165,691 research outputs found

    Uncertain data integration with probabilities

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    Real world applications that deal with information extraction, such as business intelligence software or sensor data management, must often process data provided with varying degrees of uncertainty. Uncertainty can result from multiple or inconsistent sources, as well as approximate schema mappings. Modeling, managing and integrating uncertain data from multiple sources has been an active area of research in recent years. In particular, data integration systems free the user from the tedious tasks of finding relevant data sources, interacting with each source in isolation using its corresponding interface and combining data from multiple sources by providing a uniform query interface to gain access to the integrated information. Previous work has integrated uncertain data using representation models such as the possible worlds and probabilistic relations. We extend this work by determining the probabilities of possible worlds of an extended probabilistic relation. We also present an algorithm to determine when a given extended probabilistic relation can be obtained by the integration of two probabilistic relations and give the decomposed pairs of probabilistic relations

    Clinical review: Timing and dose of continuous renal replacement therapy in acute kidney injury

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    The optimal management of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in acute kidney injury (AKI) remains uncertain. Although it is well accepted that initiation of RRT in patients with progressive azotemia prior to the development of overt uremic manifestations is associated with improved survival, whether there is benefit to even earlier initiation of therapy is uncertain. Although retrospective and observational studies have suggested improved survival with very early initiation of continuous RRT (CRRT), interpretation of these studies is confounded by their failure to include patients with AKI who recover renal function or die without ever receiving RRT. Several studies have suggested that more intensive delivery of CRRT during AKI is associated with improved survival, although results of trials have been inconsistent. Two large multicenter randomized clinical trials addressing this question are currently underway and should provide more definitive data within the next two years

    Personalizable Knowledge Integration

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    Large repositories of data are used daily as knowledge bases (KBs) feeding computer systems that support decision making processes, such as in medical or financial applications. Unfortunately, the larger a KB is, the harder it is to ensure its consistency and completeness. The problem of handling KBs of this kind has been studied in the AI and databases communities, but most approaches focus on computing answers locally to the KB, assuming there is some single, epistemically correct solution. It is important to recognize that for some applications, as part of the decision making process, users consider far more knowledge than that which is contained in the knowledge base, and that sometimes inconsistent data may help in directing reasoning; for instance, inconsistency in taxpayer records can serve as evidence of a possible fraud. Thus, the handling of this type of data needs to be context-sensitive, creating a synergy with the user in order to build useful, flexible data management systems. Inconsistent and incomplete information is ubiquitous and presents a substantial problem when trying to reason about the data: how can we derive an adequate model of the world, from the point of view of a given user, from a KB that may be inconsistent or incomplete? In this thesis we argue that in many cases users need to bring their application-specific knowledge to bear in order to inform the data management process. Therefore, we provide different approaches to handle, in a personalized fashion, some of the most common issues that arise in knowledge management. Specifically, we focus on (1) inconsistency management in relational databases, general knowledge bases, and a special kind of knowledge base designed for news reports; (2) management of incomplete information in the form of different types of null values; and (3) answering queries in the presence of uncertain schema matchings. We allow users to define policies to manage both inconsistent and incomplete information in their application in a way that takes both the user's knowledge of his problem, and his attitude to error/risk, into account. Using the frameworks and tools proposed here, users can specify when and how they want to manage/solve the issues that arise due to inconsistency and incompleteness in their data, in the way that best suits their needs

    Challenges and complexities in application of LCA approaches in the case of ICT for a sustainable future

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    In this work, three of many ICT-specific challenges of LCA are discussed. First, the inconsistency versus uncertainty is reviewed with regard to the meta-technological nature of ICT. As an example, the semiconductor technologies are used to highlight the complexities especially with respect to energy and water consumption. The need for specific representations and metric to separately assess products and technologies is discussed. It is highlighted that applying product-oriented approaches would result in abandoning or disfavoring of new technologies that could otherwise help toward a better world. Second, several believed-untouchable hot spots are highlighted to emphasize on their importance and footprint. The list includes, but not limited to, i) User Computer-Interfaces (UCIs), especially screens and displays, ii) Network-Computer Interlaces (NCIs), such as electronic and optical ports, and iii) electricity power interfaces. In addition, considering cross-regional social and economic impacts, and also taking into account the marketing nature of the need for many ICT's product and services in both forms of hardware and software, the complexity of End of Life (EoL) stage of ICT products, technologies, and services is explored. Finally, the impact of smart management and intelligence, and in general software, in ICT solutions and products is highlighted. In particular, it is observed that, even using the same technology, the significance of software could be highly variable depending on the level of intelligence and awareness deployed. With examples from an interconnected network of data centers managed using Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) technology and smart cooling systems, it is shown that the unadjusted assessments could be highly uncertain, and even inconsistent, in calculating the management component's significance on the ICT impacts.Comment: 10 pages. Preprint/Accepted of a paper submitted to the ICT4S Conferenc

    A robust fuzzy possibilistic AHP approach for partner selection in international strategic alliance

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    The international strategic alliance is an inevitable solution for making competitive advantage and reducing the risk in today’s business environment. Partner selection is an important part in success of partnerships, and meanwhile it is a complicated decision because of various dimensions of the problem and inherent conflicts of stockholders. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical approach to the problem of partner selection in international strategic alliances, which fulfills the gap between theories of inter-organizational relationships and quantitative models. Thus, a novel Robust Fuzzy Possibilistic AHP approach is proposed for combining the benefits of two complementary theories of inter-organizational relationships named, (1) Resource-based view, and (2) Transaction-cost theory and considering Fit theory as the perquisite of alliance success. The Robust Fuzzy Possibilistic AHP approach is a noveldevelopment of Interval-AHP technique employing robust formulation; aimed at handling the ambiguity of the problem and let the use of intervals as pairwise judgments. The proposed approach was compared with existing approaches, and the results show that it provides the best quality solutions in terms of minimum error degree. Moreover, the framework implemented in a case study and its applicability were discussed

    Indeterministic Handling of Uncertain Decisions in Duplicate Detection

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    In current research, duplicate detection is usually considered as a deterministic approach in which tuples are either declared as duplicates or not. However, most often it is not completely clear whether two tuples represent the same real-world entity or not. In deterministic approaches, however, this uncertainty is ignored, which in turn can lead to false decisions. In this paper, we present an indeterministic approach for handling uncertain decisions in a duplicate detection process by using a probabilistic target schema. Thus, instead of deciding between multiple possible worlds, all these worlds can be modeled in the resulting data. This approach minimizes the negative impacts of false decisions. Furthermore, the duplicate detection process becomes almost fully automatic and human effort can be reduced to a large extent. Unfortunately, a full-indeterministic approach is by definition too expensive (in time as well as in storage) and hence impractical. For that reason, we additionally introduce several semi-indeterministic methods for heuristically reducing the set of indeterministic handled decisions in a meaningful way

    Commonfund Study of Responsible Investing: A Survey of Endowments and Their Affiliated Foundations

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    This Study analyzes policies, practices and attitudes with respect to responsible investing among 200 U.S. colleges and universities, constituting 24.0 percent of the 832 institutions that participated in the 2014 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments (NCSE). These respondents, whose chief business officers volunteered to participate in this follow-up Study, comprised 123 private and 77 public institutions with a total of 88.8billioninendowmentassetsasofJune30,2014,or17.2percentofthe88.8 billion in endowment assets as of June 30, 2014, or 17.2 percent of the 516.0 billion total included in the NCSE, and encompassed a wide range of endowment sizes and geographic locations across the U.S.The 2014 study focused on four approaches to responsible investing: SRI, ESG, impact investing, and divestment of fossil fuels. Responses regarding SRI and ESG were received in sufficient numbers to support a detailed analysis; the number of institutions responding to questions regarding impact investing and divestment of fossil fuels, however, was comparatively low, making it difficult to draw reliable conclusions on these topics. Commentary in the main body of this paper therefore focuses primarily on SRI and ESG, with impact investing and divestment being reviewed in the Executive Summary
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