Reducing the Effects of Unequal Number of Games on Rankings

Ranking is an important mathematical process in a variety of contexts such as information retrieval, sports and business. Sports ranking methods can be applied both in and beyond the context of athletics. In both settings, once the concept of a game has been defined, teams (or individuals) accumulate wins, losses, and ties, which are then factored into the ranking computation. Many settings involve an unequal number of games between competitors. This paper demonstrates how to adapt two sports rankings methods, the Colley and Massey ranking methods, to settings where an unequal number of games are played between the teams. In such settings, the standard derivations of the methods can produce nonsensical rankings. This paper introduces the idea of including a super-user into the rankings and considers the effect of this fictitious player on the ratings. We apply such techniques to rank batters and pitchers in Major League baseball, professional tennis players, and participants in a free online social game. The ideas introduced in this paper can further the scope that such methods are applied and the depth of insight they offer

High-solids black liquor firing in pulp and paper industry kraft recovery boilers: Phase 1 -- Final report. Volume 2: Project technical results

This project is a multiple-phase effort to develop technologies to improve high-solids black liquor firing in pulp mill recovery boilers. The principal means to this end is to construct and operate a pilot-scale recovery furnace simulator (RFS) in which these technologies can be tested. The Phase 1 objectives are to prepare a preliminary design for the RFS, delineate a project concept for evaluating candidate technologies, establish industrial partners, and report the results. Phase 1 addressed the objectives with seven tasks: Develop a preliminary design of the RFS; estimate the detailed design and construction costs of the RFS and the balance of the project; identify interested parties in the paper industry and key suppliers; plan the Phase 2 and Phase 3 tests to characterize the RFS; evaluate the economic justification for high-solids firing deployment in the industry; evaluate high-solids black liquor property data to support the RFS design; manage the project and reporting results, which included planning the future program direction

Habitat Assessment of Non-Wadeable Rivers in Michigan

Habitat evaluation of wadeable streams based on accepted protocols provides a rapid and widely used adjunct to biological assessment. However, little effort has been devoted to habitat evaluation in non-wadeable rivers, where it is likely that protocols will differ and field logistics will be more challenging. We developed and tested a non-wadeable habitat index (NWHI) for rivers of Michigan, where non-wadeable rivers were defined as those of order ≥5, drainage area ≥1600 km 2 , mainstem lengths ≥100 km, and mean annual discharge ≥15 m 3 /s. This identified 22 candidate rivers that ranged in length from 103 to 825 km and in drainage area from 1620 to 16,860 km 2 . We measured 171 individual habitat variables over 2-km reaches at 35 locations on 14 rivers during 2000–2002, where mean wetted width was found to range from 32 to 185 m and mean thalweg depth from 0.8 to 8.3 m. We used correlation and principal components analysis to reduce the number of variables, and examined the spatial pattern of retained variables to exclude any that appeared to reflect spatial location rather than reach condition, resulting in 12 variables to be considered in the habitat index. The proposed NWHI included seven variables: riparian width, large woody debris, aquatic vegetation, bottom deposition, bank stability, thalweg substrate, and off-channel habitat. These variables were included because of their statistical association with independently derived measures of human disturbance in the riparian zone and the catchment, and because they are considered important in other habitat protocols or to the ecology of large rivers. Five variables were excluded because they were primarily related to river size rather than anthropogenic disturbance. This index correlated strongly with indices of disturbance based on the riparian (adjusted R 2 = 0.62) and the catchment (adjusted R 2 = 0.50), and distinguished the 35 river reaches into the categories of poor (2), fair (19), good (13), and excellent (1). Habitat variables retained in the NWHI differ from several used in wadeable streams, and place greater emphasis on known characteristic features of larger rivers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41269/1/267_2004_Article_141.pd

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Inside Australian Culture Legacies of Enlightenment Values

Structure and Style of the Book Getting inside Australian culture is a difficult intellectual undertaking and not always easy. Given the enormous complexity of how values have been installed through institutional processes and the narratives of ..

High-solids black liquor firing in pulp and paper industry Kraft recovery boilers. Final report, Phase 1, Volume 1: Executive summary

This project is a multiple-phase effort to develop technologies to improve high-solids black liquor firing in pulp mill recovery boilers. The objectives are to develop a preliminary design of a recovery furnace simulator; evaluate the economics of high-solids; and delineate a project concept for evaluating candidate technologies to improve chemical recovery

Early-Stage Chronic Kidney Disease and Hip Fracture Mortality

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a documented risk factor for hip fracture mortality. CKD represents a spectrum of disease and there is no clear evidence differentiating the risk between patients with early versus end-stage CKD. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the stages of CKD and mortality following operative treatment of hip fractures. Four hundred ninety-eight patients were analyzed; 81 were identified as having CKD. This study followed overall patient mortality at 90 days and at 1 year postoperatively. Patients with CKD had higher mortality at both 90 days and 1 year compared with those without CKD (hazard ratio 1.69 and 1.84, respectively). In a subgroup analysis to determine the effect of CKD stage, only stage 3 CKD was associated with increased mortality. The orthopaedic surgeon can play a key role in identifying at-risk patients and help to facilitate additional management. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 27(3):226-230, 2018)

High-risk prescribing and monitoring in primary care:how common is it, and how can it be improved?

The safety of medication use in primary care is an area of increasing concern for health systems internationally. Systematic reviews estimate that 3–4% of all unplanned hospital admissions are due to preventable drug-related morbidity, the majority of which have been attributed to shortcomings in the prescribing and monitoring stages of the medication use process. We define high-risk prescribing as medication prescription by professionals, for which there is evidence of significant risk of harm to patients, and which should therefore either be avoided or (if avoidance is not possible) closely monitored and regularly reviewed for continued appropriateness. Although prevalence estimates vary depending on the instrument used, cross-sectional studies conducted in primary care equivocally show that it is common and there is evidence that it can be reduced. Quality improvement strategies, such as clinical decision support, performance feedback and pharmacist-led interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing prescribing outcomes but evidence of improved patient outcomes remains limited. The increasing implementation of electronic medical records in primary care offer new opportunities to combine different strategies to improve medication safety in primary care and to integrate services provided by different stakeholders. In this review article, we describe the spectrum of high-risk medication use in primary care, review approaches to its measurement and summarize research into its prevalence. Based on previously developed interventions to change professional practice, we propose a systematic approach to improve the safety of medication use in primary care and highlight areas for future research

A Critical Assessment of the Golden Hour and the Impact of Procedural Timing in Stroke Thrombectomy

Previous studies in acute ischemic stroke have demonstrated the importance of minimizing delays to endovascular treatment and keeping thrombectomy procedural times at <30-60 minutes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of thrombectomy procedural times on clinical outcomes. We retrospectively compared 319 patients having undergone thrombectomy according to procedural time (60 minutes) and time from stroke onset to endovascular therapy (≤6 or >6 hours). Clinical characteristics of patients with postprocedural intracranial hemorrhage were also assessed. Logistic regression was used to determine independent predictors of poor outcome at 90 days (mRS ≥3). Greater age (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.06; = .016), higher admission NIHSS score (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04-1.16; = .001), history of diabetes mellitus (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.05-3.65; = .034), and postprocedural intracranial hemorrhage were independently associated with greater odds of poor outcome. Modified TICI scale scores of 2c (OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.04-0.28; < .001) and 3 (OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.06-0.38; 6 hours was independently associated with increased odds of poor outcome (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.11-4.36; = .024) in the final multivariate model (area under the curve = 0.820). Procedural time was not independently associated with clinical outcome in the final multivariate model ( > .05). Thrombectomy procedural times beyond 60 minutes are associated with lower revascularization rates and worse 90-day outcomes. Procedural time itself was not an independent predictor of outcome. While stroke thrombectomy procedures should be performed rapidly, our study emphasizes the significance of achieving revascularization despite the requisite procedural time. However, the potential for revascularization must be weighed against the risks associated with multiple thrombectomy attempts