Search results for "computer programming"
showing 10 items of 741 documents
A comparison of corporate social responsibility engagement in the OECD countries with categorical data
2015
This note presents a new method to compare the engagement level of the OECD countries with the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities when achievements of their companies are described by CSR standards. We introduce the eigenvector procedure developed by Herrero and Villar (2013), applying the analysis of group performance with categorical data. We find that differences in CSR engagement across OECD countries are quite low in the top and the bottom of the eigenvector classification compared with those of the GRI index. However, there are important differences across countries placed in the middle rank of these two classifications.
The Fluid City Experience: An Update
2016
This chapter describes the actual status of thirteen European cities that become fluid cities through their strategies for urban regeneration. These cities are divided into three groups: the large port-cities, the medium rank “city-port” cities, the riverfront cities. For every city, we define the status of urban environment and population, the trend for port and airport traffic and the strategies for urban regeneration.
A Cooperative Coevolution Framework for Parallel Learning to Rank
2015
We propose CCRank, the first parallel framework for learning to rank based on evolutionary algorithms (EA), aiming to significantly improve learning efficiency while maintaining accuracy. CCRank is based on cooperative coevolution (CC), a divide-and-conquer framework that has demonstrated high promise in function optimization for problems with large search space and complex structures. Moreover, CC naturally allows parallelization of sub-solutions to the decomposed sub-problems, which can substantially boost learning efficiency. With CCRank, we investigate parallel CC in the context of learning to rank. We implement CCRank with three EA-based learning to rank algorithms for demonstration. E…
Lower Semi-frames, Frames, and Metric Operators
2020
AbstractThis paper deals with the possibility of transforming a weakly measurable function in a Hilbert space into a continuous frame by a metric operator, i.e., a strictly positive self-adjoint operator. A necessary condition is that the domain of the analysis operator associated with the function be dense. The study is done also with the help of the generalized frame operator associated with a weakly measurable function, which has better properties than the usual frame operator. A special attention is given to lower semi-frames: indeed, if the domain of the analysis operator is dense, then a lower semi-frame can be transformed into a Parseval frame with a (special) metric operator.
Reflection and Refraction of Singularities for Wave Equations with Interface Conditions given by Fourier Integral Operators
1992
Cauchy problems for hyperbolic operators often have the property, that the singularities of the initial data propagate along the bicharacteristic strips of the operator (cf. e.g. [13]). We consider, in the linear case, the situation where the bicharacteristics hit transversally a spacelike interface, which is ‘active’ in the sense that the interface condition is given via certain Fourier integral operators. Taking the identity, we obtain classical transmission conditions. A suitable functional analytic setting is furnished by the interaction concept [3], [6], [7], which covers very general mutual influences of evolution phenomena on different domains.
An original multi-objective criterion for the design of small-scale polygeneration systems based on realistic operating conditions
2008
The optimal design and operation of cogeneration and trigeneration systems for buildings applications is a complex issue, which has been investigated by several different approaches. Both the two basic management strategies, namely heat-tracking and electricity-tracking, have advantages and drawbacks in terms of operating results and may lead the plant designer either to undersize or oversize the CHP unit with respect to the optimal lay-out. Experimental works have demonstrated how the actual on-site performance of small-scale polygeneration systems significantly differs from their expected operation, due to the need for a regular plant operation and the effects of outages for scheduled or …
Application of dictionary learning to denoise LIGO’s blip noise transients
2020
Data streams of gravitational-wave detectors are polluted by transient noise features, or ``glitches,'' of instrumental and environmental origin. In this work we investigate the use of total variation methods and learned dictionaries to mitigate the effect of those transients in the data. We focus on a specific type of transient, ``blip" glitches, as this is the most common type of glitch present in the LIGO detectors and their waveforms are easy to identify. We randomly select 100 blip glitches scattered in the data from advanced LIGO's O1 run, as provided by the citizen-science project Gravity Spy. Our results show that dictionary-learning methods are a valid approach to model and subtrac…
Childhood growth predicts higher bone mass and greater bone area in early old age: findings among a subgroup of women from the Helsinki Birth Cohort …
2017
Abstract Summary: We examined the associations between childhood growth and bone properties among women at early old age. Early growth in height predicted greater bone area and higher bone mineral mass. However, information on growth did not improve prediction of bone properties beyond that predicted by body size at early old age. Introduction: We examined the associations between body size at birth and childhood growth with bone area, bone mineral content (BMC), and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in early old age. Methods: A subgroup of women (n = 178, mean 60.4 years) from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, born 1934–1944, participated in dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measuremen…
Physical Activity and Exercise in the Maintenance of the Adult Skeleton and the Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures
2013
Abstract Physical activity and exercise are promoted as a nonpharmacological strategy to maintain or enhance musculoskeletal health in adults and prevent osteoporotic fracture. Less clear is the optimal mode, intensity, duration, and frequency of activity to achieve this objective. Although a substantial osteogenic response to appropriate mechanical loading is clearly evident in animal models and strongly supported from athlete cross-sectional and prospective studies, the results from exercise interventions in adults are less impressive with modest net benefits generally of 1% to 3% in bone mineral density (BMD) (g/cm2) at the clinically relevant hip and spine following prolonged weight-bea…
New Flexible Probability Distributions for Ranking Data
2015
Recently, several models have been proposed in literature for analyzing ranks assigned by people to some object. These models summarize the liking feeling for this object, possibly also with respect to a set of explanatory variables. Some recent works have suggested the use of the Shifted Binomial and of the Inverse Hypergeometric distribution for modelling the approval rate, while mixture models have been developed for taking into account the uncertainty of the ranking process. We propose two new probabilistic models, based on the Discrete Beta and the Shifted-Beta Binomial distributions, that ensure much flexibility and allow the joint modelling of the scale (approval rate) and the shape …