Discovering Links for Metadata Enrichment on Computer Science Papers

At the very beginning of compiling a bibliography, usually only basic information, such as title, authors and publication date of an item are known. In order to gather additional information about a specific item, one typically has to search the library catalog or use a web search engine. This look-up procedure implies a manual effort for every single item of a bibliography. In this technical report we present a proof of concept which utilizes Linked Data technology for the simple enrichment of sparse metadata sets. This is done by discovering owl:sameAs links be- tween an initial set of computer science papers and resources from external data sources like DBLP, ACM and the Semantic Web Conference Corpus. In this report, we demonstrate how the link discovery tool Silk is used to detect additional information and to enrich an initial set of records in the computer science domain. The pros and cons of silk as link discovery tool are summarized in the end.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures, 7 listings, presented at SWIB1

The Role of Personal Identity in Medically Defining and Determining Death

The current dilemma regarding the definition and determination of death directly arises from advancements in medical technology and worldwide organ shortage. As a fundamentally biological phenomenon, many consider the philosophical concept of personhood important to society, but irrelevant to the medical/legal definition of death. By providing a brief history of death and assessing the plausibility of various accounts of personal identity, I argue the hylomorphic account of personal identity not only relevant to defining death biologically, but necessary to retaining moral agency

Teaching moments of truth in dining room management and operations

Educators are challenged every day to continuously improve the quality of their teaching methods in order to meet the expectations of their students, the customer. In the hospitality management department of a major urban university, the teaching of quality service in a dining room management laboratory setting lacks a formal and quantifiable feedback system to measure guest satisfaction. Such a feedback system is hypothesized to have an impact on the student\u27s learning of quality service delivery. A literature review discusses information concerning quality service management, customer satisfaction measurement, and a detailing of a procedural and convivial service dimensions model as it relates to dining room management and employee involvement. The research is quasi-experimental in that a convenience sample of all hospitality students enrolled in the three sections of a dining room management and operations course were divided into one control group and two experimental groups. Forty-seven students completed pre- and post-test questionnaires during the Spring 1993 semester regarding their perceptions of the importance to management of various selected service standards. In the experimental groups, a formalized guest comment card was issued to dining room guests and a guest satisfaction index was calculated after each dining room session. The resulting GSI was fed back to the students. Learning of quality service delivery did occur among the students. However, the data is inconclusive as to the impact of the formal feedback mechanism. Further research into this subject is recommended. A discussion is included concerning the application of this data to two quality service models: Procedural and Convivial Quality Service Dimensions (Martin, 1991) and SERVQUAL (Zeithaml, et.al, 1990)

Induced-Innovation and Invasive Species Management

Public policy for managing invasive species has largely focused on preventive measures prior to detection (stage 1) and on the use of chemical/mechanical or biological control measures after the establishment and dispersion of the invasive species (stage 2). Optimal management policy depends both on the initial stock of the invasive species and on the costs associated with conventional control measures. However, little attention has focused on how an induced technology such as Bt corn and Bt cotton is developed and adopted by farmers (stage 3), or how it affects the manageability of economic and ecological damages from an invasive species. This analysis evaluates the optimal allocation of management resources between preventive and control measures for invasive species by incorporating induced technology under uncertainty into a conventional dynamic model of invasive species management.Invasive species, preventive measures, control measures, induced technology, hazard function, optimal control, comparative dynamic analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics,

Analysis of Relapse in Leukemia Patients With Missing Data Using an Extension of the EM Algorithm

Introduction: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are two types of acute leukemia. When complete remission of leukemia has not been achieved or the disease refracts to its stage in initial chemotherapy, relapse occurs. Leukemia has poor prognosis for patients with relapse. This sample included AML and ALL patients. The purpose of this study was to use and extension of the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in order to find significant factors that affect the occurrence of relapse in leukemia patients with missing data. Methods: The EM logistic model consists of three steps. First, the initial logistic regression intercept and coefficients are estimated using the complete data, the data with relapse outcome present. Next, the predicted probability of relapse is calculated based on the number of patients relapsed from the complete data. This probability is then used to determine relapse outcome (Y = 0 or 1) in the patients with missing data in the expectation step. During the expectation step, predicted probabilities are produced based on the logistic regression model. We proposed using the mean of the predicted probabilities as the cut-off point for determining whether the missing binary values are set equal to 1 or 0 during imputation. In the maximization step, the logistic regression intercept and coefficients are updated until the estimates converge. Results: The results indicate that there are a number of significant variables associated with leukemia relapse including the sex of the donor, patient cytomegalovirus status, and FAB (French-American-British classification of AML) grade. Conclusion/Discussion: This study used the EM algorithm and the mean predicted probabilities as the cut-off point during imputation to predict which factors can affect relapse outcome in leukemia patients who had received a bone marrow transplant. Public health significance: The EM algorithm can improve leukemia treatment outcomes. By using the EM algorithm in conjunction with selecting optimal cut points for imputation of a dependent categorical variable using the AUC, public health professionals can find which factors are associated with relapse in order to prevent relapse by controlling for these factors. They can also use the EM algorithm to predict relapse and recommend treatment plans for different patients

Stress Management: A Group Curriculum for Female Adolescents

In recent years, research has found that adolescents are experiencing stress at an astounding rate, even compared to adults. With a thorough review of the literature, it has been found that schools in the United States are experiencing an adolescent stress epidemic. Furthermore, students are experiencing stress in ways beyond an academic arena. With that being said, there seems to be a connection between stress leading to anxiety, as well as stress having a profound affect for students who have experienced traumatic experiences. Additionally, the research has shown that there are structural differences within a developing brain that may cause adolescents to perceive and experience stress in a different way than older individuals. School counselors have the responsibility to facilitate and support students in the group setting who are experiencing various stressors in their lives. The literature illustrates adolescents who foster positive coping strategies early on, are more likely to lead a healthier life

Structural Conservation Practices in U.S. Corn Production: Evidence on Environmental Stewardship by Program Participants and Non-Participants

This study used the 2005 ERS CEAP-ARMS data for corn production to first compare key operator, field, farm, economic, and environmental characteristics of conservation program participants with non-participants, by farm-size class. We then estimate a cost-function based technology adoption model of producer decisions regarding the allocation of field-level acres between corn production and infield and perimeter-field conservation structures to examine how these conservation choices differ between program participants and non-participants, while accounting for differences in other field, farm, and environmental factors. Our null hypothesis is that the average conservation structural practice acres across U.S. corn acres supplied by growers participating in a conservation program are not different from non-participants. Infield conservation structures include terraces, grassed waterways, vegetative buffers, contour buffers, filter strips, and grade stabilization structures. Perimeter-field conservation structures include hedgerow plantings, stream-side forest and herbaceous buffers, windbreaks and herbaceous wind barriers, field borders, and critical area plantings. Because the dependent variable in this analysis is continuous, we use a Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) procedure to estimate two models. The GEE estimation procedure (Liang and Zeger, 1986) accounts for correlation between adoption decisions measured as a continuous variable while maintaining the theoretical integrity of a multinomial discrete-choice model typically used in technology adoption studies. The cost-function models estimate field-level, producer acreage allocation decisions for corn, first, as a function of normalized production input costs (prices) and structural technology class and installation time-period attributes (Model 1), and second, as a function of Model 1 variables plus socio-environmental variables reflecting the potential influence of a variety of field, farm, and environmental characteristics (Model 2). Evidence indicates significant characteristic differences exist between conservation program participants and non-participants across U.S. corn production, that non-program factors do heavily influence producer conservation practice decisions, and that farm-size matters. In addition, results suggest that program non-participants tend to adopt infield conservation structures much more intensively while program participants emphasize the adoption of perimeter-field conservation structures. Finally, these results seem to suggest that because perimeter-field structural practices can involve differential productivity/cost effects and off-site benefits, program incentives may need to play a greater role in encouraging their adoption than they do for infield structural practices.Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Towards a Sustainable Future: The Dynamic Adjustment Path of Irrigation Technology and Water Management in Western U.S. Agriculture

Technology adoption, Water conservation, Irrigation, Dynamic groundwater models, Sustainable agriculture, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A new algorithm for generalized fractional programs

A new dual problem for convex generalized fractional programs with no duality gap is presented and it is shown how this dual problem can be efficiently solved using a parametric approach. The resulting algorithm can be seen as “dual†to the Dinkelbach-type algorithm for generalized fractional programs since it approximates the optimal objective value of the dual (primal) problem from below. Convergence results for this algorithm are derived and an easy condition to achieve superlinear convergence is also established. Moreover, under some additional assumptions the algorithm also recovers at the same time an optimal solution of the primal problem. We also consider a variant of this new algorithm, based on scaling the “dual†parametric function. The numerical results, in case of quadratic-linear ratios and linear constraints, show that the performance of the new algorithm and its scaled version is superior to that of the Dinkelbach-type algorithms. From the computational results it also appears that contrary to the primal approach, the “dual†approach is less influenced by scaling.fractional programming;generalized fractional programming;Dinkelbach-type algorithms;quasiconvexity;Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions;duality