Predicting the Effectiveness of Self-Training: Application to Sentiment Classification

The goal of this paper is to investigate the connection between the performance gain that can be obtained by selftraining and the similarity between the corpora used in this approach. Self-training is a semi-supervised technique designed to increase the performance of machine learning algorithms by automatically classifying instances of a task and adding these as additional training material to the same classifier. In the context of language processing tasks, this training material is mostly an (annotated) corpus. Unfortunately self-training does not always lead to a performance increase and whether it will is largely unpredictable. We show that the similarity between corpora can be used to identify those setups for which self-training can be beneficial. We consider this research as a step in the process of developing a classifier that is able to adapt itself to each new test corpus that it is presented with

Ультразвуковое исследование в комплексной диагностике лимфаденопатий у больных с рецидивом рака гортани

Результаты 5-летнего мониторинга 65 больных, получивших лечение по поводу рака гортани (РГ), с использованием диагностических критериев ультразвукового исследования и показателей интоксикации свидетельствуют о возможности ранней диагностики метастазов РГ в лимфатических узлах шеи. Диагностическая точность используемого метода составила 84,6%. Ключевые слова: рак гортани, мониторинг, показатели интоксикации, ультразвуковое исследование, лимфаденопатия.The 5-year monitoring of 65 patients with laryngeal cancer (LC) that received therapy with the use of diagnostic criteria by ultrasonography and indexes of intoxication has demonstrated the possibility of early diagnostics of LC metastases in lymph nodes of neck. The diagnostic delicacy of the method 84.6%. Key Words: laryngeal cancer, monitoring, indexes of intoxication, ultrasonography, lymphodenopathia

Богородиця в українських колядках: функції, семантика образу

The author draws analogies in the activities of the ethnographic hoards. Their contribution to the Ukrainian folklore study is shown

Techniques, advances, problems and issues in numerical modelling of landslide hazard

Slope movements (e.g. landslides) are dynamic systems that are complex in time and space and closely linked to both inherited and current preparatory and triggering controls. It is not yet possible to assess in all cases conditions for failure, reactivation and rapid surges and successfully simulate their transient and multi-dimensional behaviour and development, although considerable progress has been made in isolating many of the key variables and elementary mechanisms and to include them in physically-based models for landslide hazard assessments. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review the state-of-the-art in the understanding of landslide processes and to identify some pressing challenges for the development of our modelling capabilities in the forthcoming years for hazard assessment. This paper focuses on the special nature of slope movements and the difficulties related to simulating their complex time-dependent behaviour in mathematical, physically-based models. It analyses successively the research frontiers in the recognition of first-time failures (pre-failure and failure stages), reactivation and the catastrophic transition to rapid gravitational processes (post-failure stage). Subsequently, the paper discusses avenues to transfer local knowledge on landslide activity to landslide hazard forecasts on regional scales and ends with an outline how geomorphological investigations and supporting monitoring techniques could be applied to improve the theoretical concepts and the modelling performance of physically-based landslide models at different spatial and temporal scales

Exploring the Effectiveness of International Cooperation to Combat Transnational Organized Wildlife Crime: Lessons Learned from Initiatives in Asia

The thesis aims to explore the effectiveness of international cooperation to combat transnational organized wildlife crime by analysing some lessons learned from two specific initiatives in Asia: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) and the Border Liaison Office (BLO) Mechanism. However, both exploring and measuring effectiveness are part of a difficult puzzle. To fit all the pieces of the puzzle together, the research explores the international framework within which the illegal wildlife trade is combated as well as the role of the various actors involved. The illegal wildlife trade is then examined as a transnational organized crime. This is followed by an analysis of the emergence of new structures or initiatives developed to facilitate cooperation and coordination to combat the illegal wildlife trade in Asia, and Southeast Asia in particular. The research provides a process evaluation of the initiatives on the illegal wildlife trade and cross-border cooperation and is grounded on findings which are constructed around themes identified based on available literature and perceptions of participants involved in the initiatives. The thesis provides an in-depth analysis of two existing efforts in Asia and attempts to measure their effectiveness as organisations, though it is not possible to undertake an outcome evaluation. It also identifies ways to strengthen both the effectiveness of efforts and the way one could analyse or measure their effectiveness. This includes exploring the challenges of cooperation and the various actors involved; considerations on wildlife crime as a serious transnational crime and combating it through platforms for cooperation, and; exploring and measuring the effectiveness of the different initiatives in a process evaluation. Given the pervasive role of corruption, some reflections on this important matter are included. The thesis concludes with some thoughts for future research and engagement for the broader research community as well as practitioners or organizations involved in similar efforts to combat transnational organized wildlife crime

Yield and risk associated with prolonged presurgical video-EEG monitoring: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE: Presurgical long-term video-EEG monitoring (LT-VEEG) is an important part of the presurgical evaluation in patients with focal epilepsy. Multiple seizures need to be recorded, often in limited time and with the need to taper anti-seizure medication (ASM). The aim of this study was to systematically study the yield – in terms of success – and risks associated with presurgical LT-VEEG, and to identify all previously reported contributing variables. METHODS: A systematic review of the databases of PubMed Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) guideline. Publications about presurgical LT-VEEG reporting on variables contributing to yield and risk were included. Study characteristics of all included studies were extracted following a standardized template. Within these articles, studies presenting multivariable analyses of factors contributing to the risk of adverse events or the success of LT-VEEG were identified. RESULTS: We found 36 articles reporting on LT-VEEG, including 4,703 presurgical patients, both children and adults. Presurgical LT-VEEG monitoring led to an average yield of 85%. Adverse events occurred with an averaged total event rate of 17%, but the type of included events was variable among studies. Factors reported to independently contribute to successful LT-VEEG were: baseline seizure frequency, a shorter interval from the most recent seizure, extratemporal lobe epilepsy, and no requirement for ASM reduction. Factors independently contributing to the occurrence of adverse events were: ASM tapering, a history of status epilepticus, a history of focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures, psychiatric comorbidity, and ASM taper rate. SIGNIFICANCE: This study reveals that the data on factors contributing to yield and risk of adverse events is significant and variable, and often reported with inadequate statistics. Future research is warranted to develop guidelines for ASM withdrawal during presurgical video-EEG monitoring, taking predefined factors for success and risks of adverse events into account

Marked Genetic Differentiation between Western Iberian and Italic Populations of the Olive Fly: Southern France as an Intermediate Area.

The olive fly, Bactrocera oleae, is the most important pest affecting the olive industry, to which it is estimated to cause average annual losses in excess of one billion dollars. As with other insects with a wide distribution, it is generally accepted that the understanding of B. oleae population structure and dynamics is fundamental for the design and implementation of effective monitoring and control strategies. However, and despite important advances in the past decade, a clear picture of B. oleae's population structure is still lacking. In the Mediterranean basin, where more than 95% of olive production is concentrated, evidence from several studies suggests the existence of three distinct sub-populations, but the geographical limits of their distributions, and the level of interpenetration and gene flow among them remain ill-characterized. Here we use mitochondrial haplotype analysis to show that one of the Mediterranean mitochondrial lineages displays geographically correlated substructure and demonstrate that Italic populations, though markedly distinct from their Iberian and Levantine counterparts are more diverse than previously described. Finally, we show that this distinction does not result from extant hypothetical geographic limits imposed by the Alps or the Pyrenees nor, more generally, does it result from any sharp boundary, as intermixing is observed in a broad area, albeit at variable levels. Instead, Bayesian phylogeographic analysis suggests the interplay between isolation-mediated differentiation during glacial periods and bi-directional dispersal and population intermixing in the interglacials has played a major role in shaping current olive fly population structureFoundation for Science and Technology (FCT: www.fct.pt) under Strategic Project PEst-C/AGR/UI0115/2011 and project ALENT-07- 0324-FEDER-001747, as well as by FEDER Funds through the latter project and Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors—COMPETE. BA and LTC were funded by FCT grants SFRH/BPD/73108/ 2010 and Ciência2008- ICAAM, respectively

Forecasting the behaviour of complex landslides with a spatially distributed hydrological model

International audienceThe relationships between rainfall, hydrology and landslide movement are often difficult to establish. In this context, ground-water flow analyses and dynamic modelling can help to clarify these complex relations, simulate the landslide hydrological behaviour in real or hypothetical situations, and help to forecast future scenarios based on environmental change. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the possibility of including more temporal and spatial information in landslide hydrology forecasting, by using a physically based spatially distributed model. Results of the hydrological and geomorphological investigation of the Super-Sauze earthflow, one of the persistently active landslide occurring in clay-rich material of the French Alps, are presented. Field surveys, continuous monitoring and interpretation of the data have shown that, in such material, the groundwater level fluctuates on a seasonal time scale, with a strong influence of the unsaturated zone. Therefore a coupled unsaturated/saturated model, incorporating Darcian saturated flow, fissure flow and meltwater flow is needed to adequately represent the landslide hydrology. The conceptual model is implemented in a 2.5-D spatially distributed hydrological model. The model is calibrated and validated on a multi-parameters database acquired on the site since 1997. The complex time-dependent and three-dimensional groundwater regime is well described, in both the short- and long-term. The hydrological model is used to forecast the future hydrological behaviour of the earthflow in response to potential environmental changes