LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A hybrid approach of DEA, rough set and support vector machines for business failure prediction

0957-4174/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2009.06.088 * Corresponding author. Address: Department of University, 55, Hwa-Kang Road, Yang-Ming-Shan, Tai +886 2 2861 0511x35505; fax: +886 2 2861 4177. E-mail address: djchi@ms43.hinet.net (D.-J. Chi). The prediction of business failure is an important and challenging issue that has served as the impetus for many academic studies over the past three decades. While the efficiency of a corporation’s management is generally acknowledged to be a key contributor to corporation’s bankrupt, it is usually excluded from early prediction models. The objective of the study is to use efficiency as predictive variables with a proposed novel model to integrate rough set theory (RST) with support vector machines (SVM) technique to increase the accuracy of the prediction of business failure. In the proposed method (RST–SVM), data envelopment analysis (DEA) is employed as a tool to evaluate the input/output efficiency. Furthermore, by RST approach, the redundant attributes in multi-attribute information table can be reduced, which showed that the number of independent variables was reduced with no information loss, is utilized as a preprocessor to improve business failure prediction capability by SVM. The effectiveness of the methodology was verified by experiments comparing back-propagation neural networks (BPN) approach with the hybrid approach (RST–BPN). The results shows that DEA do provide valuable information in business failure predictions and the proposed RST–SVM model provides better classification results than RST–BPN model, no matter when only considering financial ratios or the model including both financial ratios and DEA. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
From proficiency to expert, when does the learning curve for robotic-assisted prostatectomies plateau? The Columbia University experience

To describe our single-institution experience with our first 70 consecutive robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomies (RLPs) with particular focus on effect of learning curve on operative time, length of stay and blood loss. We also report our short-term outcome data in this heterogeneous cohort of men with prostate cancer (PCa). We reviewed our institutional database for the first 70 consecutive RLPs performed by a single surgeon (DS) over a 21-month period (March 2003 to December 2004). Surgical, pathologic and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. In order to evaluate the impact of the surgeon’s and institution’s learning curve on outcomes, the cases were divided into quartiles and stratified accordingly to identify trends. Ninety-nine percent (69/70) of all procedures were successfully completed robotically. Mean blood loss, operative time and mean length of stay were 231 ml, 264 min and 1.9 days, respectively. At follow-up, 76% of all patients were fully continent (no pads) and 93% (62/67) had undetectable PSA. The most dramatic improvement in surgical outcomes was seen within the first quartile of cases; however a statistically significant improvement trend existed throughout the series. This included a downward trend in operative time (P < 0.00001), estimated blood loss (P < 0.00001), and length of hospital stay (P = 0.003). This trend continued when controlled for in a multivariate analysis. Our results compare favorably with other RLP series as well as conventional laparoscopic series. Proficiency is achieved within the first 20 cases; however surgical outcomes continue to improve for RLP throughout the first 70 cases and perhaps beyond.
State splitting and state merging in probabilistic finite state automata

Probabilistic finite state automata (PΓSA) are constructed from symbol sequences for modeling the behavior of dynamical systems. This paper presents construction of finite history automata from symbol sequences; such automata, called D-Markov machines, are structurally simple and computationally efficient. The construction procedure is based on: (i) state splitting that generates symbol blocks of different lengths according to their relative importance; and (ii) state merging that assimilates histories from symbol blocks leading to the same symbolic behavior. A metric on probability distribution of symbol blocks is introduced for trade-off between modeling performance and the number of PFSA states. These algorithms have been tested by two examples.
Impact of noncancer pain on health-related quality of life.

BACKGROUND
While the economic costs of pain have been documented, the impact of noncancer pain on quality of life has not been studied extensively.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the influence of noncancer pain on quality of life measures.


DESIGN
Prospective, multicenter, observational nonrandomized patient pain registry.


SETTING
Outpatient settings.


PARTICIPANTS
Patients with acute episodes of noncancer pain requiring treatment with a prescription medication containing oxycodone immediate-release on an as-needed basis for at least 5 days (n = 629).


MEASUREMENTS
The modified Brief Pain Inventory and the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) was measured at baseline when oxycodone immediate-release began and days 7, 14, 21, and 28. Repeated measures mixed models provided estimates of impact of pain on the physical component summary score (PCS) and mental health component summary score (MCS) of the SF-12.


RESULTS
Patterns indicating pain oscillation over the 28-day window were common (Range: 44.3% back/neck pain cohort to 61.2% postoperative cohort). After adjustment for sociodemographics, concomitant medications and gastrointestinal symptoms, worst pain in 24 hours was associated with a 13.9 point PCS reduction (adjusted PCS for pain = 10: 31.1; adjusted PCS for pain = 0: 45.0) and a 7.2 point MCS reduction (adjusted MCS for pain = 10: 44.1; adjusted MCS for pain = 0: 51.3). Similar clinically relevant differences were observed among patients with arthritis, back/neck pain, injury/trauma, postoperative pain, neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia, although statistical significance was not observed in the latter 2 groups.


CONCLUSION
Among outpatients with various underlying causes of pain, the negative impact of pain on physical and mental health-related quality of life is significant.
Cross-correlation of random fields: mathematical approach and applications

Random field cross-correlation is a new promising technique for seismic exploration, as it bypass shortcomings of usual active methods. Seismic noise can be considered as a reproducible, stationnary in time, natural source. In the present paper we show why and how cross-correlation of noise records can be used for geophysical imaging. We discuss the theoretical conditions required to observe the emergence of the Green’s functions between two receivers from the cross-correlation of noise records. We present examples of seismic imaging using reconstructed surface waves from regional to local scales. We also show an application using body waves extracted from records of a small-scale network. We then introduce a new way to perform surface wave seismic experimentations using cross-correlation of unsynchronized sources. At a laboratory scale, we demonstrate that body wave extraction may also be used to image buried scatterers. These works show the feasibility of passive imaging from noise cross-correlation at different scales.
More axiomatics for the Hirsch index

The Hirsch index is a number that synthesizes a researcher’s output. It is defined as the maximum number h such that the researcher has h papers with at least h citations each. Woeginger (Math Soc Sci 56: 224–232, 2008a; J Informetr 2: 298–303, 2008b) suggests two axiomatic characterizations of the Hirsch index using monotonicity as one of the axioms. This note suggests three characterizations without adopting the monotonicity axiom.
New Bounds and Tractable Instances for the Transposition Distance

The problem of sorting by transpositions asks for a sequence of adjacent interval exchanges that sorts a permutation and is of the shortest possible length. The distance of the permutation is defined as the length of such a sequence. Despite the apparently intuitive nature of this problem, introduced in 1995 by Bafna and Pevzner, the complexity of both finding an optimal sequence and computing the distance remains open today. In this paper, we establish connections between two different graph representations of permutations, which allows us to compute the distance of a few nontrivial classes of permutations in linear time and space, bypassing the use of any graph structure. By showing that every permutation can be obtained from one of these classes, we prove a new tight upper bound on the transposition distance. Finally, we give improved bounds on some other families of permutations and prove formulas for computing the exact distance of other classes of permutations, again in polynomial time.
Adversarial examples: A survey

Adversarial examples are a phenomenon that have gathered a lot of attention in recent studies. The fact that the addition of very small, but carefully crafted perturbations to the inputs of sophisticated and high performing machine learning models may cause them to make significant errors, is both fascinating and important. A survey of findings connected with adversarial examples is presented and discussed in this paper.
Design aesthetics leading to m-loyalty in mobile commerce

Researchers have previously examined the technology acceptance model (TAM) in many contexts, including the Internet. More recently TAM has been enhanced to include a hedonic component of enjoyment but the effect has rarely been investigated in a mobile commerce context. In addition, specific antecedents of TAM related to design aesthetics have not been examined within the mobile domain. Our research filled these gaps, and discovered that visual design aesthetics did significantly impact perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment, all of which ultimately influenced users’ loyalty intentions towards a mobile service. # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Human telomeric proteins occupy selective interstitial sites

Human telomeres are bound and protected by protein complexes assembled around the six core telomeric proteins RAP1, TRF1, TRF2, TIN2, TPP1, and POT1. The function of these proteins on telomeres has been studied extensively. Recently, increasing evidence has suggested possible roles for these proteins outside of telomeres. However, the non-canonical (extra-telomeric) function of human telomeric proteins remains poorly understood. To this end, we systematically investigated the binding sites of telomeric proteins along human chromosomes, by performing whole-genome chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) for RAP1 and TRF2. ChIP sequencing (ChIP-seq) revealed that RAP1 and TRF2 could be found on a small number of interstitial sites, including regions that are proximal to genes. Some of these binding sites contain short telomere repeats, suggesting that telomeric proteins could directly bind to interstitial sites. Interestingly, only a small fraction of the available interstitial telomere repeat-containing regions were occupied by RAP1 and TRF2. Ectopically expressed TRF2 was able to occupy additional interstitial telomere repeat sites, suggesting that protein concentration may dictate the selective targeting of telomeric proteins to interstitial sites. Reducing RAP1 and TRF2 expression by RNA interference led to altered transcription of RAP1- and TRF2-targeted genes. Our results indicate that human telomeric proteins could occupy a limited number of interstitial sites and regulate gene transcription.
Intermediation and the role of intermediaries in innovation

This paper investigates the issue of intermediation and the role of intermediaries in the innovation process. The aim of this paper is three-fold. Firstly, to review and synthesis the literature in this field; from this to develop a typology and framework of the different roles and functions of the intermediation process within innovation; lastly to try and operationalise the typology within the context of UK using case study material. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Availability of pediatric services and equipment in emergency departments: United States, 2002-03.

OBJECTIVES
This report presents estimates on the availability of pediatric services, expertise, and supplies for treating pediatric emergencies in U.S. hospitals.


METHODS
The Emergency Pediatric Services and Equipment Supplement (EPSES) was a self-administered questionnaire added to the 2002-03 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). NHAMCS samples non-Federal, short-stay and general hospitals in the United States. The EPSES content was based on the 2001 guidelines for pediatric services, medical expertise, small-sized supplies, and equipment for emergency departments (EDs) developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Combined response rate for both years was 86 percent. Estimates were weighted to produce average annual estimates of pediatric services, expertise, and equipment availability in EDs.


RESULTS
One-half of hospitals (52.9 percent) admitted pediatric patients, but did not have a specialized inpatient pediatric ward. One-third (38.3 percent) admitted pediatric patients and had a separate pediatric ward; the remainder did not admit pediatric patients. Among those that did not admit pediatric cases, 30.4 percent were in counties that had a children's hospital. One-quarter of EDs had access 24 hours and 7 days a week to a board-certified pediatric emergency medicine attending physician. Only 5.5 percent had all recommended pediatric supplies, but one-half had greater than 85 percent of recommended supplies. Most hospitals without pediatric trauma service (90.7 percent) or pediatric intensive care units (97.5 percent) transferred critical pediatric patients to hospitals with these services. EDs in hospitals with specialized inpatient facilities for children were more likely to meet the AAP and ACEP guidelines for pediatric ED services, expertise, and supplies.
A method for proving nonexistence of spherical designs of odd strength and odd cardinality

We combine polynomial techniques with some geometric arguments to obtain restrictions of the structure of spherical designs with fixed odd strength and odd cardinality. Our bounds for the extreme inner products of such designs allow us to prove nonexistence results in many cases. Applications are shown for 7-designs. DOI: 10.1134/S0032946009020033
Trade-offs in a dangerous world: women's fear of crime predicts preferences for aggressive and formidable mates

Women's mate selection criteria can be expected to include a preference for men who can protect them and their offspring. However, aggressive dominance and physical formidability are not an unalloyed good in a partner; as such, men are likely to be coercive toward their mates. Accordingly, because of the potential costs of living with an aggressively dominant and physically formidable mate, a woman's preferences in this regard can be expected to vary as a function of the appraisal of her vulnerability to aggression — the more that a woman sees herself as potentially benefiting from protection, the more that she can be expected to favor aggressive dominance and physical formidability in a mate. Across three Internet-based studies of US women, we found evidence consistent with this perspective, such that women's fear of crime predicted her preference for long-term mates who are aggressively dominant and physically formidable. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The association between self-reported major life events and the presence of uterine fibroids.

PURPOSE
Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors in reproductive-age women. Factors associated with this condition such as psychosocial stress are still being elucidated. This paper explores the association between major life events (MLE) stress and fibroids.


METHODS
Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to determine the association between MLE stress (number of events and stress intensity) and fibroids in 556 Black and 373 White women in the Uterine Fibroid Study, 1996-1999.


MAIN FINDINGS
Fibroids were prevalent in 74% and 50% of the Black and White women, respectively. The mean number of MLE reported by each race group was two. Among White women, the PR for those who reported at least one event compared with those with no events were significant after adjusting for age and study identified fibroid risk factors (PR [1 and 2 events], 1.7; 95% CI, 1.2-2.5), (PR [3 events], 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3-2.7), and (PR [4 events], 1.5; 95% CI, 1.0-2.1), respectively. At all levels of stress compared with no events, significant associations with fibroids were found among White women. For Black women, the PR for fibroids was only significant in the high stress group compared with those without an experienced event, after adjusting for fibroid risk factors (PR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.4).


CONCLUSION
Examining the number and stress intensity of MLE enriched our understanding of this stressor and fibroids. Further research is needed to understand the role of stress on fibroids among women.
Nursing skill mix in European hospitals: cross-sectional study of the association with mortality, patient ratings, and quality of care

OBJECTIVES
To determine the association of hospital nursing skill mix with patient mortality, patient ratings of their care and indicators of quality of care.


DESIGN
Cross-sectional patient discharge data, hospital characteristics and nurse and patient survey data were merged and analysed using generalised estimating equations (GEE) and logistic regression models.


SETTING
Adult acute care hospitals in Belgium, England, Finland, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland.


PARTICIPANTS
Survey data were collected from 13 077 nurses in 243 hospitals, and 18 828 patients in 182 of the same hospitals in the six countries. Discharge data were obtained for 275 519 surgical patients in 188 of these hospitals.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Patient mortality, patient ratings of care, care quality, patient safety, adverse events and nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction.


RESULTS
Richer nurse skill mix (eg, every 10-point increase in the percentage of professional nurses among all nursing personnel) was associated with lower odds of mortality (OR=0.89), lower odds of low hospital ratings from patients (OR=0.90) and lower odds of reports of poor quality (OR=0.89), poor safety grades (OR=0.85) and other poor outcomes (0.80<OR<0.93), after adjusting for patient and hospital factors. Each 10 percentage point reduction in the proportion of professional nurses is associated with an 11% increase in the odds of death. In our hospital sample, there were an average of six caregivers for every 25 patients, four of whom were professional nurses. Substituting one nurse assistant for a professional nurse for every 25 patients is associated with a 21% increase in the odds of dying.


CONCLUSIONS
A bedside care workforce with a greater proportion of professional nurses is associated with better outcomes for patients and nurses. Reducing nursing skill mix by adding nursing associates and other categories of assistive nursing personnel without professional nurse qualifications may contribute to preventable deaths, erode quality and safety of hospital care and contribute to hospital nurse shortages.
Severe maternal morbidity and maternal near miss in the extremes of reproductive age: results from a national cross- sectional multicenter study

BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to assess severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and near miss (NM) cases among adolescent girls and women over 35 years of age in the Brazilian Network for Surveillance of Severe Maternal Morbidity, using a set of standard criteria, compared to pregnant women aged 20 to 34 years.


METHODS
A cross-sectional multicenter study conducted in 27 referral obstetric units in Brazil. All pregnant women admitted to these centers during a one-year period of prospective surveillance were screened to identify cases of maternal death (MD), NM and other SMM. Indicators of maternal morbidity and mortality were evaluated for the three age groups. Sociodemographic, clinical and obstetric characteristics, gestational and perinatal outcomes, main causes of morbidity and delays in care were also compared. Two multiple analysis models were performed, to estimate the adjusted prevalence ratio for identified factors that were independently associated with the occurrence of severe maternal outcome (SMO = MNM + MD).


RESULTS
Among SMM and MD cases identified, the proportion of adolescent girls and older women were 17% each. The risk of MNM or death was 25% higher among older women. Maternal near miss ratio and maternal mortality ratios increased with age, but these ratios were also higher among adolescents aged 10 to 14, although the absolute numbers were low. On multivariate analysis, younger age was not identified as an independent risk factor for SMO, while this was true for older age (PR 1.25; 1.07-1.45).


CONCLUSIONS
SMO was high among women below 14 years of age and increased with age in Brazilian pregnant women.
A comparison between the order and the volume fill rate for a base-stock inventory control system under a compound renewal demand process

The order fill rate is less commonly used than the volume fill rate (most often just denoted fill rate) as a performance measure for inventory control systems. However, in settings where the focus is on filling customer orders rather than total quantities, the order fill rate should be the preferred measure. In this paper we consider a continuous review, base-stock policy, where all replenishment orders have the same constant lead time and all unfilled demands are backordered. We develop exact mathematical expressions for the two fill-rate measures when demand follows a compound renewal process. We also elaborate on when the order fill rate can be interpreted as the (extended) ready rate. Furthermore, for the case when customer orders are generated by a negative binomial distribution, we show that it is the size of the shape parameter of this distribution that determines the relative magnitude of the two fill rates. In particular, we show that when customer orders are generated by a geometric distribution, the order fill rate and the volume fill rate are equal (though not equivalent when considering sample paths). For the case when customer inter-arrival times follow an Erlang distribution, we show how to compute the two fill rates.
Semi-supervised transfer subspace for domain adaptation

Domain shift is defined as the mismatch between the marginal probability distributions of a source (training set) and a target domain (test set). A successful research line has been focusing on deriving new source and target feature representations to reduce the domain shift problem. This task can be modeled as a semi-supervised domain adaptation. However, without exploiting at the same time the knowledge available on the labeled source, labeled target, and unlabeled target data, semi-supervised methods are prone to fail. Here, we present a simple and effective Semi-Supervised Transfer Subspace (SSTS) method for domain adaptation. SSTS establishes pairwise constraints between the source and labeled target data, besides it exploits the global structure of the unlabeled data to build a domain invariant subspace. After reducing the domain shift by projecting both source and target domain onto this subspace, any classifier can be trained on the source and tested on target. Results on 49 cross-domain problems confirm that SSTS is a powerful mechanism to reduce domain shift. Furthermore, SSTS yields better classification accuracy than state-of-the-art domain adaptation methods. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.