Combining Earth Observations, Cloud Computing, and Expert Knowledge to Inform National Level Degradation Assessments in Support of the 2030 Development Agenda

Monitoring progress towards the 2030 Development Agenda requires the combination of traditional and new data sources in innovative workflows to maximize the generation of relevant information. We present the results of a participatory and data-driven land degradation assessment process at a national scale, which includes use of earth observation (EO) data, cloud computing, and expert knowledge for Argentina. Six different primary productivity trend maps were produced from a time series of the Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) dataset (2000–2018), including the most widely used trajectory approach and five alternative methods, which include information on the timing and magnitude of the changes. To identify the land productivity trend map which best represented ground conditions, an online application was developed, allowing 190 experts to choose the most representative result for their region of expertise nationwide. Additionally, the ability to detect decreases in land productivity of each method was assessed in 43,614 plots where deforestation had been recorded. The widely used trajectory indicator was the one selected by most experts as better reflecting changes in land condition. When comparing indicators’ performance to identify deforestation-driven reductions in productivity, the Step-Wise Approach Trend Index (SWATI), which integrates short- and long-term trends, was the one which performed the best. On average, decreases of land productivity indicate that 20% of the Argentine territory has experienced degradation processes between 2000 and 2018. The participatory data generation and verification workflow developed and tested here represents an innovative low cost, simple, and fast way to validate maps of vegetation trends and other EO-derived indicators, supporting the monitoring of progress towards land degradation neutrality by 2030.

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PP469 From Theory To Practice: Which Value Framework Is Applied For Onco-Hematology Therapies In Italy? A 5-year Retrospective Analysis

International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care ◽

10.1017/s0266462320001816 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 36 (S1) ◽

pp. 37-37

Author(s):

Americo Cicchetti ◽

Rossella Di Bidino ◽

Entela Xoxi ◽

Irene Luccarini ◽

Alessia Brigido

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Grey Literature ◽

National Level ◽

Pharmaceutical Products ◽

European Medicines Agency ◽

The Real ◽

R Process ◽

The One ◽

The Impact

IntroductionDifferent value frameworks (VFs) have been proposed in order to translate available evidence on risk-benefit profiles of new treatments into Pricing & Reimbursement (P&R) decisions. However limited evidence is available on the impact of their implementation. It's relevant to distinguish among VFs proposed by scientific societies and providers, which usually are applicable to all treatments, and VFs elaborated by regulatory agencies and health technology assessment (HTA), which focused on specific therapeutic areas. Such heterogeneity in VFs has significant implications in terms of value dimension considered and criteria adopted to define or support a price decision.MethodsA literature research was conducted to identify already proposed or adopted VF for onco-hematology treatments. Both scientific and grey literature were investigated. Then, an ad hoc data collection was conducted for multiple myeloma; breast, prostate and urothelial cancer; and Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) therapies. Pharmaceutical products authorized by European Medicines Agency from January 2014 till December 2019 were identified. Primary sources of data were European Public Assessment Reports and P&R decision taken by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) till September 2019.ResultsThe analysis allowed to define a taxonomy to distinguish categories of VF relevant to onco-hematological treatments. We identified the “real-world” VF that emerged given past P&R decisions taken at the Italian level. Data was collected both for clinical and economical outcomes/indicators, as well as decisions taken on innovativeness of therapies. Relevant differences emerge between the real world value framework and the one that should be applied given the normative framework of the Italian Health System.ConclusionsThe value framework that emerged from the analysis addressed issues of specific aspects of onco-hematological treatments which emerged during an ad hoc analysis conducted on treatment authorized in the last 5 years. The perspective adopted to elaborate the VF was the one of an HTA agency responsible for P&R decisions at a national level. Furthermore, comparing a real-world value framework with the one based on the general criteria defined by the national legislation, our analysis allowed identification of the most critical point of the current national P&R process in terms ofsustainability of current and future therapies as advance therapies and agnostic-tumor therapies.

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Minkowski box from Yangian bootstrap

Journal of High Energy Physics ◽

10.1007/jhep04(2021)160 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Luke Corcoran ◽

Florian Loebbert ◽

Julian Miczajka ◽

Matthias Staudacher

Keyword(s):

Minkowski Space ◽

Wigner Function ◽

Functional Form ◽

A Priori ◽

Alternative Methods ◽

Feynman Integrals ◽

The One

Abstract We extend the recently developed Yangian bootstrap for Feynman integrals to Minkowski space, focusing on the case of the one-loop box integral. The space of Yangian invariants is spanned by the Bloch-Wigner function and its discontinuities. Using only input from symmetries, we constrain the functional form of the box integral in all 64 kinematic regions up to twelve (out of a priori 256) undetermined constants. These need to be fixed by other means. We do this explicitly, employing two alternative methods. This results in a novel compact formula for the box integral valid in all kinematic regions of Minkowski space.

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A new approach to bracket prediction in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament based on a dual-proportion likelihood

Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports ◽

10.1515/jqas-2014-0047 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ajay Andrew Gupta

Keyword(s):

National Collegiate Athletic Association ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Probability Model ◽

Expected Value ◽

Division I ◽

Prediction System ◽

New Approach ◽

Men's Basketball ◽

Popular Interest ◽

The One

AbstractThe widespread proliferation of and interest in bracket pools that accompany the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament have created a need to produce a set of predicted winners for each tournament game by people without expert knowledge of college basketball. Previous research has addressed bracket prediction to some degree, but not nearly on the level of the popular interest in the topic. This paper reviews relevant previous research, and then introduces a rating system for teams using game data from that season prior to the tournament. The ratings from this system are used within a novel, four-predictor probability model to produce sets of bracket predictions for each tournament from 2009 to 2014. This dual-proportion probability model is built around the constraint of two teams with a combined 100% probability of winning a given game. This paper also performs Monte Carlo simulation to investigate whether modifications are necessary from an expected value-based prediction system such as the one introduced in the paper, in order to have the maximum bracket score within a defined group. The findings are that selecting one high-probability “upset” team for one to three late rounds games is likely to outperform other strategies, including one with no modifications to the expected value, as long as the upset choice overlaps a large minority of competing brackets while leaving the bracket some distinguishing characteristics in late rounds.

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Image, Europe, drama

Human Affairs ◽

10.2478/s13374-013-0106-8 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mishel Pavlovski

Keyword(s):

Western Europe ◽

National Level ◽

The Other ◽

European Identity ◽

Potential Danger ◽

The Balkans ◽

Binary Oppositions ◽

Utopian Theory ◽

The One ◽

Practical Level

AbstractBy questioning the ways in which a supra-national European identity can be created in an environment of globalization, this article starts with the thesis that this concept faces problems which must be resolved first and foremost at the national level. By problematizing multiculturalism as a “utopian theory” which does not solve any problems at the practical level, and by viewing interculturalism as a potential danger to “smaller” cultures, this article identifies what it is that hinders the possible acceptance of the idea of a Europe without borders by analyzing plays by Goran Stefanovski. In four of his plays, Euralien, Hotel Europa, Ex-Yu, and Goce, Stefanovski criticizes Western Europe, on the one hand, for constructing a problematic Other, imposing a visa regime, and contributing to its marginalization, and the Balkans on the other, for mythologizing its nationally-romanticized narrative. The paper sheds light on the fact that the acceptance of a common (shared) European identity, a necessity which propagates itself amidst conditions of globalization, is dependent on the ways in which Europe will resolve its problems, such as the marginalization of the Other, way of thinking in binary oppositions, like old/new Europe, rich/poor Europe, and especially (talking about Balkan countries) the phrase South-East Balkan.

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An empirical investigation into intelligent cost analysis in purchasing

Supply Chain Management An International Journal ◽

10.1108/scm-11-2020-0563 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Frank Bodendorf ◽

Manuel Lutz ◽

Stefan Michelberger ◽

Joerg Franke

Keyword(s):

Cost Analysis ◽

Cost Estimation ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Added Value ◽

Cost Calculation ◽

Content Type ◽

Intelligent Decision Support Systems ◽

The One ◽

Management Recommendations ◽

Intelligent Decision Support

Purpose Cost transparency is of central importance to reach a consensus between supply chain partners. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the instrument of cost analysis which supports the link between buyers and suppliers. Design/methodology/approach Based on a detailed literature review in the area of cost analysis and purchasing, intelligent decision support systems for cost estimation are identified. Subsequently, expert interviews are conducted to determine the application possibilities for managers. The application potential is derived from the synthesis of motivation, identified applications and challenges in the industry. Management recommendations are to be derived by bringing together scientific and practical approaches in the industry. Findings On the one hand, the results of this study show that machine learning (ML) is a complex technology that poses many challenges for cost and purchasing managers. On the other hand, ML methods, especially in combination with expert knowledge and other analytical methods, offer immense added value for cost analysis in purchasing. Originality/value Digital transformation allows to facilitate the cost calculation process in purchasing decisions. In this context, the application of ML approaches has gained increased attention. While such approaches can lead to high cost reductions on the side of both suppliers and buyers, an intelligent cost analysis is very demanding.

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Investigating the role of Non-Technical Skills in Railway Traffic Operations through Expert Knowledge Elicitation

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1071181321651181 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 262-266

Author(s):

Iga Jarosz* ◽

Julia Lo ◽

Jan Lijs

Keyword(s):

Traffic Control ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Skill Training ◽

Technical Skills ◽

Knowledge Elicitation ◽

Protective Function ◽

Nontechnical Skills ◽

Railway Traffic ◽

The One ◽

Expert Classification

Many high-risk industries identify non-technical skills as safety-critical abilities of the operational staff that have a protective function against human fallibility. Based on an established non-technical skills classification system, methods for expert knowledge elicitation were used to describe non-technical skills in the specific context of train traffic control in the Netherlands. The findings offer insights regarding the skill importance for good operational outcomes, skill difficulty, categorization, and attitudes based on subject matter experts’ opinions. Substantial overlap between the employed non-technical skills framework and the observed expert classification was found, which might indicate that the experts utilize a mental model of nontechnical skills similar to the one used. Furthermore, considerations concerning the organizational culture and the attitudes towards change provide a promising outlook when introducing novel solutions to non-technical skill training and assessment.

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A fuzzy energy and security aware scheduling in cloud

International Journal of Engineering & Technology ◽

10.14419/ijet.v7i1.2.9021 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1.2) ◽

pp. 117

Author(s):

Sirisati Ranga Swamy ◽

Sridhar Mandapati

Keyword(s):

Cloud Computing ◽

Job Scheduling ◽

Fuzzy Inference ◽

Turnaround Time ◽

Time Cost ◽

Inference System ◽

Np Hard Problem ◽

Fuzzy Energy ◽

The One ◽

The Membership Function

The cloud computing is the one that deals with the trading of the resources efficiently in accordance to the user’s need. A Job scheduling is the choice of an ideal resource for any job to be executed with regard to waiting time, cost or turnaround time. A cloud job scheduling will be an NP-hard problem that contains n jobs and m machines and every job is processed with each of these m machines to minimize the make span. The security here is one of the top most concerns in the cloud. In order to calculate the value of fitness the fuzzy inference system makes use of the membership function for determining the degree up to which the input parameters that belong to every fuzzy set is relevant. Here the fuzzy is used for the purpose of scheduling energy as well as security in the cloud computing.

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