Freeport, and Pocahontas No. 5 were subjected to drop-shatter and dry batch tumbling tests to determine breakage response. First-order breakage, characterized by a first-order breakage index for each coal, occurred in the drop-shatter tests. First- and zeroth-order breakage occurred in dry batch tumbling; disappearance of coarse particles and creation of fine particles occurred in a systematic way that could be represented mathematically. Certain of the coal cores available for testing were dry and friable. Comparison of coal preparation plant feed with a crushed bore core and a bore core prepared by drop-shatter and tumbling (all from the same Illinois No.6 coal mining property) indicated that the size distribution and size fraction composition of the drop-shattered/tumbled core more closely resembled the plant feed than the crushed core. An attempt to determine breakage parameters (to allow use of selection and breakage functions and population balance models in the description of bore core size reduction) was initiated. Rank determination of the three coal types was done, indicating that higher rank associates with higher breakage propensity. The two step procedure of drop-shatter and dry batch tumbling simulates the first-order (volume breakage) and zeroth-order (abrasion of particle surfaces) that occur in excavation and handling operations, and is appropriate for drill core reduction prior to laboratory analysis.

Reduced basis ANOVA methods for partial differential equations with high-dimensional random inputs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liao, Qifeng, E-mail: liaoqf@shanghaitech.edu.cn; Lin, Guang, E-mail: guanglin@purdue.edu

2016-07-15

In this paper we present a reduced basis ANOVA approach for partial deferential equations (PDEs) with random inputs. The ANOVA method combined with stochastic collocation methods provides model reduction in high-dimensional parameter space through decomposing high-dimensional inputs into unions of low-dimensional inputs. In this work, to further reduce the computational cost, we investigate spatial low-rank structures in the ANOVA-collocation method, and develop efficient spatial model reduction techniques using hierarchically generated reduced bases. We present a general mathematical framework of the methodology, validate its accuracy and demonstrate its efficiency with numerical experiments.

New toxicogenetic insights and ranking of the selected pharmaceuticals belong to the three different classes: A toxicity estimation to confirmation approach.

PubMed

Liu, Yi; Junaid, Muhammad; Wang, Yan; Tang, Yu-Mei; Bian, Wan-Ping; Xiong, Wen-Xu; Huang, Hai-Yang; Chen, Chun-Di; Pei, De-Sheng

2018-06-09

Tetracycline hydrochloride (TH), indomethacin (IM), and bezafibrate (BF) belong to the three different important classes of pharmaceuticals, which are well known for their toxicity and environmental concerns. However, studies are still elusive to highlight the mechanistic toxicity of these pharmaceuticals and rank them using both, the toxicity prediction and confirmation approaches. Therefore, we employed the next generation toxicity testing in 21st century (TOX21) tools and estimated the in vitro/vivo toxic endpoints of mentioned pharmaceuticals, and then confirmed them using in vitro/vivo assays. We found significant resemblance in the results obtained via both approaches, especially in terms of in vivo LC50 s and developmental toxicity that ranked IM as most toxic among the studied pharmaceuticals. However, TH appeared most toxic with the lowest estimated AC50s, the highest experimental IC50s, and DNA damages in vitro. Contrarily, IM was found as congener with priority concern to activate the Pi3k-Akt-mTOR pathway in vitro at concentrations substantially lower than that of TH and BF. Further, IM exposure at lower doses (2.79-13.97 μM) depressed the pharmaceuticals detoxification phase I (CYP450 s), phase II (UGTs, SULTs), and phase III (TPs) pathways in zebrafish, whereas, at relatively higher doses, TH (2.08-33.27 μM) and BF (55.28-884.41 μM) partially activated these pathways, which ultimately caused the developmental toxicity in the following order: IM > TH > BF. In addition, we also ranked these pharmaceuticals in terms of their particular toxicity to myogenesis, hematopoiesis, and hepatogenesis in zebrafish embryos. Our results revealed that IM significantly affected myogenesis, hematopoiesis, and hepatogenesis, while TH and BF induced prominent effects on hematopoiesis via significant downregulation of associated genetic markers, such as drl, mpx, and gata2a. Overall, our findings confirmed that IM has higher toxicity than that of TH and BF, therefore, the consumption of these pharmaceuticals should be regulated in the same manner to ensure human and environmental safety. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ordering of Z-numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamad, Daud; Shaharani, Saidatull Akma; Kamis, Nor Hanimah

2017-08-01

The concept of Z-number which was introduced by Zadeh in 2010 has captured attention by many due to its enormous applications in the area of Computing with Words (CWW). A Z-number is an ordered pair of fuzzy numbers, (A, R), where A essentially plays the role of fuzzy restriction which is a real-valued uncertain variable and R is a measure of reliability of the first component. Besides its theoretical development, Z-numbers have been successfully applied to decision making problems under uncertain environment. In any decision making evaluation using Z-number, ideally the final outcome of the calculation should also be in Z-number. A question will arise: how do we order the Z-numbers so that the preference of the alternatives can be ranked appropriately? In this paper, we propose a method of ordering the Z-number via the transformation of the Z-numbers to fuzzy numbers. The Z-number will then be ranked using a ranking fuzzy number method. The proposed method will be tested in several combinations of Z-numbers to investigate its effectiveness. The effect of different values of A and R towards the ordering of Z-numbers is analyzed and discussed.

Application of multiattribute decision-making methods for the determination of relative significance factor of impact categories.

PubMed

Noh, Jaesung; Lee, Kun Mo

2003-05-01

A relative significance factor (f(i)) of an impact category is the external weight of the impact category. The objective of this study is to propose a systematic and easy-to-use method for the determination of f(i). Multiattribute decision-making (MADM) methods including the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), the rank-order centroid method, and the fuzzy method were evaluated for this purpose. The results and practical aspects of using the three methods are compared. Each method shows the same trend, with minor differences in the value of f(i). Thus, all three methods can be applied to the determination of f(i). The rank order centroid method reduces the number of pairwise comparisons by placing the alternatives in order, although it has inherent weakness over the fuzzy method in expressing the degree of vagueness associated with assigning weights to criteria and alternatives. The rank order centroid method is considered a practical method for the determination of f(i) because it is easier and simpler to use compared to the AHP and the fuzzy method.

Scoping Studies to Evaluate the Benefits of an Advanced Dry Feed System on the Use of Low-Rank Coal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rader, Jeff; Aguilar, Kelly; Aldred, Derek

2012-03-30

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the ability of advanced low rank coal gasification technology to cause a significant reduction in the COE for IGCC power plants with 90% carbon capture and sequestration compared with the COE for similarly configured IGCC plants using conventional low rank coal gasification technology. GE’s advanced low rank coal gasification technology uses the Posimetric Feed System, a new dry coal feed system based on GE’s proprietary Posimetric Feeder. In order to demonstrate the performance and economic benefits of the Posimetric Feeder in lowering the cost of low rank coal-fired IGCC power with carbonmore » capture, two case studies were completed. In the Base Case, the gasifier was fed a dilute slurry of Montana Rosebud PRB coal using GE’s conventional slurry feed system. In the Advanced Technology Case, the slurry feed system was replaced with the Posimetric Feed system. The process configurations of both cases were kept the same, to the extent possible, in order to highlight the benefit of substituting the Posimetric Feed System for the slurry feed system.« less

78 FR 52561 - Public Land Order No. 7820; Partial Modification, Public Water Reserve No. 107; Utah

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-23

...-52455] Public Land Order No. 7820; Partial Modification, Public Water Reserve No. 107; Utah AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Public Land Order. SUMMARY: This order partially modifies a withdrawal created by an Executive Order insofar as it affects 264.21 acres of public lands withdrawn from...

Podium: Ranking Data Using Mixed-Initiative Visual Analytics.

PubMed

Wall, Emily; Das, Subhajit; Chawla, Ravish; Kalidindi, Bharath; Brown, Eli T; Endert, Alex

2018-01-01

People often rank and order data points as a vital part of making decisions. Multi-attribute ranking systems are a common tool used to make these data-driven decisions. Such systems often take the form of a table-based visualization in which users assign weights to the attributes representing the quantifiable importance of each attribute to a decision, which the system then uses to compute a ranking of the data. However, these systems assume that users are able to quantify their conceptual understanding of how important particular attributes are to a decision. This is not always easy or even possible for users to do. Rather, people often have a more holistic understanding of the data. They form opinions that data point A is better than data point B but do not necessarily know which attributes are important. To address these challenges, we present a visual analytic application to help people rank multi-variate data points. We developed a prototype system, Podium, that allows users to drag rows in the table to rank order data points based on their perception of the relative value of the data. Podium then infers a weighting model using Ranking SVM that satisfies the user's data preferences as closely as possible. Whereas past systems help users understand the relationships between data points based on changes to attribute weights, our approach helps users to understand the attributes that might inform their understanding of the data. We present two usage scenarios to describe some of the potential uses of our proposed technique: (1) understanding which attributes contribute to a user's subjective preferences for data, and (2) deconstructing attributes of importance for existing rankings. Our proposed approach makes powerful machine learning techniques more usable to those who may not have expertise in these areas.

Frames for exact inversion of the rank order coder.

PubMed

Masmoudi, Khaled; Antonini, Marc; Kornprobst, Pierre

2012-02-01

Our goal is to revisit rank order coding by proposing an original exact decoding procedure for it. Rank order coding was proposed by Thorpe et al. who stated that the order in which the retina cells are activated encodes for the visual stimulus. Based on this idea, the authors proposed in [1] a rank order coder/decoder associated to a retinal model. Though, it appeared that the decoding procedure employed yields reconstruction errors that limit the model bit-cost/quality performances when used as an image codec. The attempts made in the literature to overcome this issue are time consuming and alter the coding procedure, or are lacking mathematical support and feasibility for standard size images. Here we solve this problem in an original fashion by using the frames theory, where a frame of a vector space designates an extension for the notion of basis. Our contribution is twofold. First, we prove that the analyzing filter bank considered is a frame, and then we define the corresponding dual frame that is necessary for the exact image reconstruction. Second, to deal with the problem of memory overhead, we design a recursive out-of-core blockwise algorithm for the computation of this dual frame. Our work provides a mathematical formalism for the retinal model under study and defines a simple and exact reverse transform for it with over than 265 dB of increase in the peak signal-to-noise ratio quality compared to [1]. Furthermore, the framework presented here can be extended to several models of the visual cortical areas using redundant representations.

Recognition of Risk Information - Adaptation of J. Bertin's Orderable Matrix for social communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishida, Keiichi

2018-05-01

This paper aims to show capability of the Orderable Matrix of Jacques Bertin which is a visualization method of data analyze and/or a method to recognize data. That matrix can show the data by replacing numbers to visual element. As an example, using a set of data regarding natural hazard rankings for certain metropolitan cities in the world, this paper describes how the Orderable Matrix handles the data set and show characteristic factors of this data to understand it. Not only to see a kind of risk ranking of cities, the Orderable Matrix shows how differently danger concerned cities ones and others are. Furthermore, we will see that the visualized data by Orderable Matrix allows us to see the characteristics of the data set comprehensively and instantaneously.

Color correction with blind image restoration based on multiple images using a low-rank model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dong; Xie, Xudong; Lam, Kin-Man

2014-03-01

We present a method that can handle the color correction of multiple photographs with blind image restoration simultaneously and automatically. We prove that the local colors of a set of images of the same scene exhibit the low-rank property locally both before and after a color-correction operation. This property allows us to correct all kinds of errors in an image under a low-rank matrix model without particular priors or assumptions. The possible errors may be caused by changes of viewpoint, large illumination variations, gross pixel corruptions, partial occlusions, etc. Furthermore, a new iterative soft-segmentation method is proposed for local color transfer using color influence maps. Due to the fact that the correct color information and the spatial information of images can be recovered using the low-rank model, more precise color correction and many other image-restoration tasks-including image denoising, image deblurring, and gray-scale image colorizing-can be performed simultaneously. Experiments have verified that our method can achieve consistent and promising results on uncontrolled real photographs acquired from the Internet and that it outperforms current state-of-the-art methods.

Aligning Funding and Need for Family Planning: A Diagnostic Methodology

PubMed Central

Fan, Victoria Y.; Kim, Sunja; Choi, Seemoon; Grépin, Karen A.

2017-01-01

Abstract With limited international resources for family planning, donors must decide how to allocate their funds to different countries. How can a donor for family planning decide whether countries are adequately prioritized for funding? This article proposes an ordinal ranking framework to identify under‐prioritized countries by rank‐ordering countries by their need for family planning and separately rank‐ordering them by their development assistance for family planning. Countries for which the rank of the need for family planning is lower than the rank of its funding are deemed under‐prioritized. We implement this diagnostic methodology to identify under‐prioritized countries that have a higher need but lower development assistance for family planning. This approach indicates whether a country is receiving less compared to other countries with similar levels of need. PMID:29044592

Optical ranked-order filtering using threshold decomposition

DOEpatents

Allebach, J.P.; Ochoa, E.; Sweeney, D.W.

1987-10-09

A hybrid optical/electronic system performs median filtering and related ranked-order operations using threshold decomposition to encode the image. Threshold decomposition transforms the nonlinear neighborhood ranking operation into a linear space-invariant filtering step followed by a point-to-point threshold comparison step. Spatial multiplexing allows parallel processing of all the threshold components as well as recombination by a second linear, space-invariant filtering step. An incoherent optical correlation system performs the linear filtering, using a magneto-optic spatial light modulator as the input device and a computer-generated hologram in the filter plane. Thresholding is done electronically. By adjusting the value of the threshold, the same architecture is used to perform median, minimum, and maximum filtering of images. A totally optical system is also disclosed. 3 figs.

A multiplicative process for generating a beta-like survival function with application to the UK 2016 EU referendum results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fenner, Trevor; Kaufmann, Eric; Levene, Mark; Loizou, George

Human dynamics and sociophysics suggest statistical models that may explain and provide us with better insight into social phenomena. Contextual and selection effects tend to produce extreme values in the tails of rank-ordered distributions of both census data and district-level election outcomes. Models that account for this nonlinearity generally outperform linear models. Fitting nonlinear functions based on rank-ordering census and election data therefore improves the fit of aggregate voting models. This may help improve ecological inference, as well as election forecasting in majoritarian systems. We propose a generative multiplicative decrease model that gives rise to a rank-order distribution and facilitates the analysis of the recent UK EU referendum results. We supply empirical evidence that the beta-like survival function, which can be generated directly from our model, is a close fit to the referendum results, and also may have predictive value when covariate data are available.

The stability of vocational interests from early adolescence to middle adulthood: a quantitative review of longitudinal studies.

PubMed

Low, K S Douglas; Yoon, Mijung; Roberts, Brent W; Rounds, James

2005-09-01

The present meta-analysis examined the stability of vocational interests from early adolescence (age 12) to middle adulthood (age 40). Stability was represented by rank-order and profile correlations. Interest stability remained unchanged during much of adolescence and increased dramatically during the college years (age 18-21.9), where it remained for the next 2 decades. Analyses of potential moderators showed that retest time interval was negatively related to interest stability and that rank-order stability was less stable than profile stability. Although cohort standings did not moderate stability, interests of the 1940s birth cohort were less stable than those of other cohorts. Furthermore, interests reflecting hands-on physical activities and self-expressive/artistic activities were more stable than scientific, social, enterprising, and clerical interests. Vocational interests showed substantial continuity over time, as evidenced by their higher longitudinal stability when compared with rank-order stability of personality traits. The findings are discussed in the context of psychosocial development.

Two-Dimensional Hermite Filters Simplify the Description of High-Order Statistics of Natural Images.

PubMed

Hu, Qin; Victor, Jonathan D

2016-09-01

Natural image statistics play a crucial role in shaping biological visual systems, understanding their function and design principles, and designing effective computer-vision algorithms. High-order statistics are critical for conveying local features, but they are challenging to study - largely because their number and variety is large. Here, via the use of two-dimensional Hermite (TDH) functions, we identify a covert symmetry in high-order statistics of natural images that simplifies this task. This emerges from the structure of TDH functions, which are an orthogonal set of functions that are organized into a hierarchy of ranks. Specifically, we find that the shape (skewness and kurtosis) of the distribution of filter coefficients depends only on the projection of the function onto a 1-dimensional subspace specific to each rank. The characterization of natural image statistics provided by TDH filter coefficients reflects both their phase and amplitude structure, and we suggest an intuitive interpretation for the special subspace within each rank.

Cross-modal learning to rank via latent joint representation.

PubMed

Wu, Fei; Jiang, Xinyang; Li, Xi; Tang, Siliang; Lu, Weiming; Zhang, Zhongfei; Zhuang, Yueting

2015-05-01

Cross-modal ranking is a research topic that is imperative to many applications involving multimodal data. Discovering a joint representation for multimodal data and learning a ranking function are essential in order to boost the cross-media retrieval (i.e., image-query-text or text-query-image). In this paper, we propose an approach to discover the latent joint representation of pairs of multimodal data (e.g., pairs of an image query and a text document) via a conditional random field and structural learning in a listwise ranking manner. We call this approach cross-modal learning to rank via latent joint representation (CML²R). In CML²R, the correlations between multimodal data are captured in terms of their sharing hidden variables (e.g., topics), and a hidden-topic-driven discriminative ranking function is learned in a listwise ranking manner. The experiments show that the proposed approach achieves a good performance in cross-media retrieval and meanwhile has the capability to learn the discriminative representation of multimodal data.

Text mining by Tsallis entropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jamaati, Maryam; Mehri, Ali

2018-01-01

Long-range correlations between the elements of natural languages enable them to convey very complex information. Complex structure of human language, as a manifestation of natural languages, motivates us to apply nonextensive statistical mechanics in text mining. Tsallis entropy appropriately ranks the terms' relevance to document subject, taking advantage of their spatial correlation length. We apply this statistical concept as a new powerful word ranking metric in order to extract keywords of a single document. We carry out an experimental evaluation, which shows capability of the presented method in keyword extraction. We find that, Tsallis entropy has reliable word ranking performance, at the same level of the best previous ranking methods.

Resident selection: how we are doing and why?

PubMed

Thordarson, David B; Ebramzadeh, Edward; Sangiorgio, Sophia N; Schnall, Stephen B; Patzakis, Michael J

2007-06-01

Selection of the best applicants for orthopaedic residency programs remains a difficult problem. Most quantifiable factors for residency selection evaluate test-taking ability and grades rather than other aspects, such as patient care, professionalism, moral reasoning, and integrity. Four current department members on our resident selection committee ranked four consecutive classes of orthopaedic residents interviewed for residency. We ranked incoming residents in order of best to least qualified and compared those rankings with rank lists by the same faculty on completion of residency. Rankings also were compared with the residents' United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Part I scores, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) Part I scores, and fourth-year Orthopaedic-in-Training Examination (OITE) scores. We found fair or poor correlations between the residents' initial rankings, rankings on graduation, and their USMLE, ABOS, and OITE scores. The only relatively strong correlation found was between the OITE and ABOS scores. Despite the faculty's consensus regarding selection criteria, interviewers did not agree in their rankings of residents on graduation. Additional work is necessary to refine the inexact yet important science of selecting residency applicants.

Quantification of heterogeneity observed in medical images.

PubMed

Brooks, Frank J; Grigsby, Perry W

2013-03-02

There has been much recent interest in the quantification of visually evident heterogeneity within functional grayscale medical images, such as those obtained via magnetic resonance or positron emission tomography. In the case of images of cancerous tumors, variations in grayscale intensity imply variations in crucial tumor biology. Despite these considerable clinical implications, there is as yet no standardized method for measuring the heterogeneity observed via these imaging modalities. In this work, we motivate and derive a statistical measure of image heterogeneity. This statistic measures the distance-dependent average deviation from the smoothest intensity gradation feasible. We show how this statistic may be used to automatically rank images of in vivo human tumors in order of increasing heterogeneity. We test this method against the current practice of ranking images via expert visual inspection. We find that this statistic provides a means of heterogeneity quantification beyond that given by other statistics traditionally used for the same purpose. We demonstrate the effect of tumor shape upon our ranking method and find the method applicable to a wide variety of clinically relevant tumor images. We find that the automated heterogeneity rankings agree very closely with those performed visually by experts. These results indicate that our automated method may be used reliably to rank, in order of increasing heterogeneity, tumor images whether or not object shape is considered to contribute to that heterogeneity. Automated heterogeneity ranking yields objective results which are more consistent than visual rankings. Reducing variability in image interpretation will enable more researchers to better study potential clinical implications of observed tumor heterogeneity.

76 FR 18513 - Announcement of Grant Application Deadlines and Funding Levels

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-04

... Federal statute.) Distance learning means a telecommunications link to an end user through the use of.... Applicants are strongly encouraged to emphasize distance learning and/or telemedicine projects in their.... Applications will be ranked and grants awarded in rank order until all grant funds are expended. 3. Regardless...

Efficiently Ranking Hyphotheses in Machine Learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, Steve

1997-01-01

This paper considers the problem of learning the ranking of a set of alternatives based upon incomplete information (e.g. a limited number of observations). At each decision cycle, the system can output a complete ordering on the hypotheses or decide to gather additional information (e.g. observation) at some cost.

38 CFR 61.32 - Ranking non-capital grant recipients for per diem.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Availability will be reviewed and grouped in categories according to the funding priorities set forth in the... available, within highest priority funding category if applicable, will be conditionally selected for eligibility to receive per diem payments in accordance with their ranked order. If funding priorities have...

38 CFR 61.54 - Awarding technical assistance grants.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...) Applicants will first be grouped in categories according to the funding priorities set forth in the NOFA, if... highest-ranked applications for which funding is available, within highest priority funding category if... ranked order, as determined under § 61.53 of this part. If funding priorities have been established and...

38 CFR 61.14 - Selecting applications for capital grants.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... capital grants. (a) Applicants will first be grouped in categories according to the funding priorities set... applicable. The highest-ranked applications for which funding is available, within highest priority funding... ranked order, as determined under § 61.13 of this part. If funding priorities have been established and...

12 CFR 1806.203 - Selection Process, actual award amounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Community Financing Activities, ranked in the order set forth in the applicable NOFA. (3) Third Priority. If... amounts based on the process described in this section. (c) Priority of Awards. The Fund will rank Applicants in each category of Qualified Activity according to the priorities described in this paragraph (c...

A study of geothermal prospects in the western United States

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The commercial development potential of 13 underdeveloped geothermal prospects in the Western United States was examined, and the prospects were ranked in order of relative potential for development on the basis of investment considerations. The following were considered in the ranking: geotechnical and engineering data, energy market accessibility, administrative constraints, and environmental and socio-economic factors. The primary ranking criterion is the unit cost of energy production expected from each prospect. Secondary criteria are administrative constraints, environmental factors and the quality of the geotechnical data.

Explanation-based generalization of partially ordered plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kambhampati, Subbarao; Kedar, Smadar

1991-01-01

Most previous work in analytic generalization of plans dealt with totally ordered plans. These methods cannot be directly applied to generalizing partially ordered plans, since they do not capture all interactions among plan operators for all total orders of such plans. We introduce a new method for generalizing partially ordered plans. This method is based on providing explanation-based generalization (EBG) with explanations which systematically capture the interactions among plan operators for all the total orders of a partially-ordered plan. The explanations are based on the Modal Truth Criterion which states the necessary and sufficient conditions for ensuring the truth of a proposition at any point in a plan, for a class of partially ordered plans. The generalizations obtained by this method guarantee successful and interaction-free execution of any total order of the generalized plan. In addition, the systematic derivation of the generalization algorithms from the Modal Truth Criterion obviates the need for carrying out a separate formal proof of correctness of the EBG algorithms.

Improved dynamic MRI reconstruction by exploiting sparsity and rank-deficiency.

PubMed

Majumdar, Angshul

2013-06-01

In this paper we address the problem of dynamic MRI reconstruction from partially sampled K-space data. Our work is motivated by previous studies in this area that proposed exploiting the spatiotemporal correlation of the dynamic MRI sequence by posing the reconstruction problem as a least squares minimization regularized by sparsity and low-rank penalties. Ideally the sparsity and low-rank penalties should be represented by the l(0)-norm and the rank of a matrix; however both are NP hard penalties. The previous studies used the convex l(1)-norm as a surrogate for the l(0)-norm and the non-convex Schatten-q norm (0

Patients' self-interested preferences: empirical evidence from a priority setting experiment.

PubMed

Alvarez, Begoña; Rodríguez-Míguez, Eva

2011-04-01

This paper explores whether patients act according to self-interest in priority setting experiments. The analysis is based on a ranking experiment, conducted in Galicia (Spain), to elicit preferences regarding the prioritization of patients on a waiting list for an elective surgical intervention (prostatectomy for benign prostatic hyperplasia). Participants were patients awaiting a similar intervention and members of the general populations. All of them were asked to rank hypothetical patients on a waiting list. A rank-ordered logit was then applied to their responses in order to obtain a prioritization scoring system. Using these estimations, we first test for differences in preferences between patients and general population. Second, we implement a procedure based on the similarity between respondents (true patients) and the hypothetical scenarios they evaluate (hypothetical patients) to analyze whether patients provide self-interested rankings. Our results show that patient preferences differ significantly from general population preferences. The findings also indicate that, when patients rank the hypothetical scenarios on the waiting list, they consider not only the explicit attributes but also the similarity of each scenario to their own. In particular, they assign a higher priority to scenarios that more closely match their own states. We also find that such a preference structure increases their likelihood of reporting "irrational" answers. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Zipf rank approach and cross-country convergence of incomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Jia; Ivanov, Plamen Ch.; Urošević, Branko; Stanley, H. Eugene; Podobnik, Boris

2011-05-01

We employ a concept popular in physics —the Zipf rank approach— in order to estimate the number of years that EU members would need in order to achieve "convergence" of their per capita incomes. Assuming that trends in the past twenty years continue to hold in the future, we find that after t≈30 years both developing and developed EU countries indexed by i will have comparable values of their per capita gross domestic product {\\cal G}_{i,t} . Besides the traditional Zipf rank approach we also propose a weighted Zipf rank method. In contrast to the EU block, on the world level the Zipf rank approach shows that, between 1960 and 2009, cross-country income differences increased over time. For a brief period during the 2007-2008 global economic crisis, at world level the {\\cal G}_{i,t} of richer countries declined more rapidly than the {\\cal G}_{i,t} of poorer countries, in contrast to EU where the {\\cal G}_{i,t} of developing EU countries declined faster than the {\\cal G}_{i,t} of developed EU countries, indicating that the recession interrupted the convergence between EU members. We propose a simple model of GDP evolution that accounts for the scaling we observe in the data.

Estimations of expectedness and potential surprise in possibility theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prade, Henri; Yager, Ronald R.

1992-01-01

This note investigates how various ideas of 'expectedness' can be captured in the framework of possibility theory. Particularly, we are interested in trying to introduce estimates of the kind of lack of surprise expressed by people when saying 'I would not be surprised that...' before an event takes place, or by saying 'I knew it' after its realization. In possibility theory, a possibility distribution is supposed to model the relative levels of mutually exclusive alternatives in a set, or equivalently, the alternatives are assumed to be rank-ordered according to their level of possibility to take place. Four basic set-functions associated with a possibility distribution, including standard possibility and necessity measures, are discussed from the point of view of what they estimate when applied to potential events. Extensions of these estimates based on the notions of Q-projection or OWA operators are proposed when only significant parts of the possibility distribution are retained in the evaluation. The case of partially-known possibility distributions is also considered. Some potential applications are outlined.

Assessment of factors influencing preservation of dignity at life's end: creation and the cross-cultural validation of the preservation of dignity card-sort tool.

PubMed

Periyakoil, Vyjeyanthi S; Noda, Arthur M; Kraemer, Helena Chmura

2010-05-01

Preserving patient dignity is a sentinel premise of palliative care. This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of factors influencing preservation of dignity in the last chapter of life. We conducted an open-ended written survey of 100 multidisciplinary providers (69% response rate) and responses were categorized to identify 2 main themes, 5 subthemes, and 10 individual factors that were used to create the preservation of dignity card-sort tool (p-DCT). The 10-item rank order tool was administered to a cohort of community dwelling Filipino Americans (n = 140, age mean = 61.3, 45% male and 55% female). A Spearman correlation matrix was constructed for all the 10 individual factors as well as the themes and subthemes based on the data generated by the subjects. The individual factors were minimally correlated with each other indicating that each factor was an independent stand-alone factor. The median, 25th and 75th percentile ranks were calculated and "s/he has self-respect" (intrinsic theme, self-esteem subtheme) emerged as the most important factor (mean rank 3.0 and median rank 2.0) followed by "others treat her/him with respect" (extrinsic theme, respect subtheme) with a mean rank = 3.6 and median = 3.0. The p-DCT is a simple, rank order card-sort tool that may help clinicians identify patients' perceptions of key factors influencing the preservation of their dignity in the last chapter of life.

Congruity of Perceived Psychosocial Needs of Individuals with Cancer.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bordieri, James E.; And Others

1992-01-01

Individuals (n=32) with cancer rank ordered 15 psychosocial needs in terms of importance to themselves. Similarly, their family members (n=41), oncology nurses (n=45), hospital social support staff (n=40), and rehabilitation counselors (n=41) ranked same needs. Differences were reported among groups in nine need areas, indicating that perceptual…

CRITICAL PROBLEMS AND NEEDS OF CALIFORNIA JUNIOR COLLEGES.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PETERSON, BASIL H.; AND OTHERS

THROUGH A PROCEDURE INVOLVING RESPONSES FROM 85 PERCENT OF THE STATE JUNIOR COLLEGES AND WEIGHTED RANK ORDERING OF ITEMS BY MEMBERS OF THE CALIFORNIA JUNIOR COLLEGE ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE'S ADVISORY AND STEERING SUBCOMMITTEES, 26 OF THE MOST CRITICAL NEEDS AND PROBLEMS ARE IDENTIFIED AND RANKED. THE FIRST FIVE ITEMS ARE CONCERN FOR EFFECTIVENESS…

Emerging Regulatory Regionalism in University Governance: A Comparative Study of China and Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mok, Ka Ho

2010-01-01

High EdWell aware of the growing importance of the global university ranking exercises, many governments in East Asia have introduced different strategies to benchmark with leading universities in order to enhance the global competitiveness of their universities. With strong determination to do better in such global ranking exercises, universities…

An Analysis of "Rank-Shift" of Compound Complex Sentence Translation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Widarwati, Nunun Tri

2015-01-01

The focus of the research is to describe the "rank-shift" of compound complex sentence translation in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix novel translation by Listiana Srisanti and also to describe the accuracy of those translation. This research belongs to qualitative descriptive research which document and informants are being…

76 FR 13688 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-14

... class-by-class basis which electronic allocation algorithm \\6\\ would apply for rotations. Currently Rule... opening price (with multiple quotes and orders being ranked in accordance with the allocation algorithm in... and quotes ranked in accordance with the allocation algorithm in effect for the class). Any remaining...

Assessing Students' Learning of Internal Controls: Closing the Loop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amer, T. S.; Mohrweis, Lawrence C.

2009-01-01

This study describes the multifaceted components of an assessment process. The paper explains a novel approach in which an advisory council participated in a "fun," hands-on activity to rank-order learning outcomes. The top ranked learning competency, as identified by the advisory council, was the need for students to gain a better…

Perception and Production of Thai Learners on English Prepositions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruangjaroon, Sugunya

2015-01-01

In this paper, I adopt Best's (2001) Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) to account for how Thai learners acquire English prepositions in prepositional phrases and propose the ranking order of English preposition acquisition into three different categories. The ranking is as follows: Category A is a one-to-one semantic mapping between English and…

22 CFR 11.11 - Mid-level Foreign Service officer career candidate appointments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... cannot reasonably be met from within the ranks of the career service, including by special training of... rank-order register for the class and functional specialty for which the candidate has been found... aptitude for learning them. A candidate may be appointed without first having passed an examination in a...

22 CFR 11.11 - Mid-level Foreign Service officer career candidate appointments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... cannot reasonably be met from within the ranks of the career service, including by special training of... rank-order register for the class and functional specialty for which the candidate has been found... aptitude for learning them. A candidate may be appointed without first having passed an examination in a...

22 CFR 11.11 - Mid-level Foreign Service officer career candidate appointments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... cannot reasonably be met from within the ranks of the career service, including by special training of... rank-order register for the class and functional specialty for which the candidate has been found... aptitude for learning them. A candidate may be appointed without first having passed an examination in a...

Analysis and methodology for aeronautical systems technology program planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, M. J.; Gershkoff, I.; Lamkin, S.

1983-01-01

A structured methodology was developed that allows the generation, analysis, and rank-ordering of system concepts by their benefits and costs, indicating the preferred order of implementation. The methodology is supported by a base of data on civil transport aircraft fleet growth projections and data on aircraft performance relating the contribution of each element of the aircraft to overall performance. The performance data are used to assess the benefits of proposed concepts. The methodology includes a computer program for performing the calculations needed to rank-order the concepts and compute their cumulative benefit-to-cost ratio. The use of the methodology and supporting data is illustrated through the analysis of actual system concepts from various sources.

Zipf's law holds for phrases, not words.

PubMed

Williams, Jake Ryland; Lessard, Paul R; Desu, Suma; Clark, Eric M; Bagrow, James P; Danforth, Christopher M; Dodds, Peter Sheridan

2015-08-11

With Zipf's law being originally and most famously observed for word frequency, it is surprisingly limited in its applicability to human language, holding over no more than three to four orders of magnitude before hitting a clear break in scaling. Here, building on the simple observation that phrases of one or more words comprise the most coherent units of meaning in language, we show empirically that Zipf's law for phrases extends over as many as nine orders of rank magnitude. In doing so, we develop a principled and scalable statistical mechanical method of random text partitioning, which opens up a rich frontier of rigorous text analysis via a rank ordering of mixed length phrases.

Systems and methods for maintaining multiple objects within a camera field-of-view

DOEpatents

Gans, Nicholas R.; Dixon, Warren

2016-03-15

In one embodiment, a system and method for maintaining objects within a camera field of view include identifying constraints to be enforced, each constraint relating to an attribute of the viewed objects, identifying a priority rank for the constraints such that more important constraints have a higher priority that less important constraints, and determining the set of solutions that satisfy the constraints relative to the order of their priority rank such that solutions that satisfy lower ranking constraints are only considered viable if they also satisfy any higher ranking constraints, each solution providing an indication as to how to control the camera to maintain the objects within the camera field of view.

Exploring Partial Order of European Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annoni, Paola; Bruggemann, Rainer

2009-01-01

Partial Order Theory has been recently more and more employed in applied science to overcome the intrinsic disadvantage hidden in aggregation, if a multiple attribute system is available. Despite its numerous positive features, there are many practical cases where the interpretation of the partial order can be rather troublesome. In these cases…

How Much Will My Child's Operation Cost? Availability of Consumer Prices From US Hospitals for a Common Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgical Procedure.

PubMed

Racimo, Allison R; Talathi, Nakul S; Zelenski, Nicole A; Wells, Lawrence; Shah, Apurva S

2018-05-02

Price transparency allows patients to make value-based health care decisions and is particularly important for individuals who are uninsured or enrolled in high-deductible health care plans. The availability of consumer prices for children undergoing orthopaedic surgery has not been previously investigated. We aimed to determine the availability of price estimates from hospitals in the United States for an archetypal pediatric orthopaedic surgical procedure (closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of a distal radius fracture) and identify variations in price estimates across hospitals. This prospective investigation utilized a scripted telephone call to obtain price estimates from 50 "top-ranked hospitals" for pediatric orthopaedics and 1 "non-top-ranked hospital" from each state and the District of Columbia. Price estimates were requested using a standardized script, in which an investigator posed as the mother of a child with a displaced distal radius fracture that needed closed reduction and pinning. Price estimates (complete or partial) were recorded for each hospital. The number of calls and the duration of time required to obtain the pricing information was also recorded. Variation was assessed, and hospitals were compared on the basis of ranking, teaching status, and region. Less than half (44%) of the 101 hospitals provided a complete price estimate. The mean price estimate for top-ranked hospitals ($17,813; range, $2742 to $49,063) was 50% higher than the price estimate for non-top-ranked hospitals ($11,866; range, $3623 to $22,967) (P=0.020). Differences in price estimates were attributable to differences in hospital fees (P=0.003), not surgeon fees. Top-ranked hospitals required more calls than non-top-ranked hospitals (4.4±2.9 vs. 2.8±2.3 calls, P=0.003). A longer duration of time was required to obtain price estimates from top-ranked hospitals than from non-top-ranked hospitals (8.2±9.4 vs. 4.1±5.1 d, P=0.024). Price estimates for pediatric orthopaedic procedures are difficult to obtain. Top-ranked hospitals are more expensive and less likely to provide price information than non-top-ranked hospitals, with price differences primarily caused by variation in hospital fees, not surgeon fees. Level II-economic and decision analyses.

Bedside interprofessional rounds: perceptions of benefits and barriers by internal medicine nursing staff, attending physicians, and housestaff physicians.

PubMed

Gonzalo, Jed D; Kuperman, Ethan; Lehman, Erik; Haidet, Paul

2014-10-01

Interprofessional collaboration improves the quality of care, but integration into workflow is challenging. Although a shared conceptualization regarding bedside interprofessional rounds may enhance implementation, little work has investigated providers' perceptions of this activity. To evaluate the perceptions of nurses, attending physicians, and housestaff physicians regarding the benefits/barriers to bedside interprofessional rounds. Observational, cross-sectional survey of hospital-based medicine nurses, attending physicians, and housestaff physicians. Descriptive, nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum and nonparametric correlation were used. Bedside interprofessional rounds were defined as "encounters including 2 physicians plus a nurse or other care provider discussing the case at the patient's bedside." Eighteen items related to "benefits" and 21 items related to "barriers" associated with bedside interprofessional rounds. Of 171 surveys sent, 149 were completed (87%). Highest-ranked benefits were related to communication/coordination, including "improves communication between nurses-physicians;" lowest-ranked benefits were related to efficiency, process, and outcomes, including "decreases length-of-stay" and "improves timeliness of consultations." Nurses reported most favorable ratings for all items (P < 0.05). Rank order for 3 provider groups showed high correlation (r = 0.92, P < 0.001). Highest-ranked barriers were related to time, including "nursing staff have limited time;" lowest-ranked barriers were related to provider- and patient-related factors, including "patient lack of comfort." Rank order of barriers among all groups showed moderate correlation (r = 0.62-0.82). Although nurses perceived greater benefit for bedside interprofessional rounds than physicians, all providers perceived coordination/teamwork benefits higher than outcomes. To the extent the results are generalizable, these findings lay the foundation for facilitating meaningful patient-centered interprofessional collaboration. © 2014 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Fast Low-Rank Bayesian Matrix Completion With Hierarchical Gaussian Prior Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Linxiao; Fang, Jun; Duan, Huiping; Li, Hongbin; Zeng, Bing

2018-06-01

The problem of low rank matrix completion is considered in this paper. To exploit the underlying low-rank structure of the data matrix, we propose a hierarchical Gaussian prior model, where columns of the low-rank matrix are assumed to follow a Gaussian distribution with zero mean and a common precision matrix, and a Wishart distribution is specified as a hyperprior over the precision matrix. We show that such a hierarchical Gaussian prior has the potential to encourage a low-rank solution. Based on the proposed hierarchical prior model, a variational Bayesian method is developed for matrix completion, where the generalized approximate massage passing (GAMP) technique is embedded into the variational Bayesian inference in order to circumvent cumbersome matrix inverse operations. Simulation results show that our proposed method demonstrates superiority over existing state-of-the-art matrix completion methods.

The Artificial Hamiltonian, First Integrals, and Closed-Form Solutions of Dynamical Systems for Epidemics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naz, Rehana; Naeem, Imran

2018-03-01

The non-standard Hamiltonian system, also referred to as a partial Hamiltonian system in the literature, of the form {\\dot q^i} = {partial H}/{partial {p_i}},\\dot p^i = - {partial H}/{partial {q_i}} + {Γ ^i}(t,{q^i},{p_i}) appears widely in economics, physics, mechanics, and other fields. The non-standard (partial) Hamiltonian systems arise from physical Hamiltonian structures as well as from artificial Hamiltonian structures. We introduce the term `artificial Hamiltonian' for the Hamiltonian of a model having no physical structure. We provide here explicitly the notion of an artificial Hamiltonian for dynamical systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Also, we show that every system of second-order ODEs can be expressed as a non-standard (partial) Hamiltonian system of first-order ODEs by introducing an artificial Hamiltonian. This notion of an artificial Hamiltonian gives a new way to solve dynamical systems of first-order ODEs and systems of second-order ODEs that can be expressed as a non-standard (partial) Hamiltonian system by using the known techniques applicable to the non-standard Hamiltonian systems. We employ the proposed notion to solve dynamical systems of first-order ODEs arising in epidemics.

Reduced-rank technique for joint channel estimation in TD-SCDMA systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamil Marzook, Ali; Ismail, Alyani; Mohd Ali, Borhanuddin; Sali, Adawati; Khatun, Sabira

2013-02-01

In time division-synchronous code division multiple access systems, increasing the system capacity by exploiting the inserting of the largest number of users in one time slot (TS) requires adding more estimation processes to estimate the joint channel matrix for the whole system. The increase in the number of channel parameters due the increase in the number of users in one TS directly affects the precision of the estimator's performance. This article presents a novel channel estimation with low complexity, which relies on reducing the rank order of the total channel matrix H. The proposed method exploits the rank deficiency of H to reduce the number of parameters that characterise this matrix. The adopted reduced-rank technique is based on truncated singular value decomposition algorithm. The algorithms for reduced-rank joint channel estimation (JCE) are derived and compared against traditional full-rank JCEs: least squares (LS) or Steiner and enhanced (LS or MMSE) algorithms. Simulation results of the normalised mean square error showed the superiority of reduced-rank estimators. In addition, the channel impulse responses founded by reduced-rank estimator for all active users offers considerable performance improvement over the conventional estimator along the channel window length.

SRS: Site ranking system for hazardous chemical and radioactive waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rechard, R.P.; Chu, M.S.Y.; Brown, S.L.

1988-05-01

This report describes the rationale and presents instructions for a site ranking system (SRS). SRS ranks hazardous chemical and radioactive waste sites by scoring important and readily available factors that influence risk to human health. Using SRS, sites can be ranked for purposes of detailed site investigations. SRS evaluates the relative risk as a combination of potentially exposed population, chemical toxicity, and potential exposure of release from a waste site; hence, SRS uses the same concepts found in a detailed assessment of health risk. Basing SRS on the concepts of risk assessment tends to reduce the distortion of results foundmore » in other ranking schemes. More importantly, a clear logic helps ensure the successful application of the ranking procedure and increases its versatility when modifications are necessary for unique situations. Although one can rank sites using a detailed risk assessment, it is potentially costly because of data and resources required. SRS is an efficient approach to provide an order-of-magnitude ranking, requiring only readily available data (often only descriptive) and hand calculations. Worksheets are included to make the system easier to understand and use. 88 refs., 19 figs., 58 tabs.« less

Isotonic designs for phase I trials in partially ordered groups.

PubMed

Conaway, Mark

2017-10-01

Dose-finding trials can be conducted such that patients are first stratified into multiple risk groups before doses are allocated. The risk groups are often completely ordered in that, for a fixed dose, the probability of toxicity is monotonically increasing across groups. In some trials, the groups are only partially ordered. For example, one of several groups in a trial may be known to have the least risk of toxicity for a given dose, but the ordering of the risk among the remaining groups may not be known. The aim of the article is to introduce a method for designing dose-finding trials of cytotoxic agents in completely or partially ordered groups of patients. This article presents a method for dose-finding that combines previously proposed mathematical models, augmented with results using order restricted inference. The resulting method is computationally convenient and allows for dose-finding in trials with completely or partially ordered groups. Extensive simulations are done to evaluate the performance of the method, using randomly generated dose-toxicity curves where, within each group, the risk of toxicity is an increasing function of dose. Our simulations show that the hybrid method, in which order-restricted estimation is applied to parameters of a parsimonious mathematical model, gives results that are similar to previously proposed methods for completely ordered groups. Our method generalizes to a wide range of partial orders among the groups. The problem of dose-finding in partially ordered groups has not been extensively studied in the statistical literature. The proposed method is computationally feasible, and provides a potential solution to the design of dose-finding studies in completely or partially ordered groups.

An approach to solve group-decision-making problems with ordinal interval numbers.

PubMed

Fan, Zhi-Ping; Liu, Yang

2010-10-01

The ordinal interval number is a form of uncertain preference information in group decision making (GDM), while it is seldom discussed in the existing research. This paper investigates how the ranking order of alternatives is determined based on preference information of ordinal interval numbers in GDM problems. When ranking a large quantity of ordinal interval numbers, the efficiency and accuracy of the ranking process are critical. A new approach is proposed to rank alternatives using ordinal interval numbers when every ranking ordinal in an ordinal interval number is thought to be uniformly and independently distributed in its interval. First, we give the definition of possibility degree on comparing two ordinal interval numbers and the related theory analysis. Then, to rank alternatives, by comparing multiple ordinal interval numbers, a collective expectation possibility degree matrix on pairwise comparisons of alternatives is built, and an optimization model based on this matrix is constructed. Furthermore, an algorithm is also presented to rank alternatives by solving the model. Finally, two examples are used to illustrate the use of the proposed approach.

The highest-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn.

PubMed

Shimmura, Tsuyoshi; Ohashi, Shosei; Yoshimura, Takashi

2015-07-23

The "cock-a-doodle-doo" crowing of roosters, which symbolizes the break of dawn in many cultures, is controlled by the circadian clock. When one rooster announces the break of dawn, others in the vicinity immediately follow. Chickens are highly social animals, and they develop a linear and fixed hierarchy in small groups. We found that when chickens were housed in small groups, the top-ranking rooster determined the timing of predawn crowing. Specifically, the top-ranking rooster always started to crow first, followed by its subordinates, in descending order of social rank. When the top-ranking rooster was physically removed from a group, the second-ranking rooster initiated crowing. The presence of a dominant rooster significantly reduced the number of predawn crows in subordinates. However, the number of crows induced by external stimuli was independent of social rank, confirming that subordinates have the ability to crow. Although the timing of subordinates' predawn crowing was strongly dependent on that of the top-ranking rooster, free-running periods of body temperature rhythms differed among individuals, and crowing rhythm did not entrain to a crowing sound stimulus. These results indicate that in a group situation, the top-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn, and that subordinate roosters are patient enough to wait for the top-ranking rooster's first crow every morning and thus compromise their circadian clock for social reasons.

Diversity rankings among bacterial lineages in soil.

PubMed

Youssef, Noha H; Elshahed, Mostafa S

2009-03-01

We used rarefaction curve analysis and diversity ordering-based approaches to rank the 11 most frequently encountered bacterial lineages in soil according to diversity in 5 previously reported 16S rRNA gene clone libraries derived from agricultural, undisturbed tall grass prairie and forest soils (n=26,140, 28 328, 31 818, 13 001 and 53 533). The Planctomycetes, Firmicutes and the delta-Proteobacteria were consistently ranked among the most diverse lineages in all data sets, whereas the Verrucomicrobia, Gemmatimonadetes and beta-Proteobacteria were consistently ranked among the least diverse. On the other hand, the rankings of alpha-Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Chloroflexi varied widely in different soil clone libraries. In general, lineages exhibiting largest differences in diversity rankings also exhibited the largest difference in relative abundance in the data sets examined. Within these lineages, a positive correlation between relative abundance and diversity was observed within the Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi, and a negative diversity-abundance correlation was observed within the Bacteroidetes. The ecological and evolutionary implications of these results are discussed.

Appraisal and coping as mediators of the effects of cumulative risk on preadolescent adjustment

PubMed Central

Thompson, Stephanie F.; Lengua, Liliana J.; Garcia, Connie Meza

2016-01-01

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations among cumulative risk, appraisal, coping, and adjustment. Longitudinal path models were tested in a community sample of 316 children in preadolescence to examine hypotheses that threat appraisal and avoidant coping mediate the effects of cumulative risk on child adjustment, whereas positive appraisal and active coping were hypothesized to predict better adjustment independently. Children and their mothers were assessed during in-home interviews at three time points at one-year intervals. Children reported on appraisal and coping strategies. Mothers and children reported on child adjustment problems and positive adjustment. Rank-order changes in appraisal and coping predicted rank-order changes in adjustment. Cumulative risk was concurrently related to higher threat appraisal and avoidant coping at each time point. Threat appraisal and avoidant coping mediated the relations of cumulative risk to rank-order changes in adjustment. There is specificity in the relations of cumulative risk to threat appraisal and avoidant coping, whereas positive appraisal and active coping are independent of risk and operate as individual resource factors. PMID:27110087

Ship detection in satellite imagery using rank-order greyscale hit-or-miss transforms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harvey, Neal R; Porter, Reid B; Theiler, James

2010-01-01

Ship detection from satellite imagery is something that has great utility in various communities. Knowing where ships are and their types provides useful intelligence information. However, detecting and recognizing ships is a difficult problem. Existing techniques suffer from too many false-alarms. We describe approaches we have taken in trying to build ship detection algorithms that have reduced false alarms. Our approach uses a version of the grayscale morphological Hit-or-Miss transform. While this is well known and used in its standard form, we use a version in which we use a rank-order selection for the dilation and erosion parts of themore » transform, instead of the standard maximum and minimum operators. This provides some slack in the fitting that the algorithm employs and provides a method for tuning the algorithm's performance for particular detection problems. We describe our algorithms, show the effect of the rank-order parameter on the algorithm's performance and illustrate the use of this approach for real ship detection problems with panchromatic satellite imagery.« less

Studying the Motivated Agent Through Time: Personal Goal Development During the Adult Life Span.

PubMed

Dunlop, William L; Bannon, Brittany L; McAdams, Dan P

2017-04-01

This research examined the rank-order and mean-level consistency of personal goals at two periods in the adult life span. Personal goal continuity was considered among a group of young adults (N = 145) who reported their goals three times over a 3-year period and among a group of midlife adults (N = 163) who specified their goals annually over a 4-year period. Goals were coded for a series of motive-based (viz., achievement, affiliation, intimacy, power) and domain-based (viz., finance, generativity, health, travel) categories. In both samples, we noted a moderate degree of rank-order consistency across assessment periods. In addition, the majority of goal categories exhibited a high degree of mean-level consistency. The results of this research suggest that (a) the content of goals exhibits a modest degree of rank-order consistency and a substantial degree of mean-level consistency over time, and (b) considering personality continuity and development as manifest via goals represents a viable strategy for personality psychologists. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Estimation of Rank Correlation for Clustered Data

PubMed Central

Rosner, Bernard; Glynn, Robert

2017-01-01

It is well known that the sample correlation coefficient (Rxy) is the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the Pearson correlation (ρxy) for i.i.d. bivariate normal data. However, this is not true for ophthalmologic data where X (e.g., visual acuity) and Y (e.g., visual field) are available for each eye and there is positive intraclass correlation for both X and Y in fellow eyes. In this paper, we provide a regression-based approach for obtaining the MLE of ρxy for clustered data, which can be implemented using standard mixed effects model software. This method is also extended to allow for estimation of partial correlation by controlling both X and Y for a vector U of other covariates. In addition, these methods can be extended to allow for estimation of rank correlation for clustered data by (a) converting ranks of both X and Y to the probit scale, (b) estimating the Pearson correlation between probit scores for X and Y, and (c) using the relationship between Pearson and rank correlation for bivariate normally distributed data. The validity of the methods in finite-sized samples is supported by simulation studies. Finally, two examples from ophthalmology and analgesic abuse are used to illustrate the methods. PMID:28399615

19 CFR Appendix to 19 Cfr Part 0 - Treasury Department Order No. 100-16

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... completion of entry or substance of entry summary including duty assessment and collection, classification... the Committee on Ways and Means and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance every... Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance every six months. The Secretary of the Treasury shall list any...

Zipf's Law and Avoidance of Excessive Synonymy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manin, Dmitrii Y.

2008-01-01

Zipf's law states that if words of language are ranked in the order of decreasing frequency in texts, the frequency of a word is inversely proportional to its rank. It is very reliably observed in the data, but to date it escaped satisfactory theoretical explanation. This article suggests that Zipf's law may result from a hierarchical organization…

Top News Events of 1973 Ranked for Educators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burdin, Joel L.

This document presents a listing of those news events for 1973 that are thought by the author to have the most immediate or potential significance for educators. It is noted that the selections were made primarily from the "Washington Post,""Washington Star-News,""New York Times," and weekly news magazines. The events, ranked in order of present…

Adolescent Sex Offenders' Rankings of Therapeutic Factors Using the Yalom Card Sort

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sribney, Christine L.; Reddon, John R.

2008-01-01

Following 11-98 weeks of inpatient residential treatment, 69 male adolescent sex offenders completed the 60-item, 12-factor Yalom Card Sort. The rank orders were compared to adult sex offenders and a psychiatric adult outpatient group. Relative to adult psychiatric outpatients, the adolescent sex offenders had rated Instillation of Hope three…

Identifying known unknowns using the US EPA's CompTox Chemistry Dashboard.

PubMed

McEachran, Andrew D; Sobus, Jon R; Williams, Antony J

2017-03-01

Chemical features observed using high-resolution mass spectrometry can be tentatively identified using online chemical reference databases by searching molecular formulae and monoisotopic masses and then rank-ordering of the hits using appropriate relevance criteria. The most likely candidate "known unknowns," which are those chemicals unknown to an investigator but contained within a reference database or literature source, rise to the top of a chemical list when rank-ordered by the number of associated data sources. The U.S. EPA's CompTox Chemistry Dashboard is a curated and freely available resource for chemistry and computational toxicology research, containing more than 720,000 chemicals of relevance to environmental health science. In this research, the performance of the Dashboard for identifying known unknowns was evaluated against that of the online ChemSpider database, one of the primary resources used by mass spectrometrists, using multiple previously studied datasets reported in the peer-reviewed literature totaling 162 chemicals. These chemicals were examined using both applications via molecular formula and monoisotopic mass searches followed by rank-ordering of candidate compounds by associated references or data sources. A greater percentage of chemicals ranked in the top position when using the Dashboard, indicating an advantage of this application over ChemSpider for identifying known unknowns using data source ranking. Additional approaches are being developed for inclusion into a non-targeted analysis workflow as part of the CompTox Chemistry Dashboard. This work shows the potential for use of the Dashboard in exposure assessment and risk decision-making through significant improvements in non-targeted chemical identification. Graphical abstract Identifying known unknowns in the US EPA's CompTox Chemistry Dashboard from molecular formula and monoisotopic mass inputs.

Comparison of the functional potencies of ropinirole and other dopamine receptor agonists at human D2(long), D3 and D4.4 receptors expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells

PubMed Central

Coldwell, Martyn C; Boyfield, Izzy; Brown, Tony; Hagan, Jim J; Middlemiss, Derek N

1999-01-01

The aim of the present study was to characterize functional responses to ropinirole, its major metabolites in man (SKF-104557 (4-[2-(propylamino)ethyl]-2-(3H) indolone), SKF-97930 (4-carboxy-2-(3H) indolone)) and other dopamine receptor agonists at human dopamine D2(long) (hD2), D3 (hD3) and D4.4 (hD4) receptors separately expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells using microphysiometry.All the receptor agonists tested (ropinirole, SKF-104557, SKF-97930, bromocriptine, lisuride, pergolide, pramipexole, talipexole, dopamine) increased extracellular acidification rate in Chinese hamster ovary clones expressing the human D2, D3 or D4 receptor. The pEC50s of ropinirole at hD2, hD3 and hD4 receptors were 7.4, 8.4 and 6.8, respectively. Ropinirole is therefore at least 10 fold selective for the human dopamine D3 receptor over the other D2 receptor family members.At the hD2 and hD3 dopamine receptors all the compounds tested were full agonists as compared to quinpirole. Talipexole and the ropinirole metabolite, SKF-104557, were partial agonists at the hD4 receptor.Bromocriptine and lisuride had a slow onset of agonist action which precluded determination of EC50s.The rank order of agonist potencies was dissimilar to the rank order of radioligand binding affinities at each of the dopamine receptor subtypes. Functional selectivities of the dopamine receptor agonists, as measured in the microphysiometer, were less than radioligand binding selectivities.The results show that ropinirole is a full agonist at human D2, D3 and D4 dopamine receptors. SKF-104557 the major human metabolite of ropinirole, had similar radioligand binding affinities to, but lower functional potencies than, the parent compound. PMID:10455328

A collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm based on weighted SimRank and social trust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Chang; Zhang, Butao

2017-05-01

Collaborative filtering is one of the most widely used recommendation technologies, but the data sparsity and cold start problem of collaborative filtering algorithms are difficult to solve effectively. In order to alleviate the problem of data sparsity in collaborative filtering algorithm, firstly, a weighted improved SimRank algorithm is proposed to compute the rating similarity between users in rating data set. The improved SimRank can find more nearest neighbors for target users according to the transmissibility of rating similarity. Then, we build trust network and introduce the calculation of trust degree in the trust relationship data set. Finally, we combine rating similarity and trust to build a comprehensive similarity in order to find more appropriate nearest neighbors for target user. Experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper improves the recommendation precision of the Collaborative algorithm effectively.

An analysis of commitment strategies in planning: The details

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minton, Steven; Bresina, John; Drummond, Mark; Philips, Andrew B.

1991-01-01

We compare the utility of different commitment strategies in planning. Under a 'least commitment strategy', plans are represented as partial orders and operators are ordered only when interactions are detected. We investigate claims of the inherent advantages of planning with partial orders, as compared to planning with total orders. By focusing our analysis on the issue of operator ordering commitment, we are able to carry out a rigorous comparative analysis of two planners. We show that partial-order planning can be more efficient than total-order planning, but we also show that this is not necessarily so.

Linguistic Analysis of the Human Heartbeat Using Frequency and Rank Order Statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Albert C.-C.; Hseu, Shu-Shya; Yien, Huey-Wen; Goldberger, Ary L.; Peng, C.-K.

2003-03-01

Complex physiologic signals may carry unique dynamical signatures that are related to their underlying mechanisms. We present a method based on rank order statistics of symbolic sequences to investigate the profile of different types of physiologic dynamics. We apply this method to heart rate fluctuations, the output of a central physiologic control system. The method robustly discriminates patterns generated from healthy and pathologic states, as well as aging. Furthermore, we observe increased randomness in the heartbeat time series with physiologic aging and pathologic states and also uncover nonrandom patterns in the ventricular response to atrial fibrillation.

Solving the interval type-2 fuzzy polynomial equation using the ranking method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, Nurhakimah Ab.; Abdullah, Lazim

2014-07-01

Polynomial equations with trapezoidal and triangular fuzzy numbers have attracted some interest among researchers in mathematics, engineering and social sciences. There are some methods that have been developed in order to solve these equations. In this study we are interested in introducing the interval type-2 fuzzy polynomial equation and solving it using the ranking method of fuzzy numbers. The ranking method concept was firstly proposed to find real roots of fuzzy polynomial equation. Therefore, the ranking method is applied to find real roots of the interval type-2 fuzzy polynomial equation. We transform the interval type-2 fuzzy polynomial equation to a system of crisp interval type-2 fuzzy polynomial equation. This transformation is performed using the ranking method of fuzzy numbers based on three parameters, namely value, ambiguity and fuzziness. Finally, we illustrate our approach by numerical example.

Scalable Faceted Ranking in Tagging Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlicki, José I.; Alvarez-Hamelin, J. Ignacio; Fierens, Pablo I.

Nowadays, web collaborative tagging systems which allow users to upload, comment on and recommend contents, are growing. Such systems can be represented as graphs where nodes correspond to users and tagged-links to recommendations. In this paper we analyze the problem of computing a ranking of users with respect to a facet described as a set of tags. A straightforward solution is to compute a PageRank-like algorithm on a facet-related graph, but it is not feasible for online computation. We propose an alternative: (i) a ranking for each tag is computed offline on the basis of tag-related subgraphs; (ii) a faceted order is generated online by merging rankings corresponding to all the tags in the facet. Based on the graph analysis of YouTube and Flickr, we show that step (i) is scalable. We also present efficient algorithms for step (ii), which are evaluated by comparing their results with two gold standards.

Prioritizing industries for occupational injury and illness prevention and research, Washington State Workers' compensation claims, 1999-2003.

PubMed

Bonauto, David; Silverstein, Barbara; Adams, Darrin; Foley, Michael

2006-08-01

The objective of this study was to identify high-risk industry groups for effective allocation of occupational safety and health prevention and research resources. We used all compensable Washington state workers' compensation claims to rank North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industry groups by a "prevention index" (PI). The PI is the average of the rank orders of each industry group's claim count and claim incidence rate. Of the 274 industry groups ranked by PI for all compensable workers' compensation claims, the following industry groups ranked the highest: NAICS 2381 Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors, NAICS 4841 General Freight Trucking, and NAICS 2361 Residential Building Construction. Industry group PI rankings are reported for the seven most common costly occupational injury types. Use of a PI can focus prevention and research resources where they can be of most benefit.

An ensemble rank learning approach for gene prioritization.

PubMed

Lee, Po-Feng; Soo, Von-Wun

2013-01-01

Several different computational approaches have been developed to solve the gene prioritization problem. We intend to use the ensemble boosting learning techniques to combine variant computational approaches for gene prioritization in order to improve the overall performance. In particular we add a heuristic weighting function to the Rankboost algorithm according to: 1) the absolute ranks generated by the adopted methods for a certain gene, and 2) the ranking relationship between all gene-pairs from each prioritization result. We select 13 known prostate cancer genes in OMIM database as training set and protein coding gene data in HGNC database as test set. We adopt the leave-one-out strategy for the ensemble rank boosting learning. The experimental results show that our ensemble learning approach outperforms the four gene-prioritization methods in ToppGene suite in the ranking results of the 13 known genes in terms of mean average precision, ROC and AUC measures.

An Optimization-Based Method for Feature Ranking in Nonlinear Regression Problems.

PubMed

Bravi, Luca; Piccialli, Veronica; Sciandrone, Marco

2017-04-01

In this paper, we consider the feature ranking problem, where, given a set of training instances, the task is to associate a score with the features in order to assess their relevance. Feature ranking is a very important tool for decision support systems, and may be used as an auxiliary step of feature selection to reduce the high dimensionality of real-world data. We focus on regression problems by assuming that the process underlying the generated data can be approximated by a continuous function (for instance, a feedforward neural network). We formally state the notion of relevance of a feature by introducing a minimum zero-norm inversion problem of a neural network, which is a nonsmooth, constrained optimization problem. We employ a concave approximation of the zero-norm function, and we define a smooth, global optimization problem to be solved in order to assess the relevance of the features. We present the new feature ranking method based on the solution of instances of the global optimization problem depending on the available training data. Computational experiments on both artificial and real data sets are performed, and point out that the proposed feature ranking method is a valid alternative to existing methods in terms of effectiveness. The obtained results also show that the method is costly in terms of CPU time, and this may be a limitation in the solution of large-dimensional problems.

Validation of SmartRank: A likelihood ratio software for searching national DNA databases with complex DNA profiles.

PubMed

Benschop, Corina C G; van de Merwe, Linda; de Jong, Jeroen; Vanvooren, Vanessa; Kempenaers, Morgane; Kees van der Beek, C P; Barni, Filippo; Reyes, Eusebio López; Moulin, Léa; Pene, Laurent; Haned, Hinda; Sijen, Titia

2017-07-01

Searching a national DNA database with complex and incomplete profiles usually yields very large numbers of possible matches that can present many candidate suspects to be further investigated by the forensic scientist and/or police. Current practice in most forensic laboratories consists of ordering these 'hits' based on the number of matching alleles with the searched profile. Thus, candidate profiles that share the same number of matching alleles are not differentiated and due to the lack of other ranking criteria for the candidate list it may be difficult to discern a true match from the false positives or notice that all candidates are in fact false positives. SmartRank was developed to put forward only relevant candidates and rank them accordingly. The SmartRank software computes a likelihood ratio (LR) for the searched profile and each profile in the DNA database and ranks database entries above a defined LR threshold according to the calculated LR. In this study, we examined for mixed DNA profiles of variable complexity whether the true donors are retrieved, what the number of false positives above an LR threshold is and the ranking position of the true donors. Using 343 mixed DNA profiles over 750 SmartRank searches were performed. In addition, the performance of SmartRank and CODIS were compared regarding DNA database searches and SmartRank was found complementary to CODIS. We also describe the applicable domain of SmartRank and provide guidelines. The SmartRank software is open-source and freely available. Using the best practice guidelines, SmartRank enables obtaining investigative leads in criminal cases lacking a suspect. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Excitation Patterns of Standard and Steered Partial Tripolar Stimuli in Cochlear Implants.

PubMed

Wu, Ching-Chih; Luo, Xin

2016-04-01

Current steering in partial tripolar (pTP) mode has been shown to improve pitch perception and spectral resolution with cochlear implants (CIs). In this mode, a fraction (σ) of the main electrode current is returned within the cochlea and steered between the basal and apical flanking electrodes (with a proportion of α and 1 - α, respectively). Pitch generally decreases when α increases from 0 to 1, although the salience of pitch change varies across CI users. This study aimed to identify the mechanism of pitch changes with pTP-mode current steering and the factors contributing to the intersubject variability in pitch-ranking sensitivity. The electrical fields were measured for steered pTP stimuli on the same main electrode with α = 0, 0.5, and 1 in five implanted ears using electrical field imaging (EFI). The related excitation patterns were also measured physiologically using evoked compound action potential (ECAP) and psychophysically using psychophysical forward masking (PFM). Consistent with the pitch-ranking results in this study, the EFI, ECAP, and PFM centroids shifted apically with increasing α. An apical shift was also observed for the PFM peak but not for the EFI or ECAP peak. The pattern width was similar with different α values within a given measure (e.g., EFI, ECAP, or PFM), but the ECAP patterns were broader than the EFI and PFM patterns, possibly because ECAP was measured with smaller σ values than EFI and PFM. The amount of pattern shift with α depended on σ (i.e., the total amount of current used for steering) but was not correlated with the pitch-ranking sensitivity across subjects. The results revealed that the pitch changes elicited by pTP-mode current steering were not only driven by the shifts of excitation centroid.

The longitudinal interplay of affective and cognitive empathy within and between adolescents and mothers.

PubMed

van Lissa, Caspar J; Hawk, Skyler T; de Wied, Minet; Koot, Hans M; van Lier, Pol; Meeus, Wim

2014-04-01

This 4-year study examined longitudinal interplays between adolescents' and mothers' self-reported empathic concern (EC) and perspective taking (PT). We investigated (a) whether adolescents' EC predicted rank-order change in their PT over time, or vice versa; (b) whether mothers' empathy predicted relative increases in adolescents' empathy; (c) whether adolescent gender moderated the over-time links from mothers' to adolescents' empathy; and (d) whether the rank-order stability of EC and PT over time differed within and between respondents. Adolescents' EC positively predicted their PT over time, but not vice versa. Mothers' PT positively predicted adolescent PT over time for girls, but not for boys. The rank-order stability of adolescents' EC was greater than their PT. Maternal PT and EC were equally stable and were more stable than in adolescents. This study contributes the first empirical evidence that the developmental order of adolescents' empathy runs from affective to cognitive empathy, in contrast to prior theoretical and experimental literature that has emphasized the reverse direction. It further provides the 1st longitudinal evidence of intergenerational empathy transmission. These findings support the notion that adolescence is a developmentally sensitive period for PT. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Hierarchical structure of moral stages assessed by a sorting task.

PubMed

Boom, J; Brugman, D; van der Heijden, P G

2001-01-01

Following criticism of Kohlberg's theory of moral judgment, an empirical re-examination of hierarchical stage structure was desirable. Utilizing Piaget's concept of reflective abstraction as a basis, the hierarchical stage structure was investigated using a new method. Study participants (553 Dutch university students and 196 Russian high school students) sorted statements in terms of moral sophistication. These statements were typical for the different stages of moral development as defined in Colby and Kohlberg. The rank ordering performed by participants confirmed the hypotheses. First, despite large individual variation, the ordering of the statements that gave the best fit revealed that each consecutive Kohlbergian stage was perceived to be more morally sophisticated. Second, the lower the stage as represented by the items, the higher the agreement among the participants in their ranking; and the higher the stage as represented by the items, the lower the agreement among the participants in the rankings. Moreover, the pivotal point depended on the developmental characteristics of the sample, which demonstrated a developmental effect: The ordering of statements representative of moral stages below one's own current stage was straightforward, whereas the ordering of statements above one's own stage was difficult. It was concluded that the Piagetian idea of reflective abstraction can be used successfully to operationalize and measure the hierarchical nature of moral development.

Combinatoric Models of Information Retrieval Ranking Methods and Performance Measures for Weakly-Ordered Document Collections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Church, Lewis

2010-01-01

This dissertation answers three research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of a combinatoric measure, based on the Average Search Length (ASL), that performs the same as a probabilistic version of the ASL?; (2) Does the combinatoric ASL measure produce the same performance result as the one that is obtained by ranking a collection of…

76 FR 36608 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Order Granting Approval of Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-22

.... This model will enable the Sub-Adviser to evaluate, rank, and select the appropriate mix of investments... becoming, risky. The Sub-Adviser will use a quantitative metric to rank and select the appropriate mix of... imposes a duty of due diligence on its Equity Trading Permit Holders to learn the essential facts relating...

76 FR 23334 - Public Land Order No. 7763; Partial Revocation of Public Land Order No. 3708; Alaska

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-26

...] Public Land Order No. 7763; Partial Revocation of Public Land Order No. 3708; Alaska AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Public Land Order. SUMMARY: This order revokes a Public Land Order... all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws, for the protection...

Comparison of various multifractal approaches to analyze the intermittent magnetic fluctuations observed in the Earth's magnetospheric cusp

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamy, Hervé; Echim, Marius; Chang, Tom

2014-05-01

Several approaches exist to compute the multifractal characteristics of an intermittent set of fluctuations. First, the classical method based on the computation of the partition function uses the full set of fluctuations . Since it is dominated by the more numerous fluctuations of small amplitudes, this method can mask the fractal characteristics of minor fluctuations of much larger amplitude. To solve this issue, a new method was developed by Chang & Wu (2008) : the Rank-Ordered Multifractal Analysis (ROMA) The ROMA method offers a natural connection between the one-parameter monofractal scaling idea and the multifractal phenomenon of intermittency. The key-element in ROMA is to find s(Y), the spectrum of the scaling exponents, and Ps(Y), the scaled Probability Distribution Function (PDFs), from the raw PDFs of the variable X at various scales tau , P(X,tau), with the following scaling: P(X,tau) tau ^s(Y)=Ps(Y) with Y= X/tau ^s(Y) The first (direct) method is to use range-limited structure functions in a sufficiently small range of the scaled variable Y and search for the value of monofroctal exponent s(Y). A drawback of this approach is that the range of Y must be large enough to ensure that the statistics is meaningful. As a consequence, some cross-over behavior between fluctuations with different monofractal exponents can lead to an ambiguity with several solutions s(Y) for some ranges of Y. Also the multifractal spectrum produced is step-wise discontinuous. To overcome these difficulties, Wu & Chang (2011) have suggested a refined method where a value of the parameter s is assumed and the corresponding value of Y ensuring a collapse of the raw PDFs is searched for. The advantage of this latter approach is that s(Y) and Ps(Y) can be obtained for single values of Y. The two ROMA methods and the partition function method are used on a set of intermittent magnetic field fluctuations observed by the Cluster spacecraft in the Earth's magnetospheric cusp. Results are presented and discussed. Research supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no 313038/STORM. TC was also partially supported by the US National Science Foundation. T. Chang and C.C. Wu, Rank-Ordered Multifractal Spectrum for Intermittent Fluctuations, Phys. Rev. E77,045401(R), 2008 CC. Wu and T. Chang, Application of rank-ordered multifractal analysis (ROMA) to intermittent fluctuations in 3D turbulent flows, 2D MHD simulation and solar wind data, to be submitted to the special issue "Multifractals and Intermittent Turbulence in the Solar-Terrestrial System", Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 2011.

Spatial complexity of solutions of higher order partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukavica, Igor

2004-03-01

We address spatial oscillation properties of solutions of higher order parabolic partial differential equations. In the case of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation ut + uxxxx + uxx + u ux = 0, we prove that for solutions u on the global attractor, the quantity card {x epsi [0, L]:u(x, t) = lgr}, where L > 0 is the spatial period, can be bounded by a polynomial function of L for all \\lambda\\in{\\Bbb R} . A similar property is proven for a general higher order partial differential equation u_t+(-1)^{s}\\partial_x^{2s}u+ \\sum_{k=0}^{2s-1}v_k(x,t)\\partial_x^k u =0 .

The highest-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn

PubMed Central

Shimmura, Tsuyoshi; Ohashi, Shosei; Yoshimura, Takashi

2015-01-01

The “cock-a-doodle-doo” crowing of roosters, which symbolizes the break of dawn in many cultures, is controlled by the circadian clock. When one rooster announces the break of dawn, others in the vicinity immediately follow. Chickens are highly social animals, and they develop a linear and fixed hierarchy in small groups. We found that when chickens were housed in small groups, the top-ranking rooster determined the timing of predawn crowing. Specifically, the top-ranking rooster always started to crow first, followed by its subordinates, in descending order of social rank. When the top-ranking rooster was physically removed from a group, the second-ranking rooster initiated crowing. The presence of a dominant rooster significantly reduced the number of predawn crows in subordinates. However, the number of crows induced by external stimuli was independent of social rank, confirming that subordinates have the ability to crow. Although the timing of subordinates’ predawn crowing was strongly dependent on that of the top-ranking rooster, free-running periods of body temperature rhythms differed among individuals, and crowing rhythm did not entrain to a crowing sound stimulus. These results indicate that in a group situation, the top-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn, and that subordinate roosters are patient enough to wait for the top-ranking rooster’s first crow every morning and thus compromise their circadian clock for social reasons. PMID:26203594

Ligand- and cell-dependent determinants of internalization and cAMP modulation by delta opioid receptor (DOR) agonists

PubMed Central

Charfi, Iness; Nagi, Karim; Mnie-Filali, Ouissame; Thibault, Dominic; Balboni, Gianfranco; Schiller, Peter W.; Trudeau, Louis-Eric

2014-01-01

Signaling bias refers to G protein-coupled receptor ligand ability to preferentially activate one type of signal over another. Bias to evoke signaling as opposed to sequestration has been proposed as a predictor of opioid ligand potential for generating tolerance. Here we measured whether delta opioid receptor agonists preferentially inhibited cyclase activity over internalization in HEK cells. Efficacy (τ) and affinity (KA) values were estimated from functional data and bias was calculated from efficiency coefficients (log τ/KA). This approach better represented the data as compared to alternative methods that estimate bias exclusively from τ values. Log (τ/KA) coefficients indicated that SNC-80 and UFP-512 promoted cyclase inhibition more efficiently than DOR internalization as compared to DPDPE (bias factor for SNC-80: 50 and for UFP-512: 132). Molecular determinants of internalization were different in HEK293 cells and neurons with βarrs contributing to internalization in both cell types, while PKC and GRK2 activities were only involved in neurons. Rank orders of ligand ability to engage different internalization mechanisms in neurons were compared to rank order of Emax values for cyclase assays in HEK cells. Comparison revealed a significant reversal in rank order for cyclase Emax values and βarr-dependent internalization in neurons, indicating that these responses were ligand-specific. Despite this evidence, and because kinases involved in internalization were not the same across cellular backgrounds, it is not possible to assert if the magnitude and nature of bias revealed by rank orders of maximal responses is the same as the one measured in HEK cells. PMID:24022593

MHD generator electrode development. Summary report, July 1, 1981-September 30, 1982

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rossing, B.R.; Buckman, R.W. Jr.; Pouchot, W.D.

Emphasis on this program was the development of and understanding wastage mechanism(s) of metallic electrodes which may be suitable alternatives to platinum anode material for use in long-term open cycle, coal-fired MHD generator operations. The laboratory tests simulate both modes of material wastage observed in MHD electrode operation; i.e., arc erosion (melting/vaporization) and electrochemical corrosion. Based on experimental results from the electrochemical tests at 1473/sup 0/K, the rank order listing of the materials tested for anode applications were platinum, E-Brite 26-1 modified with a five percent addition of platinum, chromium, IN 601, E-Brite 26-1, and 330 stainless steel ranked inmore » decreasing order. The rank order listing based on the arc erosion test was platinum, chromium, E-Brite 26-1, 330 stainless steel, and IN 601. The relative arc erosion resistance of materials based on the AVCO Mark VII generator test results gave a rank order of platinum, 330 stainless steel, IN 601, and E-Brite 26-1. Engineering tests under simulated open-cycle coal-fired MHD operating conditions were performed in the 500 kW Westinghouse Electrode System Test Facility (WESTF). Tests were conducted on candidate metallic anode materials (cold wall) and ceramic anode (hot wall) materials. A ten-hour duration cold wall slagging test was conducted on platinum, E-Brite 26-1, 330 stainless steel and IN 601 and the results were similar to those obtained for those materials in the AVCO Mark VII generator tests. Non-slagging, super hot (>1700/sup 0/C) wall hafnia-rare earth oxide electrodes were tested in a sulfurous, western coal-fired MHD environment. All four ceramic electrode pairs were destroyed. 20 references.« less

Permutation tests for goodness-of-fit testing of mathematical models to experimental data.

PubMed

Fişek, M Hamit; Barlas, Zeynep

2013-03-01

This paper presents statistical procedures for improving the goodness-of-fit testing of theoretical models to data obtained from laboratory experiments. We use an experimental study in the expectation states research tradition which has been carried out in the "standardized experimental situation" associated with the program to illustrate the application of our procedures. We briefly review the expectation states research program and the fundamentals of resampling statistics as we develop our procedures in the resampling context. The first procedure we develop is a modification of the chi-square test which has been the primary statistical tool for assessing goodness of fit in the EST research program, but has problems associated with its use. We discuss these problems and suggest a procedure to overcome them. The second procedure we present, the "Average Absolute Deviation" test, is a new test and is proposed as an alternative to the chi square test, as being simpler and more informative. The third and fourth procedures are permutation versions of Jonckheere's test for ordered alternatives, and Kendall's tau(b), a rank order correlation coefficient. The fifth procedure is a new rank order goodness-of-fit test, which we call the "Deviation from Ideal Ranking" index, which we believe may be more useful than other rank order tests for assessing goodness-of-fit of models to experimental data. The application of these procedures to the sample data is illustrated in detail. We then present another laboratory study from an experimental paradigm different from the expectation states paradigm - the "network exchange" paradigm, and describe how our procedures may be applied to this data set. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Combining evidence and values in priority setting: testing the balance sheet method in a low-income country.

PubMed

Makundi, Emmanuel; Kapiriri, Lydia; Norheim, Ole Frithjof

2007-09-24

Procedures for priority setting need to incorporate both scientific evidence and public values. The aim of this study was to test out a model for priority setting which incorporates both scientific evidence and public values, and to explore use of evidence by a selection of stakeholders and to study reasons for the relative ranking of health care interventions in a setting of extreme resource scarcity. Systematic search for and assessment of relevant evidence for priority setting in a low-income country. Development of a balance sheet according to Eddy's explicit method. Eight group interviews (n-85), using a modified nominal group technique for eliciting individual and group rankings of a given set of health interventions. The study procedure made it possible to compare the groups' ranking before and after all the evidence was provided to participants. A rank deviation is significant if the rank order of the same intervention differed by two or more points on the ordinal scale. A comparison between the initial rank and the final rank (before deliberation) showed a rank deviation of 67%. The difference between the initial rank and the final rank after discussion and voting gave a rank deviation of 78%. Evidence-based and deliberative decision-making does change priorities significantly in an experimental setting. Our use of the balance sheet method was meant as a demonstration project, but could if properly developed be feasible for health planners, experts and health workers, although more work is needed before it can be used for laypersons.

Large scale affinity calculations of cyclodextrin host-guest complexes: Understanding the role of reorganization in the molecular recognition process

PubMed Central

Wickstrom, Lauren; He, Peng; Gallicchio, Emilio; Levy, Ronald M.

2013-01-01

Host-guest inclusion complexes are useful models for understanding the structural and energetic aspects of molecular recognition. Due to their small size relative to much larger protein-ligand complexes, converged results can be obtained rapidly for these systems thus offering the opportunity to more reliably study fundamental aspects of the thermodynamics of binding. In this work, we have performed a large scale binding affinity survey of 57 β-cyclodextrin (CD) host guest systems using the binding energy distribution analysis method (BEDAM) with implicit solvation (OPLS-AA/AGBNP2). Converged estimates of the standard binding free energies are obtained for these systems by employing techniques such as parallel Hamitionian replica exchange molecular dynamics, conformational reservoirs and multistate free energy estimators. Good agreement with experimental measurements is obtained in terms of both numerical accuracy and affinity rankings. Overall, average effective binding energies reproduce affinity rank ordering better than the calculated binding affinities, even though calculated binding free energies, which account for effects such as conformational strain and entropy loss upon binding, provide lower root mean square errors when compared to measurements. Interestingly, we find that binding free energies are superior rank order predictors for a large subset containing the most flexible guests. The results indicate that, while challenging, accurate modeling of reorganization effects can lead to ligand design models of superior predictive power for rank ordering relative to models based only on ligand-receptor interaction energies. PMID:25147485

Rank restriction for the variational calculation of two-electron reduced density matrices of many-electron atoms and molecules

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Naftchi-Ardebili, Kasra; Hau, Nathania W.; Mazziotti, David A.

2011-11-15

Variational minimization of the ground-state energy as a function of the two-electron reduced density matrix (2-RDM), constrained by necessary N-representability conditions, provides a polynomial-scaling approach to studying strongly correlated molecules without computing the many-electron wave function. Here we introduce a route to enhancing necessary conditions for N representability through rank restriction of the 2-RDM. Rather than adding computationally more expensive N-representability conditions, we directly enhance the accuracy of two-particle (2-positivity) conditions through rank restriction, which removes degrees of freedom in the 2-RDM that are not sufficiently constrained. We select the rank of the particle-hole 2-RDM by deriving the ranks associatedmore » with model wave functions, including both mean-field and antisymmetrized geminal power (AGP) wave functions. Because the 2-positivity conditions are exact for quantum systems with AGP ground states, the rank of the particle-hole 2-RDM from the AGP ansatz provides a minimum for its value in variational 2-RDM calculations of general quantum systems. To implement the rank-restricted conditions, we extend a first-order algorithm for large-scale semidefinite programming. The rank-restricted conditions significantly improve the accuracy of the energies; for example, the percentages of correlation energies recovered for HF, CO, and N{sub 2} improve from 115.2%, 121.7%, and 121.5% without rank restriction to 97.8%, 101.1%, and 100.0% with rank restriction. Similar results are found at both equilibrium and nonequilibrium geometries. While more accurate, the rank-restricted N-representability conditions are less expensive computationally than the full-rank conditions.« less

The Albanian National Question and the Myth of Greater Albania

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

This manuscript is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Strategic Studies Degree. The views expressed in this student ...accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The views expressed in this student ...school students , conducted by the Greek National Centre of Social Research, who were asked to rank nations according to their preferences showed

The Impact of Operations Tempo (OPTEMPO) on Intentions to Depart the Military. Does the Increase of OPTEMPO Cause Action

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

was introduced, Vroom (1964) performed a partial review of the turnover literature. His modest review of the literature found a consistent...for the moderators job satisfaction and organizational commitment while controlling for rank and gender. Linear regressions were used to determine...if the relationship between OPTEMPO and turnover intentions were significant. When accounting for job satisfaction and organizational commitment the

Neuro-fuzzy computing for vibration-based damage localization and severity estimation in an experimental wind turbine blade with superimposed operational effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoell, Simon; Omenzetter, Piotr

2016-04-01

Fueled by increasing demand for carbon neutral energy, erections of ever larger wind turbines (WTs), with WT blades (WTBs) with higher flexibilities and lower buckling capacities lead to increasing operation and maintenance costs. This can be counteracted with efficient structural health monitoring (SHM), which allows scheduling maintenance actions according to the structural state and preventing dramatic failures. The present study proposes a novel multi-step approach for vibration-based structural damage localization and severity estimation for application in operating WTs. First, partial autocorrelation coefficients (PACCs) are estimated from vibrational responses. Second, principal component analysis is applied to PACCs from the healthy structure in order to calculate scores. Then, the scores are ranked with respect to their ability to differentiate different damage scenarios. This ranking information is used for constructing hierarchical adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (HANFISs), where cross-validation is used to identify optimal numbers of hierarchy levels. Different HANFISs are created for the purposes of structural damage localization and severity estimation. For demonstrating the applicability of the approach, experimental data are superimposed with signals from numerical simulations to account for characteristics of operational noise. For the physical experiments, a small scale WTB is excited with a domestic fan and damage scenarios are introduced non-destructively by attaching small masses. Numerical simulations are also performed for a representative fully functional small WT operating in turbulent wind. The obtained results are promising for future applications of vibration-based SHM to facilitate improved safety and reliability of WTs at lower costs.

Authentication of vegetable oils on the basis of their physico-chemical properties with the aid of chemometrics.

PubMed

Zhang, Guowen; Ni, Yongnian; Churchill, Jane; Kokot, Serge

2006-09-15

In food production, reliable analytical methods for confirmation of purity or degree of spoilage are required by growers, food quality assessors, processors, and consumers. Seven parameters of physico-chemical properties, such as acid number, colority, density, refractive index, moisture and volatility, saponification value and peroxide value, were measured for quality and adulterated soybean, as well as quality and rancid rapeseed oils. Chemometrics methods were then applied for qualitative and quantitative discrimination and prediction of the oils by methods such exploratory principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS), radial basis function-artificial neural networks (RBF-ANN), and multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDM), PROMETHEE and GAIA. In general, the soybean and rapeseed oils were discriminated by PCA, and the two spoilt oils behaved differently with the rancid rapeseed samples exhibiting more object scatter on the PC-scores plot, than the adulterated soybean oil. For the PLS and RBF-ANN prediction methods, suitable training models were devised, which were able to predict satisfactorily the category of the four different oil samples in the verification set. Rank ordering with the use of MCDM models indicated that the oil types can be discriminated on the PROMETHEE II scale. For the first time, it was demonstrated how ranking of oil objects with the use of PROMETHEE and GAIA could be utilized as a versatile indicator of quality performance of products on the basis of a standard selected by the stakeholder. In principle, this approach provides a very flexible method for assessment of product quality directly from the measured data.

A new multicriteria risk mapping approach based on a multiattribute frontier concept.

PubMed

Yemshanov, Denys; Koch, Frank H; Ben-Haim, Yakov; Downing, Marla; Sapio, Frank; Siltanen, Marty

2013-09-01

Invasive species risk maps provide broad guidance on where to allocate resources for pest monitoring and regulation, but they often present individual risk components (such as climatic suitability, host abundance, or introduction potential) as independent entities. These independent risk components are integrated using various multicriteria analysis techniques that typically require prior knowledge of the risk components' importance. Such information is often nonexistent for many invasive pests. This study proposes a new approach for building integrated risk maps using the principle of a multiattribute efficient frontier and analyzing the partial order of elements of a risk map as distributed in multidimensional criteria space. The integrated risks are estimated as subsequent multiattribute frontiers in dimensions of individual risk criteria. We demonstrate the approach with the example of Agrilus biguttatus Fabricius, a high-risk pest that may threaten North American oak forests in the near future. Drawing on U.S. and Canadian data, we compare the performance of the multiattribute ranking against a multicriteria linear weighted averaging technique in the presence of uncertainties, using the concept of robustness from info-gap decision theory. The results show major geographic hotspots where the consideration of tradeoffs between multiple risk components changes integrated risk rankings. Both methods delineate similar geographical regions of high and low risks. Overall, aggregation based on a delineation of multiattribute efficient frontiers can be a useful tool to prioritize risks for anticipated invasive pests, which usually have an extremely poor prior knowledge base. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Positive surgical margins in robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: a multi-institutional analysis of oncologic outcomes (leave no tumor behind).

PubMed

Khalifeh, Ali; Kaouk, Jihad H; Bhayani, Sam; Rogers, Craig; Stifelman, Michael; Tanagho, Youssef S; Kumar, Ramesh; Gorin, Michael A; Sivarajan, Ganesh; Samarasekera, Dinesh; Allaf, Mohamad E

2013-11-01

Expanding indications for robot-assisted partial nephrectomy raise major oncologic concerns for positive surgical margins. Previous reports showed no correlation between positive surgical margins and oncologic outcomes. We report a multi-institutional experience with the oncologic outcomes of positive surgical margins on robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. Pathological and clinical followup data were reviewed from an institutional review board approved, prospectively maintained joint database from 5 institutions. Tumors with malignant pathology were isolated and statistically analyzed for demographics and oncologic followup. The log rank test was used to compare recurrence-free and metastasis-free survival between patients with positive and negative surgical margins. The proportional hazards method was used to assess the influence of multiple factors, including positive surgical margins, on recurrence and metastasis. A total of 943 robot-assisted partial nephrectomies for malignant tumors were successfully completed. Of the patients 21 (2.2%) had positive surgical margins on final pathological assessment, resulting in 2 groups, including the 21 with positive surgical margins and 922 with negative surgical margins. Positive surgical margin cases had higher recurrence and metastasis rates (p<0.001). As projected by the Kaplan-Meier method in the population as a whole at followup out to 63.6 months, 5-year recurrence-free and metastasis-free survival was 94.8% and 97.5%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in recurrence-free and metastasis-free survival between patients with positive and negative surgical margins (log rank test<0.001), which favored negative surgical margins. Positive surgical margins showed an 18.4-fold higher HR for recurrence when adjusted for multiple tumors, tumor size, tumor growth pattern and pathological stage. Positive surgical margins on final pathological evaluation increase the HR of recurrence and metastasis. In addition to pathological and molecular tumor characteristics, this should be considered to plan appropriate management. Copyright © 2013 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

78 FR 28894 - Public Land Order No. 7814; Partial Revocation of Bureau of Reclamation Order Dated July 11, 1955...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-16

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [NEW 149341 and NEW 179095] Public Land Order No. 7814; Partial Revocation of Bureau of Reclamation Order Dated July 11, 1955, and Transfer of... Land Order. SUMMARY: This order revokes in-part a withdrawal created by a Bureau of Reclamation Order...

Resolution of ranking hierarchies in directed networks.

PubMed

Letizia, Elisa; Barucca, Paolo; Lillo, Fabrizio

2018-01-01

Identifying hierarchies and rankings of nodes in directed graphs is fundamental in many applications such as social network analysis, biology, economics, and finance. A recently proposed method identifies the hierarchy by finding the ordered partition of nodes which minimises a score function, termed agony. This function penalises the links violating the hierarchy in a way depending on the strength of the violation. To investigate the resolution of ranking hierarchies we introduce an ensemble of random graphs, the Ranked Stochastic Block Model. We find that agony may fail to identify hierarchies when the structure is not strong enough and the size of the classes is small with respect to the whole network. We analytically characterise the resolution threshold and we show that an iterated version of agony can partly overcome this resolution limit.

Resolution of ranking hierarchies in directed networks

PubMed Central

Barucca, Paolo; Lillo, Fabrizio

2018-01-01

Identifying hierarchies and rankings of nodes in directed graphs is fundamental in many applications such as social network analysis, biology, economics, and finance. A recently proposed method identifies the hierarchy by finding the ordered partition of nodes which minimises a score function, termed agony. This function penalises the links violating the hierarchy in a way depending on the strength of the violation. To investigate the resolution of ranking hierarchies we introduce an ensemble of random graphs, the Ranked Stochastic Block Model. We find that agony may fail to identify hierarchies when the structure is not strong enough and the size of the classes is small with respect to the whole network. We analytically characterise the resolution threshold and we show that an iterated version of agony can partly overcome this resolution limit. PMID:29394278

Low-rank coal study: national needs for resource development. Volume 3. Technology evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1980-11-01

Technologies applicable to the development and use of low-rank coals are analyzed in order to identify specific needs for research, development, and demonstration (RD and D). Major sections of the report address the following technologies: extraction; transportation; preparation, handling and storage; conventional combustion and environmental control technology; gasification; liquefaction; and pyrolysis. Each of these sections contains an introduction and summary of the key issues with regard to subbituminous coal and lignite; description of all relevant technology, both existing and under development; a description of related environmental control technology; an evaluation of the effects of low-rank coal properties on the technology;more » and summaries of current commercial status of the technology and/or current RD and D projects relevant to low-rank coals.« less

Evaluation of sites for the location of WEEE recycling plants in Spain.

PubMed

Queiruga, Dolores; Walther, Grit; González-Benito, Javier; Spengler, Thomas

2008-01-01

As a consequence of new European legal regulations for treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), recycling plants have to be installed in Spain. In this context, this contribution describes a method for ranking of Spanish municipalities according to their appropriateness for the installation of these plants. In order to rank the alternatives, the discrete multi-criteria decision method PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organisation METHod for Enrichment Evaluations), combined with a surveys of experts, is applied. As existing plants are located in North and East Spain, a significant concentration of top ranking municipalities can be observed in South and Central Spain. The method does not present an optimal structure of the future recycling system, but provides a selection of good alternatives for potential locations of recycling plants.

Planning actions in robot automated operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Das, A.

1988-01-01

Action planning in robot automated operations requires intelligent task level programming. Invoking intelligence necessiates a typical blackboard based architecture, where, a plan is a vector between the start frame and the goal frame. This vector is composed of partially ordered bases. A partial ordering of bases presents good and bad sides in action planning. Partial ordering demands the use of a temporal data base management system.

A scoring mechanism for the rank aggregation of network robustness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yazdani, Alireza; Dueñas-Osorio, Leonardo; Li, Qilin

2013-10-01

To date, a number of metrics have been proposed to quantify inherent robustness of network topology against failures. However, each single metric usually only offers a limited view of network vulnerability to different types of random failures and targeted attacks. When applied to certain network configurations, different metrics rank network topology robustness in different orders which is rather inconsistent, and no single metric fully characterizes network robustness against different modes of failure. To overcome such inconsistency, this work proposes a multi-metric approach as the basis of evaluating aggregate ranking of network topology robustness. This is based on simultaneous utilization of a minimal set of distinct robustness metrics that are standardized so to give way to a direct comparison of vulnerability across networks with different sizes and configurations, hence leading to an initial scoring of inherent topology robustness. Subsequently, based on the inputs of initial scoring a rank aggregation method is employed to allocate an overall ranking of robustness to each network topology. A discussion is presented in support of the presented multi-metric approach and its applications to more realistically assess and rank network topology robustness.

Second-order advantage obtained from standard addition first-order instrumental data and multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares. Calculation of the feasible bands of results.

PubMed

Mohseni, Naimeh; Bahram, Morteza; Olivieri, Alejandro C

2014-03-25

In order to achieve the second-order advantage, second-order data per sample is usually required, e.g., kinetic-spectrophotometric data. In this study, instead of monitoring the time evolution of spectra (and collecting the kinetic-spectrophotometric data) replicate spectra are used to build a virtual second order data. This data matrix (replicate mode×λ) is rank deficient. Augmentation of these data with standard addition data [or standard sample(s)] will break the rank deficiency, making the quantification of the analyte of interest possible. The MCR-ALS algorithm was applied for the resolution and quantitation of the analyte in both simulated and experimental data sets. In order to evaluate the rotational ambiguity in the retrieved solutions, the MCR-BANDS algorithm was employed. It has been shown that the reliability of the quantitative results significantly depends on the amount of spectral overlap in the spectral region of occurrence of the compound of interest and the remaining constituent(s). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ranking Surgical Residency Programs: Reputation Survey or Outcomes Measures?

PubMed

Wilson, Adam B; Torbeck, Laura J; Dunnington, Gary L

2015-01-01

The release of general surgery residency program rankings by Doximity and U.S. News & World Report accentuates the need to define and establish measurable standards of program quality. This study evaluated the extent to which program rankings based solely on peer nominations correlated with familiar program outcomes measures. Publicly available data were collected for all 254 general surgery residency programs. To generate a rudimentary outcomes-based program ranking, surgery programs were rank-ordered according to an average percentile rank that was calculated using board pass rates and the prevalence of alumni publications. A Kendall τ-b rank correlation computed the linear association between program rankings based on reputation alone and those derived from outcomes measures to validate whether reputation was a reasonable surrogate for globally judging program quality. For the 218 programs with complete data eligible for analysis, the mean board pass rate was 72% with a standard deviation of 14%. A total of 60 programs were placed in the 75th percentile or above for the number of publications authored by program alumni. The correlational analysis reported a significant correlation of 0.428, indicating only a moderate association between programs ranked by outcomes measures and those ranked according to reputation. Seventeen programs that were ranked in the top 30 according to reputation were also ranked in the top 30 based on outcomes measures. This study suggests that reputation alone does not fully capture a representative snapshot of a program's quality. Rather, the use of multiple quantifiable indicators and attributes unique to programs ought to be given more consideration when assigning ranks to denote program quality. It is advised that the interpretation and subsequent use of program rankings be met with caution until further studies can rigorously demonstrate best practices for awarding program standings. Copyright © 2015 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An R package for analyzing and modeling ranking data

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background In medical informatics, psychology, market research and many other fields, researchers often need to analyze and model ranking data. However, there is no statistical software that provides tools for the comprehensive analysis of ranking data. Here, we present pmr, an R package for analyzing and modeling ranking data with a bundle of tools. The pmr package enables descriptive statistics (mean rank, pairwise frequencies, and marginal matrix), Analytic Hierarchy Process models (with Saaty’s and Koczkodaj’s inconsistencies), probability models (Luce model, distance-based model, and rank-ordered logit model), and the visualization of ranking data with multidimensional preference analysis. Results Examples of the use of package pmr are given using a real ranking dataset from medical informatics, in which 566 Hong Kong physicians ranked the top five incentives (1: competitive pressures; 2: increased savings; 3: government regulation; 4: improved efficiency; 5: improved quality care; 6: patient demand; 7: financial incentives) to the computerization of clinical practice. The mean rank showed that item 4 is the most preferred item and item 3 is the least preferred item, and significance difference was found between physicians’ preferences with respect to their monthly income. A multidimensional preference analysis identified two dimensions that explain 42% of the total variance. The first can be interpreted as the overall preference of the seven items (labeled as “internal/external”), and the second dimension can be interpreted as their overall variance of (labeled as “push/pull factors”). Various statistical models were fitted, and the best were found to be weighted distance-based models with Spearman’s footrule distance. Conclusions In this paper, we presented the R package pmr, the first package for analyzing and modeling ranking data. The package provides insight to users through descriptive statistics of ranking data. Users can also visualize ranking data by applying a thought multidimensional preference analysis. Various probability models for ranking data are also included, allowing users to choose that which is most suitable to their specific situations. PMID:23672645

An R package for analyzing and modeling ranking data.

PubMed

Lee, Paul H; Yu, Philip L H

2013-05-14

In medical informatics, psychology, market research and many other fields, researchers often need to analyze and model ranking data. However, there is no statistical software that provides tools for the comprehensive analysis of ranking data. Here, we present pmr, an R package for analyzing and modeling ranking data with a bundle of tools. The pmr package enables descriptive statistics (mean rank, pairwise frequencies, and marginal matrix), Analytic Hierarchy Process models (with Saaty's and Koczkodaj's inconsistencies), probability models (Luce model, distance-based model, and rank-ordered logit model), and the visualization of ranking data with multidimensional preference analysis. Examples of the use of package pmr are given using a real ranking dataset from medical informatics, in which 566 Hong Kong physicians ranked the top five incentives (1: competitive pressures; 2: increased savings; 3: government regulation; 4: improved efficiency; 5: improved quality care; 6: patient demand; 7: financial incentives) to the computerization of clinical practice. The mean rank showed that item 4 is the most preferred item and item 3 is the least preferred item, and significance difference was found between physicians' preferences with respect to their monthly income. A multidimensional preference analysis identified two dimensions that explain 42% of the total variance. The first can be interpreted as the overall preference of the seven items (labeled as "internal/external"), and the second dimension can be interpreted as their overall variance of (labeled as "push/pull factors"). Various statistical models were fitted, and the best were found to be weighted distance-based models with Spearman's footrule distance. In this paper, we presented the R package pmr, the first package for analyzing and modeling ranking data. The package provides insight to users through descriptive statistics of ranking data. Users can also visualize ranking data by applying a thought multidimensional preference analysis. Various probability models for ranking data are also included, allowing users to choose that which is most suitable to their specific situations.

Rank order scaling of pictorial depth

PubMed Central

van Doorn, Andrea; Koenderink, Jan; Wagemans, Johan

2011-01-01

We address the topic of “pictorial depth” in cases of pictures that are unlike photographic renderings. The most basic measure of “depth” is no doubt that of depth order. We establish depth order through the pairwise depth-comparison method, involving all pairs from a set of 49 fiducial points. The pictorial space for this study was evoked by a capriccio (imaginary landscape) by Francesco Guardi (1712–1793). In such a drawing pictorial space is suggested by the artist through a small set of conventional depth cues. As a result typical Western observers tend to agree largely in their visual awareness when looking at such art. We rank depths for locations that are not on a single surface and far apart in pictorial space. We find that observers resolve about 40 distinct depth layers and agree largely in this. From a previous experiment we have metrical data for the same observers. The rank correlations between the results are high. Perhaps surprisingly, we find no correlation between the number of distinct depth layers and the total metrical depth range. Thus, the relation between subjective magnitude and discrimination threshold fails to hold for pictorial depth. PMID:23145256

Generalized Higher Order Orthogonal Iteration for Tensor Learning and Decomposition.

PubMed

Liu, Yuanyuan; Shang, Fanhua; Fan, Wei; Cheng, James; Cheng, Hong

2016-12-01

Low-rank tensor completion (LRTC) has successfully been applied to a wide range of real-world problems. Despite the broad, successful applications, existing LRTC methods may become very slow or even not applicable for large-scale problems. To address this issue, a novel core tensor trace-norm minimization (CTNM) method is proposed for simultaneous tensor learning and decomposition, and has a much lower computational complexity. In our solution, first, the equivalence relation of trace norm of a low-rank tensor and its core tensor is induced. Second, the trace norm of the core tensor is used to replace that of the whole tensor, which leads to two much smaller scale matrix TNM problems. Finally, an efficient alternating direction augmented Lagrangian method is developed to solve our problems. Our CTNM formulation needs only O((R N +NRI)log(√{I N })) observations to reliably recover an N th-order I×I×…×I tensor of n -rank (r,r,…,r) , compared with O(rI N-1 ) observations required by those tensor TNM methods ( I > R ≥ r ). Extensive experimental results show that CTNM is usually more accurate than them, and is orders of magnitude faster.

Measuring Communities of Faith: A Preliminary Investigation

PubMed Central

Krause, Neal; Hayward, R. David

2013-01-01

Numerous references are made in the literature to communities of faith, yet there have been relatively few efforts to measure them empirically. The purpose of this study is to address this gap in the literature by estimating a higher-order confirmatory factor model that consists of two tiers. Seven dimensions of church-based social support make up the first tier: emotional support received from rank-and-file church members, emotional support given to fellow church members, tangible support received from rank-and-file church members, tangible support given to fellow congregants, spiritual support received from fellow church members, emotional support received from a pastor, and tangible support received from a pastor. It is hypothesized that these first-order constructs are driven by a higher-order latent variable that denotes a community of faith. Data from a nationwide survey reveal that, for the sample taken as a whole, emotional support represents the way in which a community of faith is most likely to be manifest while tangible support is a less critical component. Moreover, the results indicate that a community of faith is more likely to reside in support exchanged among rank-and-file church members than support received from a pastor. PMID:24039556

Natural and microcosm phytoneuston communities of Sequim Bay, Washington

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardy, John T.; Valett, Melee

1981-01-01

The sea surface microlayer (upper 56 μm) of Sequim Bay, Washington was sampled using a glass plate collector. At the same stations, water was collected from 10 cm deep through a glass tube. The surface microlayer algal community differed significantly in several respects from the subsurface community. The mean ratio of microlayer phytoneuston to subsurface phytoplankton density (M/S ratio) was 7·8±10·9, and at one station with a visible slick reached 32·0. The rank order of individual species abundances differed significantly between the phytoneuston and phytoplankton. Outdoor tanks with a slow flow-through of seawater produced dense microlayer communities. Within 7 days, the tanks had an M/S ratio of 500. In terms of species rank order, the tank neuston are similar to field neuston, but differ significantly from tank plankton communities. Tank and field plankton communities are not significantly different either in total abundance or species rank order. These results indicate that natural phytoneuston communities can be duplicated with only minor species differences in the laboratory and used for controlled studies of the fate of pollutants passing into or through the air-sea interface.

Measuring the Impact of Environment on the Health of Large Cities.

PubMed

Stauber, Christine; Adams, Ellis A; Rothenberg, Richard; Dai, Dajun; Luo, Ruiyan; Weaver, Scott R; Prasad, Amit; Kano, Megumi; Heath, John

2018-06-09

The relative significance of indicators and determinants of health is important for local public health workers and planners. Of similar importance is a method for combining and evaluating such markers. We used a recently developed index, the Urban Health Index (UHI), to examine the impact of environmental variables on the overall health of cities. We used the UHI to rank 57 of the world’s largest cities (based on population size) in low- and middle-income countries. We examined nine variables in various combinations that were available from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in these countries. When arranged in ascending order, the distribution of UHIs follows the previously described pattern of gradual linear increase, with departures at each tail. The rank order of cities did not change materially with the omission of variables about women’s health knowledge or childhood vaccinations. Omission of environmental variables (a central water supply piped into homes, improved sanitation, and indoor solid fuel use) altered the rank order considerably. The data suggest that environmental indicators, measures of key household level risk to health, may play a vital role in the overall health of urban communities.

Using multi-attribute decision-making approaches in the selection of a hospital management system.

PubMed

Arasteh, Mohammad Ali; Shamshirband, Shahaboddin; Yee, Por Lip

2018-01-01

The most appropriate organizational software is always a real challenge for managers, especially, the IT directors. The illustration of the term "enterprise software selection", is to purchase, create, or order a software that; first, is best adapted to require of the organization; and second, has suitable price and technical support. Specifying selection criteria and ranking them, is the primary prerequisite for this action. This article provides a method to evaluate, rank, and compare the available enterprise software for choosing the apt one. The prior mentioned method is constituted of three-stage processes. First, the method identifies the organizational requires and assesses them. Second, it selects the best method throughout three possibilities; indoor-production, buying software, and ordering special software for the native use. Third, the method evaluates, compares and ranks the alternative software. The third process uses different methods of multi attribute decision making (MADM), and compares the consequent results. Based on different characteristics of the problem; several methods had been tested, namely, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality (ELECTURE), and easy weight method. After all, we propose the most practical method for same problems.

Molecular recognition in a diverse set of protein-ligand interactions studied with molecular dynamics simulations and end-point free energy calculations.

PubMed

Wang, Bo; Li, Liwei; Hurley, Thomas D; Meroueh, Samy O

2013-10-28

End-point free energy calculations using MM-GBSA and MM-PBSA provide a detailed understanding of molecular recognition in protein-ligand interactions. The binding free energy can be used to rank-order protein-ligand structures in virtual screening for compound or target identification. Here, we carry out free energy calculations for a diverse set of 11 proteins bound to 14 small molecules using extensive explicit-solvent MD simulations. The structure of these complexes was previously solved by crystallography and their binding studied with isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) data enabling direct comparison to the MM-GBSA and MM-PBSA calculations. Four MM-GBSA and three MM-PBSA calculations reproduced the ITC free energy within 1 kcal·mol(-1) highlighting the challenges in reproducing the absolute free energy from end-point free energy calculations. MM-GBSA exhibited better rank-ordering with a Spearman ρ of 0.68 compared to 0.40 for MM-PBSA with dielectric constant (ε = 1). An increase in ε resulted in significantly better rank-ordering for MM-PBSA (ρ = 0.91 for ε = 10), but larger ε significantly reduced the contributions of electrostatics, suggesting that the improvement is due to the nonpolar and entropy components, rather than a better representation of the electrostatics. The SVRKB scoring function applied to MD snapshots resulted in excellent rank-ordering (ρ = 0.81). Calculations of the configurational entropy using normal-mode analysis led to free energies that correlated significantly better to the ITC free energy than the MD-based quasi-harmonic approach, but the computed entropies showed no correlation with the ITC entropy. When the adaptation energy is taken into consideration by running separate simulations for complex, apo, and ligand (MM-PBSAADAPT), there is less agreement with the ITC data for the individual free energies, but remarkably good rank-ordering is observed (ρ = 0.89). Interestingly, filtering MD snapshots by prescoring protein-ligand complexes with a machine learning-based approach (SVMSP) resulted in a significant improvement in the MM-PBSA results (ε = 1) from ρ = 0.40 to ρ = 0.81. Finally, the nonpolar components of MM-GBSA and MM-PBSA, but not the electrostatic components, showed strong correlation to the ITC free energy; the computed entropies did not correlate with the ITC entropy.

Molecular Recognition in a Diverse Set of Protein-Ligand Interactions Studied with Molecular Dynamics Simulations and End-Point Free Energy Calculations

PubMed Central

Wang, Bo; Li, Liwei; Hurley, Thomas D.; Meroueh, Samy O.

2014-01-01

End-point free energy calculations using MM-GBSA and MM-PBSA provide a detailed understanding of molecular recognition in protein-ligand interactions. The binding free energy can be used to rank-order protein-ligand structures in virtual screening for compound or target identification. Here, we carry out free energy calculations for a diverse set of 11 proteins bound to 14 small molecules using extensive explicit-solvent MD simulations. The structure of these complexes was previously solved by crystallography and their binding studied with isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) data enabling direct comparison to the MM-GBSA and MM-PBSA calculations. Four MM-GBSA and three MM-PBSA calculations reproduced the ITC free energy within 1 kcal•mol−1 highlighting the challenges in reproducing the absolute free energy from end-point free energy calculations. MM-GBSA exhibited better rank-ordering with a Spearman ρ of 0.68 compared to 0.40 for MM-PBSA with dielectric constant (ε = 1). An increase in ε resulted in significantly better rank-ordering for MM-PBSA (ρ = 0.91 for ε = 10). But larger ε significantly reduced the contributions of electrostatics, suggesting that the improvement is due to the non-polar and entropy components, rather than a better representation of the electrostatics. SVRKB scoring function applied to MD snapshots resulted in excellent rank-ordering (ρ = 0.81). Calculations of the configurational entropy using normal mode analysis led to free energies that correlated significantly better to the ITC free energy than the MD-based quasi-harmonic approach, but the computed entropies showed no correlation with the ITC entropy. When the adaptation energy is taken into consideration by running separate simulations for complex, apo and ligand (MM-PBSAADAPT), there is less agreement with the ITC data for the individual free energies, but remarkably good rank-ordering is observed (ρ = 0.89). Interestingly, filtering MD snapshots by pre-scoring protein-ligand complexes with a machine learning-based approach (SVMSP) resulted in a significant improvement in the MM-PBSA results (ε = 1) from ρ = 0.40 to ρ = 0.81. Finally, the non-polar components of MM-GBSA and MM-PBSA, but not the electrostatic components, showed strong correlation to the ITC free energy; the computed entropies did not correlate with the ITC entropy. PMID:24032517

Classification of occupational activity categories using accelerometry: NHANES 2003-2004.

PubMed

Steeves, Jeremy A; Tudor-Locke, Catrine; Murphy, Rachel A; King, George A; Fitzhugh, Eugene C; Harris, Tamara B

2015-06-30

An individual's occupational activity (OA) may contribute significantly to daily physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB). However, there is little consensus about which occupational categories involve high OA or low OA, and the majority of categories are unclassifiable with current methods. The purpose of this study was to present population estimates of accelerometer-derived PA and SB variables for adults (n = 1112, 20-60 years) working the 40 occupational categories collected during the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). ActiGraph accelerometer-derived total activity counts/day (TAC), activity counts/minute, and proportion of wear time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA], lifestyle, and light PA organized by occupational category were ranked in ascending order and SB was ranked in descending order. Summing the ranks of the six accelerometer-derived variables generated a summary score for each occupational category, which was re-ranked in ascending order. Higher rankings indicated higher levels of OA, lower rankings indicated lower levels of OA. Tertiles of the summary score were used to establish three mutually exclusive accelerometer-determined OA groupings: high OA, intermediate OA, and low OA. According to their summary score, 'farm and nursery workers' were classified as high OA and 'secretaries, stenographers, and typists' were classified as low OA. Consistent with previous research, some low OA occupational categories (e.g., 'engineers, architects, and scientists', 'technicians and related support occupations', 'management related occupations', 'executives, administrators, and managers', 'protective services', and 'writers, artists, entertainers, and athletes') associated with higher education and income had relatively greater amounts of MVPA compared to other low OA occupational categories, likely due to the greater percentage of men in those occupations and/or the influence of higher levels of leisure time PA. Men had more TAC, activity counts/minute and time in MVPA, but similar proportions of SB compared to women in all three OA groupings. Objectively measured PA allowed for a more precise estimate of the amount of PA and SB associated with different occupations and facilitated systematic classification of the 40 different occupational categories into three distinct OA groupings. This information provides new opportunities to explore the relationship between OA and health outcomes.

Testing the robustness of management decisions to uncertainty: Everglades restoration scenarios.

PubMed

Fuller, Michael M; Gross, Louis J; Duke-Sylvester, Scott M; Palmer, Mark

2008-04-01

To effectively manage large natural reserves, resource managers must prepare for future contingencies while balancing the often conflicting priorities of different stakeholders. To deal with these issues, managers routinely employ models to project the response of ecosystems to different scenarios that represent alternative management plans or environmental forecasts. Scenario analysis is often used to rank such alternatives to aid the decision making process. However, model projections are subject to uncertainty in assumptions about model structure, parameter values, environmental inputs, and subcomponent interactions. We introduce an approach for testing the robustness of model-based management decisions to the uncertainty inherent in complex ecological models and their inputs. We use relative assessment to quantify the relative impacts of uncertainty on scenario ranking. To illustrate our approach we consider uncertainty in parameter values and uncertainty in input data, with specific examples drawn from the Florida Everglades restoration project. Our examples focus on two alternative 30-year hydrologic management plans that were ranked according to their overall impacts on wildlife habitat potential. We tested the assumption that varying the parameter settings and inputs of habitat index models does not change the rank order of the hydrologic plans. We compared the average projected index of habitat potential for four endemic species and two wading-bird guilds to rank the plans, accounting for variations in parameter settings and water level inputs associated with hypothetical future climates. Indices of habitat potential were based on projections from spatially explicit models that are closely tied to hydrology. For the American alligator, the rank order of the hydrologic plans was unaffected by substantial variation in model parameters. By contrast, simulated major shifts in water levels led to reversals in the ranks of the hydrologic plans in 24.1-30.6% of the projections for the wading bird guilds and several individual species. By exposing the differential effects of uncertainty, relative assessment can help resource managers assess the robustness of scenario choice in model-based policy decisions.

[Cost-effectiveness of two hospital care schemes for psychiatric disorders].

PubMed

Nevárez-Sida, Armando; Valencia-Huarte, Enrique; Escobedo-Islas, Octavio; Constantino-Casas, Patricia; Verduzco-Fragoso, Wázcar; León-González, Guillermo

2013-01-01

In Mexico, six of every twenty Mexicans suffer psychiatric disorders at some time in their lives. This disease ranks fifth in the country. The objective was to determine and compare the cost-effectiveness of two models for hospital care (partial and traditional) at a psychiatric hospital of Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS). a multicenter study with a prospective cohort of 374 patients was performed. We made a cost-effectiveness analysis from an institutional viewpoint with a six-month follow-up. Direct medical costs were analyzed, with quality of life gains as outcome measurement. A decision tree and a probabilistic sensitivity analysis were used. patient care in the partial model had a cost 50 % lower than the traditional one, with similar results in quality of life. The cost per successful unit in partial hospitalization was 3359 Mexican pesos while in the traditional it increased to 5470 Mexican pesos. treating patients in the partial hospitalization model is a cost-effective alternative compared with the traditional model. Therefore, the IMSS should promote the infrastructure that delivers the psychiatric services to the patient attending to who requires it.

Gröbner Bases and Generation of Difference Schemes for Partial Differential Equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerdt, Vladimir P.; Blinkov, Yuri A.; Mozzhilkin, Vladimir V.

2006-05-01

In this paper we present an algorithmic approach to the generation of fully conservative difference schemes for linear partial differential equations. The approach is based on enlargement of the equations in their integral conservation law form by extra integral relations between unknown functions and their derivatives, and on discretization of the obtained system. The structure of the discrete system depends on numerical approximation methods for the integrals occurring in the enlarged system. As a result of the discretization, a system of linear polynomial difference equations is derived for the unknown functions and their partial derivatives. A difference scheme is constructed by elimination of all the partial derivatives. The elimination can be achieved by selecting a proper elimination ranking and by computing a Gröbner basis of the linear difference ideal generated by the polynomials in the discrete system. For these purposes we use the difference form of Janet-like Gröbner bases and their implementation in Maple. As illustration of the described methods and algorithms, we construct a number of difference schemes for Burgers and Falkowich-Karman equations and discuss their numerical properties.

Network information improves cancer outcome prediction.

PubMed

Roy, Janine; Winter, Christof; Isik, Zerrin; Schroeder, Michael

2014-07-01

Disease progression in cancer can vary substantially between patients. Yet, patients often receive the same treatment. Recently, there has been much work on predicting disease progression and patient outcome variables from gene expression in order to personalize treatment options. Despite first diagnostic kits in the market, there are open problems such as the choice of random gene signatures or noisy expression data. One approach to deal with these two problems employs protein-protein interaction networks and ranks genes using the random surfer model of Google's PageRank algorithm. In this work, we created a benchmark dataset collection comprising 25 cancer outcome prediction datasets from literature and systematically evaluated the use of networks and a PageRank derivative, NetRank, for signature identification. We show that the NetRank performs significantly better than classical methods such as fold change or t-test. Despite an order of magnitude difference in network size, a regulatory and protein-protein interaction network perform equally well. Experimental evaluation on cancer outcome prediction in all of the 25 underlying datasets suggests that the network-based methodology identifies highly overlapping signatures over all cancer types, in contrast to classical methods that fail to identify highly common gene sets across the same cancer types. Integration of network information into gene expression analysis allows the identification of more reliable and accurate biomarkers and provides a deeper understanding of processes occurring in cancer development and progression. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Estimation of rank correlation for clustered data.

PubMed

Rosner, Bernard; Glynn, Robert J

2017-06-30

It is well known that the sample correlation coefficient (R xy ) is the maximum likelihood estimator of the Pearson correlation (ρ xy ) for independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) bivariate normal data. However, this is not true for ophthalmologic data where X (e.g., visual acuity) and Y (e.g., visual field) are available for each eye and there is positive intraclass correlation for both X and Y in fellow eyes. In this paper, we provide a regression-based approach for obtaining the maximum likelihood estimator of ρ xy for clustered data, which can be implemented using standard mixed effects model software. This method is also extended to allow for estimation of partial correlation by controlling both X and Y for a vector U_ of other covariates. In addition, these methods can be extended to allow for estimation of rank correlation for clustered data by (i) converting ranks of both X and Y to the probit scale, (ii) estimating the Pearson correlation between probit scores for X and Y, and (iii) using the relationship between Pearson and rank correlation for bivariate normally distributed data. The validity of the methods in finite-sized samples is supported by simulation studies. Finally, two examples from ophthalmology and analgesic abuse are used to illustrate the methods. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Low temperature time resolved photoluminescence in ordered and disordered Cu2ZnSnS4 single crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raadik, Taavi; Krustok, Jüri; Kauk-Kuusik, M.; Timmo, K.; Grossberg, M.; Ernits, K.; Bleuse, J.

2017-03-01

In this work we performed time-resolved micro-photoluminescence (TRPL) studies of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) single crystals grown in molten KI salt. The order/disorder degree of CZTS was varied by the thermal post treatment temperature. Photoluminescence spectra measured at T=8 K showed an asymmetric band with a peak position of 1.33 eV and 1.27 eV for partially ordered and disordered structures, respectively. Thermal activation energies were found to be ET (PO) =65±9 meV for partially ordered and ET (PD) =27±4 meV for partially disordered. These low activation energy values indicating to the defect cluster recombination model for both partially ordered and disordered structures. TRPL was measured for both crystals and their decay curves were fitted with a stretched exponential function, in order to describe the charge carriers' recombination dynamics at low temperature.

Construction and accuracy of partial differential equation approximations to the chemical master equation.

PubMed

Grima, Ramon

2011-11-01

The mesoscopic description of chemical kinetics, the chemical master equation, can be exactly solved in only a few simple cases. The analytical intractability stems from the discrete character of the equation, and hence considerable effort has been invested in the development of Fokker-Planck equations, second-order partial differential equation approximations to the master equation. We here consider two different types of higher-order partial differential approximations, one derived from the system-size expansion and the other from the Kramers-Moyal expansion, and derive the accuracy of their predictions for chemical reactive networks composed of arbitrary numbers of unimolecular and bimolecular reactions. In particular, we show that the partial differential equation approximation of order Q from the Kramers-Moyal expansion leads to estimates of the mean number of molecules accurate to order Ω(-(2Q-3)/2), of the variance of the fluctuations in the number of molecules accurate to order Ω(-(2Q-5)/2), and of skewness accurate to order Ω(-(Q-2)). We also show that for large Q, the accuracy in the estimates can be matched only by a partial differential equation approximation from the system-size expansion of approximate order 2Q. Hence, we conclude that partial differential approximations based on the Kramers-Moyal expansion generally lead to considerably more accurate estimates in the mean, variance, and skewness than approximations of the same order derived from the system-size expansion.

Single shot multi-wavelength phase retrieval with coherent modulation imaging.

PubMed

Dong, Xue; Pan, Xingchen; Liu, Cheng; Zhu, Jianqiang

2018-04-15

A single shot multi-wavelength phase retrieval method is proposed by combining common coherent modulation imaging (CMI) and a low rank mixed-state algorithm together. A radiation beam consisting of multi-wavelength is illuminated on the sample to be observed, and the exiting field is incident on a random phase plate to form speckle patterns, which is the incoherent superposition of diffraction patterns of each wavelength. The exiting complex amplitude of the sample including both the modulus and phase of each wavelength can be reconstructed simultaneously from the recorded diffraction intensity using a low rank mixed-state algorithm. The feasibility of this proposed method was verified with visible light experimentally. This proposed method not only makes CMI realizable with partially coherent illumination but also can extend its application to various traditionally unrelated fields, where several wavelengths should be considered simultaneously.

Relationship between Small Animal Intern Rank and Performance at a University Teaching Hospital.

PubMed

Hofmeister, Erik H; Saba, Corey; Kent, Marc; Creevy, Kate E

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between selection committee rankings of internship applicants and the performance of small animal interns. The hypothesis was that there would be a relationship between selection committee rank order and intern performance; the more highly an application was ranked, the better the intern's performance scores would be. In 2007, the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery instituted a standardized approach to its intern selection process both to streamline the process and to track its effectiveness. At the end of intern years 2010-2014, every faculty member in the department was provided an intern assessment form for that year's class. There was no relationship between an individual intern's final rank by the selection committee and his/her performance either as a percentile score or a Likert-type score (p=.25, R2=0.04; p=0.31, R2=0.03, respectively). Likewise, when interns were divided into the top and bottom quartile based on their final rank by the selection committee, there was no relationship between their rank and their performance as a percentile score (median rank 15 vs. 20; p=.14) or Likert-type score (median rank 14 vs. 19; p=.27). Institutions that use a similar intern selection method may need to reconsider the time and effort being expended for an outcome that does not predict performance. Alternatively, specific criteria more predictive of performance outcomes should be identified and employed in the internship selection process.

Escape the Black Hole of Lecturing: Put Collaborative Ranking Tasks on Your Event Horizon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudgins, D. W.; Prather, E. E.; Grayson, D. J.

2005-05-01

At the University of Arizona, we have been developing and testing a new type of introductory astronomy curriculum material called Ranking Tasks. Ranking Tasks are a form of conceptual exercise that presents students with four to six physical situations, usually by pictures or diagrams, and asks students to rank order the situations based on some resulting effect. Our study developed design guidelines for Ranking Tasks based on learning theory and classroom pilot studies. Our research questions were: Do in-class collaborative Ranking Task exercises result in student conceptual gains when used in conjunction with traditional lecture-based instruction? And are these gains sufficient to justify implementing them into the astronomy classroom? We conducted a single-group repeated measures experiment across eight core introductory astronomy topics with 250 students at the University of Arizona in the Fall of 2004. The study found that traditional lecture-based instruction alone produced statistically significant gains - raising test scores to 61% post-lecture from 32% on the pretest. While significant, we find these gains to be unsatisfactory from a teaching and learning perspective. The study data shows that adding a collaborative learning component to the class structured around Ranking Task exercises helped students achieve statistically significant gains - with post-Ranking Task scores over the eight astronomy topic rising to 77%. Interestingly, we found that the normalized gain from the Ranking Tasks was equal to the entire previous gain from traditional instruction. Further analysis of the data revealed that Ranking Tasks equally benefited both genders; they also equally benefited both high and low-scoring median groups based on their pretest scores. Based on these results, we conclude that adding collaborative Ranking Task exercises to traditional lecture-based instruction can significantly improve student conceptual understanding of core topics in astronomy.

Anatomic features involved in technical complexity of partial nephrectomy.

PubMed

Hou, Weibin; Yan, Weigang; Ji, Zhigang

2015-01-01

Nephrometry score systems, including RENAL nephrometry, preoperative aspects and dimensions used for an anatomical classification system, C-index, diameter-axial-polar nephrometry, contact surface area score, calculating resected and ischemized volume, renal tumor invasion index, surgical approach renal ranking score, zonal NePhRO score, and renal pelvic score, have been reviewed. Moreover, salient anatomic features like the perinephric fat and vascular variants also have been discussed. We then extract 7 anatomic characteristics, namely tumor size, spatial location, adjacency, exophytic/endophytic extension, vascular variants, pelvic anatomy, and perinephric fat as important features for partial nephrectomy. For novice surgeons, comprehensive and adequate anatomic consideration may help them in their early clinical practice. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A PageRank-based reputation model for personalised manufacturing service recommendation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, W. Y.; Zhang, S.; Guo, S. S.

2017-05-01

The number of manufacturing services for cross-enterprise business collaborations is increasing rapidly because of the explosive growth of Web service technologies. This trend demands intelligent and robust models to address information overload in order to enable efficient discovery of manufacturing services. In this paper, we present a personalised manufacturing service recommendation approach, which combines a PageRank-based reputation model and a collaborative filtering technique in a unified framework for recommending the right manufacturing services to an active service user for supply chain deployment. The novel aspect of this research is adapting the PageRank algorithm to a network of service-oriented multi-echelon supply chain in order to determine both user reputation and service reputation. In addition, it explores the use of these methods in alleviating data sparsity and cold start problems that hinder traditional collaborative filtering techniques. A case study is conducted to validate the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed approach in recommending the right manufacturing services to active service users.

The influence of cartoon character advertising on fruit and vegetable preferences of 9- to 11-year-old children.

PubMed

Bezbaruah, Nandita; Brunt, Ardith

2012-01-01

The aim of the present study is to determine the influence of cartoon characters in preferences of fruit and vegetables among children. A 10-item survey was used in this cross-sectional study to determine the factors that influence a child's likelihood of eating fruits and vegetables. Seven factors influencing consumption of fruits and vegetables were rank ordered by 218 third- and fourth-grade students. Results indicated that the child was more likely to eat fruits or vegetables if they tasted good, followed by whether they were nutritious. Presence of a cartoon character on the label ranked 6 of 7. Sex does not affect the rank order of factors that influence intake of fruits or vegetables. Future interventions aimed at increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables should take into consideration such factors that influence intake. Copyright © 2012 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessments of managed care organizations in the Greater Baton Rouge area by physicians and physicians' office managers.

PubMed

Cassidy, W M; Dyson, T; Grenier, C E

2001-03-01

Health care quality assessment under managed care organizations is usually derived from two sources: (1) consumer satisfaction surveys, and (2) The Health Plan Employer Data Information Set reports. There is little published data regarding physicians' critiques. This study surveyed physicians and office managers as to the quality of healthcare under 10 managed care organizations in the Greater Baton Rouge area. Performance indicators in the physician questionnaire focused on personal satisfaction, perception of patient satisfaction, and mental health coverage. The office managers' checklist included payment and certification issues, telephone time spent gaining certification, level of knowledge among plan enrollees of their benefits, appeal process, and adequacy of reimbursement. Means were calculated for each performance indicator and managed care organizations were ranked. Tukey-Kramer's post-hoc multiple comparisons test was used to confirm rank order validity. Significant differences were found among companies. Significant rank-order agreement by both physicians and office managers was evident. The usefulness of such surveys and performing them annually is discussed.

Methods of Combinatorial Optimization to Reveal Factors Affecting Gene Length

PubMed Central

Bolshoy, Alexander; Tatarinova, Tatiana

2012-01-01

In this paper we present a novel method for genome ranking according to gene lengths. The main outcomes described in this paper are the following: the formulation of the genome ranking problem, presentation of relevant approaches to solve it, and the demonstration of preliminary results from prokaryotic genomes ordering. Using a subset of prokaryotic genomes, we attempted to uncover factors affecting gene length. We have demonstrated that hyperthermophilic species have shorter genes as compared with mesophilic organisms, which probably means that environmental factors affect gene length. Moreover, these preliminary results show that environmental factors group together in ranking evolutionary distant species. PMID:23300345

Application of the Simplified Dow Chemical Company Relative Ranking Hazard Assessment Method for Air Combat Command Bases

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-09-01

Chiras , Daniel D. Environmental Science . Redwood City, California: The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., 1991. Cummings-Saxton, J., L...Engineering of the Air Force Institute of Technology Air University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in...Engineering and Environmental Management Raymond A. Sable, B. Architecture Captain, USAF, R.A. September 1993 Approved for public release; distribution

Schmidt-number witnesses and bound entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanpera, Anna; Bruß, Dagmar; Lewenstein, Maciej

2001-05-01

The Schmidt number of a mixed state characterizes the minimum Schmidt rank of the pure states needed to construct it. We investigate the Schmidt number of an arbitrary mixed state by studying Schmidt-number witnesses that detect it. We present a canonical form of such witnesses and provide constructive methods for their optimization. Finally, we present strong evidence that all bound entangled states with positive partial transpose in C3⊗C3 have Schmidt number 2.

78 FR 8617 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-06

... order upon entry and in certain cases again re-prices and re-displays an order at a more aggressive... extent it achieves a more aggressive price. However, the Exchange proposes to re-rank an order at the same price as the displayed price (i.e., a less aggressive price) in the event such order's displayed...

76 FR 18280 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Proposed Rule Change, as Modified...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-01

... Order. As proposed, a Market Maker Price Improving Order would be ranked on the BATS Options Book at its... the BATS Options Book, but would be, along with its displayed size, converted to a buy or sell order... accordance with the order display and book processing requirements of Rule 21.8 and, if applicable, processed...

Strong Similarity Measures for Ordered Sets of Documents in Information Retrieval.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egghe, L.; Michel, Christine

2002-01-01

Presents a general method to construct ordered similarity measures in information retrieval based on classical similarity measures for ordinary sets. Describes a test of some of these measures in an information retrieval system that extracted ranked document sets and discuses the practical usability of the ordered similarity measures. (Author/LRW)

Are Health Videos from Hospitals, Health Organizations, and Active Users Available to Health Consumers? An Analysis of Diabetes Health Video Ranking in YouTube

PubMed Central

Borras-Morell, Jose-Enrique; Martinez-Millana, Antonio; Karlsen, Randi

2017-01-01

Health consumers are increasingly using the Internet to search for health information. The existence of overloaded, inaccurate, obsolete, or simply incorrect health information available on the Internet is a serious obstacle for finding relevant and good-quality data that actually helps patients. Search engines of multimedia Internet platforms are thought to help users to find relevant information according to their search. But, is the information recovered by those search engines from quality sources? Is the health information uploaded from reliable sources, such as hospitals and health organizations, easily available to patients? The availability of videos is directly related to the ranking position in YouTube search. The higher the ranking of the information is, the more accessible it is. The aim of this study is to analyze the ranking evolution of diabetes health videos on YouTube in order to discover how videos from reliable channels, such as hospitals and health organizations, are evolving in the ranking. The analysis was done by tracking the ranking of 2372 videos on a daily basis during a 30-day period using 20 diabetes-related queries. Our conclusions are that the current YouTube algorithm favors the presence of reliable videos in upper rank positions in diabetes-related searches. PMID:28243314

Are Health Videos from Hospitals, Health Organizations, and Active Users Available to Health Consumers? An Analysis of Diabetes Health Video Ranking in YouTube.

PubMed

Fernandez-Llatas, Carlos; Traver, Vicente; Borras-Morell, Jose-Enrique; Martinez-Millana, Antonio; Karlsen, Randi

2017-01-01

Health consumers are increasingly using the Internet to search for health information. The existence of overloaded, inaccurate, obsolete, or simply incorrect health information available on the Internet is a serious obstacle for finding relevant and good-quality data that actually helps patients. Search engines of multimedia Internet platforms are thought to help users to find relevant information according to their search. But, is the information recovered by those search engines from quality sources? Is the health information uploaded from reliable sources, such as hospitals and health organizations, easily available to patients? The availability of videos is directly related to the ranking position in YouTube search. The higher the ranking of the information is, the more accessible it is. The aim of this study is to analyze the ranking evolution of diabetes health videos on YouTube in order to discover how videos from reliable channels, such as hospitals and health organizations, are evolving in the ranking. The analysis was done by tracking the ranking of 2372 videos on a daily basis during a 30-day period using 20 diabetes-related queries. Our conclusions are that the current YouTube algorithm favors the presence of reliable videos in upper rank positions in diabetes-related searches.

Revisiting the European sovereign bonds with a permutation-information-theory approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández Bariviera, Aurelio; Zunino, Luciano; Guercio, María Belén; Martinez, Lisana B.; Rosso, Osvaldo A.

2013-12-01

In this paper we study the evolution of the informational efficiency in its weak form for seventeen European sovereign bonds time series. We aim to assess the impact of two specific economic situations in the hypothetical random behavior of these time series: the establishment of a common currency and a wide and deep financial crisis. In order to evaluate the informational efficiency we use permutation quantifiers derived from information theory. Specifically, time series are ranked according to two metrics that measure the intrinsic structure of their correlations: permutation entropy and permutation statistical complexity. These measures provide the rectangular coordinates of the complexity-entropy causality plane; the planar location of the time series in this representation space reveals the degree of informational efficiency. According to our results, the currency union contributed to homogenize the stochastic characteristics of the time series and produced synchronization in the random behavior of them. Additionally, the 2008 financial crisis uncovered differences within the apparently homogeneous European sovereign markets and revealed country-specific characteristics that were partially hidden during the monetary union heyday.

Does Spending Money on Education Help? A Reaction to the Heritage Foundation and the "Wall Street Journal."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wainer, Howard

In June 1993 the "Wall Street Journal" carried a table of data prepared by the Heritage Foundation that listed the states in order of the average amount they expend on each public school student. The table also contained each state's rank on the average score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the rank of each state in the average…

Low-rank canonical-tensor decomposition of potential energy surfaces: application to grid-based diagrammatic vibrational Green's function theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, Prashant; Sargsyan, Khachik; Najm, Habib; Hermes, Matthew R.; Hirata, So

2017-09-01

A new method is proposed for a fast evaluation of high-dimensional integrals of potential energy surfaces (PES) that arise in many areas of quantum dynamics. It decomposes a PES into a canonical low-rank tensor format, reducing its integral into a relatively short sum of products of low-dimensional integrals. The decomposition is achieved by the alternating least squares (ALS) algorithm, requiring only a small number of single-point energy evaluations. Therefore, it eradicates a force-constant evaluation as the hotspot of many quantum dynamics simulations and also possibly lifts the curse of dimensionality. This general method is applied to the anharmonic vibrational zero-point and transition energy calculations of molecules using the second-order diagrammatic vibrational many-body Green's function (XVH2) theory with a harmonic-approximation reference. In this application, high dimensional PES and Green's functions are both subjected to a low-rank decomposition. Evaluating the molecular integrals over a low-rank PES and Green's functions as sums of low-dimensional integrals using the Gauss-Hermite quadrature, this canonical-tensor-decomposition-based XVH2 (CT-XVH2) achieves an accuracy of 0.1 cm-1 or higher and nearly an order of magnitude speedup as compared with the original algorithm using force constants for water and formaldehyde.

Strategic 3-hydroxy-2-butanone release in the dominant male lobster cockroach, Nauphoeta cinerea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shu-Chun; Yang, Rou-Ling; Ho, Hsiao-Yung; Chou, Szu-Ying; Kou, Rong

2007-11-01

In the lobster cockroach Nauphoete cinerea, the dominant subordinate hierarchy formed via the agonistic interactions is unstable, and changes in rank order are common. Our previous results showed that in the first encounter fight during initial rank formation, microgram levels of 3H-2B are released by the aggressive posture (AP)-adopting dominant male. In the present study, the pattern of daily pheromone (3H-2B) release during the domination period and on the day of rank switch, rank duration, and rank switch frequency were investigated in three-male groups and six-male groups to examine the effect of higher frequency of agonistic encounters. The results showed that, in the three-male groups (50-day observation period), daily 3H-2B release rate was not constant, but fluctuated, the average duration of dominant rank was 16.6 ± 2.0 days, rank switch occurred in 58.8% of groups, and the frequency of rank switching (average number of rank switches/group/50 days) was 1.4 ± 0.2. For the six-male groups (30-day observation period), the daily 3H-2B release rate also fluctuated, but the duration of dominant rank was significantly shorter at 4.2 ± 0.6 days, rank switch occurred in 100% of groups, and the frequency of rank switching (average number of rank switches/group/30 days) was significantly higher at 6.9 ± 0.6. The results for both sets of male groups showed that as a new rank formed (either on the first encounter day or on the day of rank switching), the dominant status was significantly associated with a higher 3H-2B release rate. In the animal kingdom, fighting usually involves communication or the exchange of signals, and the results of this study indicated that the fluctuating daily 3H-2B release rate adopted by the dominants is a kind of strategic release and the 3H-2B release rate is a signal used to determine dominance.

Calculation of controllability and observability matrices for special case of continuous-time multi-order fractional systems.

PubMed

Hassanzadeh, Iman; Tabatabaei, Mohammad

2017-03-28

In this paper, controllability and observability matrices for pseudo upper or lower triangular multi-order fractional systems are derived. It is demonstrated that these systems are controllable and observable if and only if their controllability and observability matrices are full rank. In other words, the rank of these matrices should be equal to the inner dimension of their corresponding state space realizations. To reduce the computational complexities, these matrices are converted to simplified matrices with smaller dimensions. Numerical examples are provided to show the usefulness of the mentioned matrices for controllability and observability analysis of this case of multi-order fractional systems. These examples clarify that the duality concept is not necessarily true for these special systems. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

75 FR 59743 - Public Land Order No. 7750; Partial Revocation of Secretarial Order dated January 20, 1910; Oregon

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-28

... partially revokes a Secretarial Order dated January 20, 1910, insofar as it affects approximately 9,001.84... is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was withdrawn. DATES: Effective Date: September 28..., it is ordered as follows: The Secretarial Order dated January 20, 1910, which withdrew land on behalf...

Fight for your breeding right: hierarchy re-establishment predicts aggression in a social queue

PubMed Central

Wong, Marian; Balshine, Sigal

2011-01-01

Social aggression is one of the most conspicuous features of animal societies, yet little is known about the causes of individual variation in aggression within social hierarchies. Recent theory suggests that when individuals form queues for breeding, variation in social aggression by non-breeding group members is related to their probability of inheriting breeding status. However, levels of aggression could also vary as a temporary response to changes in the hierarchy, with individuals becoming more aggressive as they ascend in rank, in order to re-establish dominance relationships. Using the group-living fish, Neolamprologus pulcher, we show that subordinates became more aggressive after they ascended in rank. Female ascenders exhibited more rapid increases in aggression than males, and the increased aggression was primarily directed towards group members of adjacent rather than non-adjacent rank, suggesting that social aggression was related to conflict over rank. Elevated aggression by ascenders was not sustained over time, there was no relationship between rank and aggression in stable groups, and aggression given by ascenders was not sex-biased. Together, these results suggest that the need to re-establish dominance relationships following rank ascension is an important determinant of variation in aggression in animal societies. PMID:20880857

TopKube: A Rank-Aware Data Cube for Real-Time Exploration of Spatiotemporal Data.

PubMed

Miranda, Fabio; Lins, Lauro; Klosowski, James; Silva, Claudio

2017-02-17

From economics to sports to entertainment and social media, ranking objects according to some notion of importance is a fundamental tool we humans use all the time to better understand our world. With the ever-increasing amount of user-generated content found online, "what's trending" is now a commonplace phrase that tries to capture the zeitgeist of the world by ranking the most popular microblogging hashtags in a given region and time. However, before we can understand what these rankings tell us about the world, we need to be able to more easily create and explore them, given the significant scale of today's data. In this paper, we describe the computational challenges in building a real-time visual exploratory tool for finding top-ranked objects; build on the recent work involving in-memory and rank-aware data cubes to propose TOPKUBE: a data structure that answers top-k queries up to one order of magnitude faster than the previous state of the art; demonstrate the usefulness of our methods using a set of real-world, publicly available datasets; and provide a new set of benchmarks for other researchers to validate their methods and compare to our own.

Fight for your breeding right: hierarchy re-establishment predicts aggression in a social queue.

PubMed

Wong, Marian; Balshine, Sigal

2011-04-23

Social aggression is one of the most conspicuous features of animal societies, yet little is known about the causes of individual variation in aggression within social hierarchies. Recent theory suggests that when individuals form queues for breeding, variation in social aggression by non-breeding group members is related to their probability of inheriting breeding status. However, levels of aggression could also vary as a temporary response to changes in the hierarchy, with individuals becoming more aggressive as they ascend in rank, in order to re-establish dominance relationships. Using the group-living fish, Neolamprologus pulcher, we show that subordinates became more aggressive after they ascended in rank. Female ascenders exhibited more rapid increases in aggression than males, and the increased aggression was primarily directed towards group members of adjacent rather than non-adjacent rank, suggesting that social aggression was related to conflict over rank. Elevated aggression by ascenders was not sustained over time, there was no relationship between rank and aggression in stable groups, and aggression given by ascenders was not sex-biased. Together, these results suggest that the need to re-establish dominance relationships following rank ascension is an important determinant of variation in aggression in animal societies.

An integration of external information for foreign stallions into the Belgian genetic evaluation for jumping horses.

PubMed

Vandenplas, J; Janssens, S; Buys, N; Gengler, N

2013-06-01

The aim of this study was to test the integration of external information, i.e. foreign estimated breeding values (EBV) and the associated reliabilities (REL), for stallions into the Belgian genetic evaluation for jumping horses. The Belgian model is a bivariate repeatability Best Linear Unbiased Prediction animal model only based on Belgian performances, while Belgian breeders import horses from neighbouring countries. Hence, use of external information is needed as prior to achieve more accurate EBV. Pedigree and performance data contained 101382 horses and 712212 performances, respectively. After conversion to the Belgian trait, external information of 98 French and 67 Dutch stallions was integrated into the Belgian evaluation. Resulting Belgian rankings of the foreign stallions were more similar to foreign rankings according to the increase of the rank correlations of at least 12%. REL of their EBV were improved of at least 2% on average. External information was partially to totally equivalent to 4 years of contemporary horses' performances or to all the stallions' own performances. All these results showed the interest to integrate external information into the Belgian evaluation. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Pilot evaluation of isolation patients' perceptions on ability to identify types of health care workers when wearing isolation gowns.

PubMed

Roderick, Mickey; Speroni, Karen Gabel; Stafford, Amy; Seibert, Dorothy J

2017-03-01

In a survey research study, perceptions of 50 hospitalized patients on contact isolation were evaluated regarding their ability to identify health care worker (HCW) type in isolation gowns with no hospital badge under or on the gown, in isolation gowns with the hospital badge partially visible through the gown, and in isolation gowns with a preprinted large font Registered Nurse and Nursing Technician sticker badge on the outside of the gown. Patients ranked their ability to identify HCWs when entering their hospital room as important (average ranking, 8.0, where 0 was not at all important and 10 was very important); 28 patients (56%) specified all HCWs entering their hospital room should wear a preprinted large font sticker badge on the outside of their isolation gowns. Patients found little difficulty identifying HCW type with the large font preprinted sticker badge (average difficulty ranking, 1.0, where 0 is not at all difficult and 10 is very difficult), a simplistic method to improve HCW type identification. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using the time-to-event continual reassessment method in the presence of partial orders

PubMed Central

Wages, Nolan A.; Conaway, Mark R.; O'Quigley, John

2012-01-01

The time-to-event continual reassessment method (TITE-CRM) was proposed to handle the problem of long trial duration in Phase 1 trials as a result of late-onset toxicities. Here, we implement the TITE-CRM in dose–finding trials of combinations of agents. When studying multiple agents, monotonicity of the dose-toxicity curve is not clearly defined. Therefore, the toxicity probabilities follow a partial order, meaning that there are pairs of treatments for which the ordering of the toxicity probabilities is not known at the start of the trial. A CRM design for partially ordered trials (PO-CRM) was recently proposed. Simulation studies show that extending the TITE-CRM to the partial order setting produces results similar to those of the PO-CRM in terms of maximum tolerated dose recommendation yet reduces the duration of the trial. PMID:22806898

Ranking of patient and surgeons' perspectives for endpoints in randomized controlled trials--lessons learned from the POVATI trial [ISRCTN 60734227].

PubMed

Fischer, Lars; Deckert, Andreas; Diener, Markus K; Zimmermann, Johannes B; Büchler, Markus W; Seiler, Christoph M

2011-10-01

Surgical trials focus mainly on mortality and morbidity rates, which may be not the most important endpoints from the patient's perspective. Evaluation of expectations and needs of patients enrolled in clinical trials can be analyzed using a procedure called ranking. Within the Postsurgical Pain Outcome of Vertical and Transverse Abdominal Incision randomized trial (POVATI), the perspectives of participating patients and surgeons were assessed as well as the influence of the surgical intervention on patients' needs. All included patients of the POVATI trial were asked preoperatively and postoperatively to rank predetermined outcome variables concerning the upcoming surgical procedure (e.g., pain, complication, cosmetic result) hierarchically according to their importance. Preoperatively, the surgeons were asked to do the same. One hundred eighty two out of 200 randomized patients (71 females, 111 males; mean age 59 years) returned the ranking questionnaire preoperatively and 152 patients (67 females, 85 males; mean age 60 years) on the day of discharge. There were no differences between the two groups with respect to the distribution of ranking variables (p > 0.05). Thirty-five surgeons (7 residents, 6 fellows, and 22 consultants) completed the same ranking questionnaire. The order of the four most important ranking variables for both patients and surgeons were death, avoiding of postoperative complications, avoiding of intraoperative complications, and pain. Surgeons ranked the variable "cosmetic result" significantly as more important compared to patients (p = 0.034, Fisher's exact test). Patients and surgeons did not differ in ranking predetermined outcomes in the POVATI trial. Only the variable "cosmetic result" is significantly more important from the surgeon's than from the patient's perspective. Ranking of outcomes might be a beneficial tool and can be a proper addition to RCTs.

Web Image Search Re-ranking with Click-based Similarity and Typicality.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaopeng; Mei, Tao; Zhang, Yong Dong; Liu, Jie; Satoh, Shin'ichi

2016-07-20

In image search re-ranking, besides the well known semantic gap, intent gap, which is the gap between the representation of users' query/demand and the real intent of the users, is becoming a major problem restricting the development of image retrieval. To reduce human effects, in this paper, we use image click-through data, which can be viewed as the "implicit feedback" from users, to help overcome the intention gap, and further improve the image search performance. Generally, the hypothesis visually similar images should be close in a ranking list and the strategy images with higher relevance should be ranked higher than others are widely accepted. To obtain satisfying search results, thus, image similarity and the level of relevance typicality are determinate factors correspondingly. However, when measuring image similarity and typicality, conventional re-ranking approaches only consider visual information and initial ranks of images, while overlooking the influence of click-through data. This paper presents a novel re-ranking approach, named spectral clustering re-ranking with click-based similarity and typicality (SCCST). First, to learn an appropriate similarity measurement, we propose click-based multi-feature similarity learning algorithm (CMSL), which conducts metric learning based on clickbased triplets selection, and integrates multiple features into a unified similarity space via multiple kernel learning. Then based on the learnt click-based image similarity measure, we conduct spectral clustering to group visually and semantically similar images into same clusters, and get the final re-rank list by calculating click-based clusters typicality and withinclusters click-based image typicality in descending order. Our experiments conducted on two real-world query-image datasets with diverse representative queries show that our proposed reranking approach can significantly improve initial search results, and outperform several existing re-ranking approaches.

Mining User Dwell Time for Personalized Web Search Re-Ranking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Songhua; Jiang, Hao; Lau, Francis

We propose a personalized re-ranking algorithm through mining user dwell times derived from a user's previously online reading or browsing activities. We acquire document level user dwell times via a customized web browser, from which we then infer conceptword level user dwell times in order to understand a user's personal interest. According to the estimated concept word level user dwell times, our algorithm can estimate a user's potential dwell time over a new document, based on which personalized webpage re-ranking can be carried out. We compare the rankings produced by our algorithm with rankings generated by popular commercial search enginesmore » and a recently proposed personalized ranking algorithm. The results clearly show the superiority of our method. In this paper, we propose a new personalized webpage ranking algorithmthrough mining dwell times of a user. We introduce a quantitative model to derive concept word level user dwell times from the observed document level user dwell times. Once we have inferred a user's interest over the set of concept words the user has encountered in previous readings, we can then predict the user's potential dwell time over a new document. Such predicted user dwell time allows us to carry out personalized webpage re-ranking. To explore the effectiveness of our algorithm, we measured the performance of our algorithm under two conditions - one with a relatively limited amount of user dwell time data and the other with a doubled amount. Both evaluation cases put our algorithm for generating personalized webpage rankings to satisfy a user's personal preference ahead of those by Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, as well as a recent personalized webpage ranking algorithm.« less

Applying a "Big Data" Literature System to Recommend Antihypertensive Drugs for Hypertension Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

PubMed

Shu, Jing-Xian; Li, Ying; He, Ting; Chen, Ling; Li, Xue; Zou, Lin-Lin; Yin, Lu; Li, Xiao-Hui; Wang, An-Li; Liu, Xing; Yuan, Hong

2018-01-07

BACKGROUND The explosive increase in medical literature has changed therapeutic strategies, but it is challenging for physicians to keep up-to-date on the medical literature. Scientific literature data mining on a large-scale of can be used to refresh physician knowledge and better improve the quality of disease treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS This paper reports on a reformulated version of a data mining method called MedRank, which is a network-based algorithm that ranks therapy for a target disease based on the MEDLINE literature database. MedRank algorithm input for this study was a clear definition of the disease model; the algorithm output was the accurate recommendation of antihypertensive drugs. Hypertension with diabetes mellitus was chosen as the input disease model. The ranking output of antihypertensive drugs are based on the Joint National Committee (JNC) guidelines, one through eight, and the publication dates, ≤1977, ≤1980, ≤1984, ≤1988, ≤1993, ≤1997, ≤2003, and ≤2013. The McNemar's test was used to evaluate the efficacy of MedRank based on specific JNC guidelines. RESULTS The ranking order of antihypertensive drugs changed with the date of the published literature, and the MedRank algorithm drug recommendations had excellent consistency with the JNC guidelines in 2013 (P=1.00 from McNemar's test, Kappa=0.78, P=1.00). Moreover, the Kappa index increased over time. Sensitivity was better than specificity for MedRank; in addition, sensitivity was maintained at a high level, and specificity increased from 1997 to 2013. CONCLUSIONS The use of MedRank in ranking medical literature on hypertension with diabetes mellitus in our study suggests possible application in clinical practice; it is a potential method for supporting antihypertensive drug-prescription decisions.

Partial covariance based functional connectivity computation using Ledoit-Wolf covariance regularization.

PubMed

Brier, Matthew R; Mitra, Anish; McCarthy, John E; Ances, Beau M; Snyder, Abraham Z

2015-11-01

Functional connectivity refers to shared signals among brain regions and is typically assessed in a task free state. Functional connectivity commonly is quantified between signal pairs using Pearson correlation. However, resting-state fMRI is a multivariate process exhibiting a complicated covariance structure. Partial covariance assesses the unique variance shared between two brain regions excluding any widely shared variance, hence is appropriate for the analysis of multivariate fMRI datasets. However, calculation of partial covariance requires inversion of the covariance matrix, which, in most functional connectivity studies, is not invertible owing to rank deficiency. Here we apply Ledoit-Wolf shrinkage (L2 regularization) to invert the high dimensional BOLD covariance matrix. We investigate the network organization and brain-state dependence of partial covariance-based functional connectivity. Although RSNs are conventionally defined in terms of shared variance, removal of widely shared variance, surprisingly, improved the separation of RSNs in a spring embedded graphical model. This result suggests that pair-wise unique shared variance plays a heretofore unrecognized role in RSN covariance organization. In addition, application of partial correlation to fMRI data acquired in the eyes open vs. eyes closed states revealed focal changes in uniquely shared variance between the thalamus and visual cortices. This result suggests that partial correlation of resting state BOLD time series reflect functional processes in addition to structural connectivity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Partial covariance based functional connectivity computation using Ledoit-Wolf covariance regularization

PubMed Central

Brier, Matthew R.; Mitra, Anish; McCarthy, John E.; Ances, Beau M.; Snyder, Abraham Z.

2015-01-01

Functional connectivity refers to shared signals among brain regions and is typically assessed in a task free state. Functional connectivity commonly is quantified between signal pairs using Pearson correlation. However, resting-state fMRI is a multivariate process exhibiting a complicated covariance structure. Partial covariance assesses the unique variance shared between two brain regions excluding any widely shared variance, hence is appropriate for the analysis of multivariate fMRI datasets. However, calculation of partial covariance requires inversion of the covariance matrix, which, in most functional connectivity studies, is not invertible owing to rank deficiency. Here we apply Ledoit-Wolf shrinkage (L2 regularization) to invert the high dimensional BOLD covariance matrix. We investigate the network organization and brain-state dependence of partial covariance-based functional connectivity. Although RSNs are conventionally defined in terms of shared variance, removal of widely shared variance, surprisingly, improved the separation of RSNs in a spring embedded graphical model. This result suggests that pair-wise unique shared variance plays a heretofore unrecognized role in RSN covariance organization. In addition, application of partial correlation to fMRI data acquired in the eyes open vs. eyes closed states revealed focal changes in uniquely shared variance between the thalamus and visual cortices. This result suggests that partial correlation of resting state BOLD time series reflect functional processes in addition to structural connectivity. PMID:26208872

Whole blood coagulation analyzers.

PubMed

1997-08-01

Whole blood Coagulation analyzers (WBCAs) are widely used point-of-care (POC) testing devices found primarily in cardiothoracic surgical suites and cardia catheterization laboratories. Most of these devices can perform a number of coagulation tests that provide information about a patient's blood clotting status. Clinicians use the results of the WBCA tests, which are available minutes after applying a blood sample, primarily to monitor the effectiveness of heparin therapy--an anticoagulation therapy used during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery, angioplasty, hemodialysis, and other clinical procedures. In this study we evaluated five WBCAs from four suppliers. Our testing focused on the applications for which WBCAs are primarily used: Monitoring moderate to high heparin levels, as would be required, for example, during CPB are angioplasty. For this function, WCBAs are typically used to perform an activated clotting time (ACT) test or, as one supplier refers to its test, a heparin management test (HMT). All models included in this study offered an ACT test or an HMT. Monitoring low heparin levels, as would be required, for example,during hemodialysis. For this function, WBCAs would normally be used to perform either a low-range ACT (LACT) test or a whole blood activated partial thromboplastin time (WBAPTT) test. Most of the evaluated units could perform at least one of these tests; one unit did not offer either test and was therefore not rated for this application. We rated and ranked each evaluated model separately for each of these two applications. In addition, we provided a combined rating and ranking that considers the units' appropriateness for performing both application. We based our conclusions on a unit's performance and humans factor design, as determined by our testing, and on its five-year life-cycle cost, as determined by our net present value (NPV) analysis. While we rated all evaluated units acceptable for each appropriate category, we did identify some significant differences that enabled us to rank the units in order of preference. We have included a Selection, Purchasing, and use guide at the end of this study to help facilities identify the unit that will best meet their needs.

ppcor: An R Package for a Fast Calculation to Semi-partial Correlation Coefficients.

PubMed

Kim, Seongho

2015-11-01

Lack of a general matrix formula hampers implementation of the semi-partial correlation, also known as part correlation, to the higher-order coefficient. This is because the higher-order semi-partial correlation calculation using a recursive formula requires an enormous number of recursive calculations to obtain the correlation coefficients. To resolve this difficulty, we derive a general matrix formula of the semi-partial correlation for fast computation. The semi-partial correlations are then implemented on an R package ppcor along with the partial correlation. Owing to the general matrix formulas, users can readily calculate the coefficients of both partial and semi-partial correlations without computational burden. The package ppcor further provides users with the level of the statistical significance with its test statistic.

The influence of kinship and dominance hierarchy on grooming partner choice in free-ranging Macaca mulatta brevicaudus.

PubMed

Wu, Cheng-Feng; Liao, Zhi-Jie; Sueur, Cedric; Sha, John Chih Mun; Zhang, Jie; Zhang, Peng

2018-04-18

In group-living animals, individuals do not interact uniformly with their conspecifics. Among primates, such heterogeneity in partner choice can be discerned from affiliative grooming patterns. While the preference for selecting close kin as grooming partners is ubiquitous across the primate order, the selection of higher-ranking non-kin individuals as grooming partners is less common. We studied a group of provisioned rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta brevicaudus) on Hainan Island, China, to examine rank-related benefits of grooming exchanges and the influence of kin relationships. We tested four hypotheses based on Seyfarth's model: (1) there will be kin preference in grooming relationships; (2) grooming between non-kin individuals will be directed up the dominance rank; (3) grooming between non-kin individuals will reduce aggression from higher-ranking ones; and (4) non-kin individuals will spend more time grooming with adjacent ranked ones. We found that grooming relationships between kin individuals were stronger than those between non-kin individuals. For non-kin relationships, lower-ranking individuals received less aggression from higher-ranking ones through grooming; a benefit they could not derive through grooming exchanges with individuals related by kinship. Individuals spent more time grooming adjacent higher-ranking non-kin individuals and higher-ranking individuals also received more grooming from non-kin individuals. Our results supported Seyfarth's model for predicting partner choice between non-kin individuals. For relationships between kin individuals, we found results that were not consistent with prediction for the exchanges of aggression and grooming, indicating the importance to control for the influence of kinship in future studies.

Urinary testosterone-metabolite levels and dominance rank in male and female bonobos (Pan paniscus).

PubMed

Sannen, Adinda; Van Elsacker, Linda; Heistermann, Michael; Eens, Marcel

2004-04-01

The correlation between testosterone (T) and dominance rank may vary among species, and is expected to become stronger as the importance of aggressive competition for rank increases. However, it may also vary among social situations within a species, showing a stronger correlation during socially unstable periods. Knowledge on this topic in great apes, especially in females, is scant. This study presents the first data on the relationship between T and dominance rank in both sexes of the bonobo ( Pan paniscus). For each period (four socially unstable and two stable ones), linear rank orders were determined and subsequently correlated with the accompanying mean urinary T-metabolite concentrations (measured as immunoreactive 5alpha-androstan-17alpha-ol-3-one). No correlation between these two variables was found for either sex among individuals during socially unstable or stable periods. Also, within an individual over the six periods, no relationship of T with rank could be demonstrated. These results suggest that either the outcomes of aggressions have no influence on T levels, or such clear outcomes appear insufficiently frequent to affect T levels over longer periods. Even during the unstable periods, the rate of aggressions was not higher than during stable periods, suggesting that frequencies of aggression have little effect on rank. Further analyses indeed demonstrated no correlation between frequencies of overall aggressions or any type of aggressive behavior separately, or rank. Perhaps factors other than the frequency of displayed aggressions alone have a marked influence on a bonobo's rank, for example, coalition partners. Overall, in bonobos, T apparently does not form a physiological reflection of social status.

Estimation of citation-based scholarly activity among radiation oncology faculty at domestic residency-training institutions: 1996-2007.

PubMed

Choi, Mehee; Fuller, Clifton D; Thomas, Charles R

2009-05-01

Advancement in academic radiation oncology is largely contingent on research productivity and the perceived external influence of an individual's scholarly work. The purpose of this study was to use the Hirsch index (h-index) to estimate the research productivity of current radiation oncology faculty at U.S. academic institutions between 1996 and 2007. We performed bibliometric citation database searches for available radiation oncology faculty at domestic residency-training institutions (n = 826). The outcomes analyzed included the total number of manuscripts, total number of citations, and the h-index between 1996 and 2007. Analysis of overall h-index rankings with stratification by academic ranking, junior vs. senior faculty status, and gender was performed. Of the 826 radiation oncologists, the mean h-index was 8.5. Of the individuals in the top 10% by the h-index, 34% were chairpersons, 88% were senior faculty, and 13% were women. A greater h-index was associated with a higher academic ranking and senior faculty status. Recursive partitioning analysis revealed an h-index threshold of 15 (p <0.0001) as an identified breakpoint between the senior and junior faculty. Overall, women had lower h-indexes compared with men (mean, 6.4 vs. 9.4); however, when stratified by academic ranking, the gender differential all but disappeared. Using the h-index as a partial surrogate for research productivity, it appears that radiation oncologists in academia today comprise a prolific group, however, with a highly skewed distribution. According to the present analysis, the h-index correlated with academic ranking. Thus, it potentially has utility in the process of promotion decisions. Overall, women in radiation oncology were less academically productive than men; the possible reasons for the gender differential are discussed.

Assessment of Factors Influencing Preservation of Dignity at Life's End: Creation and the Cross-Cultural Validation of the Preservation of Dignity Card-Sort Tool

PubMed Central

Noda, Arthur M.; Chmura Kraemer, Helena

2010-01-01

Abstract Background Preserving patient dignity is a sentinel premise of palliative care. This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of factors influencing preservation of dignity in the last chapter of life. Methods We conducted an open-ended written survey of 100 multidisciplinary providers (69% response rate) and responses were categorized to identify 2 main themes, 5 subthemes, and 10 individual factors that were used to create the preservation of dignity card-sort tool (p-DCT). The 10-item rank order tool was administered to a cohort of community dwelling Filipino Americans (n = 140, age mean = 61.3, 45% male and 55% female). A Spearman correlation matrix was constructed for all the 10 individual factors as well as the themes and subthemes based on the data generated by the subjects. Results The individual factors were minimally correlated with each other indicating that each factor was an independent stand-alone factor. The median, 25th and 75th percentile ranks were calculated and “s/he has self-respect” (intrinsic theme, self-esteem subtheme) emerged as the most important factor (mean rank 3.0 and median rank 2.0) followed by “others treat her/him with respect” (extrinsic theme, respect subtheme) with a mean rank = 3.6 and median = 3.0. Conclusion The p-DCT is a simple, rank order card-sort tool that may help clinicians identify patients' perceptions of key factors influencing the preservation of their dignity in the last chapter of life. PMID:20420549

77 FR 53226 - Public Land Order No. 7793; Partial Revocation of Public Land Order No. 1535; South Dakota

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-31

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [SDM 013790] Public Land Order No. 7793; Partial Revocation of Public Land Order No. 1535; South Dakota Correction In notice document 2012-18885 appearing on page 46112 of the issue of Thursday, August 2, 2012 make the following correction: On page...

LORAKS Makes Better SENSE: Phase-Constrained Partial Fourier SENSE Reconstruction without Phase Calibration

PubMed Central

Kim, Tae Hyung; Setsompop, Kawin; Haldar, Justin P.

2016-01-01

Purpose Parallel imaging and partial Fourier acquisition are two classical approaches for accelerated MRI. Methods that combine these approaches often rely on prior knowledge of the image phase, but the need to obtain this prior information can place practical restrictions on the data acquisition strategy. In this work, we propose and evaluate SENSE-LORAKS, which enables combined parallel imaging and partial Fourier reconstruction without requiring prior phase information. Theory and Methods The proposed formulation is based on combining the classical SENSE model for parallel imaging data with the more recent LORAKS framework for MR image reconstruction using low-rank matrix modeling. Previous LORAKS-based methods have successfully enabled calibrationless partial Fourier parallel MRI reconstruction, but have been most successful with nonuniform sampling strategies that may be hard to implement for certain applications. By combining LORAKS with SENSE, we enable highly-accelerated partial Fourier MRI reconstruction for a broader range of sampling trajectories, including widely-used calibrationless uniformly-undersampled trajectories. Results Our empirical results with retrospectively undersampled datasets indicate that when SENSE-LORAKS reconstruction is combined with an appropriate k-space sampling trajectory, it can provide substantially better image quality at high-acceleration rates relative to existing state-of-the-art reconstruction approaches. Conclusion The SENSE-LORAKS framework provides promising new opportunities for highly-accelerated MRI. PMID:27037836

Exploiting Data Sparsity in Parallel Matrix Powers Computations

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-03

2013 Report Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour...matrices of the form A = D+USV H, where D is sparse and USV H has low rank but may be dense. Matrices of this form arise in many practical applications...methods numerical partial di erential equation solvers, and preconditioned iterative methods. If A has this form , our algorithm enables a communication

A Quality, Benefit, Cost, and Financial Framework for Health Information Technology, E-Prescribing: A Delphi Study.

PubMed

DeMuro, Paul R; Ash, Joan; Middleton, Blackford; Fletcher, Justin; Madison, Cecelia J

2017-01-01

Little research has been conducted about the quality, benefits, costs, and financial considerations associated with health information technology (HIT), particularly informatics technologies, such as e-prescribing, from the perspective of all its stakeholders. This research effort sought to identify the stakeholders involved in e-prescribing and to identify and rank-order the positives and the negatives from the perspective of the stakeholders to create a framework to assist in the development of incentives and payment mechanisms which result in better managed care. The Delphi method was employed by enlisting a panel of experts. They were presented with the results of initial research in an online survey of questions which sought to prioritize the quality, benefit, cost, and financial effects of e-prescribing from the perspective of each stakeholder. From the results of this study, a framework was presented to framework experts. The experts added stakeholders and positives and negatives to the initial lists and rank-ordered the positives and negatives of e-prescribing from the perspective of each stakeholder. The aggregate results were summarized by category of stakeholder. The framework experts evaluated the framework. Positives and negatives can be rank-ordered from the perspective of each stakeholder. A useful framework was created.

77 FR 58868 - Public Land Order No. 7798; Partial Modification of Power Site Classification No. 126; Washington

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-24

...; WAOR-19641] Public Land Order No. 7798; Partial Modification of Power Site Classification No. 126... partially modifies a withdrawal which established Power Site Classification No. 126, insofar as it affects... under Power Site Classification No. 126 for water power purposes will not be injured by U.S. Forest...

Social network analysis using k-Path centrality method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taniarza, Natya; Adiwijaya; Maharani, Warih

2018-03-01

k-Path centrality is deemed as one of the effective methods to be applied in centrality measurement in which the influential node is estimated as the node that is being passed by information path frequently. Regarding this, k-Path centrality has been employed in the analysis of this paper specifically by adapting random-algorithm approach in order to: (1) determine the influential user’s ranking in a social media Twitter; and (2) ascertain the influence of parameter α in the numeration of k-Path centrality. According to the analysis, the findings showed that the method of k-Path centrality with random-algorithm approach can be used to determine user’s ranking which influences in the dissemination of information in Twitter. Furthermore, the findings also showed that parameter α influenced the duration and the ranking results: the less the α value, the longer the duration, yet the ranking results were more stable.

A learning framework for age rank estimation based on face images with scattering transform.

PubMed

Chang, Kuang-Yu; Chen, Chu-Song

2015-03-01

This paper presents a cost-sensitive ordinal hyperplanes ranking algorithm for human age estimation based on face images. The proposed approach exploits relative-order information among the age labels for rank prediction. In our approach, the age rank is obtained by aggregating a series of binary classification results, where cost sensitivities among the labels are introduced to improve the aggregating performance. In addition, we give a theoretical analysis on designing the cost of individual binary classifier so that the misranking cost can be bounded by the total misclassification costs. An efficient descriptor, scattering transform, which scatters the Gabor coefficients and pooled with Gaussian smoothing in multiple layers, is evaluated for facial feature extraction. We show that this descriptor is a generalization of conventional bioinspired features and is more effective for face-based age inference. Experimental results demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art age estimation approaches.

Learning Low-Rank Decomposition for Pan-Sharpening With Spatial-Spectral Offsets.

PubMed

Yang, Shuyuan; Zhang, Kai; Wang, Min

2017-08-25

Finding accurate injection components is the key issue in pan-sharpening methods. In this paper, a low-rank pan-sharpening (LRP) model is developed from a new perspective of offset learning. Two offsets are defined to represent the spatial and spectral differences between low-resolution multispectral and high-resolution multispectral (HRMS) images, respectively. In order to reduce spatial and spectral distortions, spatial equalization and spectral proportion constraints are designed and cast on the offsets, to develop a spatial and spectral constrained stable low-rank decomposition algorithm via augmented Lagrange multiplier. By fine modeling and heuristic learning, our method can simultaneously reduce spatial and spectral distortions in the fused HRMS images. Moreover, our method can efficiently deal with noises and outliers in source images, for exploring low-rank and sparse characteristics of data. Extensive experiments are taken on several image data sets, and the results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed LRP.

Low-rank factorization of electron integral tensors and its application in electronic structure theory

DOE PAGES

Peng, Bo; Kowalski, Karol

2017-01-25

In this paper, we apply reverse Cuthill-McKee (RCM) algorithm to transform two-electron integral tensors to their block diagonal forms. By further applying Cholesky decomposition (CD) on each of the diagonal blocks, we are able to represent the high-dimensional two-electron integral tensors in terms of permutation matrices and low-rank Cholesky vectors. This representation facilitates low-rank factorizations of high-dimensional tensor contractions in post-Hartree-Fock calculations. Finally, we discuss the second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) method and the linear coupled-cluster model with doubles (L-CCD) as examples to demonstrate the efficiency of this technique in representing the two-electron integrals in a compact form.

Low-rank factorization of electron integral tensors and its application in electronic structure theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peng, Bo; Kowalski, Karol

In this paper, we apply reverse Cuthill-McKee (RCM) algorithm to transform two-electron integral tensors to their block diagonal forms. By further applying Cholesky decomposition (CD) on each of the diagonal blocks, we are able to represent the high-dimensional two-electron integral tensors in terms of permutation matrices and low-rank Cholesky vectors. This representation facilitates low-rank factorizations of high-dimensional tensor contractions in post-Hartree-Fock calculations. Finally, we discuss the second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) method and the linear coupled-cluster model with doubles (L-CCD) as examples to demonstrate the efficiency of this technique in representing the two-electron integrals in a compact form.

Lyotropic liquid crystal behaviour of azelate and succinate monoester surfactants based on fragrance alcohols.

PubMed

Marchal, Frédéric; Nardello-Rataj, Véronique; Chailloux, Nelly; Aubry, Jean-Marie; Tiddy, Gordon J T

2008-05-01

Azelaic acid was used as a starting material for the preparation of new monoester surfactants based on fragrance alcohols. Sodium monocitronellyl azelate (citroC(9)Na) and sodium monomenthyl azelate (menC(9)Na) were synthesized and their aqueous phase behaviour was studied. For comparison, monoesters derived from succinic anhydride, i.e. sodium monocitronellyl succinate (citroC(4)Na) and sodium monomenthyl succinate (menC(4)Na), were also prepared as well as sodium monodecyl succinate (C(10)C(4)Na) and sodium monodecyl azelate (C(10)C(9)Na) in order to study the effect of the position of the ester function inside the hydrophobic tail and of branching and unsaturation respectively. Liquid crystal structures were examined by optical polarising microscopy and schematic partial binary phase diagrams (surfactant+water, 0-100 wt%, 10-90 degrees C) of the surfactants were established. Succinate surfactants behave as longer alkyl chain surfactants than their azelate counterparts, meaning that these last ones probably adopt a more folded conformation, with the ester function more frequently present at the micelle surface. This conformation would result in a rougher micelle surface, making it slightly less easy for micelles to pack in liquid crystalline phases. It was also shown that the tendency to adopt a more folded conformation and to form smaller micelles is ranked in this order: monomenthyl>monocitronellyl>monodecyl.

Approximate controllability of a system of parabolic equations with delay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrasco, Alexander; Leiva, Hugo

2008-09-01

In this paper we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the approximate controllability of the following system of parabolic equations with delay: where [Omega] is a bounded domain in , D is an n×n nondiagonal matrix whose eigenvalues are semi-simple with nonnegative real part, the control and B[set membership, variant]L(U,Z) with , . The standard notation zt(x) defines a function from [-[tau],0] to (with x fixed) by zt(x)(s)=z(t+s,x), -[tau][less-than-or-equals, slant]s[less-than-or-equals, slant]0. Here [tau][greater-or-equal, slanted]0 is the maximum delay, which is supposed to be finite. We assume that the operator is linear and bounded, and [phi]0[set membership, variant]Z, [phi][set membership, variant]L2([-[tau],0];Z). To this end: First, we reformulate this system into a standard first-order delay equation. Secondly, the semigroup associated with the first-order delay equation on an appropriate product space is expressed as a series of strongly continuous semigroups and orthogonal projections related with the eigenvalues of the Laplacian operator (); this representation allows us to reduce the controllability of this partial differential equation with delay to a family of ordinary delay equations. Finally, we use the well-known result on the rank condition for the approximate controllability of delay system to derive our main result.

Estimating and Modelling Bias of the Hierarchical Partitioning Public-Domain Software: Implications in Environmental Management and Conservation

PubMed Central

Olea, Pedro P.; Mateo-Tomás, Patricia; de Frutos, Ángel

2010-01-01

Background Hierarchical partitioning (HP) is an analytical method of multiple regression that identifies the most likely causal factors while alleviating multicollinearity problems. Its use is increasing in ecology and conservation by its usefulness for complementing multiple regression analysis. A public-domain software “hier.part package” has been developed for running HP in R software. Its authors highlight a “minor rounding error” for hierarchies constructed from >9 variables, however potential bias by using this module has not yet been examined. Knowing this bias is pivotal because, for example, the ranking obtained in HP is being used as a criterion for establishing priorities of conservation. Methodology/Principal Findings Using numerical simulations and two real examples, we assessed the robustness of this HP module in relation to the order the variables have in the analysis. Results indicated a considerable effect of the variable order on the amount of independent variance explained by predictors for models with >9 explanatory variables. For these models the nominal ranking of importance of the predictors changed with variable order, i.e. predictors declared important by its contribution in explaining the response variable frequently changed to be either most or less important with other variable orders. The probability of changing position of a variable was best explained by the difference in independent explanatory power between that variable and the previous one in the nominal ranking of importance. The lesser is this difference, the more likely is the change of position. Conclusions/Significance HP should be applied with caution when more than 9 explanatory variables are used to know ranking of covariate importance. The explained variance is not a useful parameter to use in models with more than 9 independent variables. The inconsistency in the results obtained by HP should be considered in future studies as well as in those already published. Some recommendations to improve the analysis with this HP module are given. PMID:20657734

A performance analysis in AF full duplex relay selection network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngoc, Long Nguyen; Hong, Nhu Nguyen; Loan, Nguyen Thi Phuong; Kieu, Tam Nguyen; Voznak, Miroslav; Zdralek, Jaroslav

2018-04-01

This paper studies on the relaying selective matter in amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperation communication with full-duplex (FD) activity. Various relay choice models supposing the present of different instant information are investigated. We examine a maximal relaying choice that optimizes the instant FD channel capacity and asks for global channel state information (CSI) as well as partial CSI learning. To make comparison easy, accurate outage probability clauses and asymptote form of these strategies that give a diversity rank are extracted. From that, we can see clearly that the number of relays, noise factor, the transmittance coefficient as well as the information transfer power had impacted on their performance. Besides, the optimal relay selection (ORS) model can promote than that of the partial relay selection (PRS) model.

Ranking methodology for determining the relative favorability for commercial development of US tar-sand deposits

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aamodt, P.L.; Freiwald, J.G.

1983-03-01

As a part of the DOE's program to stimulate petroleum production from unconventional sources, the Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a methodology to compare and rank tar sand deposits, based on their suitability for commercial development. Major categories influencing favorability were identified and evaluated to determine their individual and collective impacts. To facilitate their evaluation, deposit characteristics, extraction technologies, environmental controls, and institutional constraints were broken down into their elements. The elements were assessed singly and in interactive groups to determine their influence on favorability for commercial development. A numerical value was assigned each element to signify its estimatedmore » importance relative to the other elements. Eight tar sand deposits were evaluated using only one major category, deposit characteristics. This initial, and only partial favorability assessment, was solely a test of the methodology, and it was considered successful. Because only one of the four major categories was used for this initial favorability ranking, and also because the available deposit characteristic data were barely adequate for the test, these first results should be used only as an example of how the methodology is to be applied when more complete data are available. The eight deposits and their relative favorability rankings for commercial development, based only on the deposit characteristics, are Sunnyside, Utah; Asphalt Ridge, Utah; Edna, California; Santa Rosa, New Mexico; Tar Sand Triangle, Utah; PR Spring, Utah; Uvalde, Texas; and circle cliffs, Utah.« less

Learning Robust and Discriminative Subspace With Low-Rank Constraints.

PubMed

Li, Sheng; Fu, Yun

2016-11-01

In this paper, we aim at learning robust and discriminative subspaces from noisy data. Subspace learning is widely used in extracting discriminative features for classification. However, when data are contaminated with severe noise, the performance of most existing subspace learning methods would be limited. Recent advances in low-rank modeling provide effective solutions for removing noise or outliers contained in sample sets, which motivates us to take advantage of low-rank constraints in order to exploit robust and discriminative subspace for classification. In particular, we present a discriminative subspace learning method called the supervised regularization-based robust subspace (SRRS) approach, by incorporating the low-rank constraint. SRRS seeks low-rank representations from the noisy data, and learns a discriminative subspace from the recovered clean data jointly. A supervised regularization function is designed to make use of the class label information, and therefore to enhance the discriminability of subspace. Our approach is formulated as a constrained rank-minimization problem. We design an inexact augmented Lagrange multiplier optimization algorithm to solve it. Unlike the existing sparse representation and low-rank learning methods, our approach learns a low-dimensional subspace from recovered data, and explicitly incorporates the supervised information. Our approach and some baselines are evaluated on the COIL-100, ALOI, Extended YaleB, FERET, AR, and KinFace databases. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, especially when the data contain considerable noise or variations.

Application of the fuzzy topsis multi-attribute decision making method to determine scholarship recipients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irvanizam, I.

2018-03-01

Some scholarships have been routinely offered by Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia for students at Syiah Kuala University. In reality, the scholarship selection process is becoming subjective and highly complex problem. Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM) techniques can be a solution in order to solve scholarship selection problem. In this study, we demonstrated the application of a fuzzy TOPSIS as an MADM technique by using a numerical example in order to calculate a triangular fuzzy number for the fuzzy data onto a normalized weight. We then use this normalized value to construct the normalized fuzzy decision matrix. We finally use the fuzzy TOPSIS to rank alternatives in descending order based on the relative closeness to the ideal solution. The result in terms of final ranking shows slightly different from the previous work.

{open_quotes}Quadrupoled{close_quotes} materials for second-order nonlinear optics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hubbard, S.F.; Petschek, R.G.; Singer, K.D.

1997-10-01

We describe a new approach to second-order nonlinear optical materials, namely quadrupoling. This approach is valid in the regime of Kleinman (full permutation) symmetry breaking, and thus requires a two- or three dimensional microscopic nonlinearity at wavelengths away from material resonances. This {open_quotes}quadrupolar{close_quotes} nonlinearity arises from the second rank pseudotensor of the rotationally invariant representation of the second-order nonlinear optical tensor. We have experimentally investigated candidate molecules comprised of chiral camphorquinone derivatives by measuring the scalar invariant associated with the rank two pseudotensor using hyper-Rayleigh scattering. We have found sizable scalar figures of merit for several compounds using light formore » which the second harmonic wavelengths are greater than 100 nm longer than the absorption peak location. At these wavelengths, the quadrupolar scalar is as large as the polar (EFISH) scalar of p-nitroaniline. Prospects for applications are discussed.« less

It's all relative: ranking the diversity of aquatic bacterial communities.

PubMed

Shaw, Allison K; Halpern, Aaron L; Beeson, Karen; Tran, Bao; Venter, J Craig; Martiny, Jennifer B H

2008-09-01

The study of microbial diversity patterns is hampered by the enormous diversity of microbial communities and the lack of resources to sample them exhaustively. For many questions about richness and evenness, however, one only needs to know the relative order of diversity among samples rather than total diversity. We used 16S libraries from the Global Ocean Survey to investigate the ability of 10 diversity statistics (including rarefaction, non-parametric, parametric, curve extrapolation and diversity indices) to assess the relative diversity of six aquatic bacterial communities. Overall, we found that the statistics yielded remarkably similar rankings of the samples for a given sequence similarity cut-off. This correspondence, despite the different underlying assumptions of the statistics, suggests that diversity statistics are a useful tool for ranking samples of microbial diversity. In addition, sequence similarity cut-off influenced the diversity ranking of the samples, demonstrating that diversity statistics can also be used to detect differences in phylogenetic structure among microbial communities. Finally, a subsampling analysis suggests that further sequencing from these particular clone libraries would not have substantially changed the richness rankings of the samples.

Microarray image analysis: background estimation using quantile and morphological filters.

PubMed

Bengtsson, Anders; Bengtsson, Henrik

2006-02-28

In a microarray experiment the difference in expression between genes on the same slide is up to 103 fold or more. At low expression, even a small error in the estimate will have great influence on the final test and reference ratios. In addition to the true spot intensity the scanned signal consists of different kinds of noise referred to as background. In order to assess the true spot intensity background must be subtracted. The standard approach to estimate background intensities is to assume they are equal to the intensity levels between spots. In the literature, morphological opening is suggested to be one of the best methods for estimating background this way. This paper examines fundamental properties of rank and quantile filters, which include morphological filters at the extremes, with focus on their ability to estimate between-spot intensity levels. The bias and variance of these filter estimates are driven by the number of background pixels used and their distributions. A new rank-filter algorithm is implemented and compared to methods available in Spot by CSIRO and GenePix Pro by Axon Instruments. Spot's morphological opening has a mean bias between -47 and -248 compared to a bias between 2 and -2 for the rank filter and the variability of the morphological opening estimate is 3 times higher than for the rank filter. The mean bias of Spot's second method, morph.close.open, is between -5 and -16 and the variability is approximately the same as for morphological opening. The variability of GenePix Pro's region-based estimate is more than ten times higher than the variability of the rank-filter estimate and with slightly more bias. The large variability is because the size of the background window changes with spot size. To overcome this, a non-adaptive region-based method is implemented. Its bias and variability are comparable to that of the rank filter. The performance of more advanced rank filters is equal to the best region-based methods. However, in order to get unbiased estimates these filters have to be implemented with great care. The performance of morphological opening is in general poor with a substantial spatial-dependent bias.

Evaluation of TV commercials using neurophysiological responses.

PubMed

Yang, Taeyang; Lee, Do-Young; Kwak, Youngshin; Choi, Jinsook; Kim, Chajoong; Kim, Sung-Phil

2015-04-24

In recent years, neuroscientific knowledge has been applied to marketing as a novel and efficient means to comprehend the cognitive and behavioral aspects of consumers. A number of studies have attempted to evaluate media contents, especially TV commercials using various neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG). Yet neurophysiological examination of detailed cognitive and affective responses in viewers is still required to provide practical information to marketers. Here, this study develops a method to analyze temporal patterns of EEG data and extract affective and cognitive indices such as happiness, surprise, and attention for TV commercial evaluation. Twenty participants participated in the study. We developed the neurophysiological indices for TV commercial evaluation using classification model. Specifically, these model-based indices were customized using individual EEG features. We used a video game for developing the index of attention and four video clips for developing indices of happiness and surprise. Statistical processes including one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) and the cross validation scheme were used to select EEG features for each index. The EEG features were composed of the combinations of spectral power at selected channels from the cross validation for each individual. The Fisher's linear discriminant classifier (FLDA) was used to estimate each neurophysiological index during viewing four different TV commercials. Post hoc behavioral responses of preference, short-term memory, and recall were measured. Behavioral results showed significant differences for all preference, short-term memory rates, and recall rates between commercials, leading to a 'high-ranked' commercial group and a 'low-ranked' group (P < 0.05). Neural estimation of happiness results revealed a significant difference between the high-ranked and the low-ranked commercials in happiness index (P < 0.01). The order of rankings based on happiness and attention matched well with the order of behavioral response rankings. In the elapsed-time analysis of the highest-ranked commercial, we could point to visual and auditory semantic structures of the commercial that induced increases in the happiness index. Our results demonstrated that the neurophysiological indices developed in this study may provide a useful tool for evaluating TV commercials.

Is a gene important for bone resorption a candidate for obesity? An association and linkage study on the RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB) gene in a large Caucasian sample.

PubMed

Zhao, Lan-Juan; Guo, Yan-Fang; Xiong, Dong-Hai; Xiao, Peng; Recker, Robert R; Deng, Hong-Wen

2006-11-01

In light of findings that osteoporosis and obesity may share some common genetic determination and previous reports that RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB) is expressed in skeletal muscles which are important for energy metabolism, we hypothesize that RANK, a gene essential for osteoclastogenesis, is also important for obesity. In order to test the hypothesis with solid data we first performed a linkage analysis around the RANK gene in 4,102 Caucasian subjects from 434 pedigrees, then we genotyped 19 SNPs in or around the RANK gene. A family-based association test (FBAT) was performed with both a quantitative measure of obesity [fat mass, lean mass, body mass index (BMI), and percentage fat mass (PFM)] and a dichotomously defined obesity phenotype-OB (OB if BMI > or = 30 kg/m(2)). In the linkage analysis, an empirical P = 0.004 was achieved at the location of the RANK gene for BMI. Family-based association analysis revealed significant associations of eight SNPs with at least one obesity-related phenotype (P < 0.05). Evidence of association was obtained at SNP10 (P = 0.002) and SNP16 (P = 0.001) with OB; SNP1 with fat mass (P = 0.003); SNP1 (P = 0.003) and SNP7 (P = 0.003) with lean mass; SNP1 (P = 0.002) and SNP7 (P = 0.002) with BMI; SNP1 (P = 0.003), SNP4 (P = 0.007), and SNP7 (P = 0.002) with PFM. In order to deal with the complex multiple testing issues, we performed FBAT multi-marker test (FBAT-MM) to evaluate the association between all the 18 SNPs and each obesity phenotype. The P value is 0.126 for OB, 0.033 for fat mass, 0.021 for lean mass, 0.016 for BMI, and 0.006 for PFM. The haplotype data analyses provide further association evidence. In conclusion, for the first time, our results suggest that RANK is a novel candidate for determination of obesity.

Pulling Rank: Military Rank Affects Hormone Levels and Fairness in an Allocation Experiment.

PubMed

Siart, Benjamin; Pflüger, Lena S; Wallner, Bernard

2016-01-01

Status within social hierarchies has great effects on the lives of socially organized mammals. Its effects on human behavior and related physiology, however, is relatively little studied. The present study investigated the impact of military rank on fairness and behavior in relation to salivary cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) levels in male soldiers. For this purpose 180 members of the Austrian Armed Forces belonging to two distinct rank groups participated in two variations of a computer-based guard duty allocation experiment. The rank groups were (1) warrant officers (high rank, HR) and (2) enlisted men (low rank, LR). One soldier from each rank group participated in every experiment. At the beginning of the experiment, one participant was assigned to start standing guard and the other participant at rest. The participant who started at rest could choose if and when to relieve his fellow soldier and therefore had control over the experiment. In order to trigger perception of unfair behavior, an additional experiment was conducted which was manipulated by the experimenter. In the manipulated version both soldiers started in the standing guard position and were never relieved, believing that their opponent was at rest , not relieving them. Our aim was to test whether unfair behavior causes a physiological reaction. Saliva samples for hormone analysis were collected at regular intervals throughout the experiment. We found that in the un-manipulated setup high-ranking soldiers spent less time standing guard than lower ranking individuals. Rank was a significant predictor for C but not for T levels during the experiment. C levels in the HR group were higher than in the LR group. C levels were also elevated in the manipulated experiment compared to the un-manipulated experiment, especially in LR. We assume that the elevated C levels in HR were caused by HR feeling their status challenged by the situation of having to negotiate with an individual of lower military rank. This would be in line with the observation that unequally shared duty favored HR in most cases. We conclude that social status, in the form of military rank affects fairness behavior in social interaction and endocrine levels.

Pulling Rank: Military Rank Affects Hormone Levels and Fairness in an Allocation Experiment

PubMed Central

Siart, Benjamin; Pflüger, Lena S.; Wallner, Bernard

2016-01-01

Status within social hierarchies has great effects on the lives of socially organized mammals. Its effects on human behavior and related physiology, however, is relatively little studied. The present study investigated the impact of military rank on fairness and behavior in relation to salivary cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) levels in male soldiers. For this purpose 180 members of the Austrian Armed Forces belonging to two distinct rank groups participated in two variations of a computer-based guard duty allocation experiment. The rank groups were (1) warrant officers (high rank, HR) and (2) enlisted men (low rank, LR). One soldier from each rank group participated in every experiment. At the beginning of the experiment, one participant was assigned to start standing guard and the other participant at rest. The participant who started at rest could choose if and when to relieve his fellow soldier and therefore had control over the experiment. In order to trigger perception of unfair behavior, an additional experiment was conducted which was manipulated by the experimenter. In the manipulated version both soldiers started in the standing guard position and were never relieved, believing that their opponent was at rest, not relieving them. Our aim was to test whether unfair behavior causes a physiological reaction. Saliva samples for hormone analysis were collected at regular intervals throughout the experiment. We found that in the un-manipulated setup high-ranking soldiers spent less time standing guard than lower ranking individuals. Rank was a significant predictor for C but not for T levels during the experiment. C levels in the HR group were higher than in the LR group. C levels were also elevated in the manipulated experiment compared to the un-manipulated experiment, especially in LR. We assume that the elevated C levels in HR were caused by HR feeling their status challenged by the situation of having to negotiate with an individual of lower military rank. This would be in line with the observation that unequally shared duty favored HR in most cases. We conclude that social status, in the form of military rank affects fairness behavior in social interaction and endocrine levels. PMID:27891109

Dynamic programming re-ranking for PPI interactor and pair extraction in full-text articles

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Experimentally verified protein-protein interactions (PPIs) cannot be easily retrieved by researchers unless they are stored in PPI databases. The curation of such databases can be facilitated by employing text-mining systems to identify genes which play the interactor role in PPIs and to map these genes to unique database identifiers (interactor normalization task or INT) and then to return a list of interaction pairs for each article (interaction pair task or IPT). These two tasks are evaluated in terms of the area under curve of the interpolated precision/recall (AUC iP/R) score because the order of identifiers in the output list is important for ease of curation. Results Our INT system developed for the BioCreAtIvE II.5 INT challenge achieved a promising AUC iP/R of 43.5% by using a support vector machine (SVM)-based ranking procedure. Using our new re-ranking algorithm, we have been able to improve system performance (AUC iP/R) by 1.84%. Our experimental results also show that with the re-ranked INT results, our unsupervised IPT system can achieve a competitive AUC iP/R of 23.86%, which outperforms the best BC II.5 INT system by 1.64%. Compared to using only SVM ranked INT results, using re-ranked INT results boosts AUC iP/R by 7.84%. Statistical significance t-test results show that our INT/IPT system with re-ranking outperforms that without re-ranking by a statistically significant difference. Conclusions In this paper, we present a new re-ranking algorithm that considers co-occurrence among identifiers in an article to improve INT and IPT ranking results. Combining the re-ranked INT results with an unsupervised approach to find associations among interactors, the proposed method can boost the IPT performance. We also implement score computation using dynamic programming, which is faster and more efficient than traditional approaches. PMID:21342534

Dynamic programming re-ranking for PPI interactor and pair extraction in full-text articles.

PubMed

Tsai, Richard Tzong-Han; Lai, Po-Ting

2011-02-23

Experimentally verified protein-protein interactions (PPIs) cannot be easily retrieved by researchers unless they are stored in PPI databases. The curation of such databases can be facilitated by employing text-mining systems to identify genes which play the interactor role in PPIs and to map these genes to unique database identifiers (interactor normalization task or INT) and then to return a list of interaction pairs for each article (interaction pair task or IPT). These two tasks are evaluated in terms of the area under curve of the interpolated precision/recall (AUC iP/R) score because the order of identifiers in the output list is important for ease of curation. Our INT system developed for the BioCreAtIvE II.5 INT challenge achieved a promising AUC iP/R of 43.5% by using a support vector machine (SVM)-based ranking procedure. Using our new re-ranking algorithm, we have been able to improve system performance (AUC iP/R) by 1.84%. Our experimental results also show that with the re-ranked INT results, our unsupervised IPT system can achieve a competitive AUC iP/R of 23.86%, which outperforms the best BC II.5 INT system by 1.64%. Compared to using only SVM ranked INT results, using re-ranked INT results boosts AUC iP/R by 7.84%. Statistical significance t-test results show that our INT/IPT system with re-ranking outperforms that without re-ranking by a statistically significant difference. In this paper, we present a new re-ranking algorithm that considers co-occurrence among identifiers in an article to improve INT and IPT ranking results. Combining the re-ranked INT results with an unsupervised approach to find associations among interactors, the proposed method can boost the IPT performance. We also implement score computation using dynamic programming, which is faster and more efficient than traditional approaches.

Gene selection with multiple ordering criteria.

PubMed

Chen, James J; Tsai, Chen-An; Tzeng, Shengli; Chen, Chun-Houh

2007-03-05

A microarray study may select different differentially expressed gene sets because of different selection criteria. For example, the fold-change and p-value are two commonly known criteria to select differentially expressed genes under two experimental conditions. These two selection criteria often result in incompatible selected gene sets. Also, in a two-factor, say, treatment by time experiment, the investigator may be interested in one gene list that responds to both treatment and time effects. We propose three layer ranking algorithms, point-admissible, line-admissible (convex), and Pareto, to provide a preference gene list from multiple gene lists generated by different ranking criteria. Using the public colon data as an example, the layer ranking algorithms are applied to the three univariate ranking criteria, fold-change, p-value, and frequency of selections by the SVM-RFE classifier. A simulation experiment shows that for experiments with small or moderate sample sizes (less than 20 per group) and detecting a 4-fold change or less, the two-dimensional (p-value and fold-change) convex layer ranking selects differentially expressed genes with generally lower FDR and higher power than the standard p-value ranking. Three applications are presented. The first application illustrates a use of the layer rankings to potentially improve predictive accuracy. The second application illustrates an application to a two-factor experiment involving two dose levels and two time points. The layer rankings are applied to selecting differentially expressed genes relating to the dose and time effects. In the third application, the layer rankings are applied to a benchmark data set consisting of three dilution concentrations to provide a ranking system from a long list of differentially expressed genes generated from the three dilution concentrations. The layer ranking algorithms are useful to help investigators in selecting the most promising genes from multiple gene lists generated by different filter, normalization, or analysis methods for various objectives.

Order-disorder transition in conflicting dynamics leading to rank-frequency generalized beta distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez-Martinez, R.; Martinez-Mekler, G.; Cocho, G.

2011-01-01

The behavior of rank-ordered distributions of phenomena present in a variety of fields such as biology, sociology, linguistics, finance and geophysics has been a matter of intense research. Often power laws have been encountered; however, their validity tends to hold mainly for an intermediate range of rank values. In a recent publication (Martínez-Mekler et al., 2009 [7]), a generalization of the functional form of the beta distribution has been shown to give excellent fits for many systems of very diverse nature, valid for the whole range of rank values, regardless of whether or not a power law behavior has been previously suggested. Here we give some insight on the significance of the two free parameters which appear as exponents in the functional form, by looking into discrete probabilistic branching processes with conflicting dynamics. We analyze a variety of realizations of these so-called expansion-modification models first introduced by Wentian Li (1989) [10]. We focus our attention on an order-disorder transition we encounter as we vary the modification probability p. We characterize this transition by means of the fitting parameters. Our numerical studies show that one of the fitting exponents is related to the presence of long-range correlations exhibited by power spectrum scale invariance, while the other registers the effect of disordering elements leading to a breakdown of these properties. In the absence of long-range correlations, this parameter is sensitive to the occurrence of unlikely events. We also introduce an approximate calculation scheme that relates this dynamics to multinomial multiplicative processes. A better understanding through these models of the meaning of the generalized beta-fitting exponents may contribute to their potential for identifying and characterizing universality classes.

An extension of the receiver operating characteristic curve and AUC-optimal classification.

PubMed

Takenouchi, Takashi; Komori, Osamu; Eguchi, Shinto

2012-10-01

While most proposed methods for solving classification problems focus on minimization of the classification error rate, we are interested in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, which provides more information about classification performance than the error rate does. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) is a natural measure for overall assessment of a classifier based on the ROC curve. We discuss a class of concave functions for AUC maximization in which a boosting-type algorithm including RankBoost is considered, and the Bayesian risk consistency and the lower bound of the optimum function are discussed. A procedure derived by maximizing a specific optimum function has high robustness, based on gross error sensitivity. Additionally, we focus on the partial AUC, which is the partial area under the ROC curve. For example, in medical screening, a high true-positive rate to the fixed lower false-positive rate is preferable and thus the partial AUC corresponding to lower false-positive rates is much more important than the remaining AUC. We extend the class of concave optimum functions for partial AUC optimality with the boosting algorithm. We investigated the validity of the proposed method through several experiments with data sets in the UCI repository.

Concept Based Tie-breaking and Maximal Marginal Relevance Retrieval in Microblog Retrieval

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

the same score, another singal will be used to rank these documents to break the ties , but the relative orders of other documents against these...documents remain the same. The tie- breaking step above is repeatedly applied to further break ties until all candidate signals are applied and the ranking...searched it on the Yahoo! search engine, which returned some query sug- gestions for the query. The original queries as well as their query suggestions

Ranking Schools' Academic Performance Using a Fuzzy VIKOR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musani, Suhaina; Aziz Jemain, Abdul

2015-06-01

Determination rank is structuring alternatives in order of priority. It is based on the criteria determined for each alternative involved. Evaluation criteria are performed and then a composite index composed of each alternative for the purpose of arranging in order of preference alternatives. This practice is known as multiple criteria decision making (MCDM). There are several common approaches to MCDM, one of the practice is known as VIKOR (Multi-criteria Optimization and Compromise Solution). The objective of this study is to develop a rational method for school ranking based on linguistic information of a criterion. The school represents an alternative, while the results for a number of subjects as the criterion. The results of the examination for a course, is given according to the student percentage of each grade. Five grades of excellence, honours, average, pass and fail is used to indicate a level of achievement in linguistics. Linguistic variables are transformed to fuzzy numbers to form a composite index of school performance. Results showed that fuzzy set theory can solve the limitations of using MCDM when there is uncertainty problems exist in the data.

Quantitative assessments of municipal waste management systems: using different indicators to compare and rank programs in New York State.

PubMed

Greene, Krista L; Tonjes, David J

2014-04-01

The primary objective of waste management technologies and policies in the United States is to reduce the harmful environmental impacts of waste, particularly those relating to energy consumption and climate change. Performance indicators are frequently used to evaluate the environmental quality of municipal waste systems, as well as to compare and rank programs relative to each other in terms of environmental performance. However, there currently is no consensus on the best indicator for performing these environmental evaluations. The purpose of this study is to examine the common performance indicators used to assess the environmental benefits of municipal waste systems to determine if there is agreement between them regarding which system performs best environmentally. Focus is placed on how indicator selection influences comparisons between municipal waste management programs and subsequent system rankings. The waste systems of ten municipalities in the state of New York, USA, were evaluated using each common performance indicator and Spearman correlations were calculated to see if there was a significant association between system rank orderings. Analyses showed that rank orders of waste systems differ substantially when different indicators are used. Therefore, comparative system assessments based on indicators should be considered carefully, especially those intended to gauge environmental quality. Insight was also gained into specific factors which may lead to one system achieving higher rankings than another. However, despite the insufficiencies of indicators for comparative quality assessments, they do provide important information for waste managers and they can assist in evaluating internal programmatic performance and progress. To enhance these types of assessments, a framework for scoring indicators based on criteria that evaluate their utility and value for system evaluations was developed. This framework was used to construct an improved model for waste system performance assessments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low-rank canonical-tensor decomposition of potential energy surfaces: application to grid-based diagrammatic vibrational Green's function theory

DOE PAGES

Rai, Prashant; Sargsyan, Khachik; Najm, Habib; ...

2017-03-07

Here, a new method is proposed for a fast evaluation of high-dimensional integrals of potential energy surfaces (PES) that arise in many areas of quantum dynamics. It decomposes a PES into a canonical low-rank tensor format, reducing its integral into a relatively short sum of products of low-dimensional integrals. The decomposition is achieved by the alternating least squares (ALS) algorithm, requiring only a small number of single-point energy evaluations. Therefore, it eradicates a force-constant evaluation as the hotspot of many quantum dynamics simulations and also possibly lifts the curse of dimensionality. This general method is applied to the anharmonic vibrationalmore » zero-point and transition energy calculations of molecules using the second-order diagrammatic vibrational many-body Green's function (XVH2) theory with a harmonic-approximation reference. In this application, high dimensional PES and Green's functions are both subjected to a low-rank decomposition. Evaluating the molecular integrals over a low-rank PES and Green's functions as sums of low-dimensional integrals using the Gauss–Hermite quadrature, this canonical-tensor-decomposition-based XVH2 (CT-XVH2) achieves an accuracy of 0.1 cm -1 or higher and nearly an order of magnitude speedup as compared with the original algorithm using force constants for water and formaldehyde.« less

Low-rank canonical-tensor decomposition of potential energy surfaces: application to grid-based diagrammatic vibrational Green's function theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rai, Prashant; Sargsyan, Khachik; Najm, Habib

Here, a new method is proposed for a fast evaluation of high-dimensional integrals of potential energy surfaces (PES) that arise in many areas of quantum dynamics. It decomposes a PES into a canonical low-rank tensor format, reducing its integral into a relatively short sum of products of low-dimensional integrals. The decomposition is achieved by the alternating least squares (ALS) algorithm, requiring only a small number of single-point energy evaluations. Therefore, it eradicates a force-constant evaluation as the hotspot of many quantum dynamics simulations and also possibly lifts the curse of dimensionality. This general method is applied to the anharmonic vibrationalmore » zero-point and transition energy calculations of molecules using the second-order diagrammatic vibrational many-body Green's function (XVH2) theory with a harmonic-approximation reference. In this application, high dimensional PES and Green's functions are both subjected to a low-rank decomposition. Evaluating the molecular integrals over a low-rank PES and Green's functions as sums of low-dimensional integrals using the Gauss–Hermite quadrature, this canonical-tensor-decomposition-based XVH2 (CT-XVH2) achieves an accuracy of 0.1 cm -1 or higher and nearly an order of magnitude speedup as compared with the original algorithm using force constants for water and formaldehyde.« less

Intelligent driving in traffic systems with partial lane discipline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assadi, Hamid; Emmerich, Heike

2013-04-01

It is a most common notion in traffic theory that driving in lanes and keeping lane changes to a minimum leads to smooth and laminar traffic flow, and hence to increased traffic capacity. On the other hand, there exist persistent vehicular traffic systems that are characterised by habitual disregarding of lane markings, and partial or complete loss of laminar traffic flow. Here, we explore the stability of such systems through a microscopic traffic flow model, where the degree of lane-discipline is taken as a variable, represented by the fraction of drivers that disregard lane markings completely. The results show that lane-free traffic may win over completely ordered traffic at high densities, and that partially ordered traffic leads to the poorest overall flow, while not considering the crash probability. Partial order in a lane-free system is similar to partial disorder in a lane-disciplined system in that both lead to decreased traffic capacity. This could explain the reason why standard enforcement methods, which rely on continuous increase of order, often fail to incur order to lane-free traffic systems. The results also provide an insight into the cooperative phenomena in open systems with self-driven particles.

Multimodal biometric system using rank-level fusion approach.

PubMed

Monwar, Md Maruf; Gavrilova, Marina L

2009-08-01

In many real-world applications, unimodal biometric systems often face significant limitations due to sensitivity to noise, intraclass variability, data quality, nonuniversality, and other factors. Attempting to improve the performance of individual matchers in such situations may not prove to be highly effective. Multibiometric systems seek to alleviate some of these problems by providing multiple pieces of evidence of the same identity. These systems help achieve an increase in performance that may not be possible using a single-biometric indicator. This paper presents an effective fusion scheme that combines information presented by multiple domain experts based on the rank-level fusion integration method. The developed multimodal biometric system possesses a number of unique qualities, starting from utilizing principal component analysis and Fisher's linear discriminant methods for individual matchers (face, ear, and signature) identity authentication and utilizing the novel rank-level fusion method in order to consolidate the results obtained from different biometric matchers. The ranks of individual matchers are combined using the highest rank, Borda count, and logistic regression approaches. The results indicate that fusion of individual modalities can improve the overall performance of the biometric system, even in the presence of low quality data. Insights on multibiometric design using rank-level fusion and its performance on a variety of biometric databases are discussed in the concluding section.

Accountability for U.S. Equipment Provided to Pakistani Security Forces in the Western Frontier Needs to Be Improved

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-15

Honorable Adam Smith Ranking Member Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives The Honorable Ileana Ros -Lehtinen Chairman The Honorable...fully addrc~s all of DSCA ’s 2008 recommendations. 000 REs rO ,""St:: Partially Concur. The repon incorrectly implies thal DSCA did no1 follow up in...provided defense equipment. the GAO recommends tMt the Secretary of Defeose should direclthe Di rector of DSCA to conduct a compliance

Treatment resistant non-catatonic mutism in schizophrenia responding to a combination of continuation electroconvulsive therapy and neuroleptics

PubMed Central

Grover, Sandeep; Dutt, Alakananda; Chakrabarty, Kaustav; Kumar, Vineet

2012-01-01

Non-catatonic mutism in schizophrenia has been described less frequently in literature. We describe the case of a young male who presented with non-catatonic mutism, secondary to first rank symptoms, which was refractory to adequate antipsychotic trials (quetiapine, risperidone, aripiprazole, ziprasidone, and trifluperazine) and responded to a combination of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and neuroleptics partially. However, when the ECT was continued in the continuation phase, the patient started speaking. PMID:23766583

The convergence of the order sequence and the solution function sequence on fractional partial differential equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rusyaman, E.; Parmikanti, K.; Chaerani, D.; Asefan; Irianingsih, I.

2018-03-01

One of the application of fractional ordinary differential equation is related to the viscoelasticity, i.e., a correlation between the viscosity of fluids and the elasticity of solids. If the solution function develops into function with two or more variables, then its differential equation must be changed into fractional partial differential equation. As the preliminary study for two variables viscoelasticity problem, this paper discusses about convergence analysis of function sequence which is the solution of the homogenous fractional partial differential equation. The method used to solve the problem is Homotopy Analysis Method. The results show that if given two real number sequences (αn) and (βn) which converge to α and β respectively, then the solution function sequences of fractional partial differential equation with order (αn, βn) will also converge to the solution function of fractional partial differential equation with order (α, β).

Applicant Interview Experiences and Postinterview Communication of the 2016 Radiation Oncology Match Cycle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berriochoa, Camille; Ward, Matthew C.; Weller, Michael A.

Purpose: To characterize applicant interview experiences at radiation oncology residency programs during the 2016 match cycle and to assess applicant opinions regarding postinterview communication (PIC) after recent attention to gamesmanship noted in prior match cycles. Methods and Materials: An anonymous, institutional review board–approved, 29-question survey was deployed following the rank order list deadline to all 2016 radiation oncology residency applicants applying to a single institution. Results: Complete surveys were returned by 118 of 210 applicants, for a 56% response rate. Regarding possible match violation questions, 84% of respondents were asked at least once about where else they were interviewing (occurredmore » at a median of 20% of program interviews); 51% were asked about marital status (6% of interviews); and 22% were asked about plans to have children (1% of interviews). Eighty-three percent of applicants wrote thank-you notes, with 55% reporting fear of being viewed unfavorably if such notes were not communicated. Sixty percent of applicants informed a program that they had ranked a program highly; 53% felt this PIC strategy would improve their standing on the rank order list, yet 46% reported feeling distressed by this obligation. A majority of applicants stated that they would feel relieved if programs explicitly discouraged PIC (89%) and that it would be preferable if programs prohibited applicants from notifying the program of their rank position (66%). Conclusions: Potential match violations occur at a high rate but are experienced at a minority of interviews. Postinterview communication occurs frequently, with applicants reporting resultant distress. Respondents stated that active discouragement of both thank-you notes/e-mails and applicants' notification to programs of their ranking would be preferred.« less

A survey: how periodontists and other dental professionals view the scope of periodontics.

PubMed

Chang, Peter K; Hall, Joshua; Finkelman, Matthew; Park, Angel; Levi, Paul A

2014-07-01

How do periodontists think of themselves when they define their practices? How do other dental professionals view the scope of the specialty of periodontology? A strong component of periodontal residency programs is extracting teeth and preserving or building bony ridges for the eventual placement of implants. Has the discipline of periodontology moved away from retaining and treating the natural dentition? By the use of a rank-order survey, the practice of periodontology was defined by periodontists and other dental professionals. In a pilot study, respondents were asked to list the answers to the question, "What is a periodontist?" The results were consolidated into eight statements. The eight statements were placed into an anonymous rank-order survey, and more than 1,200 responses were returned. The responses primarily came from periodontists, hygienists, general practitioners, dental students, and dental hygiene students. "Periodontists surgically treat advanced gum and bone infection problems" was considered the most important statement in all of the cohorts. The least important statement considered by all was, "Periodontists are educators promoting health." Non-periodontist dentists (NPDs) ranked the statement, "Periodontists perform dental implants and related procedures" less importantly (P <0.001) than the periodontists. The non-periodontist cohort (NPC), which includes NPDs and dental hygienists, ranked the statement, "Periodontists' treatments help general dentists and other specialists increase successful therapeutic outcomes" as second most important. The results of this survey indicate that periodontists ranked the placement of implants and their related procedures higher than the NPC. NPDs appear to value periodontists in treating the natural dentition for their patients. The NPC appreciates that periodontal therapy done by periodontists increases their therapeutic success for their patients.

Ordering policies of a deteriorating item in an EOQ model with backorder under two-level partial trade credit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molamohamadi, Zohreh; Arshizadeh, Rahman; Ismail, Napsiah

2015-05-01

In the classical inventory model, it was assumed that the retailer must settle the accounts of the purchased items as soon as they are received. In practice, however, the supplier usually offers a full or partial delay period to the retailer to pay for the amount of the purchasing costs. In the partial trade credit contract, which is mostly applied to avoid non-payment risks, the retailer must pay for a portion of the purchased goods at the time of ordering and may delay settling the rest until the end of the predefined agreed upon period, so-called credit period. This paper assumes a two-level partial trade credit where both supplier and retailer offer a partial trade credit to their downstream members. The objective here is to determine the retailer's ordering policy of a deteriorating item by formulating his economic order quantity (EOQ) inventory system with backorder as a cost minimization problem. The sensitivity of the variables on different parameters has been also analyzed by applying numerical examples.

Sensitivity analysis of gene ranking methods in phenotype prediction.

PubMed

deAndrés-Galiana, Enrique J; Fernández-Martínez, Juan L; Sonis, Stephen T

2016-12-01

It has become clear that noise generated during the assay and analytical processes has the ability to disrupt accurate interpretation of genomic studies. Not only does such noise impact the scientific validity and costs of studies, but when assessed in the context of clinically translatable indications such as phenotype prediction, it can lead to inaccurate conclusions that could ultimately impact patients. We applied a sequence of ranking methods to damp noise associated with microarray outputs, and then tested the utility of the approach in three disease indications using publically available datasets. This study was performed in three phases. We first theoretically analyzed the effect of noise in phenotype prediction problems showing that it can be expressed as a modeling error that partially falsifies the pathways. Secondly, via synthetic modeling, we performed the sensitivity analysis for the main gene ranking methods to different types of noise. Finally, we studied the predictive accuracy of the gene lists provided by these ranking methods in synthetic data and in three different datasets related to cancer, rare and neurodegenerative diseases to better understand the translational aspects of our findings. In the case of synthetic modeling, we showed that Fisher's Ratio (FR) was the most robust gene ranking method in terms of precision for all the types of noise at different levels. Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM) provided slightly lower performance and the rest of the methods (fold change, entropy and maximum percentile distance) were much less precise and accurate. The predictive accuracy of the smallest set of high discriminatory probes was similar for all the methods in the case of Gaussian and Log-Gaussian noise. In the case of class assignment noise, the predictive accuracy of SAM and FR is higher. Finally, for real datasets (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Inclusion Body Myositis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) we found that FR and SAM provided the highest predictive accuracies with the smallest number of genes. Biological pathways were found with an expanded list of genes whose discriminatory power has been established via FR. We have shown that noise in expression data and class assignment partially falsifies the sets of discriminatory probes in phenotype prediction problems. FR and SAM better exploit the principle of parsimony and are able to find subsets with less number of high discriminatory genes. The predictive accuracy and the precision are two different metrics to select the important genes, since in the presence of noise the most predictive genes do not completely coincide with those that are related to the phenotype. Based on the synthetic results, FR and SAM are recommended to unravel the biological pathways that are involved in the disease development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A ranking algorithm for spacelab crew and experiment scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grone, R. D.; Mathis, F. H.

1980-01-01

The problem of obtaining an optimal or near optimal schedule for scientific experiments to be performed on Spacelab missions is addressed. The current capabilities in this regard are examined and a method of ranking experiments in order of difficulty is developed to support the existing software. Experimental data is obtained from applying this method to the sets of experiments corresponding to Spacelab mission 1, 2, and 3. Finally, suggestions are made concerning desirable modifications and features of second generation software being developed for this problem.

Unidimensional factor models imply weaker partial correlations than zero-order correlations.

PubMed

van Bork, Riet; Grasman, Raoul P P P; Waldorp, Lourens J

2018-06-01

In this paper we present a new implication of the unidimensional factor model. We prove that the partial correlation between two observed variables that load on one factor given any subset of other observed variables that load on this factor lies between zero and the zero-order correlation between these two observed variables. We implement this result in an empirical bootstrap test that rejects the unidimensional factor model when partial correlations are identified that are either stronger than the zero-order correlation or have a different sign than the zero-order correlation. We demonstrate the use of the test in an empirical data example with data consisting of fourteen items that measure extraversion.

Evaluation of analytical performance based on partial order methodology.

PubMed

Carlsen, Lars; Bruggemann, Rainer; Kenessova, Olga; Erzhigitov, Erkin

2015-01-01

Classical measurements of performances are typically based on linear scales. However, in analytical chemistry a simple scale may be not sufficient to analyze the analytical performance appropriately. Here partial order methodology can be helpful. Within the context described here, partial order analysis can be seen as an ordinal analysis of data matrices, especially to simplify the relative comparisons of objects due to their data profile (the ordered set of values an object have). Hence, partial order methodology offers a unique possibility to evaluate analytical performance. In the present data as, e.g., provided by the laboratories through interlaboratory comparisons or proficiency testings is used as an illustrative example. However, the presented scheme is likewise applicable for comparison of analytical methods or simply as a tool for optimization of an analytical method. The methodology can be applied without presumptions or pretreatment of the analytical data provided in order to evaluate the analytical performance taking into account all indicators simultaneously and thus elucidating a "distance" from the true value. In the present illustrative example it is assumed that the laboratories analyze a given sample several times and subsequently report the mean value, the standard deviation and the skewness, which simultaneously are used for the evaluation of the analytical performance. The analyses lead to information concerning (1) a partial ordering of the laboratories, subsequently, (2) a "distance" to the Reference laboratory and (3) a classification due to the concept of "peculiar points". Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

75 FR 59742 - Public Land Order No. 7752; Partial Revocation of a Light Station Reservation; Washington

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-28

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [LLOR-936000-L14300000-FQ0000; HAG-09-0002; WAOR-22197 K] Public Land Order No. 7752; Partial Revocation of a Light Station Reservation; Washington...: The reservation of public land for the Lime Kiln Light Station created by an Executive Order dated...

78 FR 8652 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS Y-Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-06

... and re-displays an order at a more aggressive price based on changes in the national best bid (``NBB...-displayed to the extent it achieves a more aggressive price. However, the Exchange proposes to re-rank an order at the same price as the displayed price (i.e., a less aggressive price) in the event such order's...

Influence of solvent evaporation rate and formulation factors on solid dispersion physical stability.

PubMed

Wu, Jian X; Yang, Mingshi; Berg, Frans van den; Pajander, Jari; Rades, Thomas; Rantanen, Jukka

2011-12-18

New chemical entities (NCEs) often show poor water solubility necessitating solid dispersion formulation. The aim of the current study is to employ design of experiments in investigating the influence of one critical process factor (solvent evaporation rate) and two formulation factors (PVP:piroxicam ratio (PVP:PRX) and PVP molecular weight (P(MW))) on the physical stability of PRX solid dispersion prepared by the solvent evaporation method. The results showed the rank order of an increase in factors contributing to a decrease in the extent of PRX nucleation being evaporation rate>PVP:PRX>P(MW). The same rank order was found for the decrease in the extent of PRX crystal growth in PVP matrices from day 0 up to day 12. However, after 12days the rank became PVP:PRX>evaporation rate>P(MW). The effects of an increase in evaporation rate and PVP:PRX ratio in stabilizing PRX were of the same order of magnitude, while the effect from P(MW) was much smaller. The findings were confirmed by XRPD. FT-IR showed that PRX recrystallization in the PVP matrix followed Ostwald's step rule, and an increase in the three factors all led to increased hydrogen bonding interaction between PRX and PVP. The present study showed the applicability of the Quality by Design approach in solid dispersion research, and highlights the need for multifactorial analysis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparing the rankings obtained from two biodiversity indices: the Fair Proportion Index and the Shapley Value.

PubMed

Wicke, Kristina; Fischer, Mareike

2017-10-07

The Shapley Value and the Fair Proportion Index of phylogenetic trees have been frequently discussed as prioritization tools in conservation biology. Both indices rank species according to their contribution to total phylogenetic diversity, allowing for a simple conservation criterion. While both indices have their specific advantages and drawbacks, it has recently been shown that both values are closely related. However, as different authors use different definitions of the Shapley Value, the specific degree of relatedness depends on the specific version of the Shapley Value - it ranges from a high correlation index to equality of the indices. In this note, we first give an overview of the different indices. Then we turn our attention to the mere ranking order provided by either of the indices. We compare the rankings obtained from different versions of the Shapley Value for a phylogenetic tree of European amphibians and illustrate their differences. We then undertake further analyses on simulated data and show that even though the chance of two rankings being exactly identical (when obtained from different versions of the Shapley Value) decreases with an increasing number of taxa, the distance between the two rankings converges to zero, i.e., the rankings are becoming more and more alike. Moreover, we introduce our freely available software package FairShapley, which was implemented in Perl and with which all calculations have been performed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermolysis of phenethyl phenyl ether: A model of ether linkages in low rank coal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Britt, P.F.; Buchanan, A.C. III; Malcolm, E.A.

Currently, an area of interest and frustration for coal chemists has been the direct liquefaction of low rank coal. Although low rank coals are more reactive than bituminous coals, they are more difficult to liquefy and offer lower liquefaction yields under conditions optimized for bituminous coals. Solomon, Serio, and co-workers have shown that: in the pyrolysis and liquefaction of low rank coals, a low temperature cross-linking reaction associated with oxygen functional groups occurs before tar evolution. A variety of pretreatments (demineralization, alkylation, and ion-exchange) have been shown to reduce these retrogressive reactions and increase tar yields, but the actual chemicalmore » reactions responsible for these processes have not been defined. In order to gain insight into the thermochemical reactions leading to cross-linking in low rank coal, we have undertaken a study of the pyrolysis of oxygen containing coal model compounds. Solid state NMR studies suggest that the alkyl aryl ether linkage may be present in modest amounts in low rank coal. Therefore, in this paper, we will investigate the thermolysis of phenethyl phenyl ether (PPE) as a model of 0-aryl ether linkages found in low rank coal, lignites, and lignin, an evolutionary precursor of coal. Our results have uncovered a new reaction channel that can account for 25% of the products formed. The impact of reaction conditions, including restricted mass transport, on this new reaction pathway and the role of oxygen functional groups in cross-linking reactions will be investigated.« less

Magnetocaloric effect in amorphous and partially crystallized Fe{sub 40}Ni{sub 38}Mo{sub 4}B{sub 18} alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thanveer, T.; Thomas, S., E-mail: senoythomas@gmail.com; Ramanujan, R. V.

A study of magnetocaloric effect in amorphous and partially crystallized Fe{sub 40}Ni{sub 38}Mo{sub 4}B{sub 18} alloys is reported. Amorphous Fe{sub 40}Ni{sub 38}Mo{sub 4}B{sub 18}, near its magnetic ordering temperature (600 K) showed a magnetic entropy change ΔS{sub M} of 1.1 J/KgK and a relative cooling power of 36 J/Kg in a field change of 10 kOe. Amorphous samples were partially crystallized by annealing at 700 K at different time intervals. Partially crystallized samples showed two distinct magnetic ordering temperature, one corresponding to the precipitated FeNi nanocrystals and the other one corresponding to the boron rich amorphous matrix. Magnetic ordering temperaturemore » of the residual amorphous matrix got shifted to the lower temperatures on increasing the annealing duration. Partially crystallised samples showed a magnetic entropy change of about 0.27 J/kgK near the magnetic ordering temperature of the amorphous matrix (540 K) in a field change of 10 kOe. The decrease in ΔS{sub M} on partial crystallisation is attributed to the biphasic magnetic nature of the sample.« less

Determinants of career structure and advancement among Italian cardiologists. An example of segregation and discrimination against women? SCIC Group. Studio Condizione Italiana Cardiologi.

PubMed

Modena, M G; Lalla, M; Molinari, R

1999-09-01

The aim of this study was to analyse the processes through which job, career and research-related choices are determined in Italian cardiology, focusing on characteristics such as productivity, gender and family. In June 1996, a questionnaire surveying individual and career-related data was mailed to all members (8000) of the Italian societies of cardiology. Returned questionnaires numbered 1715 (21.4% of the total mailed), 83% were completed by men and 17% by women. For both hospital and academic careers, advancement in rank was influenced by variables denoting productivity, family and individual characteristics. However, men and women showed slightly different patterns. Promotion to the upper ranks of the hierarchy was highly dependent upon time (once the effects of the covariates were eliminated). This situation is typical of the internal labour market, that is, in institutions in which staff members are ranked on a hierarchical scale according to formal criteria that are 'rigid' and institutionalized, partially sheltered from competition. Therefore, once a member has gained access to the bottom of the hierarchy, the professional career is 'pre-determined' and seniority has an appreciable influence on promotion decisions; in this context, women appear to be at a disadvantage. Copyright 1999 The European Society of Cardiology.

Testing the robustness of optimal access vessel fleet selection for operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms

DOE PAGES

Sperstad, Iver Bakken; Stålhane, Magnus; Dinwoodie, Iain; ...

2017-09-23

Optimising the operation and maintenance (O&M) and logistics strategy of offshore wind farms implies the decision problem of selecting the vessel fleet for O&M. Different strategic decision support tools can be applied to this problem, but much uncertainty remains regarding both input data and modelling assumptions. Our paper aims to investigate and ultimately reduce this uncertainty by comparing four simulation tools, one mathematical optimisation tool and one analytic spreadsheet-based tool applied to select the O&M access vessel fleet that minimizes the total O&M cost of a reference wind farm. The comparison shows that the tools generally agree on the optimalmore » vessel fleet, but only partially agree on the relative ranking of the different vessel fleets in terms of total O&M cost. The robustness of the vessel fleet selection to various input data assumptions was tested, and the ranking was found to be particularly sensitive to the vessels' limiting significant wave height for turbine access. Also the parameter with the greatest discrepancy between the tools, implies that accurate quantification and modelling of this parameter is crucial. The ranking is moderately sensitive to turbine failure rates and vessel day rates but less sensitive to electricity price and vessel transit speed.« less

Testing the robustness of optimal access vessel fleet selection for operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sperstad, Iver Bakken; Stålhane, Magnus; Dinwoodie, Iain

Optimising the operation and maintenance (O&M) and logistics strategy of offshore wind farms implies the decision problem of selecting the vessel fleet for O&M. Different strategic decision support tools can be applied to this problem, but much uncertainty remains regarding both input data and modelling assumptions. Our paper aims to investigate and ultimately reduce this uncertainty by comparing four simulation tools, one mathematical optimisation tool and one analytic spreadsheet-based tool applied to select the O&M access vessel fleet that minimizes the total O&M cost of a reference wind farm. The comparison shows that the tools generally agree on the optimalmore » vessel fleet, but only partially agree on the relative ranking of the different vessel fleets in terms of total O&M cost. The robustness of the vessel fleet selection to various input data assumptions was tested, and the ranking was found to be particularly sensitive to the vessels' limiting significant wave height for turbine access. Also the parameter with the greatest discrepancy between the tools, implies that accurate quantification and modelling of this parameter is crucial. The ranking is moderately sensitive to turbine failure rates and vessel day rates but less sensitive to electricity price and vessel transit speed.« less

Genetic parameters of eventing horse competition in France

PubMed Central

Ricard, Anne; Chanu, Isabelle

2001-01-01

Genetic parameters of eventing horse competitions were estimated. About 13 000 horses, 30 000 annual results during 17 years and 110 000 starts in eventing competitions during 8 years were recorded. The measures of performance were logarithmic transformations of annual earnings, annual earnings per start, and annual earnings per place, and underlying variables responsible for ranks in each competition. Heritabilities were low (0.11/0.17 for annual results, 0.07 for ranks). Genetic correlations between criteria were high (greater than 0.90) except between ranks and earnings per place (0.58) or per start (0.67). Genetic correlations between ages (from 5 to 10 years old) were also high (more than 0.85) and allow selection on early performances. The genetic correlation between the results in different levels of competition (high/international and low/amateur) was near 1. Genetic correlations of eventing with other disciplines, which included partial aptitude needed for eventing, were very low for steeplechase races (0.18) and moderate with sport: jumping (0.45), dressage (0.58). The results suggest that selection on jumping performance will lead to some positive correlated response for eventing performance, but much more response could be obtained if a specific breeding objective and selection criteria were developed for eventing. PMID:11333833

LORAKS makes better SENSE: Phase-constrained partial fourier SENSE reconstruction without phase calibration.

PubMed

Kim, Tae Hyung; Setsompop, Kawin; Haldar, Justin P

2017-03-01

Parallel imaging and partial Fourier acquisition are two classical approaches for accelerated MRI. Methods that combine these approaches often rely on prior knowledge of the image phase, but the need to obtain this prior information can place practical restrictions on the data acquisition strategy. In this work, we propose and evaluate SENSE-LORAKS, which enables combined parallel imaging and partial Fourier reconstruction without requiring prior phase information. The proposed formulation is based on combining the classical SENSE model for parallel imaging data with the more recent LORAKS framework for MR image reconstruction using low-rank matrix modeling. Previous LORAKS-based methods have successfully enabled calibrationless partial Fourier parallel MRI reconstruction, but have been most successful with nonuniform sampling strategies that may be hard to implement for certain applications. By combining LORAKS with SENSE, we enable highly accelerated partial Fourier MRI reconstruction for a broader range of sampling trajectories, including widely used calibrationless uniformly undersampled trajectories. Our empirical results with retrospectively undersampled datasets indicate that when SENSE-LORAKS reconstruction is combined with an appropriate k-space sampling trajectory, it can provide substantially better image quality at high-acceleration rates relative to existing state-of-the-art reconstruction approaches. The SENSE-LORAKS framework provides promising new opportunities for highly accelerated MRI. Magn Reson Med 77:1021-1035, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Nonvolatile chemical cues affect host-plant ranking by gravid Polygonia c-album females.

PubMed

Mozūraitis, Raimondas; Murtazina, Rushana; Nylin, Sören; Borg-Karlson, Anna-Karin

2012-01-01

In a multiple-choice test, the preference of egg-laying Polygonia c-album (comma butterfly) females was studied for oviposition on plants bearing surrogate leaves treated with crude methanol extracts obtained from leaves of seven host-plant species: Humulus lupulus, Urtica dioica, Ulmus glabra, Salix caprea, Ribes nigrum, Corylus avellana, and Betula pubescens. The ranking order of surrogate leaves treated with host-plant extracts corresponded well to that reported on natural foliage, except R. nigrum. Thus, host-plant choice in P. c-album seems to be highly dependent on chemical cues. Moreover, after two subsequent fractionations using reversed-phase chromatography the nonvolatile chemical cues residing in the most polar water-soluble fractions evidently provided sufficient information for egg-laying females to discriminate and rank between the samples of more and less preferred plants, since the ranking in these assays was similar to that for natural foliage or whole methanol extracts, while the physical traits of the surrogate leaves remained uniform.

Information-seeking bias in social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Aderka, Idan M; Haker, Ayala; Marom, Sofi; Hermesh, Haggai; Gilboa-Schechtman, Eva

2013-02-01

In the present study, we sought to examine information seeking among individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD, n = 31) and nonanxious controls (n = 32) during an impression-formation task. Participants were given an initial description of a protagonist that included polarized information on the social rank dimension (i.e., dominant or submissive) or on the affiliation dimension (i.e., friendly or unfriendly). Participants were told that their task was to rate the protagonist on social rank and affiliation traits and were given the opportunity to obtain additional information in order to make their decisions. Results indicated that compared to controls, individuals with SAD sought less information before making social rank ratings. In addition, individuals with SAD rated dominant protagonists as higher in social rank than did controls. These findings suggest that even in nonevaluative conditions, individuals with SAD may have an information-seeking bias. In addition, individuals with SAD may have a bias in forming impressions of dominant others. Implications for cognitive and interpersonal models of SAD are discussed. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Learning to Rank the Severity of Unrepaired Cleft Lip Nasal Deformity on 3D Mesh Data.

PubMed

Wu, Jia; Tse, Raymond; Shapiro, Linda G

2014-08-01

Cleft lip is a birth defect that results in deformity of the upper lip and nose. Its severity is widely variable and the results of treatment are influenced by the initial deformity. Objective assessment of severity would help to guide prognosis and treatment. However, most assessments are subjective. The purpose of this study is to develop and test quantitative computer-based methods of measuring cleft lip severity. In this paper, a grid-patch based measurement of symmetry is introduced, with which a computer program learns to rank the severity of cleft lip on 3D meshes of human infant faces. Three computer-based methods to define the midfacial reference plane were compared to two manual methods. Four different symmetry features were calculated based upon these reference planes, and evaluated. The result shows that the rankings predicted by the proposed features were highly correlated with the ranking orders provided by experts that were used as the ground truth.

[2013 research ranking of Spanish public universities].

PubMed

Buela-Casal, Gualberto; Quevedo-Blasco, Raúl; Guillén-Riquelme, Alejandro

2015-01-01

The evaluation of research production and productivity is becoming increasingly necessary for universities. Having reliable and clear data is extremely useful in order to uncover strengths and weaknesses. The objective of this article is to update the research ranking of Spanish public universities with the 2013 data. Assessment was carried out based on articles in journals indexed in the JCR, research periods, R+D projects, doctoral theses, FPU grants, doctoral studies awarded with a citation of excellence, and patents, providing a rating, both for each individual indicator and globally, in production and productivity. The same methodology as previous editions was followed. In the global ranking, the universities with a higher production are Barcelona, Complutense of Madrid, and Granada. In productivity, the first positions are held by the universities Pompeu Fabra, Pablo de Olavide, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Differences can be found between the universities in production and productivity, while there are also certain similarities with regard to the position of Spanish universities in international rankings.

Implication of correlations among some common stability statistics - a Monte Carlo simulations.

PubMed

Piepho, H P

1995-03-01

Stability analysis of multilocation trials is often based on a mixed two-way model. Two stability measures in frequent use are the environmental variance (S i (2) )and the ecovalence (W i). Under the two-way model the rank orders of the expected values of these two statistics are identical for a given set of genotypes. By contrast, empirical rank correlations among these measures are consistently low. This suggests that the two-way mixed model may not be appropriate for describing real data. To check this hypothesis, a Monte Carlo simulation was conducted. It revealed that the low empirical rank correlation amongS i (2) and W i is most likely due to sampling errors. It is concluded that the observed low rank correlation does not invalidate the two-way model. The paper also discusses tests for homogeneity of S i (2) as well as implications of the two-way model for the classification of stability statistics.

The Measurement of Values: Effects of Different Assessment Procedures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feather, N. T.

1973-01-01

Rating and pair-comparison procedures for assessing the importance of terminal and instrumental values were compared with the standard ranking procedure developed by Rokeach. Effects of order of presentation of of the value sets were also investigated. Neither procedure nor order had replicable effect though some sex differences were apparent. (TO)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a platform for assessing sphingolipid lipid kinase inhibitors

PubMed Central

Agah, Sayeh; Mendelson, Anna J.; Eletu, Oluwafunmilayo T.; Barkey-Bircann, Peter; Gesualdi, James

2018-01-01

Successful medicinal chemistry campaigns to discover and optimize sphingosine kinase inhibitors require a robust assay for screening chemical libraries and for determining rank order potencies. Existing assays for these enzymes are laborious, expensive and/or low throughput. The toxicity of excessive levels of phosphorylated sphingoid bases for the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, affords an assay wherein inhibitors added to the culture media rescue growth in a dose-dependent fashion. Herein, we describe our adaptation of a simple, inexpensive, and high throughput assay for assessing inhibitors of sphingosine kinase types 1 and 2 as well as ceramide kinase and for testing enzymatic activity of sphingosine kinase type 2 mutants. The assay was validated using recombinant enzymes and generally agrees with the rank order of potencies of existing inhibitors. PMID:29672528

Personality Plasticity After Age 30

PubMed Central

Terracciano, Antonio; Costa, Paul T.; McCrae, Robert R.

2009-01-01

Rank-order consistency of personality traits increases from childhood to age 30. After that, different summaries of the literature predict a plateau at age 30, or at age 50, or a curvilinear peak in consistency at age 50. These predictions were evaluated at group and individual levels using longitudinal data from the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory over periods of up to 42 years. Consistency declined toward a non-zero asymptote with increasing time-interval. Although some scales showed increasing stability after age 30, the rank-order consistencies of the major dimensions and most facets of the Five-Factor Model were unrelated to age. Ipsative stability, assessed with the California Adult Q-Set, was also unrelated to age. These data strengthen claims of predominant personality stability after age 30. PMID:16861305

Computer Modeling of the Instructionally Insensitive Nature of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Exam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Vinh Huy

Stakeholders of the educational system assume that standardized tests are transparently about the subject content being tested and therefore can be used as a metric to measure achievement in outcome-based educational reform. Both analysis of longitudinal data for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) exam and agent based computer modeling of its underlying theoretical testing framework have yielded results that indicate the exam only rank orders students on a persistent but uncharacterized latent trait across domains tested as well as across years. Such persistent rank ordering of students is indicative of an instructionally insensitive exam. This is problematic in the current atmosphere of high stakes testing which holds teachers, administrators, and school systems accountable for student achievement.

[Risk profiling in cancer surveillance in contaminated sites: an example from the ISS-AIRTUM collaborative study].

PubMed

Catelan, Dolores; Buzzoni, Carlotta; Coviello, Enzo; Crocetti, Emanuele; Pasetto, Roberto; Pirastu, Roberta; Biggeri, Annibale

2014-01-01

Epidemiological surveillance on high risk environmental areas or areas covered by cancer registration yields long inventories of relative risks. Summaries of the results' tables must be produced to identify priorities and tailor public health actions. The aim is, therefore, to draw conclusions from each area's disease profile, or from the area signature of each disease.With this inmind, we used data on cancer incidence from 17 Cancer Registries that participated in the ISS-AIRTUM (National Institute of Health-Italian Network of Cancer Registries) study, and we produced conditional and marginal rankings of areas/diseases using a multivariate hierarchical Bayesian model. In this context, it is important to obtain an uncertainty evaluation by calculating the credibility intervals of ranks. The areas marginal ranking shows a large overlapping of credibility intervals, such that it is not possible to speak of a limited number of ISS-AIRTUM areas as being particularly affected. Every ISS-AIRTUMarea, therefore,must be considered individually and ordering themby ranking of cancer incidence wouldn't be appropriate. Instead,marginal ranking of diseases highlights the impact of asbestos exposure in all the analyzed areas.

The application of fuzzy Delphi and fuzzy inference system in supplier ranking and selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahriri, Farzad; Mousavi, Maryam; Hozhabri Haghighi, Siamak; Zawiah Md Dawal, Siti

2014-06-01

In today's highly rival market, an effective supplier selection process is vital to the success of any manufacturing system. Selecting the appropriate supplier is always a difficult task because suppliers posses varied strengths and weaknesses that necessitate careful evaluations prior to suppliers' ranking. This is a complex process with many subjective and objective factors to consider before the benefits of supplier selection are achieved. This paper identifies six extremely critical criteria and thirteen sub-criteria based on the literature. A new methodology employing those criteria and sub-criteria is proposed for the assessment and ranking of a given set of suppliers. To handle the subjectivity of the decision maker's assessment, an integration of fuzzy Delphi with fuzzy inference system has been applied and a new ranking method is proposed for supplier selection problem. This supplier selection model enables decision makers to rank the suppliers based on three classifications including "extremely preferred", "moderately preferred", and "weakly preferred". In addition, in each classification, suppliers are put in order from highest final score to the lowest. Finally, the methodology is verified and validated through an example of a numerical test bed.

A ranking method for the concurrent learning of compounds with various activity profiles.

PubMed

Dörr, Alexander; Rosenbaum, Lars; Zell, Andreas

2015-01-01

In this study, we present a SVM-based ranking algorithm for the concurrent learning of compounds with different activity profiles and their varying prioritization. To this end, a specific labeling of each compound was elaborated in order to infer virtual screening models against multiple targets. We compared the method with several state-of-the-art SVM classification techniques that are capable of inferring multi-target screening models on three chemical data sets (cytochrome P450s, dehydrogenases, and a trypsin-like protease data set) containing three different biological targets each. The experiments show that ranking-based algorithms show an increased performance for single- and multi-target virtual screening. Moreover, compounds that do not completely fulfill the desired activity profile are still ranked higher than decoys or compounds with an entirely undesired profile, compared to other multi-target SVM methods. SVM-based ranking methods constitute a valuable approach for virtual screening in multi-target drug design. The utilization of such methods is most helpful when dealing with compounds with various activity profiles and the finding of many ligands with an already perfectly matching activity profile is not to be expected.

Development of a multicriteria assessment model for ranking biomass feedstock collection and transportation systems.

PubMed

Kumar, Amit; Sokhansanj, Shahab; Flynn, Peter C

2006-01-01

This study details multicriteria assessment methodology that integrates economic, social, environmental, and technical factors in order to rank alternatives for biomass collection and transportation systems. Ranking of biomass collection systems is based on cost of delivered biomass, quality of biomass supplied, emissions during collection, energy input to the chain operations, and maturity of supply system technologies. The assessment methodology is used to evaluate alternatives for collecting 1.8 x 10(6) dry t/yr based on assumptions made on performance of various assemblies of biomass collection systems. A proposed collection option using loafer/ stacker was shown to be the best option followed by ensiling and baling. Ranking of biomass transport systems is based on cost of biomass transport, emissions during transport, traffic congestion, and maturity of different technologies. At a capacity of 4 x 10(6) dry t/yr, rail transport was shown to be the best option, followed by truck transport and pipeline transport, respectively. These rankings depend highly on assumed maturity of technologies and scale of utilization. These may change if technologies such as loafing or ensiling (wet storage) methods are proved to be infeasible for large-scale collection systems.

Recovering task fMRI signals from highly under-sampled data with low-rank and temporal subspace constraints.

PubMed

Chiew, Mark; Graedel, Nadine N; Miller, Karla L

2018-07-01

Recent developments in highly accelerated fMRI data acquisition have employed low-rank and/or sparsity constraints for image reconstruction, as an alternative to conventional, time-independent parallel imaging. When under-sampling factors are high or the signals of interest are low-variance, however, functional data recovery can be poor or incomplete. We introduce a method for improving reconstruction fidelity using external constraints, like an experimental design matrix, to partially orient the estimated fMRI temporal subspace. Combining these external constraints with low-rank constraints introduces a new image reconstruction model that is analogous to using a mixture of subspace-decomposition (PCA/ICA) and regression (GLM) models in fMRI analysis. We show that this approach improves fMRI reconstruction quality in simulations and experimental data, focusing on the model problem of detecting subtle 1-s latency shifts between brain regions in a block-design task-fMRI experiment. Successful latency discrimination is shown at acceleration factors up to R = 16 in a radial-Cartesian acquisition. We show that this approach works with approximate, or not perfectly informative constraints, where the derived benefit is commensurate with the information content contained in the constraints. The proposed method extends low-rank approximation methods for under-sampled fMRI data acquisition by leveraging knowledge of expected task-based variance in the data, enabling improvements in the speed and efficiency of fMRI data acquisition without the loss of subtle features. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Empirical evaluation of interest-level criteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahar, Sigal; Mansour, Yishay

1999-02-01

Efficient association rule mining algorithms already exist, however, as the size of databases increases, the number of patterns mined by the algorithms increases to such an extent that their manual evaluation becomes impractical. Automatic evaluation methods are, therefore, required in order to sift through the initial list of rules, which the datamining algorithm outputs. These evaluation methods, or criteria, rank the association rules mined from the dataset. We empirically examined several such statistical criteria: new criteria, as well as previously known ones. The empirical evaluation was conducted using several databases, including a large real-life dataset, acquired from an order-by-phone grocery store, a dataset composed from www proxy logs, and several datasets from the UCI repository. We were interested in discovering whether the ranking performed by the various criteria is similar or easily distinguishable. Our evaluation detected, when significant differences exist, three patterns of behavior in the eight criteria we examined. There is an obvious dilemma in determining how many association rules to choose (in accordance with support and confidence parameters). The tradeoff is between having stringent parameters and, therefore, few rules, or lenient parameters and, thus, a multitude of rules. In many cases, our empirical evaluation revealed that most of the rules found by the comparably strict parameters ranked highly according to the interestingness criteria, when using lax parameters (producing significantly more association rules). Finally, we discuss the association rules that ranked highest, explain why these results are sound, and how they direct future research.

A situational analysis of priority disaster hazards in Uganda: findings from a hazard and vulnerability analysis.

PubMed

Mayega, R W; Wafula, M R; Musenero, M; Omale, A; Kiguli, J; Orach, G C; Kabagambe, G; Bazeyo, W

2013-06-01

Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not conducted a disaster risk analysis. Hazards and vulnerability analyses provide vital information that can be used for development of risk reduction and disaster response plans. The purpose of this study was to rank disaster hazards for Uganda, as a basis for identifying the priority hazards to guide disaster management planning. The study as conducted in Uganda, as part of a multi-country assessment. A hazard, vulnerability and capacity analysis was conducted in a focus group discussion of 7 experts representing key stakeholder agencies in disaster management in Uganda. A simple ranking method was used to rank the probability of occurance of 11 top hazards, their potential impact and the level vulnerability of people and infrastructure. In-terms of likelihood of occurance and potential impact, the top ranked disaster hazards in Uganda are: 1) Epidemics of infectious diseases, 2) Drought/famine, 3) Conflict and environmental degradation in that order. In terms of vulnerability, the top priority hazards to which people and infrastructure were vulnerable were: 1) Conflicts, 2) Epidemics, 3) Drought/famine and, 4) Environmental degradation in that order. Poverty, gender, lack of information, and lack of resilience measures were some of the factors promoting vulnerability to disasters. As Uganda develops a disaster risk reduction and response plan, it ought to prioritize epidemics of infectious diseases, drought/famine, conflics and environmental degradation as the priority disaster hazards.

Two-scale evaluation of remediation technologies for a contaminated site by applying economic input-output life cycle assessment: risk-cost, risk-energy consumption and risk-CO2 emission.

PubMed

Inoue, Yasushi; Katayama, Arata

2011-09-15

A two-scale evaluation concept of remediation technologies for a contaminated site was expanded by introducing life cycle costing (LCC) and economic input-output life cycle assessment (EIO-LCA). The expanded evaluation index, the rescue number for soil (RN(SOIL)) with LCC and EIO-LCA, comprises two scales, such as risk-cost, risk-energy consumption or risk-CO(2) emission of a remediation. The effectiveness of RN(SOIL) with LCC and EIO-LCA was examined in a typical contamination and remediation scenario in which dieldrin contaminated an agricultural field. Remediation was simulated using four technologies: disposal, high temperature thermal desorption, biopile and landfarming. Energy consumption and CO(2) emission were determined from a life cycle inventory analysis using monetary-based intensity based on an input-output table. The values of RN(SOIL) based on risk-cost, risk-energy consumption and risk-CO(2) emission were calculated, and then rankings of the candidates were compiled according to RN(SOIL) values. A comparison between three rankings showed the different ranking orders. The existence of differences in ranking order indicates that the scales would not have reciprocal compatibility for two-scale evaluation and that each scale should be used independently. The RN(SOIL) with LCA will be helpful in selecting a technology, provided an appropriate scale is determined. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Deaths: leading causes for 2005.

PubMed

Heron, Melonie; Tejada-Vera, Betzaida

2009-12-23

This report presents final 2005 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements the annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2005. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. Cause-of-death statistics are based on the underlying cause of death. In 2005, the 10 leading causes of death were, in rank order: Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Cerebrovascular diseases; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Diabetes mellitus; Alzheimer's disease; Influenza and pneumonia; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Septicemia. They accounted for about 77 percent of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the rankings are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2005 were, in rank order: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birthweight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Respiratory distress of newborn; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Neonatal hemorrhage; and Necrotizing enterocolitis of newborn. Important variations in the leading causes of infant death are noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Deaths: leading causes for 2002.

PubMed

Anderson, Robert N; Smith, Betty L

2005-03-07

This report presents final 2002 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements the annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 States and the District of Columbia in 2002. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. In 2002, the 10 leading causes of death were (in rank order) Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Cerebrovascular diseases; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Diabetes mellitus; Influenza and pneumonia; Alzheimer's disease; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Septicemia and accounted for about 79 percent of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the rankings are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2002 were (in rank order) Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birthweight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Respiratory distress of newborn; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Diseases of the circulatory system; and Intrauterine hypoxia and birth asphyxia. Important variation in the leading causes of infant death is noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Deaths: leading causes for 2003.

PubMed

Heron, Melonie P; Smith, Betty L

2007-03-15

This report presents final 2003 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements the annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2003. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. In 2003, the 10 leading causes of death were (in rank order): Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Cerebrovascular diseases; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Diabetes mellitus; Influenza and pneumonia; Alzheimer's disease; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Septicemia and accounted for about 78 percent of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the ranking are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2003 were (in rank order): Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Respiratory distress of newborn; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Neonatal hemorrhage; and Diseases of the circulatory system. Important variation in the leading causes of infant death is noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Deaths: leading causes for 2004.

PubMed

Heron, Melonie

2007-11-20

This report presents final 2004 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements the annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2004. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. In 2004, the 10 leading causes of death were (in rank order) Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Cerebrovascular diseases; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Diabetes mellitus; Alzheimer's disease; Influenza and pneumonia; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Septicemia and accounted for about 78 percent of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the ranking are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2004 were (in rank order) Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Respiratory distress of newborn; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Neonatal hemorrhage; and Diseases of the circulatory system. Important variation in the leading causes of infant death is noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Oscillation of certain higher-order neutral partial functional differential equations.

PubMed

Li, Wei Nian; Sheng, Weihong

2016-01-01

In this paper, we study the oscillation of certain higher-order neutral partial functional differential equations with the Robin boundary conditions. Some oscillation criteria are established. Two examples are given to illustrate the main results in the end of this paper.

Do in-training evaluation reports deserve their bad reputations? A study of the reliability and predictive ability of ITER scores and narrative comments.

PubMed

Ginsburg, Shiphra; Eva, Kevin; Regehr, Glenn

2013-10-01

Although scores on in-training evaluation reports (ITERs) are often criticized for poor reliability and validity, ITER comments may yield valuable information. The authors assessed across-rotation reliability of ITER scores in one internal medicine program, ability of ITER scores and comments to predict postgraduate year three (PGY3) performance, and reliability and incremental predictive validity of attendings' analysis of written comments. Numeric and narrative data from the first two years of ITERs for one cohort of residents at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine (2009-2011) were assessed for reliability and predictive validity of third-year performance. Twenty-four faculty attendings rank-ordered comments (without scores) such that each resident was ranked by three faculty. Mean ITER scores and comment rankings were submitted to regression analyses; dependent variables were PGY3 ITER scores and program directors' rankings. Reliabilities of ITER scores across nine rotations for 63 residents were 0.53 for both postgraduate year one (PGY1) and postgraduate year two (PGY2). Interrater reliabilities across three attendings' rankings were 0.83 for PGY1 and 0.79 for PGY2. There were strong correlations between ITER scores and comments within each year (0.72 and 0.70). Regressions revealed that PGY1 and PGY2 ITER scores collectively explained 25% of variance in PGY3 scores and 46% of variance in PGY3 rankings. Comment rankings did not improve predictions. ITER scores across multiple rotations showed decent reliability and predictive validity. Comment ranks did not add to the predictive ability, but correlation analyses suggest that trainee performance can be measured through these comments.

Cross ranking of cities and regions: population versus income

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerqueti, Roy; Ausloos, Marcel

2015-07-01

This paper explores the relationship between the inner economical structure of communities and their population distribution through a rank-rank analysis of official data, along statistical physics ideas within two techniques. The data is taken on Italian cities. The analysis is performed both at a global (national) and at a more local (regional) level in order to distinguish ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ aspects. First, the rank-size rule is found not to be a standard power law, as in many other studies, but a doubly decreasing power law. Next, the Kendall τ and the Spearman ρ rank correlation coefficients which measure pair concordance and the correlation between fluctuations in two rankings, respectively,—as a correlation function does in thermodynamics, are calculated for finding rank correlation (if any) between demography and wealth. Results show non only global disparities for the whole (country) set, but also (regional) disparities, when comparing the number of cities in regions, the number of inhabitants in cities and that in regions, as well as when comparing the aggregated tax income of the cities and that of regions. Different outliers are pointed out and justified. Interestingly, two classes of cities in the country and two classes of regions in the country are found. ‘Common sense’ social, political, and economic considerations sustain the findings. More importantly, the methods show that they allow to distinguish communities, very clearly, when specific criteria are numerically sound. A specific modeling for the findings is presented, i.e. for the doubly decreasing power law and the two phase system, based on statistics theory, e.g. urn filling. The model ideas can be expected to hold when similar rank relationship features are observed in fields. It is emphasized that the analysis makes more sense than one through a Pearson Π value-value correlation analysis

Selection of the open pit mining cut-off grade strategy under price uncertainty using a risk based multi-criteria ranking system / Wybór strategii określania warunku opłacalności wydobycia w kopalniach odkrywkowych w warunkach niepewności cen w oparciu o wielokryterialny system rankingowy z uwzględnieniem czynników ryzyka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azimi, Yousue; Osanloo, Montza; Esfahanipour, Akbar

2012-12-01

Cut-off Grade Strategy (COGS) is a concept that directly influences the financial, technical, economic, environmental, and legal issues in relation to exploitation of a mineral resource. A decision making system is proposed to select the best technically feasible COGS under price uncertainty. In the proposed system both the conventional discounted cash flow and modern simulation based real option valuations are used to evaluate the alternative strategies. Then the conventional expected value criterion and a multiple criteria ranking system were used to rank the strategies based on the two valuation methods. In the multiple criteria ranking system besides the expected value other stochastic orders expressing abilities of strategies in producing extra profits, minimizing losses and achieving the predefined goals of the exploitation strategy are considered. Finally, the best strategy is selected based on the overall average rank of strategies through all ranking systems. The proposed system was examined using the data of Sungun Copper Mine. To assess the merits of the alternatives better, ranking process was done at both high (prevailing economic condition) and low price conditions. Ranking results revealed that at different price conditions and valuation methods, different results would be obtained. It is concluded that these differences are due to the different behavior of the embedded option to close the mine early, which is more likely to be exercised under low price condition rather than high price condition. The proposed system would enhance the quality of decision making process by providing a more informative and certain platform for project evaluation.

Evaluation of simplified stream-aquifer depletion models for water rights administration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sophocleous, Marios; Koussis, Antonis; Martin, J.L.; Perkins, S.P.

1995-01-01

We assess the predictive accuracy of Glover's (1974) stream-aquifer analytical solutions, which are commonly used in administering water rights, and evaluate the impact of the assumed idealizations on administrative and management decisions. To achieve these objectives, we evaluate the predictive capabilities of the Glover stream-aquifer depletion model against the MODFLOW numerical standard, which, unlike the analytical model, can handle increasing hydrogeologic complexity. We rank-order and quantify the relative importance of the various assumptions on which the analytical model is based, the three most important being: (1) streambed clogging as quantified by streambed-aquifer hydraulic conductivity contrast; (2) degree of stream partial penetration; and (3) aquifer heterogeneity. These three factors relate directly to the multidimensional nature of the aquifer flow conditions. From these considerations, future efforts to reduce the uncertainty in stream depletion-related administrative decisions should primarily address these three factors in characterizing the stream-aquifer process. We also investigate the impact of progressively coarser model grid size on numerically estimating stream leakage and conclude that grid size effects are relatively minor. Therefore, when modeling is required, coarser model grids could be used thus minimizing the input data requirements.

Measures of health sciences journal use: a comparison of vendor, link-resolver, and local citation statistics.

PubMed

De Groote, Sandra L; Blecic, Deborah D; Martin, Kristin

2013-04-01

Libraries require efficient and reliable methods to assess journal use. Vendors provide complete counts of articles retrieved from their platforms. However, if a journal is available on multiple platforms, several sets of statistics must be merged. Link-resolver reports merge data from all platforms into one report but only record partial use because users can access library subscriptions from other paths. Citation data are limited to publication use. Vendor, link-resolver, and local citation data were examined to determine correlation. Because link-resolver statistics are easy to obtain, the study library especially wanted to know if they correlate highly with the other measures. Vendor, link-resolver, and local citation statistics for the study institution were gathered for health sciences journals. Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients were calculated. There was a high positive correlation between all three data sets, with vendor data commonly showing the highest use. However, a small percentage of titles showed anomalous results. Link-resolver data correlate well with vendor and citation data, but due to anomalies, low link-resolver data would best be used to suggest titles for further evaluation using vendor data. Citation data may not be needed as it correlates highly with other measures.

Pseudo almost periodic solutions to some systems of nonlinear hyperbolic second-order partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Islam, Najja Shakir

In this Dissertation, the existence of pseudo almost periodic solutions to some systems of nonlinear hyperbolic second-order partial differential equations is established. For that, (Al-Islam [4]) is first studied and then obtained under some suitable assumptions. That is, the existence of pseudo almost periodic solutions to a hyperbolic second-order partial differential equation with delay. The second-order partial differential equation (1) represents a mathematical model for the dynamics of gas absorption, given by uxt+a x,tux=Cx,t,u x,t , u0,t=4 t, 1 where a : [0, L] x RR , C : [0, L] x R x RR , and ϕ : RR are (jointly) continuous functions ( t being the greatest integer function) and L > 0. The results in this Dissertation generalize those of Poorkarimi and Wiener [22]. Secondly, a generalization of the above-mentioned system consisting of the non-linear hyperbolic second-order partial differential equation uxt+a x,tux+bx,t ut+cx,tu=f x,t,u, x∈ 0,L,t∈ R, 2 equipped with the boundary conditions ux,0 =40x, u0,t=u 0t, uxx,0=y 0x, x∈0,L, t∈R, 3 where a, b, c : [0, L ] x RR and f : [0, L] x R x RR are (jointly) continuous functions is studied. Under some suitable assumptions, the existence and uniqueness of pseudo almost periodic solutions to particular cases, as well as the general case of the second-order hyperbolic partial differential equation (2) are studied. The results of all studies contained within this text extend those obtained by Aziz and Meyers [6] in the periodic setting.

The lattice of trumping majorization for 4D probability vectors and 2D catalysts.

PubMed

Bosyk, Gustavo M; Freytes, Hector; Bellomo, Guido; Sergioli, Giuseppe

2018-02-27

The transformation of an initial bipartite pure state into a target one by means of local operations and classical communication and entangled-assisted by a catalyst defines a partial order between probability vectors. This partial order, so-called trumping majorization, is based on tensor products and the majorization relation. Here, we aim to study order properties of trumping majorization. We show that the trumping majorization partial order is indeed a lattice for four dimensional probability vectors and two dimensional catalysts. In addition, we show that the subadditivity and supermodularity of the Shannon entropy on the majorization lattice are inherited by the trumping majorization lattice. Finally, we provide a suitable definition of distance for four dimensional probability vectors.

Surfer: An Extensible Pull-Based Framework for Resource Selection and Ranking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zolano, Paul Z.

2004-01-01

Grid computing aims to connect large numbers of geographically and organizationally distributed resources to increase computational power; resource utilization, and resource accessibility. In order to effectively utilize grids, users need to be connected to the best available resources at any given time. As grids are in constant flux, users cannot be expected to keep up with the configuration and status of the grid, thus they must be provided with automatic resource brokering for selecting and ranking resources meeting constraints and preferences they specify. This paper presents a new OGSI-compliant resource selection and ranking framework called Surfer that has been implemented as part of NASA's Information Power Grid (IPG) project. Surfer is highly extensible and may be integrated into any grid environment by adding information providers knowledgeable about that environment.

Implementation of preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (Promethee) on selection system of student’s achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karlitasari, L.; Suhartini, D.; Nurrosikawati, L.

2018-03-01

Selection of Student Achievement is conducted every year, starting from the level of Study Program, Faculty, to University, which then rank one will be sent to Kopertis level. The criteria made for the selection are Academic and Rich Scientific, Organizational, Personality, and English. In order for the selection of Student Achievement is Objective, then in addition to the presence of the jury is expected to use methods that support the decision to be more optimal in determining the Student Achievement. One method used is the Promethee Method. Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (Promethee) is a method of ranking in Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). PROMETHEE has the advantage that there is a preference type against the criteria that can take into account alternatives with other alternatives on the same criteria. The conjecture of alternate dominance over a criterion used in PROMETHEE is the use of values in the relationships between alternative ranking values. Based on the calculation result, from 7 applicants between Manual and Promethee Matrices, rank 1, 2, and 3, did not change, only 4 to 7 positions were changed. However, after the sensitivity test, almost all criteria experience a high level of sensitivity. Although it does not affect the students who will be sent to the next level, but can bring psychological impact on prospective student’s achievement

Sparse Contextual Activation for Efficient Visual Re-Ranking.

PubMed

Bai, Song; Bai, Xiang

2016-03-01

In this paper, we propose an extremely efficient algorithm for visual re-ranking. By considering the original pairwise distance in the contextual space, we develop a feature vector called sparse contextual activation (SCA) that encodes the local distribution of an image. Hence, re-ranking task can be simply accomplished by vector comparison under the generalized Jaccard metric, which has its theoretical meaning in the fuzzy set theory. In order to improve the time efficiency of re-ranking procedure, inverted index is successfully introduced to speed up the computation of generalized Jaccard metric. As a result, the average time cost of re-ranking for a certain query can be controlled within 1 ms. Furthermore, inspired by query expansion, we also develop an additional method called local consistency enhancement on the proposed SCA to improve the retrieval performance in an unsupervised manner. On the other hand, the retrieval performance using a single feature may not be satisfactory enough, which inspires us to fuse multiple complementary features for accurate retrieval. Based on SCA, a robust feature fusion algorithm is exploited that also preserves the characteristic of high time efficiency. We assess our proposed method in various visual re-ranking tasks. Experimental results on Princeton shape benchmark (3D object), WM-SRHEC07 (3D competition), YAEL data set B (face), MPEG-7 data set (shape), and Ukbench data set (image) manifest the effectiveness and efficiency of SCA.

Unsupervised ensemble ranking of terms in electronic health record notes based on their importance to patients.

PubMed

Chen, Jinying; Yu, Hong

2017-04-01

Allowing patients to access their own electronic health record (EHR) notes through online patient portals has the potential to improve patient-centered care. However, EHR notes contain abundant medical jargon that can be difficult for patients to comprehend. One way to help patients is to reduce information overload and help them focus on medical terms that matter most to them. Targeted education can then be developed to improve patient EHR comprehension and the quality of care. The aim of this work was to develop FIT (Finding Important Terms for patients), an unsupervised natural language processing (NLP) system that ranks medical terms in EHR notes based on their importance to patients. We built FIT on a new unsupervised ensemble ranking model derived from the biased random walk algorithm to combine heterogeneous information resources for ranking candidate terms from each EHR note. Specifically, FIT integrates four single views (rankers) for term importance: patient use of medical concepts, document-level term salience, word co-occurrence based term relatedness, and topic coherence. It also incorporates partial information of term importance as conveyed by terms' unfamiliarity levels and semantic types. We evaluated FIT on 90 expert-annotated EHR notes and used the four single-view rankers as baselines. In addition, we implemented three benchmark unsupervised ensemble ranking methods as strong baselines. FIT achieved 0.885 AUC-ROC for ranking candidate terms from EHR notes to identify important terms. When including term identification, the performance of FIT for identifying important terms from EHR notes was 0.813 AUC-ROC. Both performance scores significantly exceeded the corresponding scores from the four single rankers (P<0.001). FIT also outperformed the three ensemble rankers for most metrics. Its performance is relatively insensitive to its parameter. FIT can automatically identify EHR terms important to patients. It may help develop future interventions to improve quality of care. By using unsupervised learning as well as a robust and flexible framework for information fusion, FIT can be readily applied to other domains and applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the complete and partial integrability of non-Hamiltonian systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bountis, T. C.; Ramani, A.; Grammaticos, B.; Dorizzi, B.

1984-11-01

The methods of singularity analysis are applied to several third order non-Hamiltonian systems of physical significance including the Lotka-Volterra equations, the three-wave interaction and the Rikitake dynamo model. Complete integrability is defined and new completely integrable systems are discovered by means of the Painlevé property. In all these cases we obtain integrals, which reduce the equations either to a final quadrature or to an irreducible second order ordinary differential equation (ODE) solved by Painlevé transcendents. Relaxing the Painlevé property we find many partially integrable cases whose movable singularities are poles at leading order, with In( t- t0) terms entering at higher orders. In an Nth order, generalized Rössler model a precise relation is established between the partial fulfillment of the Painlevé conditions and the existence of N - 2 integrals of the motion.

Contribution of auditory working memory to speech understanding in mandarin-speaking cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Tao, Duoduo; Deng, Rui; Jiang, Ye; Galvin, John J; Fu, Qian-Jie; Chen, Bing

2014-01-01

To investigate how auditory working memory relates to speech perception performance by Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant (CI) users. Auditory working memory and speech perception was measured in Mandarin-speaking CI and normal-hearing (NH) participants. Working memory capacity was measured using forward digit span and backward digit span; working memory efficiency was measured using articulation rate. Speech perception was assessed with: (a) word-in-sentence recognition in quiet, (b) word-in-sentence recognition in speech-shaped steady noise at +5 dB signal-to-noise ratio, (c) Chinese disyllable recognition in quiet, (d) Chinese lexical tone recognition in quiet. Self-reported school rank was also collected regarding performance in schoolwork. There was large inter-subject variability in auditory working memory and speech performance for CI participants. Working memory and speech performance were significantly poorer for CI than for NH participants. All three working memory measures were strongly correlated with each other for both CI and NH participants. Partial correlation analyses were performed on the CI data while controlling for demographic variables. Working memory efficiency was significantly correlated only with sentence recognition in quiet when working memory capacity was partialled out. Working memory capacity was correlated with disyllable recognition and school rank when efficiency was partialled out. There was no correlation between working memory and lexical tone recognition in the present CI participants. Mandarin-speaking CI users experience significant deficits in auditory working memory and speech performance compared with NH listeners. The present data suggest that auditory working memory may contribute to CI users' difficulties in speech understanding. The present pattern of results with Mandarin-speaking CI users is consistent with previous auditory working memory studies with English-speaking CI users, suggesting that the lexical importance of voice pitch cues (albeit poorly coded by the CI) did not influence the relationship between working memory and speech perception.

Gas chimney detection based on improving the performance of combined multilayer perceptron and support vector classifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashemi, H.; Tax, D. M. J.; Duin, R. P. W.; Javaherian, A.; de Groot, P.

2008-11-01

Seismic object detection is a relatively new field in which 3-D bodies are visualized and spatial relationships between objects of different origins are studied in order to extract geologic information. In this paper, we propose a method for finding an optimal classifier with the help of a statistical feature ranking technique and combining different classifiers. The method, which has general applicability, is demonstrated here on a gas chimney detection problem. First, we evaluate a set of input seismic attributes extracted at locations labeled by a human expert using regularized discriminant analysis (RDA). In order to find the RDA score for each seismic attribute, forward and backward search strategies are used. Subsequently, two non-linear classifiers: multilayer perceptron (MLP) and support vector classifier (SVC) are run on the ranked seismic attributes. Finally, to capitalize on the intrinsic differences between both classifiers, the MLP and SVC results are combined using logical rules of maximum, minimum and mean. The proposed method optimizes the ranked feature space size and yields the lowest classification error in the final combined result. We will show that the logical minimum reveals gas chimneys that exhibit both the softness of MLP and the resolution of SVC classifiers.

Molecular Eigensolution Symmetry Analysis and Fine Structure

PubMed Central

Harter, William G.; Mitchell, Justin C.

2013-01-01

Spectra of high-symmetry molecules contain fine and superfine level cluster structure related to J-tunneling between hills and valleys on rovibronic energy surfaces (RES). Such graphic visualizations help disentangle multi-level dynamics, selection rules, and state mixing effects including widespread violation of nuclear spin symmetry species. A review of RES analysis compares it to that of potential energy surfaces (PES) used in Born–Oppenheimer approximations. Both take advantage of adiabatic coupling in order to visualize Hamiltonian eigensolutions. RES of symmetric and D2 asymmetric top rank-2-tensor Hamiltonians are compared with Oh spherical top rank-4-tensor fine-structure clusters of 6-fold and 8-fold tunneling multiplets. Then extreme 12-fold and 24-fold multiplets are analyzed by RES plots of higher rank tensor Hamiltonians. Such extreme clustering is rare in fundamental bands but prevalent in hot bands, and analysis of its superfine structure requires more efficient labeling and a more powerful group theory. This is introduced using elementary examples involving two groups of order-6 (C6 and D3~C3v), then applied to families of Oh clusters in SF6 spectra and to extreme clusters. PMID:23344041

Propagation and coherence properties of higher order partially coherent dark hollow beams in turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eyyuboğlu, Halil Tanyer

2008-02-01

We formulate and evaluate in terms of graphical outputs, source and receiver plane expressions, the complex degree of coherence, beam size variation and power in bucket performance for higher order partially coherent dark hollow beams propagating in turbulent atmosphere. Our formulation is able to cover square, rectangular, circular, elliptical geometries for dark hollow and flat-topped beams in one single expression. From the graphical outputs of the receiver plane, it is observed that higher order partially coherent dark hollow beams will initially develop an outer ring around a central lobe, but will eventually evolve towards a Gaussian shape as the propagation distance is extended. It is further observed that stronger turbulence levels and greater partial coherence have similar effects on beam profile. During propagation, modulus of complex degree of coherence of partially coherent dark hollow beams appears to rise above that of the source plane values, reaching as high as near unity. Beam size analysis shows that, among the types examined, (nearly) flat-topped beam experiences the least beam expansion. Power in bucket analysis indicates that lowest order square fully coherent dark beam offers the best power capturing.

Ordering Transformations in High-Entropy Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Prashant; Johnson, Duane D.

The high-temperature disordered phase of multi-component alloys, including high-entropy alloys (HEA), generally must experience segregation or else passes through partially-ordered phases to reach the low-temperature, fully-ordered phase. Our first-principles KKR-CPA-based atomic short-range ordering (SRO) calculations (analyzed as concentration-waves) reveal the competing partially and fully ordered phases in HEA, and these phases can be then directly assessed from KKR-CPA results in larger unit cells [Phys. Rev. B 91, 224204 (2015)]. For AlxCrFeNiTi0.25, Liu et al. [J Alloys Compd 619, 610 (2015)] experimentally find FCC+BCC coexistence that changes to BCC with increasing Al (x from 0-to-1), which then exhibits a partially-ordered B2 at low temperatures. CALPHAD (Calculation of Phase Diagrams) predicts a region with L21+B2 coexistence. From KKR-CPA calculations, we find crossover versus Al from FCC+BCC coexistence to BCC, as observed, and regions for partially-order B2+L21 coexistence, as suggest by CALPHAD. Our combined first-principles KKR-CPA method provides a powerful approach in predicting SRO and completing long-range order in HEA and other complex alloys. Supported by the U.S. DOE, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division. Work was performed at Ames Laboratory, which is operated by Iowa State University for the U.S. DOE under Contract #DE-AC02-07CH11358.

Geometric properties of commutative subalgebras of partial differential operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheglov, A. B.; Kurke, H.

2015-05-01

We investigate further algebro-geometric properties of commutative rings of partial differential operators, continuing our research started in previous articles. In particular, we start to explore the simplest and also certain known examples of quantum algebraically completely integrable systems from the point of view of a recent generalization of Sato's theory, developed by the first author. We give a complete characterization of the spectral data for a class of 'trivial' commutative algebras and strengthen geometric properties known earlier for a class of known examples. We also define a kind of restriction map from the moduli space of coherent sheaves with fixed Hilbert polynomial on a surface to an analogous moduli space on a divisor (both the surface and the divisor are part of the spectral data). We give several explicit examples of spectral data and corresponding algebras of commuting (completed) operators, producing as a by-product interesting examples of surfaces that are not isomorphic to spectral surfaces of any (maximal) commutative ring of partial differential operators of rank one. Finally, we prove that any commutative ring of partial differential operators whose normalization is isomorphic to the ring of polynomials k \\lbrack u,t \\rbrack is a Darboux transformation of a ring of operators with constant coefficients. Bibliography: 39 titles.

On statistical independence of a contingency matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsumoto, Shusaku; Hirano, Shoji

2005-03-01

A contingency table summarizes the conditional frequencies of two attributes and shows how these two attributes are dependent on each other with the information on a partition of universe generated by these attributes. Thus, this table can be viewed as a relation between two attributes with respect to information granularity. This paper focuses on several characteristics of linear and statistical independence in a contingency table from the viewpoint of granular computing, which shows that statistical independence in a contingency table is a special form of linear dependence. The discussions also show that when a contingency table is viewed as a matrix, called a contingency matrix, its rank is equal to 1.0. Thus, the degree of independence, rank plays a very important role in extracting a probabilistic model from a given contingency table. Furthermore, it is found that in some cases, partial rows or columns will satisfy the condition of statistical independence, which can be viewed as a solving process of Diophatine equations.

An Isotonic Partial Credit Model for Ordering Subjects on the Basis of Their Sum Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ligtvoet, Rudy

2012-01-01

In practice, the sum of the item scores is often used as a basis for comparing subjects. For items that have more than two ordered score categories, only the partial credit model (PCM) and special cases of this model imply that the subjects are stochastically ordered on the common latent variable. However, the PCM is very restrictive with respect…

75 FR 41237 - Public Land Order No. 7745; Partial Revocation of Power Site Reserve Nos. 510 and No. 515; Montana

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-15

... MTM 41534] Public Land Order No. 7745; Partial Revocation of Power Site Reserve Nos. 510 and No. 515... of public lands withdrawn for Power Site Reserve Nos. 510 and 515. This order also opens the lands to... INFORMATION: The Bureau of Land Management has determined that portions of Power Site Reserve Nos. 510 and 515...

Game-Theoretic Models of Information Overload in Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borgs, Christian; Chayes, Jennifer; Karrer, Brian; Meeder, Brendan; Ravi, R.; Reagans, Ray; Sayedi, Amin

We study the effect of information overload on user engagement in an asymmetric social network like Twitter. We introduce simple game-theoretic models that capture rate competition between celebrities producing updates in such networks where users non-strategically choose a subset of celebrities to follow based on the utility derived from high quality updates as well as disutility derived from having to wade through too many updates. Our two variants model the two behaviors of users dropping some potential connections (followership model) or leaving the network altogether (engagement model). We show that under a simple formulation of celebrity rate competition, there is no pure strategy Nash equilibrium under the first model. We then identify special cases in both models when pure rate equilibria exist for the celebrities: For the followership model, we show existence of a pure rate equilibrium when there is a global ranking of the celebrities in terms of the quality of their updates to users. This result also generalizes to the case when there is a partial order consistent with all the linear orders of the celebrities based on their qualities to the users. Furthermore, these equilibria can be computed in polynomial time. For the engagement model, pure rate equilibria exist when all users are interested in the same number of celebrities, or when they are interested in at most two. Finally, we also give a finite though inefficient procedure to determine if pure equilibria exist in the general case of the followership model.

A novel Haemosporida clade at the rank of genus in North American cranes (Aves: Gruiformes).

PubMed

Bertram, Miranda R; Hamer, Sarah A; Hartup, Barry K; Snowden, Karen F; Medeiros, Matthew C; Outlaw, Diana C; Hamer, Gabriel L

2017-04-01

The unicellular blood parasites in the order Haemosporida are highly diverse, infect many vertebrates, are responsible for a large disease burden among humans and animals, and have reemerged as an important model system to understand the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of host-parasite interactions. The phylogenetics and systematics of Haemosporida are limited by poor sampling of different vertebrate host taxa. We surveyed the Haemosporida of wild whooping cranes (Grus americana) and sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) (Aves: Gruiformes) using a combination of morphological and molecular approaches. We identified Haemoproteus antigonis in blood smears based on published morphological descriptions. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial cytochrome b (cytb) and cytochrome oxidase (coI) sequences placed H. antigonis parasites in a novel clade, distinct from all avian Haemosporida genera for which cytb and/or coI sequences are available. Molecular clock and divergence estimates suggest this crane clade may represent a new genus. This is the first molecular description of H. antigonis and the first report of H. antigonis in wild whooping cranes, an endangered bird in North America. Further sampling of Haemosporida, especially from hosts of the Gruiformes and other poorly sampled orders, will help to resolve the relationship of the H. antigonis clade to other avian Haemosporida genera. Our study highlights the potential of sampling neglected host species to discover novel lineages of diverse parasite groups. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A collaborative filtering approach for protein-protein docking scoring functions.

PubMed

Bourquard, Thomas; Bernauer, Julie; Azé, Jérôme; Poupon, Anne

2011-04-22

A protein-protein docking procedure traditionally consists in two successive tasks: a search algorithm generates a large number of candidate conformations mimicking the complex existing in vivo between two proteins, and a scoring function is used to rank them in order to extract a native-like one. We have already shown that using Voronoi constructions and a well chosen set of parameters, an accurate scoring function could be designed and optimized. However to be able to perform large-scale in silico exploration of the interactome, a near-native solution has to be found in the ten best-ranked solutions. This cannot yet be guaranteed by any of the existing scoring functions. In this work, we introduce a new procedure for conformation ranking. We previously developed a set of scoring functions where learning was performed using a genetic algorithm. These functions were used to assign a rank to each possible conformation. We now have a refined rank using different classifiers (decision trees, rules and support vector machines) in a collaborative filtering scheme. The scoring function newly obtained is evaluated using 10 fold cross-validation, and compared to the functions obtained using either genetic algorithms or collaborative filtering taken separately. This new approach was successfully applied to the CAPRI scoring ensembles. We show that for 10 targets out of 12, we are able to find a near-native conformation in the 10 best ranked solutions. Moreover, for 6 of them, the near-native conformation selected is of high accuracy. Finally, we show that this function dramatically enriches the 100 best-ranking conformations in near-native structures.

A Collaborative Filtering Approach for Protein-Protein Docking Scoring Functions

PubMed Central

Bourquard, Thomas; Bernauer, Julie; Azé, Jérôme; Poupon, Anne

2011-01-01

A protein-protein docking procedure traditionally consists in two successive tasks: a search algorithm generates a large number of candidate conformations mimicking the complex existing in vivo between two proteins, and a scoring function is used to rank them in order to extract a native-like one. We have already shown that using Voronoi constructions and a well chosen set of parameters, an accurate scoring function could be designed and optimized. However to be able to perform large-scale in silico exploration of the interactome, a near-native solution has to be found in the ten best-ranked solutions. This cannot yet be guaranteed by any of the existing scoring functions. In this work, we introduce a new procedure for conformation ranking. We previously developed a set of scoring functions where learning was performed using a genetic algorithm. These functions were used to assign a rank to each possible conformation. We now have a refined rank using different classifiers (decision trees, rules and support vector machines) in a collaborative filtering scheme. The scoring function newly obtained is evaluated using 10 fold cross-validation, and compared to the functions obtained using either genetic algorithms or collaborative filtering taken separately. This new approach was successfully applied to the CAPRI scoring ensembles. We show that for 10 targets out of 12, we are able to find a near-native conformation in the 10 best ranked solutions. Moreover, for 6 of them, the near-native conformation selected is of high accuracy. Finally, we show that this function dramatically enriches the 100 best-ranking conformations in near-native structures. PMID:21526112

Discrepancies between multicriteria decision analysis-based ranking and intuitive ranking for pharmaceutical benefit-risk profiles in a hypothetical setting.

PubMed

Hoshikawa, K; Ono, S

2017-02-01

Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been generally considered a promising decision-making methodology for the assessment of drug benefit-risk profiles. There have been many discussions in both public and private sectors on its feasibility and applicability, but it has not been employed in official decision-makings. For the purpose of examining to what extent MCDA would reflect the first-hand, intuitive preference of evaluators in practical pharmaceutical assessments, we conducted a questionnaire survey involving the participation of employees of pharmaceutical companies. Showing profiles of the efficacy and safety of four hypothetical drugs, each respondent was asked to rank them following the standard MCDA process and then to rank them intuitively (i.e. without applying any analytical framework). These two approaches resulted in substantially different ranking patterns from the same individuals, and the concordance rate was surprisingly low (17%). Although many respondents intuitively showed a preference for mild, balanced risk-benefit profiles over profiles with a conspicuous advantage in either risk or benefit, the ranking orders based on MCDA scores did not reflect the intuitive preference. Observed discrepancies between the rankings seemed to be primarily attributed to the structural characteristics of MCDA, which assumes that evaluation on each benefit and risk component should have monotonic impact on final scores. It would be difficult for MCDA to reflect commonly observed non-monotonic preferences for risk and benefit profiles. Possible drawbacks of MCDA should be further investigated prior to the real-world application of its benefit-risk assessment. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

RRCRank: a fusion method using rank strategy for residue-residue contact prediction.

PubMed

Jing, Xiaoyang; Dong, Qiwen; Lu, Ruqian

2017-09-02

In structural biology area, protein residue-residue contacts play a crucial role in protein structure prediction. Some researchers have found that the predicted residue-residue contacts could effectively constrain the conformational search space, which is significant for de novo protein structure prediction. In the last few decades, related researchers have developed various methods to predict residue-residue contacts, especially, significant performance has been achieved by using fusion methods in recent years. In this work, a novel fusion method based on rank strategy has been proposed to predict contacts. Unlike the traditional regression or classification strategies, the contact prediction task is regarded as a ranking task. First, two kinds of features are extracted from correlated mutations methods and ensemble machine-learning classifiers, and then the proposed method uses the learning-to-rank algorithm to predict contact probability of each residue pair. First, we perform two benchmark tests for the proposed fusion method (RRCRank) on CASP11 dataset and CASP12 dataset respectively. The test results show that the RRCRank method outperforms other well-developed methods, especially for medium and short range contacts. Second, in order to verify the superiority of ranking strategy, we predict contacts by using the traditional regression and classification strategies based on the same features as ranking strategy. Compared with these two traditional strategies, the proposed ranking strategy shows better performance for three contact types, in particular for long range contacts. Third, the proposed RRCRank has been compared with several state-of-the-art methods in CASP11 and CASP12. The results show that the RRCRank could achieve comparable prediction precisions and is better than three methods in most assessment metrics. The learning-to-rank algorithm is introduced to develop a novel rank-based method for the residue-residue contact prediction of proteins, which achieves state-of-the-art performance based on the extensive assessment.

22 CFR 11.1 - Junior Foreign Service officer career candidate appointments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... of the month in which the written examination was held. Time spent outside the United States and its... volunteer service, or required active regular or reserve military service (to a maximum of the limit of such...-order register 18 months after the date of placement on the rank-order register. Time spent in civilian...

22 CFR 11.1 - Junior Foreign Service officer career candidate appointments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... of the month in which the written examination was held. Time spent outside the United States and its... volunteer service, or required active regular or reserve military service (to a maximum of the limit of such...-order register 18 months after the date of placement on the rank-order register. Time spent in civilian...

22 CFR 11.1 - Junior Foreign Service officer career candidate appointments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... of the month in which the written examination was held. Time spent outside the United States and its... volunteer service, or required active regular or reserve military service (to a maximum of the limit of such...-order register 18 months after the date of placement on the rank-order register. Time spent in civilian...

22 CFR 11.1 - Junior Foreign Service officer career candidate appointments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... of the month in which the written examination was held. Time spent outside the United States and its... volunteer service, or required active regular or reserve military service (to a maximum of the limit of such...-order register 18 months after the date of placement on the rank-order register. Time spent in civilian...

Google Test MPI Listener

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oxberry, Geoffrey

Google Test MPI Listener is a plugin for the Google Test c++ unit testing library that organizes test output of software that uses both the MPI parallel programming model and Google Test. Typically, such output is ordered arbitrarily and disorganized, making difficult the process of interpreting test output. This plug organizes output in MPI rank order, enabling easy interpretation of test results.

Lymphovascular invasion, ureteral reimplantation and prior history of urothelial carcinoma are associated with poor prognosis after partial cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer with negative pelvic lymph nodes.

PubMed

Ma, B; Li, H; Zhang, C; Yang, K; Qiao, B; Zhang, Z; Xu, Y

2013-10-01

To identify predictive factors underlying recurrence and survival after partial cystectomy for pelvic lymph node-negative muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) (urothelial carcinoma) and to report the results of partial cystectomy among select patients. We retrospectively reviewed 101 cases that received partial cystectomy for MIBC (pT2-3N0M0) between 2000 and 2010. The log-rank test and a Cox regression analyses were performed to identify factors that were predictive of recurrence and survival. With a median follow-up of 53.0 months (range 9-120), the 5-year overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 58%, 65% and 50%, respectively. A total of 33 patients died of bladder cancer and 52 patients survived with intact bladder. Of the 101 patients included, 55 had no recurrence, 12 had non-muscle-invasive recurrence in the bladder that was treated successfully, and 34 had recurrence with advanced disease. The multivariate analysis showed that prior history of urothelial carcinoma (PH.UC) was associated with both CSS and RFS and weakly associated with OS; lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and ureteral reimplantation (UR) were associated with OS, CSS and RFS. Among patients with pelvic lymph node-negative MIBC, PH.UC and UR should be considered as contraindications for partial cystectomy, and LVI is predictive of poor outcomes after partial cystectomy. Highly selective partial cystectomy is a rational alternative to radical cystectomy for the treatment of MIBC with negative pelvic lymph nodes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Zero Forcing Conditions for Nonlinear channel Equalisation using a pre-coding scheme

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arfa, Hichem; Belghith, Safya; El Asmi, Sadok

2009-03-05

This paper shows how we can present a zero forcing conditions for a nonlinear channel equalisation. These zero forcing conditions based on the rank of nonlinear system are issued from an algebraic approach based on the module theoretical approach, in which the rank of nonlinear channel is clearly defined. In order to improve the performance of equalisation and reduce the complexity of used nonlinear systems, we will apply a pre-coding scheme. Theoretical results are given and computer simulation is used to corroborate the theory.

Ranking of options of real estate use by expert assessments mathematical processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lepikhina, O. Yu; Skachkova, M. E.; Mihaelyan, T. A.

2018-05-01

The article is devoted to the development of the real estate assessment concept. In conditions of multivariate using of the real estate method based on calculating, the integral indicator of each variant’s efficiency is proposed. In order to calculate weights of criteria of the efficiency expert method, Analytic hierarchy process and its mathematical support are used. The method allows fulfilling ranking of alternative types of real estate use in dependence of their efficiency. The method was applied for one of the land parcels located on Primorsky district in Saint Petersburg.

A rapid place name locating algorithm based on ontology qualitative retrieval, ranking and recommendation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Hong; Zhu, Anfeng; Zhang, Weixia

2015-12-01

In order to meet the rapid positioning of 12315 complaints, aiming at the natural language expression of telephone complaints, a semantic retrieval framework is proposed which is based on natural language parsing and geographical names ontology reasoning. Among them, a search result ranking and recommended algorithms is proposed which is regarding both geo-name conceptual similarity and spatial geometry relation similarity. The experiments show that this method can assist the operator to quickly find location of 12,315 complaints, increased industry and commerce customer satisfaction.

SWIFT-Review: a text-mining workbench for systematic review.

PubMed

Howard, Brian E; Phillips, Jason; Miller, Kyle; Tandon, Arpit; Mav, Deepak; Shah, Mihir R; Holmgren, Stephanie; Pelch, Katherine E; Walker, Vickie; Rooney, Andrew A; Macleod, Malcolm; Shah, Ruchir R; Thayer, Kristina

2016-05-23

There is growing interest in using machine learning approaches to priority rank studies and reduce human burden in screening literature when conducting systematic reviews. In addition, identifying addressable questions during the problem formulation phase of systematic review can be challenging, especially for topics having a large literature base. Here, we assess the performance of the SWIFT-Review priority ranking algorithm for identifying studies relevant to a given research question. We also explore the use of SWIFT-Review during problem formulation to identify, categorize, and visualize research areas that are data rich/data poor within a large literature corpus. Twenty case studies, including 15 public data sets, representing a range of complexity and size, were used to assess the priority ranking performance of SWIFT-Review. For each study, seed sets of manually annotated included and excluded titles and abstracts were used for machine training. The remaining references were then ranked for relevance using an algorithm that considers term frequency and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling. This ranking was evaluated with respect to (1) the number of studies screened in order to identify 95 % of known relevant studies and (2) the "Work Saved over Sampling" (WSS) performance metric. To assess SWIFT-Review for use in problem formulation, PubMed literature search results for 171 chemicals implicated as EDCs were uploaded into SWIFT-Review (264,588 studies) and categorized based on evidence stream and health outcome. Patterns of search results were surveyed and visualized using a variety of interactive graphics. Compared with the reported performance of other tools using the same datasets, the SWIFT-Review ranking procedure obtained the highest scores on 11 out of 15 of the public datasets. Overall, these results suggest that using machine learning to triage documents for screening has the potential to save, on average, more than 50 % of the screening effort ordinarily required when using un-ordered document lists. In addition, the tagging and annotation capabilities of SWIFT-Review can be useful during the activities of scoping and problem formulation. Text-mining and machine learning software such as SWIFT-Review can be valuable tools to reduce the human screening burden and assist in problem formulation.

Research priorities of the Canadian chiropractic profession: a consensus study using a modified Delphi technique.

PubMed

French, Simon D; Beliveau, Peter J H; Bruno, Paul; Passmore, Steven R; Hayden, Jill A; Srbely, John; Kawchuk, Greg N

2017-01-01

Research funds are limited and a healthcare profession that supports research activity should establish research priority areas. The study objective was to identify research priority areas for the Canadian chiropractic profession, and for stakeholders in the chiropractic profession to rank these in order of importance. We conducted a modified Delphi consensus study between August 2015 and May 2017 to determine the views of Canadian chiropractic organisations (e.g. Canadian Chiropractic Association; provincial associations) and stakeholder groups (e.g. chiropractic educational institutions; researchers). Participants completed three online Delphi survey rounds. In Round 1, participants suggested research areas within four broad research themes: 1) Basic science; 2) Clinical; 3) Health services; and 4) Population health. In Round 2, researchers created sub-themes by categorising the areas suggested in Round 1, and participants judged the importance of the research sub-themes. We defined consensus as at least 70% of participants agreeing that a research area was "essential" or "very important". In Round 3, results from Round 2 were presented to the participants to re-evaluate the importance of sub-themes. Finally, participants completed an online pairwise ranking activity to determine the rank order of the list of important research sub-themes. Fifty-seven participants, of 85 people invited, completed Round 1 (response rate 67%). Fifty-six participants completed Round 2, 55 completed Round 3, and 53 completed the ranking activity. After three Delphi rounds and the pairwise ranking activity was completed, the ranked list of research sub-themes considered important were: 1) Integration of chiropractic care into multidisciplinary settings; 2) Costs and cost-effectiveness of chiropractic care; 3) Effect of chiropractic care on reducing medical services; 4) Effects of chiropractic care; 5) Safety/side effects of chiropractic care; 6) Chiropractic care for older adults; 7) Neurophysiological mechanisms and effects of spinal manipulative therapy; 8) General mechanisms and effects of spinal manipulative therapy. This project identified research priority areas for the Canadian chiropractic profession. The top three priority areas were all in the area of health services research: 1) Integration of chiropractic care into multidisciplinary settings; 2) Costs and cost-effectiveness of chiropractic care; 3) Effect of chiropractic care on reducing medical services.

Fixed point theorems for generalized contractions in ordered metric spaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Regan, Donal; Petrusel, Adrian

2008-05-01

The purpose of this paper is to present some fixed point results for self-generalized contractions in ordered metric spaces. Our results generalize and extend some recent results of A.C.M. Ran, M.C. Reurings [A.C.M. Ran, MEC. Reurings, A fixed point theorem in partially ordered sets and some applications to matrix equations, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 132 (2004) 1435-1443], J.J. Nieto, R. Rodríguez-López [J.J. Nieto, R. Rodríguez-López, Contractive mapping theorems in partially ordered sets and applications to ordinary differential equations, Order 22 (2005) 223-239; J.J. Nieto, R. Rodríguez-López, Existence and uniqueness of fixed points in partially ordered sets and applications to ordinary differential equations, Acta Math. Sin. (Engl. Ser.) 23 (2007) 2205-2212], J.J. Nieto, R.L. Pouso, R. Rodríguez-López [J.J. Nieto, R.L. Pouso, R. Rodríguez-López, Fixed point theorem theorems in ordered abstract sets, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 135 (2007) 2505-2517], A. Petrusel, I.A. Rus [A. Petrusel, I.A. Rus, Fixed point theorems in ordered L-spaces, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 134 (2006) 411-418] and R.P. Agarwal, M.A. El-Gebeily, D. O'Regan [R.P. Agarwal, M.A. El-Gebeily, D. O'Regan, Generalized contractions in partially ordered metric spaces, Appl. Anal., in press]. As applications, existence and uniqueness results for Fredholm and Volterra type integral equations are given.

Activating distillation with an infinitesimal amount of bound entanglement.

PubMed

Vollbrecht, Karl Gerd H; Wolf, Michael M

2002-06-17

We show that bipartite quantum states of any dimension, which do not have a positive partial transpose (NPPT), become 1-distillable when one adds an infinitesimal amount of bound entanglement. To this end we investigate the activation properties of a new class of symmetric bound entangled states of full rank. It is shown that in this set there exist universal activator states capable of activating the distillation of any NPPT state. The result shows that even a small amount of bound entanglement can be useful for quantum information purposes.

CO.sub.2 Pretreatment prevents calcium carbonate formation

DOEpatents

Neavel, Richard C.; Brunson, Roy J.; Chaback, Joseph J.

1980-01-01

Scale formation during the liquefaction of lower ranking coals and similar carbonaceous materials is significantly reduced and/or prevented by pretreatment with carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide pretreatment is believed to convert the scale-forming components to the corresponding carbonate prior to liquefaction. The pretreatment is accomplished at a total pressure within the range from about 14 to about 68 atmospheres and a carbon dioxide partial pressure within the range from about 14 to about 34 atmospheres. Temperature during pretreatment will generally be within the range from about 100.degree. to about 200.degree. C.

Projected Improvements in Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation Using a Novel Breast Stereotactic Radiotherapy Device: A Dosimetric Analysis.

PubMed

Snider, James W; Mutaf, Yildirim; Nichols, Elizabeth; Hall, Andrea; Vadnais, Patrick; Regine, William F; Feigenberg, Steven J

2017-01-01

Accelerated partial breast irradiation has caused higher than expected rates of poor cosmesis. At our institution, a novel breast stereotactic radiotherapy device has demonstrated dosimetric distributions similar to those in brachytherapy. This study analyzed comparative dose distributions achieved with the device and intensity-modulated radiation therapy accelerated partial breast irradiation. Nine patients underwent computed tomography simulation in the prone position using device-specific immobilization on an institutional review board-approved protocol. Accelerated partial breast irradiation target volumes (planning target volume_10mm) were created per the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-39 protocol. Additional breast stereotactic radiotherapy volumes using smaller margins (planning target volume_3mm) were created based on improved immobilization. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy and breast stereotactic radiotherapy accelerated partial breast irradiation plans were separately generated for appropriate volumes. Plans were evaluated based on established dosimetric surrogates of poor cosmetic outcomes. Wilcoxon rank sum tests were utilized to contrast volumes of critical structures receiving a percentage of total dose ( Vx). The breast stereotactic radiotherapy device consistently reduced dose to all normal structures with equivalent target coverage. The ipsilateral breast V20-100 was significantly reduced ( P < .05) using planning target volume_10mm, with substantial further reductions when targeting planning target volume_3mm. Doses to the chest wall, ipsilateral lung, and breast skin were also significantly lessened. The breast stereotactic radiotherapy device's uniform dosimetric improvements over intensity-modulated accelerated partial breast irradiation in this series indicate a potential to improve outcomes. Clinical trials investigating this benefit have begun accrual.

Personality traits in old age: measurement and rank-order stability and some mean-level change.

PubMed

Mõttus, René; Johnson, Wendy; Deary, Ian J

2012-03-01

Lothian Birth Cohorts, 1936 and 1921 were used to study the longitudinal comparability of Five-Factor Model (McCrae & John, 1992) personality traits from ages 69 to 72 years and from ages 81 to 87 years, and cross-cohort comparability between ages 69 and 81 years. Personality was measured using the 50-item International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999). Satisfactory measurement invariance was established across time and cohorts. High rank-order stability was observed in both cohorts. Almost no mean-level change was observed in the younger cohort, whereas Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect declined significantly in the older cohort. The older cohort scored higher on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. In these cohorts, individual differences in personality traits continued to be stable even in very old age, mean-level changes accelerated.

Impact sensitivity of materials in contact with liquid and gaseous oxygen at high pressure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwinghamer, R. J.

1972-01-01

As a result of the Apollo 13 incident, increased emphasis is being placed on materials compatibility in a high pressure GOX environment. It is known that in addition to impact sensitivity of materials, approximately adiabatic compression conditions can contrive to induce materials reactivity. Test runs at high pressure using the ABMA tester indicate the following: (1) The materials used in the tests showed an inverse relationship between thickness and impact sensitivity. (2) Several materials tested exhibited greater impact sensitivity in GOX than in LOX. (3) The impact sensitivity of the materials tested in GOX, at the pressures tested, showed enhanced impact sensitivity with higher pressure. (4) The rank ordering of the materials tested in LOX up to 1000 psia is the same as the rank ordering resulting from tests in LOX at 14.7 psia.

Identifying priorities for quality improvement at an emergency Department in Ghana.

PubMed

DeWulf, Annelies; Otchi, Elom H; Soghoian, Sari

2017-08-30

Healthcare quality improvement (QI) is a global priority, and understanding the perspectives of frontline healthcare workers can help guide sustainable and meaningful change. We report a qualitative investigation of emergency department (ED) staff priorities for QI at a tertiary care hospital in Ghana. The aims of the study were to educate staff about the World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of quality in healthcare, and to identify an initial focus for building a departmental QI program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ED staff using open-ended questions to probe their understanding and valuation of the six dimensions of quality defined by the WHO. Participants were then asked to rank the dimensions in order of importance for QI. Qualitative responses were thematically analyzed, and ordinal rank-order was determined for quantitative data regarding QI priorities. Twenty (20) members of staff of different cadres participated, including ED physicians, nurses, orderlies, a security officer, and an accountant. A majority of participants (61%) ranked access to emergency healthcare as high priority for QI. Two recurrent themes - financial accessibility and hospital bed availability - accounted for the majority of discussions, each linked to all the dimensions of healthcare quality. ED staff related all of the WHO quality dimensions to their work, and prioritized access to emergency care as the most important area for improvement. Participants expressed a high degree of motivation to improve healthcare quality, and the study helped with the development of a departmental QI program focused on the broad topic of access to ED services.

Crash protectiveness to occupant injury and vehicle damage: An investigation on major car brands.

PubMed

Huang, Helai; Li, Chunyang; Zeng, Qiang

2016-01-01

This study sets out to investigate vehicles' crash protectiveness on occupant injury and vehicle damage, which can be deemed as an extension of the traditional crash worthiness. A Bayesian bivariate hierarchical ordered logistic (BVHOL) model is developed to estimate the occupant protectiveness (OP) and vehicle protectiveness (VP) of 23 major car brands in Florida, with considering vehicles' crash aggressivity and controlling external factors. The proposed model not only takes over the strength of the existing hierarchical ordered logistic (HOL) model, i.e. specifying the order characteristics of crash outcomes and cross-crash heterogeneities, but also accounts for the correlation between the two crash responses, driver injury and vehicle damage. A total of 7335 two-vehicle-crash records with 14,670 cars involved in Florida are used for the investigation. From the estimation results, it's found that most of the luxury cars such as Cadillac, Volvo and Lexus possess excellent OP and VP while some brands such as KIA and Saturn perform very badly in both aspects. The ranks of the estimated safety performance indices are even compared to the counterparts in Huang et al. study [Huang, H., Hu, S., Abdel-Aty, M., 2014. Indexing crash worthiness and crash aggressivity by major car brands. Safety Science 62, 339-347]. The results show that the rank of occupant protectiveness index (OPI) is relatively coherent with that of crash worthiness index, but the ranks of crash aggressivity index in both studies is more different from each other. Meanwhile, a great discrepancy between the OPI rank and that of vehicle protectiveness index is found. What's more, the results of control variables and hyper-parameters estimation as well as comparison to HOL models with separate or identical threshold errors, demonstrate the validity and advancement of the proposed model and the robustness of the estimated OP and VP. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiple Citation Indicators and Their Composite across Scientific Disciplines

PubMed Central

Ioannidis, John P.A.; Klavans, Richard; Boyack, Kevin W.

2016-01-01

Many fields face an increasing prevalence of multi-authorship, and this poses challenges in assessing citation metrics. Here, we explore multiple citation indicators that address total impact (number of citations, Hirsch H index [H]), co-authorship adjustment (Schreiber Hm index [Hm]), and author order (total citations to papers as single; single or first; or single, first, or last author). We demonstrate the correlation patterns between these indicators across 84,116 scientists (those among the top 30,000 for impact in a single year [2013] in at least one of these indicators) and separately across 12 scientific fields. Correlation patterns vary across these 12 fields. In physics, total citations are highly negatively correlated with indicators of co-authorship adjustment and of author order, while in other sciences the negative correlation is seen only for total citation impact and citations to papers as single author. We propose a composite score that sums standardized values of these six log-transformed indicators. Of the 1,000 top-ranked scientists with the composite score, only 322 are in the top 1,000 based on total citations. Many Nobel laureates and other extremely influential scientists rank among the top-1,000 with the composite indicator, but would rank much lower based on total citations. Conversely, many of the top 1,000 authors on total citations have had no single/first/last-authored cited paper. More Nobel laureates of 2011–2015 are among the top authors when authors are ranked by the composite score than by total citations, H index, or Hm index; 40/47 of these laureates are among the top 30,000 by at least one of the six indicators. We also explore the sensitivity of indicators to self-citation and alphabetic ordering of authors in papers across different scientific fields. Multiple indicators and their composite may give a more comprehensive picture of impact, although no citation indicator, single or composite, can be expected to select all the best scientists. PMID:27367269

Multiple Citation Indicators and Their Composite across Scientific Disciplines.

PubMed

Ioannidis, John P A; Klavans, Richard; Boyack, Kevin W

2016-07-01

Many fields face an increasing prevalence of multi-authorship, and this poses challenges in assessing citation metrics. Here, we explore multiple citation indicators that address total impact (number of citations, Hirsch H index [H]), co-authorship adjustment (Schreiber Hm index [Hm]), and author order (total citations to papers as single; single or first; or single, first, or last author). We demonstrate the correlation patterns between these indicators across 84,116 scientists (those among the top 30,000 for impact in a single year [2013] in at least one of these indicators) and separately across 12 scientific fields. Correlation patterns vary across these 12 fields. In physics, total citations are highly negatively correlated with indicators of co-authorship adjustment and of author order, while in other sciences the negative correlation is seen only for total citation impact and citations to papers as single author. We propose a composite score that sums standardized values of these six log-transformed indicators. Of the 1,000 top-ranked scientists with the composite score, only 322 are in the top 1,000 based on total citations. Many Nobel laureates and other extremely influential scientists rank among the top-1,000 with the composite indicator, but would rank much lower based on total citations. Conversely, many of the top 1,000 authors on total citations have had no single/first/last-authored cited paper. More Nobel laureates of 2011-2015 are among the top authors when authors are ranked by the composite score than by total citations, H index, or Hm index; 40/47 of these laureates are among the top 30,000 by at least one of the six indicators. We also explore the sensitivity of indicators to self-citation and alphabetic ordering of authors in papers across different scientific fields. Multiple indicators and their composite may give a more comprehensive picture of impact, although no citation indicator, single or composite, can be expected to select all the best scientists.

A Study of Consistency in Design Selection and the Rank Ordering of Alternatives Using a Value Driven Design Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramanian, Tenkasi R.

In the current day, with the rapid advancement in technology, engineering design is growing in complexity. Nowadays, engineers have to deal with design problems that are large, complex and involving multi-level decision analyses. With the increase in complexity and size of systems, the production and development cost tend to overshoot the allocated budget and resources. This often results in project delays and project cancellation. This is particularly true for aerospace systems. Value Driven Design proves to be means to strengthen the design process and help counter such trends. Value Driven is a novel framework for optimization which puts stakeholder preferences at the forefront of the design process to capture their true preferences to present system alternatives that are consistent the stakeholder's expectations. Traditional systems engineering techniques promote communication of stakeholder preferences in the form of requirements which confines the design space by imposing additional constraints on it. This results in a design that does not capture the true preferences of the stakeholder. Value Driven Design provides an alternate approach to design wherein a value function is created that corresponds to the true preferences of the stakeholder. The applicability of VDD broad, but it is imperative to first explore its feasibility to ensure the development of an efficient, robust and elegant system design. The key to understanding the usability of VDD is to investigate the formation, propagation and use of a value function. This research investigates the use of rank correlation metrics to ensure consistent rank ordering of design alternatives, while investigating the fidelity of the value function. The impact of design uncertainties on rank ordering. A satellite design system consisting of a satellite, ground station and launch vehicle is used to demonstrate the use of the metrics to aid in decision support during the design process.

Tziminema unachi n. gen., n. sp. (Nematoda: Strongylidae: Strongylinae) parasite of Baird's tapir Tapirus bairdii from Mexico.

PubMed

Güiris-Andrade, D M; Oceguera-Figueroa, A; Osorio-Sarabia, D; Pérez-Escobar, M E; Nieto-López, M G; Rojas-Hernández, N M; García-Prieto, L

2017-11-20

A new genus and species of nematode, Tziminema unachi n. gen., n. sp. is described from the caecum and colon of Baird's tapir Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865), found dead in the Reserva de la Biósfera El Triunfo, Chiapas State, in the Neotropical realm of Mexico. Tziminema n. gen. differs from the other nine genera included in the Strongylinae by two main characteristics: having 7-9 posteriorly directed tooth-like structures at the anterior end of the buccal capsule, and the external surface of the buccal capsule being heavily striated. Phylogenetic analyses of the DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase and nuclear DNA, including a partial sequence of the internal transcribed spacer 1, 5.8S and a partial sequence of the internal transcribed spacer 2 of the new taxon, confirmed its inclusion in Strongylinae and its rank as a new genus.

Parental consanguineous marriages and clinical response to chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer patients.

PubMed

Saadat, Mostafa; Khalili, Maryam; Omidvari, Shahpour; Ansari-Lari, Maryam

2011-03-28

The main aim of the present study was investigating the association between parental consanguinity and clinical response to chemotherapy in females affected with locally advanced breast cancer. A consecutive series of 92 patients were prospectively included in this study. Clinical assessment of treatment was accomplished by comparing initial tumor size with preoperative tumor size using revised RECIST guideline (version 1.1). Clinical response defined as complete response, partial response and no response. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used to evaluate the association of parental marriages (first cousin vs unrelated marriages) and clinical response to chemotherapy (complete and partial response vs no response). Number of courses of chemotherapy was considered as time, in the analysis. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that offspring of unrelated marriages had poorer response to chemotherapy (log rank statistic=5.10, df=1, P=0.023). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of different strategies in multivariate regression models for the direct determination of Mn, Cr, and Ni in steel samples using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luna, Aderval S.; Gonzaga, Fabiano B.; da Rocha, Werickson F. C.; Lima, Igor C. A.

2018-01-01

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis was carried out on eleven steel samples to quantify the concentrations of chromium, nickel, and manganese. LIBS spectral data were correlated to known concentrations of the samples using different strategies in partial least squares (PLS) regression models. For the PLS analysis, one predictive model was separately generated for each element, while different approaches were used for the selection of variables (VIP: variable importance in projection and iPLS: interval partial least squares) in the PLS model to quantify the contents of the elements. The comparison of the performance of the models showed that there was no significant statistical difference using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The elliptical joint confidence region (EJCR) did not detect systematic errors in these proposed methodologies for each metal.

Specifications of a continual reassessment method design for phase I trials of combined drugs†

PubMed Central

Wages, Nolan A.; Conaway, Mark R.

2013-01-01

In studies of combinations of agents in phase I oncology trials, the dose–toxicity relationship may not be monotone for all combinations, in which case the toxicity probabilities follow a partial order. The continual reassessment method for partial orders (PO-CRM) is a design for phase I trials of combinations that leans upon identifying possible complete orders associated with the partial order. This article addresses some practical design considerations not previously undertaken when describing the PO-CRM. We describe an approach in choosing a proper subset of possible orderings, formulated according to the known toxicity relationships within a matrix of combination therapies. Other design issues, such as working model selection and stopping rules, are also discussed. We demonstrate the practical ability of PO-CRM as a phase I design for combinations through its use in a recent trial designed at the University of Virginia Cancer Center. PMID:23729323

Latent Partially Ordered Classification Models and Normal Mixtures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tatsuoka, Curtis; Varadi, Ferenc; Jaeger, Judith

2013-01-01

Latent partially ordered sets (posets) can be employed in modeling cognitive functioning, such as in the analysis of neuropsychological (NP) and educational test data. Posets are cognitively diagnostic in the sense that classification states in these models are associated with detailed profiles of cognitive functioning. These profiles allow for…

77 FR 53226 - Public Land Order No. 7792; Partial Revocation, Power Site Reserve No. 109; Montana

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-31

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [MT-LLB05000-LL14300000-FQ0000; MTM 40412] Public Land Order No. 7792; Partial Revocation, Power Site Reserve No. 109; Montana Correction In notice...:45 am] BILLING CODE 1505-01-D ...

76 FR 24513 - Public Land Order No. 7765; Partial Revocation Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Withdrawal; Florida

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-02

...] Public Land Order No. 7765; Partial Revocation Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Withdrawal; Florida AGENCY... as part of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area. DATES: Effective Date: May 2, 2011... U.S.C. 1787), which created the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area, and which...

Scalable Replay with Partial-Order Dependencies for Message-Logging Fault Tolerance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lifflander, Jonathan; Meneses, Esteban; Menon, Harshita

2014-09-22

Deterministic replay of a parallel application is commonly used for discovering bugs or to recover from a hard fault with message-logging fault tolerance. For message passing programs, a major source of overhead during forward execution is recording the order in which messages are sent and received. During replay, this ordering must be used to deterministically reproduce the execution. Previous work in replay algorithms often makes minimal assumptions about the programming model and application in order to maintain generality. However, in many cases, only a partial order must be recorded due to determinism intrinsic in the code, ordering constraints imposed bymore » the execution model, and events that are commutative (their relative execution order during replay does not need to be reproduced exactly). In this paper, we present a novel algebraic framework for reasoning about the minimum dependencies required to represent the partial order for different concurrent orderings and interleavings. By exploiting this theory, we improve on an existing scalable message-logging fault tolerance scheme. The improved scheme scales to 131,072 cores on an IBM BlueGene/P with up to 2x lower overhead than one that records a total order.« less

Kinetic analysis of the interactions between calcium ferrite and coal char for chemical looping gasification applications: Identifying reduction routes and modes of oxygen transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Riley, Jarrett; Siriwardane, Ranjani; Tian, Hanjing

Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG) is an emerging technology that shows promise for efficient coal gasification by eliminating the need for energy intensive gas separations to achieve a non-nitrogen diluted syngas stream. Oxygen from oxygen carriers, such as CaFe 2O 4, are used for coal gasification in place of conventionally produced gaseous oxygen from cryogenic separation of air. These oxygen carriers are unique for their ability to selectively oxidize coal to form syngas and show limited reactivity with syngas components (H 2, CO). To gain a deeper understanding of how these unique oxygen carriers perform and to offer a first attemptmore » at the reaction modeling of solid mediated interactions of this nature, this study was carried out to determine the kinetic parameters associated with the selective oxidation of coal derived char (Wyodak and Illinois #6) with a metal ferrite, CaFe 2O 4. Using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with mass spectrometry, the selective oxygen release of metal ferrite in the presence of char by proximal contact was examined. The application of combinatory model fitting approaches was used to describe controlling resistances during oxygen release. A combination of the modified shrinking core model (SCM) with planar oxygen ion diffusion control and reaction order based models was used for kinetic parameter determination. CaFe 2O 4 particle size plays a major role in the prevailing mode of oxygen release. Particle sizes on the order of 40–50 μm tend to favor first order kinetically controlled regimes independent of geometric and diffusion controls. The probability for oxygen ion diffusion controlling regimes increased when the particle size range of the oxygen carrier was increased up to 350 μm. Char type also impacted the prevalence of the controlling regime. Higher ranked chars react in a slower manner, limiting the gradient for oxygen ion release from the oxygen carrier. Activation energies determined for this process range from 120–200kJ/mol and oxygen ion diffusion coefficients are on the order of 10-8 cm 2/s. It is suggested that oxygen ion movement is regulated by lattice diffusion out of partially reduced phases (Ca 2Fe 2O 5) and through reduced outer layers composed of CaO and Fe. The controlled movement of oxygen ions influences the rate of carbon oxidation in the char and therefore the selectivity towards partial oxidation products, which are desirable in CLG applications.« less

Kinetic analysis of the interactions between calcium ferrite and coal char for chemical looping gasification applications: Identifying reduction routes and modes of oxygen transfer

DOE PAGES

Riley, Jarrett; Siriwardane, Ranjani; Tian, Hanjing; ...

2017-05-20

Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG) is an emerging technology that shows promise for efficient coal gasification by eliminating the need for energy intensive gas separations to achieve a non-nitrogen diluted syngas stream. Oxygen from oxygen carriers, such as CaFe 2O 4, are used for coal gasification in place of conventionally produced gaseous oxygen from cryogenic separation of air. These oxygen carriers are unique for their ability to selectively oxidize coal to form syngas and show limited reactivity with syngas components (H 2, CO). To gain a deeper understanding of how these unique oxygen carriers perform and to offer a first attemptmore » at the reaction modeling of solid mediated interactions of this nature, this study was carried out to determine the kinetic parameters associated with the selective oxidation of coal derived char (Wyodak and Illinois #6) with a metal ferrite, CaFe 2O 4. Using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with mass spectrometry, the selective oxygen release of metal ferrite in the presence of char by proximal contact was examined. The application of combinatory model fitting approaches was used to describe controlling resistances during oxygen release. A combination of the modified shrinking core model (SCM) with planar oxygen ion diffusion control and reaction order based models was used for kinetic parameter determination. CaFe 2O 4 particle size plays a major role in the prevailing mode of oxygen release. Particle sizes on the order of 40–50 μm tend to favor first order kinetically controlled regimes independent of geometric and diffusion controls. The probability for oxygen ion diffusion controlling regimes increased when the particle size range of the oxygen carrier was increased up to 350 μm. Char type also impacted the prevalence of the controlling regime. Higher ranked chars react in a slower manner, limiting the gradient for oxygen ion release from the oxygen carrier. Activation energies determined for this process range from 120–200kJ/mol and oxygen ion diffusion coefficients are on the order of 10-8 cm 2/s. It is suggested that oxygen ion movement is regulated by lattice diffusion out of partially reduced phases (Ca 2Fe 2O 5) and through reduced outer layers composed of CaO and Fe. The controlled movement of oxygen ions influences the rate of carbon oxidation in the char and therefore the selectivity towards partial oxidation products, which are desirable in CLG applications.« less

Some New Sets of Sequences of Fuzzy Numbers with Respect to the Partial Metric

PubMed Central

Ozluk, Muharrem

2015-01-01

In this paper, we essentially deal with Köthe-Toeplitz duals of fuzzy level sets defined using a partial metric. Since the utilization of Zadeh's extension principle is quite difficult in practice, we prefer the idea of level sets in order to construct some classical notions. In this paper, we present the sets of bounded, convergent, and null series and the set of sequences of bounded variation of fuzzy level sets, based on the partial metric. We examine the relationships between these sets and their classical forms and give some properties including definitions, propositions, and various kinds of partial metric spaces of fuzzy level sets. Furthermore, we study some of their properties like completeness and duality. Finally, we obtain the Köthe-Toeplitz duals of fuzzy level sets with respect to the partial metric based on a partial ordering. PMID:25695102

[Sap flux density in response to rainfall pulses for Pinus tabuliformis and Hippophae rhamnoides from mixed plantation in hilly Loess Plateau].

PubMed

Lu, Sen Bao; Chen, Yun Ming; Tang, Ya Kun; Wu, Xu; Wen, Jie

2017-11-01

Thermal dissipation probe (TDP) was used to continuously measure the sap flux density (F d ) of Pinus tabuliformis and Hippophae rhamnoides individuals in hilly Loess Plateau, from June to October 2015, and the environmental factors, i.e., photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), water vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and soil water content (SWC), were simultaneously monitored to clarify the difference of rainfall utilization between the two tree species in a mixed plantation. Using the methods of a Threshold-delay model, stepwise multiple regression analyses, and partial correlation analyses, this paper studied the process of F d in these two species in response to the rainfall pulses and then determined the effects of environmental factors on F d . The results showed that, with the increase of rainfall, the response percentages of F d in both P. tabuliformis and H. rhamnoides increased at first but then decreased; specifically, in the range of 0-1 mm rainfall, the F d of P. tabuliformis (-16.3%) and H. rhamnoides (-6.3%) clearly decreased; in the range of 1-5 mm rainfall, the F d of P. tabuliformis decreased (-0.4%), whereas that of H. rhamnoides significantly increased (9.0%). The lower rainfall thresholds (R L ) of F d for P. tabuliformis and H. rhamnoides were 6.4 and 1.9 mm, respectively, with a corresponding time-lag (τ) of 1.96 and 1.67 days. In the pre-rainfall period, the peak time of F d of P. tabuliformis converged upon 12:00-12:30 (70%), while the F d of H. rhamnoides peaked twice, between 10:30 and 12:00 (48%) and again between 16:00 and 16:30 (30%). In the post-rainfall period, the peak time of F d of P. tabuliformis converged upon 11:00-13:00 (40%), while that of H. rhamnoides peaked twice, between 12:00 and 13:00 (52%) and again between 16:30 and 17:00 (24%). Among the environmental factors, the rank order of factors associated with the F d of both P. tabuliformis and H. rhamnoides was PAR>VPD, before rainfall. However, the rank order of factors influencing the F d of P. tabuliformis was PAR>VPD>0-20 cm SWC (SWC 0-20 ), whereas this order was different for H. rhamnoides: SWC 0-20 >PAR >VPD, after rainfall. This mixed plantation of P. tabuliformis and H. rhamnoides trees had a high stability of water utilization.

[Lack of interest in general practice during the National Ranking Examination in 2005].

PubMed

Lanson, Yves

2006-03-01

The second national ranking test took place in 2005 in the same conditions as the year before. Analysis of the results permits us to assess whether the objectives of this reform have been met so far. Data crossing of the results provided by the national testing center allowed us to rank: 1) the appeal of specializations for each geographic subdivision, 2) the candidates by medical school, and 3) the appeal of each subdivision by candidate rank. 66% of the students were classified high enough to be able to choose any specialization. Trends observed from the first examination, in 2004, were confirmed, with the clear desirability of medical specializations and a certain lack of interest in occupational medicine and public health. All the surgery posts were filled, even though the number of posts had increased enormously since the first examination. After adjustment for the number of posts available, the specializations in decreasing order of popularity were: medical, surgical, pediatrics, anesthesiology, gynecology-obstetrics, general medicine, psychiatry, and biology. Approximately 1000 posts in general medicine were not filled. The medical schools whose students ranked highest were Paris Pitié, Paris V, Paris West, Lyon North, Grenoble, and Aix-Marseille. Some medical schools did less well than previously: Marseille very slightly and Angers substantially. Strasbourg, Nancy Amiens and Bobigny were at the bottom of the list. The cities most desired for internships were Paris, Toulouse, Lyon, and Aix-Marseille, while Brest, Nancy, Limoges and the West Indies were ranked lowest, although each was chosen by highly ranked candidate. Two thirds of the students were ranked high enough to allow them a free choice of specializations. All the specializations except public health and occupational medicine had very highly ranked students. Medical specializations are the most desired, but surgery remains highly demanded, despite a substantial increase in the number of posts. All posts were filled in all specializations, but only 41% of those in general medicine. Medical schools whose students ranked highest had the fewest students choosing general practice.

Prediction and causal reasoning in planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dean, T.; Boddy, M.

1987-01-01

Nonlinear planners are often touted as having an efficiency advantage over linear planners. The reason usually given is that nonlinear planners, unlike their linear counterparts, are not forced to make arbitrary commitments to the order in which actions are to be performed. This ability to delay commitment enables nonlinear planners to solve certain problems with far less effort than would be required of linear planners. Here, it is argued that this advantage is bought with a significant reduction in the ability of a nonlinear planner to accurately predict the consequences of actions. Unfortunately, the general problem of predicting the consequences of a partially ordered set of actions is intractable. In gaining the predictive power of linear planners, nonlinear planners sacrifice their efficiency advantage. There are, however, other advantages to nonlinear planning (e.g., the ability to reason about partial orders and incomplete information) that make it well worth the effort needed to extend nonlinear methods. A framework is supplied for causal inference that supports reasoning about partially ordered events and actions whose effects depend upon the context in which they are executed. As an alternative to a complete but potentially exponential-time algorithm, researchers provide a provably sound polynomial-time algorithm for predicting the consequences of partially ordered events.

Estrogenic activity of isoflavonoids from the stem bark of the tropical tree Amphimas pterocarpoides, a source of traditional medicines.

PubMed

Tchoumtchoua, Job; Makropoulou, Maria; Ateba, Sylvain Benjamin; Boulaka, Athina; Halabalaki, Maria; Lambrinidis, George; Meligova, Aggeliki K; Mbanya, Jean Claude; Mikros, Emmanuel; Skaltsounis, Alexios-Leandros; Mitsiou, Dimitra J; Njamen, Dieudonne; Alexis, Michael N

2016-04-01

Various preparations of the African tree Amphimas pterocarpoides Harms are traditionally used to treat endocrine- related adverse health conditions. In the ovariectomized rat, the enriched in phenolics fraction of the methanol extract of stem bark of A. pterocarpoides acted as vaginotrophic agent of considerably weaker uterotrophic activity compared to estradiol. Evaluation of the fraction and 11 isoflavonoids isolated therefrom using Ishikawa cells and estrogen receptor (ER) isotype-specific reporter cells suggested that the estrogenic activity of the fraction could be attributed primarily to daidzein and dihydroglycitein and secondarily to glycitein. The potency-based selectivity of daidzein, dihydroglycitein and glycitein for gene expression through ERβ versus ERα, expressed relative to estradiol, was 37, 27 and 20, respectively. However, the rank order of relative-to-estradiol potencies of induction of alkaline phosphatase in Ishikawa cells, a reliable marker of estrogenic activity, was daidzein>dihydroglycitein>glycitein. The considerably higher estrogenic activity of dihydroglycitein compared to glycitein could be attributed to the partial agonist/antagonist activity of dihydroglycitein through ERβ. Calculation of theoretical free energies of binding predicted the partial agonism/antagonism of dihydroglycitein through ERβ. The fraction and the isolated isoflavonoids promoted lactogenic differentiation of HC11 mammary epithelial cells at least as effectively as premenopausal levels of estradiol. This data suggests that the estrogenic activity of the fraction likely depends on the metabolism of glycitein to dihydroglycitein; that the fraction could exert vaginotrophic activity likely without challenging endocrine cancer risk more than estrogen-alone supplementation; and that the fraction's safety for the reproductive track warrants a more detailed evaluation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A molecular characterization of the agonist binding site of a nematode cys-loop GABA receptor

PubMed Central

Kaji, Mark D; Kwaka, Ariel; Callanan, Micah K; Nusrat, Humza; Desaulniers, Jean-Paul; Forrester, Sean G

2015-01-01

Background and Purpose Cys-loop GABA receptors represent important targets for human chemotherapeutics and insecticides and are potential targets for novel anthelmintics (nematicides). However, compared with insect and mammalian receptors, little is known regarding the pharmacological characteristics of nematode Cys-loop GABA receptors. Here we have investigated the agonist binding site of the Cys-loop GABA receptor UNC-49 (Hco-UNC-49) from the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus. Experimental Approach We used two-electrode voltage-clamp electrophysiology to measure channel activation by classical GABA receptor agonists on Hco-UNC-49 expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, along with site-directed mutagenesis and in silico homology modelling. Key Results The sulphonated molecules P4S and taurine had no effect on Hco-UNC-49. Other classical Cys-loop GABAA receptor agonists tested on the Hco-UNC-49B/C heteromeric channel had a rank order efficacy of GABA > trans-4-aminocrotonic acid > isoguvacine > imidazole-4-acetic acid (IMA) > (R)-(−)-4-amino-3-hydroxybutyric acid [R(−)-GABOB] > (S)-(+)-4-amino-3-hydroxybutyric acid [S(+)-GABOB] > guanidinoacetic acid > isonipecotic acid > 5-aminovaleric acid (DAVA) (partial agonist) > β-alanine (partial agonist). In silico ligand docking revealed some variation in binding between agonists. Mutagenesis of a key serine residue in binding loop C to threonine had minimal effects on GABA and IMA but significantly increased the maximal response to DAVA and decreased twofold the EC50 for R(−)- and S(+)-GABOB. Conclusions and Implications The pharmacological profile of Hco-UNC-49 differed from that of vertebrate Cys-loop GABA receptors and insect resistance to dieldrin receptors, suggesting differences in the agonist binding pocket. These findings could be exploited to develop new drugs that specifically target GABA receptors of parasitic nematodes. PMID:25850584

Performance and hemtochemical parameters of buck-kids fed concentrate partially replaced with tropical Piliostigma thonningii foliage.

PubMed

Olafadehan, Olurotimi A; Njidda, Ahmed A; Okunade, Sunday A; Salihu, Sarah O; Balogun, David O; Salem, Abdelfattah Z M

2018-02-01

Fifteen 5-month-old Red Sokoto buck-kids, (6.6 ± 0.71 kg body weight (BW)) randomly distributed into three groups of five animals per group, were used to study the effects of supplementary concentrate partially replaced with Piliostigma thonningii (PT) foliage on the growth performance, economic benefit and blood profile in a completely randomized design using analysis of variance. The goats in group 1 received 100% supplementary concentrates (PT0), groups 2 and 3 received 25% (PT25) and 50% (PT50), respectively, of concentrate replaced with an equal amount (dry matter basis) of Piliostigma foliage. The goats were fed a basal diet of threshed sorghum top (TST). Intake of concentrate, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, total feeding cost and cost/kg BW were greater (P < 0.05) for PT0 than for PT25 and PT50. Consumption of P. thonningii foliage was greater (P < 0.05) for PT50 relative to PT25. Tannin consumption of the treatment diets were greater (P < 0.05) than that of the control concentrate diet. Serum urea N reduced (P < 0.05) with increasing level of concentrate replacement, while serum glucose was higher (P < 0.05) in PT0 than in PT50. However, means of all blood measurements were within normal ranges for goats. Net benefit showed this rank order: PT0 < PT50 < PT25 (all P < 0.05). Both differential and relative benefits were higher (P < 0.05) for PT25 than for PT50. P. thonningii foliage can replace 50% of supplemental concentrate without impairing feed intake, growth performance and health of buck-kids. © 2017 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Using dreams to assess clinical change during treatment.

PubMed

Glucksman, Myron L; Kramer, Milton

2004-01-01

This article describes several studies that examine the relationship between the manifest content of selected dreams reported by patients and their clinical progress during psychoanalytic and psychodynamically oriented treatment. There are a number of elements that dreaming and psychotherapy have in common: affect regulation; conflict resolution; problem-solving; self-awareness; mastery and adaptation. Four different studies examined the relationship between the manifest content of selected dreams and clinical progress during treatment. In each study, the ratings of manifest content and clinical progress by independent observers were rank-ordered and compared. In three of the four studies there was a significant correlation between the rankings of manifest content and the rankings of clinical progress. This finding suggests that the manifest content of dreams can be used as an independent variable to assess clinical progress during psychoanalytic and psychodynamically oriented treatment.

Prioritization of Zoonotic Diseases in Kenya, 2015

PubMed Central

Bitek, Austine; Osoro, Eric; Pieracci, Emily G.; Muema, Josephat; Mwatondo, Athman; Kungu, Mathew; Nanyingi, Mark; Gharpure, Radhika; Njenga, Kariuki; Thumbi, Samuel M.

2016-01-01

Introduction Zoonotic diseases have varying public health burden and socio-economic impact across time and geographical settings making their prioritization for prevention and control important at the national level. We conducted systematic prioritization of zoonotic diseases and developed a ranked list of these diseases that would guide allocation of resources to enhance their surveillance, prevention, and control. Methods A group of 36 medical, veterinary, and wildlife experts in zoonoses from government, research institutions and universities in Kenya prioritized 36 diseases using a semi-quantitative One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization tool developed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with slight adaptations. The tool comprises five steps: listing of zoonotic diseases to be prioritized, development of ranking criteria, weighting criteria by pairwise comparison through analytical hierarchical process, scoring each zoonotic disease based on the criteria, and aggregation of scores. Results In order of importance, the participants identified severity of illness in humans, epidemic/pandemic potential in humans, socio-economic burden, prevalence/incidence and availability of interventions (weighted scores assigned to each criteria were 0.23, 0.22, 0.21, 0.17 and 0.17 respectively), as the criteria to define the relative importance of the diseases. The top five priority diseases in descending order of ranking were anthrax, trypanosomiasis, rabies, brucellosis and Rift Valley fever. Conclusion Although less prominently mentioned, neglected zoonotic diseases ranked highly compared to those with epidemic potential suggesting these endemic diseases cause substantial public health burden. The list of priority zoonotic disease is crucial for the targeted allocation of resources and informing disease prevention and control programs for zoonoses in Kenya. PMID:27557120

Deaths: Leading Causes for 2012.

PubMed

Heron, Melonie

2015-08-31

This report presents final 2012 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements "Deaths: Final Data for 2012," the National Center for Health Statistics' annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2012. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. Cause-of-death statistics are based on the underlying cause of death. In 2012, the 10 leading causes of death were, in rank order: Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Cerebrovascular diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Alzheimer's disease; Diabetes mellitus; Influenza and pneumonia; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Intentional self-harm (suicide). These causes accounted for 74% of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the rankings are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2012 were, in rank order: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Respiratory distress of newborn; Diseases of the circulatory system; and Neonatal hemorrhage. Important variations in the leading causes of infant death are noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Deaths: leading causes for 2007.

PubMed

Heron, Melonie

2011-08-26

This report presents final 2007 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements the Division of Vital Statistics' annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2007. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. Cause-of-death statistics are based on the underlying cause of death. In 2007, the 10 leading causes of death were, in rank order: Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Cerebrovascular diseases; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Alzheimer's disease; Diabetes mellitus; Influenza and pneumonia; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Septicemia. They accounted for approximately 76 percent of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the rankings are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2007 were, in rank order: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Respiratory distress of newborn; Diseases of the circulatory system; and Neonatal hemorrhage. Important variations in the leading causes of infant death are noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Deaths: leading causes for 2009.

PubMed

Heron, Melonie

2012-10-26

This report presents final 2009 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements the Division of Vital Statistics' annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2009. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. Cause-of-death statistics are based on the underlying cause of death. In 2009, the 10 leading causes of death were, in rank order: Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Cerebrovascular diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Alzheimer's disease; Diabetes mellitus; Influenza and pneumonia; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Intentional self-harm (suicide). These causes accounted for approximately 75% of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the rankings are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2009 were, in rank order: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Respiratory distress of newborn; Diseases of the circulatory system; and Neonatal hemorrhage. Important variations in the leading causes of infant death are noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Deaths: leading causes for 2008.

PubMed

Heron, Melonie

2012-06-06

This report presents final 2008 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and postneonatal death are also presented. This report supplements the Division of Vital Statistics' annual report of final mortality statistics. Data in this report are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2008. Causes of death classified by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) are ranked according to the number of deaths assigned to rankable causes. Cause-of-death statistics are based on the underlying cause of death. in 2008, the 10 leading causes of death were, in rank order: Diseases of heart; Malignant neoplasms; Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Cerebrovascular diseases; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Alzheimer's disease; Diabetes mellitus; Influenza and pneumonia; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; and Intentional self-harm (suicide). They accounted for approximately 76 percent of all deaths occurring in the United States. Differences in the rankings are evident by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant death for 2008 were, in rank order: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified; Sudden infant death syndrome; Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; Accidents (unintentional injuries); Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes; Bacterial sepsis of newborn; Respiratory distress of newborn; Diseases of the circulatory system; and Neonatal hemorrhage. Important variations in the leading causes of infant death are noted for the neonatal and postneonatal periods.

Ease of articulation: A replication.

PubMed

Shuster, Linda I; Cottrill, Claire

2015-01-01

Researchers, as well as the lay public and the popular press, have become increasingly concerned about the lack of reproducibility of research findings. Despite this concern, research has shown that replications of previously published work comprise a very small proportion of published studies. Moreover, there are fewer published direct replications of research studies by independent investigators, and this type of replication is much less likely to confirm the results of the original research than are replications by the original investigator or conceptual replications. A search of the communication disorders research literature reveals that direct replications by independent investigators are virtually non-existent. The purpose of this project was to describe the major issues related to research reproducibility and report the results of a direct replication of a study by Locke (1972) regarding ease of articulation. Two methods for rating ease of articulation were employed. We were able to reproduce the results of the original study for the first method, obtaining a moderate positive correlation between our rankings of phoneme difficulty and Locke's rankings. We obtained a very high positive correlation between our phoneme rankings and rankings obtained in the original study for the second method. Moreover, we found a higher correlation between difficulty rankings and order of speech sound acquisition for American English than was found in the original study. Direct replication is not necessary for all studies in communication disorders, but should be considered for high impact studies, treatment studies, and those that provide data to support models and theories. The reader will be able to: (1) describe the major concerns related to the replicability of research findings; (2) describe the status of research replications in communication disorders; (3) describe how ease of articulation may relate to the order of speech sound acquisition in children; (4) list some types/areas of research that might be candidates for replication in the field of communication disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Low-rank matrix decomposition and spatio-temporal sparse recovery for STAP radar

DOE PAGES

Sen, Satyabrata

2015-08-04

We develop space-time adaptive processing (STAP) methods by leveraging the advantages of sparse signal processing techniques in order to detect a slowly-moving target. We observe that the inherent sparse characteristics of a STAP problem can be formulated as the low-rankness of clutter covariance matrix when compared to the total adaptive degrees-of-freedom, and also as the sparse interference spectrum on the spatio-temporal domain. By exploiting these sparse properties, we propose two approaches for estimating the interference covariance matrix. In the first approach, we consider a constrained matrix rank minimization problem (RMP) to decompose the sample covariance matrix into a low-rank positivemore » semidefinite and a diagonal matrix. The solution of RMP is obtained by applying the trace minimization technique and the singular value decomposition with matrix shrinkage operator. Our second approach deals with the atomic norm minimization problem to recover the clutter response-vector that has a sparse support on the spatio-temporal plane. We use convex relaxation based standard sparse-recovery techniques to find the solutions. With extensive numerical examples, we demonstrate the performances of proposed STAP approaches with respect to both the ideal and practical scenarios, involving Doppler-ambiguous clutter ridges, spatial and temporal decorrelation effects. As a result, the low-rank matrix decomposition based solution requires secondary measurements as many as twice the clutter rank to attain a near-ideal STAP performance; whereas the spatio-temporal sparsity based approach needs a considerably small number of secondary data.« less

Unreported links between trial registrations and published articles were identified using document similarity measures in a cross-sectional analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov.

PubMed

Dunn, Adam G; Coiera, Enrico; Bourgeois, Florence T

2018-03-01

Trial registries can be used to measure reporting biases and support systematic reviews, but 45% of registrations do not provide a link to the article reporting on the trial. We evaluated the use of document similarity methods to identify unreported links between ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed. We extracted terms and concepts from a data set of 72,469 ClinicalTrials.gov registrations and 276,307 PubMed articles and tested methods for ranking articles across 16,005 reported links and 90 manually identified unreported links. Performance was measured by the median rank of matching articles and the proportion of unreported links that could be found by screening ranked candidate articles in order. The best-performing concept-based representation produced a median rank of 3 (interquartile range [IQR] 1-21) for reported links and 3 (IQR 1-19) for the manually identified unreported links, and term-based representations produced a median rank of 2 (1-20) for reported links and 2 (IQR 1-12) in unreported links. The matching article was ranked first for 40% of registrations, and screening 50 candidate articles per registration identified 86% of the unreported links. Leveraging the growth in the corpus of reported links between ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed, we found that document similarity methods can assist in the identification of unreported links between trial registrations and corresponding articles. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chromatographic and computational assessment of lipophilicity using sum of ranking differences and generalized pair-correlation.

PubMed

Andrić, Filip; Héberger, Károly

2015-02-06

Lipophilicity (logP) represents one of the most studied and most frequently used fundamental physicochemical properties. At present there are several possibilities for its quantitative expression and many of them stems from chromatographic experiments. Numerous attempts have been made to compare different computational methods, chromatographic methods vs. computational approaches, as well as chromatographic methods and direct shake-flask procedure without definite results or these findings are not accepted generally. In the present work numerous chromatographically derived lipophilicity measures in combination with diverse computational methods were ranked and clustered using the novel variable discrimination and ranking approaches based on the sum of ranking differences and the generalized pair correlation method. Available literature logP data measured on HILIC, and classical reversed-phase combining different classes of compounds have been compared with most frequently used multivariate data analysis techniques (principal component and hierarchical cluster analysis) as well as with the conclusions in the original sources. Chromatographic lipophilicity measures obtained under typical reversed-phase conditions outperform the majority of computationally estimated logPs. Oppositely, in the case of HILIC none of the many proposed chromatographic indices overcomes any of the computationally assessed logPs. Only two of them (logkmin and kmin) may be selected as recommended chromatographic lipophilicity measures. Both ranking approaches, sum of ranking differences and generalized pair correlation method, although based on different backgrounds, provides highly similar variable ordering and grouping leading to the same conclusions. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Multivariable and Bayesian Network Analysis of Outcome Predictors in Acute Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Review of a Pure Surgical Series in the Post-International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial Era.

PubMed

Zador, Zsolt; Huang, Wendy; Sperrin, Matthew; Lawton, Michael T

2018-06-01

Following the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT), evolving treatment modalities for acute aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) has changed the case mix of patients undergoing urgent surgical clipping. To update our knowledge on outcome predictors by analyzing admission parameters in a pure surgical series using variable importance ranking and machine learning. We reviewed a single surgeon's case series of 226 patients suffering from aSAH treated with urgent surgical clipping. Predictions were made using logistic regression models, and predictive performance was assessed using areas under the receiver operating curve (AUC). We established variable importance ranking using partial Nagelkerke R2 scores. Probabilistic associations between variables were depicted using Bayesian networks, a method of machine learning. Importance ranking showed that World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) grade and age were the most influential outcome prognosticators. Inclusion of only these 2 predictors was sufficient to maintain model performance compared to when all variables were considered (AUC = 0.8222, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7646-0.88 vs 0.8218, 95% CI: 0.7616-0.8821, respectively, DeLong's P = .992). Bayesian networks showed that age and WFNS grade were associated with several variables such as laboratory results and cardiorespiratory parameters. Our study is the first to report early outcomes and formal predictor importance ranking following aSAH in a post-ISAT surgical case series. Models showed good predictive power with fewer relevant predictors than in similar size series. Bayesian networks proved to be a powerful tool in visualizing the widespread association of the 2 key predictors with admission variables, explaining their importance and demonstrating the potential for hypothesis generation.