Analyzing ranking data using decision tree

Ranking/preference data arises from many applications in marketing, psychology and politics. We establish a new decision tree model for the analysis of ranking data by adopting the concept of classification and regression tree [2]. We modify the existing splitting criteria, Gini and entropy, which can precisely measure the impurity of a set of ranking data. Two types of impurity measures for ranking data are introduced, namely n-wise and top-k measures. Minimal cost-complexity pruning is used to find the optimum-sized tree. In model assessment, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) is applied to evaluate the tree performance. The proposed methodology is implemented to analyze a partial ranking dataset of Inglehart's items collected in the 1993 International Social Science Programme survey. Change in importance of item values with country, age and level of education are identified.postprintThe European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases (ECML PKDD 2008), Antwerp, Belgium, 15-19 September 2008. In Proceedings of ECML PKDD 2008, p. 139-15

Comparison between the Use of LMA™ and SLIPA™ in Patients Undergoing Minor Surgeries.

Supraglottic airway devices have been used as safe alternatives to endotracheal intubation in appropriate types of surgery. This was a prospective, randomised, single blind study comparing the use of LMA™ and SLIPA™ in terms of ease of insertion, haemodynamic changes and occurrence of adverse effects (e.g. blood stains on the device upon removal and sore throat). A total of 62 ASA I or II patients, aged between 18 to 70 years were recruited for this study. Patients were randomised into two groups; LMA™ and SLIPA™ group. Following induction of anaesthesia, an appropriate sized LMA™ or SLIPA™ was inserted after ensuring adequate depth of anaesthesia. Anaesthesia was maintained with oxygen, nitrous oxide and sevoflurane. The ease of insertion was graded and haemodynamic changes were recorded at 2 minute intervals up to 10 minutes after insertion of the airway devices. The presence of blood stains upon airway device removal at the end of surgery and incidence of sore throat was also recorded. No difficult insertion was experienced in either of these devices. Insertion was either easy [LMA™ 87.1% versus SLIPA™ 80.6% (p = 0.49)] or moderate [LMA™ 12.9% versus SLIPA™ 19.4% (p = 0.16)]. Throughout the study period, the haemodynamic changes that occurred in both groups were not statistically different. Traces of blood were noted on the surface of the device in 9.7% of patients in the SLIPA™ group versus 6.5% of patients in the LMA™ group. The incidence of sore throat was recorded in 12.9% versus 19.4% of patients in the SLIPA™ and the LMA™ groups respectively. These findings were not statistically significant. In conclusion, this study showed no significant differences between the use of LMA™ and SLIPA™ in terms of ease of insertion, haemodynamic changes and adverse effects in patients undergoing minor surgical procedures

Effects of Demographic Factors on Performance Strategies and Brain Wave Quality on Performance among Athletes

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of demographic factors and brain wave quality on performance strategies among athletes. The demographic factors such as gender, years of study, and years of involvement in sports play an important role in the use of performance strategies in determining their performance strategies in sports. The instruments used for this research is the Test of Perfor-mance Strategies (TOPS) to measure the performance strategies. The findings have revealed that there were significant differences in the performance strategies by the demographic factors as follows; gender at t (21) = 13.75; p < .05; years of study at t (21) = 9.46; p < .05, and years of involvement at t (20) = 11.37; p < .05. In addition, there were also significant differences in the sub factors of the perfor-mance strategies such as goal setting, relaxation, activation, imagery, self-talk, attentional control, emotional control, and automaticity. Based on the finding from the qEEG application, in the stroop effect tasks, the Beta and Gamma wave had the tendency to dominate the Frontal region (Fp1,Fp2), somatosensory area (C3,C4) which related to the development of the psychomotor skills and visual spatial area (P3,P4) and O1 and O2. The athletes have less thought process in seconds prior to the shot and have quieter mind than the non-athletes. It could be inferred that the athletes needed to be calm and relaxed while facing their challenge so that they could focus on their target and performance. The implication of this research includes the brain wave quality and effect on the performance strategies. The improvement in the brain quality (Alpha, Beta and Gamma) wave would assist the athletes to perform. Keywords: Athletes; brain wave quality; demographic factors; effects; qEEG; performance strategie

Microwave assisted heterogeneous catalysis: effects of varying oxygen concentrations on the oxidative coupling of methane

The oxidative coupling of methane was investigated over alumina supported La2O3/CeO2 catalysts under microwave dielectric heating conditions at different oxygen concentrations. It was observed that, at a given temperature using microwave heating, selectivities for both ethane and ethylene were notably higher when oxygen was absent than that in oxygen/methane mixtures. The differences were attributed to the localised heating of microwave radiation resulting in temperature inhomogeneity in the catalyst bed. A simplified model was used to estimate the temperature inhomogeneity; the temperature at the centre of the catalyst bed was 85 °C greater than that at the periphery when the catalyst was heated by microwaves in a gas mixture with an oxygen concentration of 12.5% (v/v), and the temperature difference was estimated to be 168 °C in the absence of oxygen

The effect of food safety education on handwashing practices in school canteens’ food handlers

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a newly developed food safety education to improve the handwashing practices of food handlers in school canteens. A community-based intervention study was carried out over a 2-year period. Sixteen out of 98 primary schools were randomly selected and assigned into intervention and control groups using a simple random sampling method. The study population included food handlers who worked in the canteens of the school selected. The Food Safety Education Programme (FSEP) for the intervention group was developed based on the theory of planned behaviour. The main outcome measures used were handwashing practices from the observations carried out at baseline, 6-weeks (Post1) and 12-weeks (Post2) after the intervention. Out of 79 food handlers who participated in this study, 33 (41.8%) were in the intervention group and 46 (58.2%) were in the control group. Prior to FSEP, handwashing was not commonly practiced following critical events and the majority did not perform correctly. The time-effect of the mixed design analysis of variance showed a significant increase (p=0.004) in the mean percentage of the total observed handwashing practices from 29% at the baseline to 50.8% at Post1 (p=0.004). However, the intervention-effect of mixed design ANOVA did not show any significant difference in the handwashing practices (p=0.210). The FSEP was effective in improving the handwashing practices of the food handlers in the selected primary school canteens

Treatable Traits in Elderly Asthmatics from the Australasian Severe Asthma Network: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Data on treatable traits (TTs) in different populations are limited. OBJECTIVE: To assess TTs in elderly patients with asthma and compare them to younger patients, to evaluate the association of TTs with future exacerbations, and to develop an exacerbation prediction model. METHODS: We consecutively recruited 521 participants at West China Hospital, Sichuan University based on the Australasian Severe Asthma Network, classified as elderly (n = 62) and nonelderly (n = 459). Participants underwent a multidimensional assessment to characterize the TTs and were then followed up for 12 months. TTs and their relationship with future exacerbations were described. Based on the TTs and asthma control levels, an exacerbation prediction model was developed, and the overall performance was externally validated in an independent cohort. RESULTS: A total of 38 TTs were assessed. Elderly patients with asthma had more chronic metabolic diseases, fixed airflow limitation, emphysema, and neutrophilic inflammation, whereas nonelderly patients with asthma exhibited more allergic characteristics and psychiatric diseases. Nine traits were associated with increased future exacerbations, of which exacerbation prone, upper respiratory infection-induced asthma attack, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression were the strongest. A model including exacerbation prone, psychiatric disease, cardiovascular disease, upper respiratory infection-induced asthma attack, noneosinophilic inflammation, cachexia, food allergy, and asthma control was developed to predict exacerbation risk and showed good performance. CONCLUSIONS: TTs can be systematically assessed in elderly patients with asthma, some of which are associated with future exacerbations, proving their clinical utility of evaluating them. A model based on TTs can be used to predict exacerbation risk in people with asthma

Observation of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

The coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos off nuclei has eluded detection for four decades, even though its predicted cross-section is the largest by far of all low-energy neutrino couplings. This mode of interaction provides new opportunities to study neutrino properties, and leads to a miniaturization of detector size, with potential technological applications. We observe this process at a 6.7-sigma confidence level, using a low-background, 14.6-kg CsI[Na] scintillator exposed to the neutrino emissions from the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Characteristic signatures in energy and time, predicted by the Standard Model for this process, are observed in high signal-to-background conditions. Improved constraints on non-standard neutrino interactions with quarks are derived from this initial dataset

Si doped T6 carbon structure as an anode material for Li-ion batteries: An ab initio study

First-principles calculations are performed to identify the pristine and Si doped 3D metallic T6 carbon structure (having both sp(2) and sp(3) type hybridization) as a new carbon based anode material. The pi electron of C-2 atoms (sp2 bonded) forms an out of plane network that helps to capture the Li atom. The highest Li storage capacity of Si doped T6 structure with conformation Li1.7Si1C5 produces theoretical specific capacity of 632 mAh/g which substantially exceeding than graphite. Also, open-circuit voltage (OCV) with respect to Li metal shows large negative when compared to the pristine T6 structure. This indicates modifications in terms of chemical properties are required in anode materials for practical application. Among various doped (Si, Ge, Sn, B, N) configuration, Si doped T6 structure provides a stable positive OCV for high Li concentrations. Likewise, volume expansion study also shows Si doped T6 structure is more stable with less pulverization and substantial capacity losses in comparison with graphite and silicon as an anode materials. Overall, mixed hybridized (sp(2) + sp(3)) Si doped T6 structure can become a superior anode material than present sp2 hybridized graphite and sp(3) hybridized Si structure for modern Lithium ion batteries.ope