title: Leveraging plasticity in incremental decision trees

authors: Heyden, Marco

subjects: computer science

abstract: Commonly used incremental decision trees for mining data streams include Hoeffding Trees (HT) and Extremely Fast Decision Trees (EFDT). EFDT exhibits faster learning than HT. However, due to its split revision procedure, EFDT suffers from sudden and unpredictable accuracy decreases caused by subtree pruning. To overcome this, we propose PLASTIC, an incremental decision tree that restructures the otherwise pruned subtree. This is possible due to decision tree plasticity: one can alter a tree’s structure without affecting its predictions. We conduct extensive evaluations comparing PLASTIC with state-of-the-art methods on synthetic and real-world data streams. Our results show that PLASTIC improves EFDT’s worst-case accuracy by up to 50% and outperforms the current state of the art on real-world data. We provide an open-source implementation of PLASTIC within the MOA framework for mining high-speed data streams.

text: Leveraging plasticity in incremental decision trees Commonly used incremental decision trees for mining data streams include Hoeffding Trees (HT) and Extremely Fast Decision Trees (EFDT). EFDT exhibits faster learning than HT. However, due to its split revision procedure, EFDT suffers from sudden and unpredictable accuracy decreases caused by subtree pruning. To overcome this, we propose PLASTIC, an incremental decision tree that restructures the otherwise pruned subtree. This is possible due to decision tree plasticity: one can alter a tree’s structure without affecting its predictions. We conduct extensive evaluations comparing PLASTIC with state-of-the-art methods on synthetic and real-world data streams. Our results show that PLASTIC improves EFDT’s worst-case accuracy by up to 50% and outperforms the current state of the art on real-world data. We provide an open-source implementation of PLASTIC within the MOA framework for mining high-speed data streams.

year: 2024

title: Validation and Cultural Adaptation of the Motors of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (MoVac-COVID19S) in German

authors: Adu, Peter

abstract: <jats:p> Abstract: Background: Context-specific standardized psychometric instruments are essential for ensuring valid and reliable assessment of health outcomes across diverse populations to aid the advancement of research and health-related interventions. However, instruments measuring attitudes toward vaccinations are lacking in the extant literature. Therefore, we performed a cross-cultural adaptation of the Motors of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (MoVac-COVID19S) in Germany. Method: During the months of June and July 2022, 475 individuals aged 18 years and older from the general population of Germany participated in an online cross-sectional survey. Participants responded to five demographic questions, a measure of COVID-19 vaccine uptake willingness, and the MoVac-COVID19S. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) fit indices were used to evaluate the factor structures of the MoVac-COVID19S. Results: The CFA revealed that all examined factor structures of both the 9-item and 12-item versions of the MoVac-COVID19S were acceptable among the sample. Overall, CFI, GFI, and TLI values were higher than 0.95; RMSEA and SRMR values were all less than 0.08 for all the estimated models. The one-factor model of the 9-item version of the MoVac-COVID19S exhibited best fits indices compared to the one-factor and four-factor structures of the 12-item version of the scale. The bifactor model revealed that the general factor explained a higher percentage of the Explained Common Variance (ECV; ranging from 55% to 94%) in the majority of the items, compared to the specific factors. The scale was found to demonstrate convergent validity with related measures. Conclusion: The German version of the MoVac-COVID19S should be considered a unidimensional rather than a multidimensional measure. Although the 9-item version of the scale performed better among the sample compared to the 12-item version, the overall scores of both versions were found to be valid and reliable measures of attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations. The MoVac-COVID19S has the potential to be adapted for assessing attitudes toward any future vaccination programs. Limitations: While our study sampled only the general German population, the criticisms of CFA warrant further research using advanced methods, such as the Rasch model, and subgroups. </jats:p>

text: Validation and Cultural Adaptation of the Motors of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (MoVac-COVID19S) in German <jats:p> Abstract: Background: Context-specific standardized psychometric instruments are essential for ensuring valid and reliable assessment of health outcomes across diverse populations to aid the advancement of research and health-related interventions. However, instruments measuring attitudes toward vaccinations are lacking in the extant literature. Therefore, we performed a cross-cultural adaptation of the Motors of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (MoVac-COVID19S) in Germany. Method: During the months of June and July 2022, 475 individuals aged 18 years and older from the general population of Germany participated in an online cross-sectional survey. Participants responded to five demographic questions, a measure of COVID-19 vaccine uptake willingness, and the MoVac-COVID19S. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) fit indices were used to evaluate the factor structures of the MoVac-COVID19S. Results: The CFA revealed that all examined factor structures of both the 9-item and 12-item versions of the MoVac-COVID19S were acceptable among the sample. Overall, CFI, GFI, and TLI values were higher than 0.95; RMSEA and SRMR values were all less than 0.08 for all the estimated models. The one-factor model of the 9-item version of the MoVac-COVID19S exhibited best fits indices compared to the one-factor and four-factor structures of the 12-item version of the scale. The bifactor model revealed that the general factor explained a higher percentage of the Explained Common Variance (ECV; ranging from 55% to 94%) in the majority of the items, compared to the specific factors. The scale was found to demonstrate convergent validity with related measures. Conclusion: The German version of the MoVac-COVID19S should be considered a unidimensional rather than a multidimensional measure. Although the 9-item version of the scale performed better among the sample compared to the 12-item version, the overall scores of both versions were found to be valid and reliable measures of attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations. The MoVac-COVID19S has the potential to be adapted for assessing attitudes toward any future vaccination programs. Limitations: While our study sampled only the general German population, the criticisms of CFA warrant further research using advanced methods, such as the Rasch model, and subgroups. </jats:p>

year: 2023-12-01

title: Te Raupatu o Tauranga Moana : Volume 2, Documents relating to tribal history, confiscation and reallocation of Tauranga lands.

authors: Stokes, Evelyn

subjects: Tauranga lands

abstract: A report providing a historical and geographical overview on the confiscation of Tauranga lands. In two volumes, volume one comprises a narrative of the events described as the raupatu, the confiscation of lands in the Tauranga Moana tribal area under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863.  Volume two is a collection of documents, edited and annotated which were compiled in support of the report. These documents include personal accounts, tribal history, land purchases, lands returned and crown transactions.

text: Te Raupatu o Tauranga Moana : Volume 2, Documents relating to tribal history, confiscation and reallocation of Tauranga lands. A report providing a historical and geographical overview on the confiscation of Tauranga lands. In two volumes, volume one comprises a narrative of the events described as the raupatu, the confiscation of lands in the Tauranga Moana tribal area under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863.  Volume two is a collection of documents, edited and annotated which were compiled in support of the report. These documents include personal accounts, tribal history, land purchases, lands returned and crown transactions.

year: 1993