1,013 research outputs found
Rain or shine? Forecasting search process performance in exploratory search tasks
No full textMost information retrieval (IR) systems consider relevance, usefulness, and quality of information objects (documents, queries) for evaluation, prediction, and recommendation, often ignoring the underlying search process of information seeking. This may leave out opportunities for making recommendations that analyze the search process and/or recommend alternative search process instead of objects. To overcome this limitation, we investigated whether by analyzing a searcher’s current processes we could forecast his likelihood of achieving a certain level of success with respect to search performance in the future. We propose a machine-learning-based method to dynamically evaluate and predict search performance several time-steps ahead at each given time point of the search process during an exploratory search task. Our prediction method uses a collection of features extracted from expression of information need and coverage of information. For testing, we used log data collected from 4 user studies that included 216 users (96 individuals and 60 pairs). Our results show 80–90% accuracy in prediction depending on the number of time-steps ahead. In effect, the work reported here provides a framework for evaluating search processes during exploratory search tasks and predicting search performance. Importantly, the proposed approach is based on user processes and is independent of any IR system.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Shah, C., Hendahewa, C. and González-Ibáñez, R. (2015), Rain or shine? Forecasting search process performance in exploratory search tasks. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.23484. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Peer reviewe
Capturing collabportunities: A method to evaluate collaboration opportunities in information search using pseudocollaboration
No full textIn explicit collaborative search, two or more individuals coordinate their efforts toward a shared goal. Every day, Internet users with similar information needs have the potential to collaborate. However, online search is typically performed in solitude. Existing search systems do not promote explicit collaborations, and collaboration opportunities (collabportunities) are missed. In this article, we describe a method to evaluate the feasibility of transforming these collabportunities into recommendations for explicit collaboration. We developed a technique called pseudocollaboration to evaluate the benefits and costs of collabportunities through simulations. We evaluate the performance of our method using three data sets: (a) data from single users’ search sessions, (b) data with collaborative search sessions between pairs of searchers, and (c) logs from a largescale search engine with search sessions of thousands of searchers. Our results establish when and how collabportunities would significantly help or hinder the search process versus searches conducted individually. The method that we describe has implications for the design and implementation of recommendation systems for explicit collaboration. It also connects system-mediated and user-mediated collaborative search, whereby the system evaluates the likely benefits of collaborating for a search task and helps searchers make more informed decisions on initiating and executing such a collaboration.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: González-Ibáñez, R., Shah, C. and White, R. W. (2015), Capturing Collabportunities: A method to evaluate collaboration opportunities in information search using pseudocollaboration. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66: 1897–1912, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1002/asi.23288. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Peer reviewe
A fiscal needs approach to equalization transfers in a decentralized federation
Get PDFThe author reviews the conceptual basis for fiscal equalization transfers, analyzes the theoretical implications for optimal design of equalization transfers, and suggests quantitative approaches for assessing the fiscal needs of subnational governments and determining their entitlement to transfers. The author illustrates proposed methods using data for local and provincial Canadian governments. The proposed methods could be useful tools, he says, for undertaking systematic objective reviews of aggregate and sectoral public spending in developing countries. The author argues that in a decentralized federation, fiscal inefficiencies and inequities arise because of subnational governments'differing levels of ability to provide comparable public services at comparable tax rates. Fiscal equalization transfers that reduce or eliminate differentials in net fiscal benefits create a rare instance in economics when considerations of equity and efficiency coincide. These transfers must allow for differences in the spending needs and revenues-raising abilities of the various subnational governments. The author argues for a two-tiered approach to equalization. The first tier would be a federal responsibility to equalize the burden of federal taxes. The second tier would be an interprovincial equalization fund to be administered by the Council of Provincial Finance Ministers. It would entail a comprehensive equalization system that takes into account provincial spending needs. The standard of equalization would be negotiated.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies
Fiscal decentralization in developing and transition economies: progress, problems, and the promise
Get PDFThe author discusses the revolution in public sector thinking that is transforming the public sectors of developing and transition countries. Countries are reconsidering their fiscal systems and searching for the right balance between central government control and decentralized governance. Political decentralization has advanced in most countries. Subnational expenditures in developing countries as a percentage of total public expenditures have also increased over the past two decades. However, the process is far from complete. In many countries, the central government is still involved in the delivery of local services, local governments have few sources of own-revenues, local governments have limited access to borrowing for capital projects, and the design of intergovernmental transfers does neither address regional fiscal equity nor convey appropriate incentives for fiscal discipline, improved service delivery performance, and accountability to citizens. Decentralized public governance can help realign public sector incentives through greater accountability to citizens, and attenuate the"democracy deficit"caused by globalization and the role of supranational institutions and regimes. However, this requires careful examination of the entire fiscal system. Elements of a comprehensive package of fiscal system reforms would include: (a) Clarifying roles of various levels of government in public service delivery; (b) Reassigning taxing responsibilities to ensure local revenue autonomy, accountability, and efficiency without endangering an internal common market; (c) Designing fiscal transfers to ensure regional fiscal equity and to create an enabling environment for innovative and competitive service delivery; (d) Facilitating responsible credit market access to subnational governments; (e) Designing institutional arrangements for intergovernmental fiscal relations to better coordinate policies; and (f) Aligning operational capacity with the authorizing environment through the"accountability for results"framework of public management.National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies
Function Pointers in C - An Empirical Study
No full textInterprocedural analysis requires a statically determinable call multigraph to represent the program. Programs that use function pointers or function-valued variables present a difficult problem for static analysis. In C, function pointers can be formal parameters, actual arguments to functions, or global/local variables. The difficulty of precisely determining the call multigraph of a program { or statically determining the aliases of a function pointer at a call site { depends on the types of function pointers used (i.e., local or global) [ZR94]. In this study, we have statically gathered empirical information on C function pointer usage to better predict appropriate interprocedural analyses required for C programs.Technical report lcsr-TR-24
DATASET ABA INSENSITIVE 2 promotes flowering by inhibiting OST1/ABI5-dependent FLOWERING LOCUS C transcription in Arabidopsis
No full textFile List: Supplemental Figures 1-7. Supplemental Table 1.The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is an important regulator of plant growth and development and plays a crucial role in both biotic and abiotic stress responses. ABA modulates flowering time, but the precise molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. Here we report that ABA INSENSITIVE 2 (ABI2) is the only phosphatase from the ABA-signaling core that positively regulates the transition to flowering in Arabidopsis. Loss-of-function abi2-2 mutant shows significantly delayed flowering both under long day and short day conditions. Expression of floral repressor genes such as FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and CYCLING DOF FACTOR 1 (CDF1) was significantly up-regulated in abi2-2 plants while expression of the flowering promoting genes FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) was down-regulated. Through genetic interactions we further found that ost1-3 and abi5-1 mutations are epistatic to abi2-2, as both of them individually rescued the late flowering phenotype of abi2-2. Interestingly, phosphorylation and protein stability of ABA INSENSITIVE 5 (ABI5) were enhanced in abi2-2 plants suggesting that ABI2 dephosphorylates ABI5, thereby reducing protein stability and the capacity to induce FLC expression. Our findings uncovered the unexpected role of ABI2 in promoting flowering by inhibiting ABI5-mediated FLC expression in Arabidopsis. © 2024 The Author(s).Supported by grants from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korean Government (2022R1A2C3004098 to DJY and RS-2023-00239735 to JP), and Bulgarian National Science Fund (project CAFTA, Grant No. КП06 ДВ/2 ЦС to AA and TG).Peer reviewe
Pioneers of Library Movement in Pakistan
Get PDFThe paper aims to describe in brief the contribution of seven leaders of Pakistan librarianship, viz. K.B. Khalifa M. Asadullah, Prof. Dr. Abdul Moid, Dr. Abdus Subuh Qasimi, Muhammad Shafi, Fazal Elahi, Khawaja Nur Elahi and S. V. Hussain. The early library developments are given for better understanding of the role of these leaders
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Songs of Ishq, Freedom and Rebellion: Selected Kafis of Bulleh Shah in Translation
No full textAbdullah Shah (1680-1757) was the birth name of the boy who would later become one of the most eminent Sufi poets of South Asia, and the master of Sufi lyrics in Punjabi—Bulleh Shah. Living during times of strife and major conflict between the Sikhs and the crumbling Mughal Empire, Bulleh Shah wrote poetry with an underlying humanist and tolerant philosophy that challenged the turmoil of his times. Blind to the bounds of religion and caste in an increasingly divided India, Bullah’s spiritual philosophy and his message of equality found voice in his kafis—a genre of poetry indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that can be seen as a form of folk ballad. This project offers translations of 15 kafis from his identifiable corpus, preceded by a substantial introductionFurthermore, the project is accompanied. Each kafi is presented in three translations—literal, functional, and oral. The selected kafis draw on the three dominant themes in his work—Ishq, rebellion, and freedom. Scans of the original kafis in Shahmuki script Punjabi have been provided. Furthermore, the project is accompanied by an interpretive composition of the translated kafi “What Times, What Strange Times,” which was a collaboration between the author of the thesis, Akshaya Tucker, and Jacob Scharfman.Master of Arts (M.A.
Co-citation Analysis: An Overview
Get PDFThis article gives an overview of co-citation analysis and its applications in tracking the linkages among the intellectual works and mapping the evolutionary structure of scientific disciplines. It also focuses on the features, interface, terminology used, merits and demerits of co-citation based online database applications
Corporate tax structure and production
Get PDFThe authors provide an empirical framework for assessing the effects of tax policy on an array of producer decisions about output supplies and input demands in Mexico, Pakistan, and Turkey. They specify and estimate a dynamic production structure model with imperfect competition for selected industries in these countries. The model results suggest that tax policy affected production and investment and further that selective tax incentives such as investment tax credits, investment allowances, and accelerated capital consumption (depreciation) allowances are more cost effective at promoting investment than more general tax incentives such as corporate tax rate reductions. The long run cost effectiveness of these incentives - except corporate tax rate reductions, which proved cost ineffective in all cases - varies by country. In Turkey, investment allowances and capital consumption allowances were cost effective. In Mexico, neither investment tax credits nor accelerated capital consumption allowances were cost effective. In contrast, in Pakistan, both investment tax credits and accelerated capital consumption allowances were cost effective. In the intermediate run, defined as tax policy impact after one year, only the investment allowances and accelerated capital consumption allowances available to Turkish industries proved cost effective. To make selective tax incentives more effective, investmenttax credits must be refundable and carrying forward investment depreciation allowances must be permitted. If stimulating investment expenditure is the sole objective of tax policy, reducing the corporate tax rate is not a cost effective instrument to achieve this objective.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform
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