1,384 research outputs found
Alex Haley
No full textAlex Haley, the author of ROOTS and a few other works, spoke at an Exchange Club luncheon
Correction to: The ‘can do, do do’ concept in COPD; quadrant interpretation, affiliation and tracking longitudinal changes
No full textFollowing publication of the original article [1], the authors identified a mistake in the author names, as both forename and initials were stated. Initially published author names: A. J. Alex van ’t Hul, E. H. Noortje Koolen, H. W. Jeroen van Hees, B. Bram van den Borst and M. A. Martijn Spruit Correct author names: Alex J. van ‘t Hul, Noortje H. Koolen, Jeroen W. van Hees, Bram van den Borst, Martijn A. Spruit. The original article has been corrected.</p
R2P: Concept, Aspirational Norm or Principle? Interview with Professor Alex J. Bellamy, University of Queensland (Australia)
No full textProfessor Alex J. Bellamy is Director Asia Pacific Centre for R2P, Professor of Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Queensland, Non-Resident Senior Advisor, International Peace Institute (New York). He is the author of Kosovo and International Society [Bellamy 2002], Security Communities and Their Neighbours: Regional Fortresses or Global Integrators? [Bellamy 2004], Understanding Peacekeeping [Bellamy, Williams, Griffin 2004], International Society and Its Critics [Bellamy 2005], Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq [Bellamy 2006], Fighting Terror: Ethical Dilemmas [Bellamy 2008], Responsibility to Protect: the Global Effort to End Mass Atrocities [Bellamy 2009], Responsibility to Protect: A Defence [Bellamy 2014], Providing Peacekeepers: The Politics, Challenges, and Future of United Nations Peacekeeping Contributions [Bellamy, Williams 2013] and Massacres and Morality [Bellamy 2012]. Alex J. Bellamy is one of the editorial board of Ethics & International Affairs, co-editor of The Global Responsibility to Protect Journal. In his interview, Prof. Bellamy talks about institutionalization of R2P concept that would be able to help in prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Prof. Bellamy identifies three categories of situations where it’s proving very difficult to protect civilians
An Author Verification Approach Based on Differential Features
No full textWe describe the approach that we submitted to the 2015 PAN competition for the author identification task. The task consists in determining if an unknown document was authored by the same author of a set of documents with the same author.
We propose a machine learning approach based on a number of different features that characterize documents from widely different points of view. We construct non-overlapping groups of homogeneous features, use a random forest regressor for each features group, and combine the output of all regressors by their arithmetic mean. We train a different regressor for each language.
Our approach achieved the first position in the final rank for the Spanish language
The once and future publishing library
No full textThis report looks at topic of libraries as publishers, with investigations mainly in the U.S. research institution context.
Specifically, we reviewed existing literature and conducted a survey of members of the Library Publishing Coalition, seeking to learn the kinds of activities they are undertaking as publishing, the business models they are using, their definitions of success, and their attitudes tow ard open access or end-user pay models. Our aim was to better under - stand this emerging sphere of library activity and its possible future in the scholarly communication and publishing sphere. Will library publishing grow and be sustainable? Will libraries play a new and permanent role? If so, in what way and what will be required?
When we refer to libraries as publishers, we consider the range of transactions in which library leaders and staff conceive, evaluate, support, and ultimately produce what we now call content for broad public dissemination, in whatever medium. We say this in full awareness that different observers will draw in different places the line between “publication” and something less structured, coherent, or significant. That ambiguity is an implicit theme of what follows.
We consulted the growing number of articles and other publications (Appendix A) to better understand the range of ideas that underlie library-as-publisher discourse. Distinguishing the different strains of activity and expectation that animate current conversa - tions can help us understand not only the present moment but also the varied possibilities that loom ahead. We also look at the sub-topic of funding the library publishing enterprise, as well as the sustainability of today’s endeavors, so we present results from a small survey of about 50 librarie
Sustaining volcanism in central Kamchatka
No full textFlux-induced melting in the mantle wedge acts as the driving mechanism of arc volcanism in subduction zone environments. The primary control on the geographical position of arc volcanic centers is the depth of the subducting plate beneath the overriding plate. Globally, the average depth to the subducting plate beneath volcanic arcs is estimated at ~100km. Volcanoes of the Central Kamchatka Depression in Eastern Russia comprise the most active volcanic arc system in the world with the depth of the subducting Pacific plate beneath the arc estimated at 180-200km, greatly in excess of the global average. In my research I attempt to describe the special tectonic circumstances that explain the deviation of the subduction depth constraint on arc volcanism in Central Kamchatka. In my study I rely on geophysical and geochemical data and petrological modeling to propose a new geodynamic model to explain voluminous volcanic activity in Central Kamchatka. In the initial stage of the study I conducted a geophysical investigation using receiver function methodology to map and describe the contact of the subducting Juan de Fuca Plate in the well-instrumented Cascadia subduction zone. I calculated and compiled a database of receiver function profiles from stations along the extent of the Cascadia forearc and mapped a low velocity anisotropic zone proposed to be serpentinized material along the forearc axis. In the second stage of my study I applied a similar methodology to describe the sub-crustal structure of Central Kamchatka. Results of this effort suggested presence of a low-velocity zone in the upper mantle separate from the subducting Pacific plate. I proceeded to investigate the tectonic origin of this feature in the final stage of my dissertation work with the use of receiver function migration, geochemical analysis and petrological modeling. I was able to further constrain the position of the low velocity anomaly and derive geochemical and petrological evidence linking the anomaly to a second source of melting driving volcanism of the Central Kamchatka arc.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Alex Nikuli
Multi-Objective Calibration For Agent-Based Models
No full textAgent-based modelling is already proving to be an immensely useful tool for scientific and industrial modelling applications. Whilst the building of such models will always be something between an art and a science, once a detailed model has been built, the process of parameter calibration should be performed as precisely as possible. This task is often made difficult by the proliferation of model parameters with non-linear interactions. In addition to this, these models generate a large number of outputs, and their ‘accuracy’ can be measured by many different, often conflicting, criteria. In this paper we demonstrate the use of multi-objective optimisation tools to calibrate just such an agent-based model. We use an agent-based model of a financial market as an exemplar and calibrate the model using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. The technique is automated and requires no explicit weighting of criteria prior to calibration. The final choice of parameter set can be made after calibration with the additional input of the domain expert
Correction to: Sloshing wing dynamics - 2nd year project overview
No full textCorrection Notice Alex Skillen added to the Author list as he contributed significantly to the project and paper
Development of the Zimbabwe family planning program
No full textFamily planning was introduced in Zimbabwe as a voluntary movement in the 1950s. Volunteers formed a Family Planning Association in the mid-1960s. The government became interested in family planning in the late 1960s after analysis of the 1961 population census. It gave the Family Planning Association an annual grant, allowed contraceptives to be available through Ministry of Health facilities, and allowed nonmedical personnel to initiate and resupply family planning clients with condoms and pills. But before Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980, family planning was viewed with great suspicion by the black majority, so the program's effectiveness was limited to the urban few. A new era began after independence. The new government took over theFamily Planning Association and changed its outlook completely. Through government and international donor support, the family planning program was restructured and expanded. The number of family planning personnel more than doubled in some units. More service delivery points were set up - particularly in rural areas. And the information, education, and communication and evaluation and research units were established. Through a World Bank-assisted project (with grant funding from Norway and Denmark), the Ministry of Health began strengthening its family planning capabilities. These efforts helped increase the contraceptive prevalence rate from about 14 percent in 1982 to 43 percent in 1988. But the program's growth is beginning to stall. More effort and resources are needed if the program is to grow or even maintain its present status. Particularly important are the following: designing innovative strategies to reach hard-to-reach populations; giving more emphasis to information, education, and communication, especially for men and youths, using multimedia; involving other sectors in the delivery of family planning services; broadening the mix of contraceptive methods (especially promoting long-term and permanent methods); making use of alternative family planning delivery systems, such as the use of depot holders, volunteers, and government extension workers; establishing a national population policy; and considering cost recovery and other measures for self-sustainment and program growth.Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,ICT Policy and Strategies,Gender and Health,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Adolescent Health
Natural language processing on encrypted patient data
No full textThesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2016.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 85-86).While many industries can benefit from machine learning techniques for data analysis, they often do not have the technical expertise nor computational power to do so. Therefore, many organizations would benefit from outsourcing their data analysis. Yet, stringent data privacy policies prevent outsourcing sensitive data and may stop the delegation of data analysis in its tracks. In this thesis, we put forth a two-party system where one party capable of powerful computation can run certain machine learning algorithms from the natural language processing domain on the second party's data, where the first party is limited to learning only specific functions of the second party's data and nothing else. Our system provides simple cryptographic schemes for locating keywords, matching approximate regular expressions, and computing frequency analysis on encrypted data. We present a full implementation of this system in the form of a extendible software library and a command line interface. Finally, we discuss a medical case study where we used our system to run a suite of unmodified machine learning algorithms on encrypted free text patient notes.by Alex J. Grinman.M. Eng
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