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MAEC: A Multimodal Aligned Earnings Conference Call Dataset for Financial Risk Prediction
No full textThe 29th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, Virtual Event, (CIKM \u2720), 19-23 October 2020In the area of natural language processing, various financial datasets have informed recent research and analysis including financial news, financial reports, social media, and audio data from earnings calls. We introduce a new, large-scale multi-modal, text-audio paired, earnings-call dataset named MAEC, based on S&P 1500 companies. We describe the main features of MAEC, how it was collected and assembled, paying particular attention to the text-audio alignment process used. We present the approach used in this work as providing a suitable framework for processing similar forms of data in the future. The resulting dataset is more than six times larger than those currently available to the research community and we discuss its potential in terms of current and future research challenges and opportunities. All resources of this work are available at https://github.com/Earnings-Call-Dataset/Science Foundation IrelandInsight Research Centre2020-10-06 JG: PDF replaced with correct versio
What alternatives can BRICS countries offer to the world of global higher education? A thematic policy analysis of the WCU policies of BRICS nations through the lens of multiple modernities
No full textThe formation of higher education policy in BRICS nations, particularly in recent decades, has been increasingly affected by the advent of global educational trends, particularly those which have been laid down by the leading nations of higher education in Europe and North America. These trends represent the latest form of Western modernity. It is, thus, reasonable to question whether this form of modernity is suited to a non-Western political, social, or economic context. In this regard, the example of BRICS nations is critical in terms of assessing whether Western standards of higher education can be implemented in non-Western, or post-Western nations.
This thesis specifically explores the implementation of a new model of higher education institution in BRICS nations: the World-Class University, or WCU. Formulated as a strategy of European and American university excellence during the 1990s and 2000s, this initiative involves the implementation of university standards. The model especially advances the cause of autonomy in governance, excellence in research and development, the attraction of foreign scholars and academics, and collaboration between universities and the private sector. Success is measured through the status of institutions in the university rankings, nationally and globally. The process of WCU formation, according to leading experts of international higher education, has been shaped by three global educational trends : internationalization, commercialization and massification. A review of the key literature reveals that all three global trends are present in the Western policy agenda, and, moreover, that Western universities have passed through all three of these stages/trends in order to construct WCUs. However, for countries like the BRICS nations, it is a primary task to go through all three stages in order to build WCUs. This thesis explores the development and implementation of WCU policies in the five BRICS nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Analysis of the higher education policies of each country pays attention to the unique historical, political, social, and economic factors which have influenced the development of their respective higher education sectors. In examining the extent of the implementation of WCU initiatives in each BRICS nation, this thesis also assesses the success of these measures, per country. More crucially, as BRICS nations provide the researcher with an opportunity to explore the idea of an alternative to Western modernity, this thesis posits a conclusion on whether such an alternative has been produced by the BRICS in respect of the model of the WCU, one which is uniquely suited to the non-Western and post-colonial context of the BRICS cooperation
Drainage class and soil phosphorus availability shape microbial communities in Irish grasslands
No full textSoil drainage and phosphorus (P) availability are considered indicators of management intensity in pasture-based agriculture supporting livestock. However, microbial adaptations to P-availability according to soil drainage class are rarely investigated. We hypothesized that well-drained grasslands with high P-availability will sustain a distinctive soil microbiota when compared to poorly-drained grasslands with low-P availability. The relationship between soil drainage, plant available P and grassland microbial communities was evaluated among well-drained sites with high- or low-P and poorly-drained sites with high- or low-P, using fingerprinting, next-generation sequencing and quantitative PCR. Bacterial community structures were primarily affected by drainage as well as significantly separated between a combination of drainage and P availability i.e. low-P and poorly drained versus high-P and well drained. Abundance of the bacterial phylum Actinobacteria was significantly higher in well-drained high-P soils while Firmicutes were more abundant in well-drained low-P soils. Soil fungal communities responded to both drainage status and plant available P. Fungal phyla such as Basidiomycota responded strongly towards availability of P, while Glomeromycota were most abundant in poorly drained low-P soils. The diversity of the alkaline phosphatase gene phoD responded more clearly to drainage than availability of P. Of the other environmental factors, soil pH significantly affected the bacterial and fungal communities structure analyzed. This study suggests that while bacteria and fungi are affected by a combination of soil drainage and P availability in Irish grassland soils, drainage has a more profound influence on bacterial communities than P availability.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe
The nation in Its labyrinth: An introduction to contemporary Spain since 1898
No full textThis is guide specifically written for first year
undergraduates taking Spanish, but it will be useful to
many other readers, whether university students or the
public in general. It aims at navigating the recent history
of a fascinating country torn by different ways of
understanding its raison d’etre.
This manual created by me is meant to highlight the key aspects of this period in Spain in an engaging manner for young undergraduates. The book offers plenty of internet links (both in English and Spanish) in order to supplement the information given in the text. It also suggests titles of films that are readily available and that can make studying history more relevant and engaging. There are also summaries of the content in Spanish for students taking Spanish language courses
The retirement experiences of women academics: a qualitative, descriptive study
No full textRetirement is now considered a process rather than a single event. Pathways to retirement are evolving and the retirement experiences of academics are becoming increasingly relevant given the aging academic workforce in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide. Academic retirement studies highlight that most academics continue to work in retirement. However, gender tends to be overlooked. Based on semi-structured interviews with eleven retired women academics, ranging in age from 64 to 73 years of age, who were employed in the Republic of Ireland, this article explores the impact of retirement on their daily lives and their personal and professional relationships. Following thematic analysis, four main themes were identified: (i) the impact of retirement on identity, (ii) the freedom of retirement, (iii) striving for health and wellbeing and (iv) the value of ongoing professional relationships in retirement. The majority of women continued to engage in meaningful work (paid or unpaid) which was central to their daily lives and identity following retirement. Three academics, in senior roles, who had long
uninterrupted careers and who had strong research track records experienced dissatisfaction with mandatory retirement yet were able to continue research activities in retirement. Those with less research activity were more likely to retire early and describe the impact of stress and fatigue upon their health. Together, the findings illustrate that women academic’s retirement pathways are heterogeneous. The findings have implications for the academic profession, human resource and retirement planning professional
The ecological causes and consequences of hard and soft selection
No full textInteractions between natural selection and population dynamics are central to both evolutionary-ecology and biological responses to anthropogenic change. Natural selection is often thought to incur a demographic cost that, at least temporarily, reduces population growth. However, hard and soft selection clarify that the influence of natural selection on population dynamics depends on ecological context. Under hard selection, an individual\u27s fitness is independent of the population\u27s phenotypic composition, and substantial population declines can occur when phenotypes are mismatched with the environment. In contrast, under soft selection, an individual\u27s fitness is influenced by its phenotype relative to other interacting conspecifics. Soft selection generally influences which, but not how many, individuals survive and reproduce, resulting in little effect on population growth. Despite these important differences, the distinction between hard and soft selection is rarely considered in ecology. Here, we review and synthesize literature on hard and soft selection, explore their ecological causes and implications and highlight their conservation relevance to climate change, inbreeding depression, outbreeding depression and harvest. Overall, these concepts emphasise that natural selection and evolution may often have negligible or counterintuitive effects on population growth—underappreciated outcomes that have major implications in a rapidly changing world
Paul Roberts and Michael Stockdale (eds), Forensic Science Evidence and Expert Witness Testimony – Reliability Through Reform? Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2018. xxii+431pp. £120.00 (hardback) ISBN: 9781788111027.
No full textThe increased importance of expert witness testimony and forensic science in the Irish law of evidence is reflected in the greater prominence that these subjects now enjoy in textbooks published in last decade. It is also reflected in the 2016 Irish Law Reform Commission (LRC) report on "Consolidation and Reform of Aspects of the Law of Evidence" (LRC 117 – 2016). Three out of the ten chapters in this report are devoted to the subject of expert evidence. Yet, the challenges facing Ireland in this area are not unique. Law might be specific to its particular jurisdiction but forensic science is not. In this context, the comparative approach provided by this volume on Forensic Science Evidence and Expert Witness Testimony will be of particular interest to Irish readers
Evaluation of an investigative model in dairy herds with high calf perinatal mortality rates in Switzerland
No full textThe objective of this study was to evaluate an investigative model which encompassed the risk factors, incidence, timing and causes of perinatal mortality (PM) (0–48 h) on high risk dairy farms (PM of >5% in the previous year) in Switzerland. This pilot-study was carried out on 47 predominantly Holstein PM calves from 21 dairy farms, between September 2016 and January 2018.
Gross pathological examinations of calves and placentae as well as histopathological examinations of internal organs and placental tissue were performed. Further investigations included microbiological examinations: broad-spectrum bacterial and fungal culture, detection of Chlamydia abortus, Coxiella burnetii, pathogenic Leptospira spp. and Neospora caninum by real-time PCR (qPCR) and of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) by Ag-ELISA. Maternal blood samples were used for serology of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1), Brucella abortus, Chlamydia abortus, Coxiella burnetii and nine pathogenic leptospiral serovars and the evaluation of trace element status. A questionnaire was completed with the farmer, which included general farm characteristics and case-related data. Inbreeding coefficients (IC) were calculated for pure-bred matings.
At the farm-level, the PM rate was 10.0% (5.3–28.2%) and at the cow-level, 11.5%. These values, from high-risk farms, were approximately five-times higher than the contemporary national bovine PM rate (2.3%) in Switzerland. The risk factors associated with these high PM rates were the self-selection of high risk herds, the high proportion of primiparae in these herds (45%) and the evidence of widespread pathogenic infections on these farms (exposure: 67% of herds, 53% of dams; infection: 57% of herds, 45% of calves). The majority (68.1%) of calves died intrapartum. The most commonly diagnosed initiating/ultimate cause of death (UCOD) was infection (34%) of which Coxiella burnetii was the most frequently detected pathogen, by antigen. The most frequently diagnosed proximate cause of death (PCOD) was asphyxia (44.7%), though multiple PCOD was also common (21.3%). This study was the first detailed investigation of bovine PM in Switzerland. Infectious causes were diagnosed more frequently than expected. While the findings from these high PM Swiss herds may have limited external validity, the investigative model adopted and the detailed research methodologies employed can be replicated and re-evaluated, respectively, in future studies on PM internationally
Quality indicators for hospital antimicrobial stewardship programmes: a systematic review
No full textMeasuring the quality and effectiveness of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes with quality indicators (QIs) is an area of increasing interest. We conducted a systematic review to identify QIs of AMS programmes in the hospital setting and critically appraise their methodological quality. We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus/web of science databases and the grey literature for studies that defined and/or described the development process and characteristics of the QIs developed. The Appraisal of Indicators through Research and Evaluation (AIRE) instrument was used to critically appraise the methodological quality of the QI sets. We identified 16 studies of QI sets consisting of 229 QIs. The QI sets addressed a broad range of areas of AMS in the hospital setting and consisted of 75% process indicators, 24% structural indicators and 1% outcome indicators. There was a wide variation in the information and level of detail presented describing the methodological characteristics of the QI sets identified. The QIs identified in this study focused on process and structural indicators with few outcome indicators developed-a major deficiency in this area. Future research should focus on the development of outcome indicators or the use of process or structural indicators linked to outcomes to assess AMS. Testing of the QIs in practice is an essential methodological element of the QI development process and should be included in the QI development study or as planned validation work
RCE-NN: a five-stage pipeline to execute neural networks (CNNs) on resource-constrained IoT edge devices
No full textMicrocontroller Units (MCUs) in edge devices are resource constrained due to their limited memory footprint, fewer computation cores, and low clock speeds. These limitations constrain one from deploying and executing machine learning models on MCUs. To fit, deploy and execute Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for any IoT use-case on small MCUs, a complete design flow is required. Resource Constrained Edge - Neural Networks (RCE-NN) is the name given to our proposed design flow, with a five-stage pipeline that developers can follow for executing CNNs on MCUs. In this pipeline, the initial model architecture and training stage consists of four well-defined tasks on model size, workload, operations and quantization awareness, which maps the desired CNN as captured in an executable specification to a resource-constrained MCU\u27s specification. The next quantization and conversion stage reduces model size, saves memory, and simplifies calculations without much impact on the accuracy. In the third stage, the quantized version of the model is translated into a c-byte array since the MCUs lack native file-system support. The translated c-byte array is fused with the main program of an IoT use-case and binaries are built using techniques from the fourth stage. Finally, the method presented in the last deployment stage is used to flash the built binaries onto MCUs, as this method allows the memory of the MCU to be fully utilized by the CNN and its operations. We evaluated RCE-NN using eight popular MCU boards. The results show that, when users realize all five pipeline stages, they can fit, deploy and execute multiple CNNs across multiple open-source MCU boards. The RCE-NN pipeline components quantize and compress the CNNs to 1/10th of their original size, enabling the CNNs to fit on MCUs with no or minimal loss in performance, both after quantization and compression, and also during runtime.This publication has emanated from research supported by research
grants from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Number SFI/16/RC/3918 (Confirm) and SFI/12/RC/2289_P2 (Insight), cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund