A Proposal for Finite But Unbounded Human Lifetimes

Close analysis of an extensive data set combined with independent evidence prompts our proposal to view human lifetimes as individually finite but collectively unbounded. We formulate a model incorporating this idea whose predictions agree very well with the observed data. In the model, human lifetimes are theoretically unbounded, but the probability of an individual living to an extreme age is negligible, so lifetimes are effectively limited. Our model incorporates a mortality hazard rate plateau and a late-life mortality deceleration effect in conjunction with a newly observed advanced age mortality acceleration. This reconciles many previously observed effects. The model is temporally stable: consistent with observation, parameters do not change over time. As an application, assuming no major medical advances, we predict the emergence of many individuals living past 120, but due to accelerating mortality find it unlikely that any will subsequently survive to an age of 125.

Towards low-cost machine learning solutions for manufacturing SMEs

Machine learning (ML) is increasingly used to enhance production systems and meet the requirements of a rapidly evolving manufacturing environment. Compared to larger companies, however, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lack in terms of resources, available data and skills, which impedes the potential adoption of analytics solutions. This paper proposes a preliminary yet general approach to identify low-cost analytics solutions for manufacturing SMEs, with particular emphasis on ML. The initial studies seem to suggest that, contrarily to what is usually thought at first glance, SMEs seldom need digital solutions that use advanced ML algorithms which require extensive data preparation, laborious parameter tuning and a comprehensive understanding of the underlying problem. If an analytics solution does require learning capabilities, a ‘simple solution’, which we will characterise in this paper, should be sufficient.

Permanence

This chapter considers how far the Barnardos adoptees achieved legal, residential and emotional permanence after adoption. It draws on minimal follow-up data, available for 124 adoptees (59% of the original cohort); extensive data collected through responses to an online survey concerning 93 adoptees (44% of the cohort) 5–37 years after placement; and interviews focusing on 24 adult adoptees. Ages at follow-up ranged from 5 to 44. All adoptees had achieved legal permanence. Many had achieved residential permanence after numerous placements in care: 34% of those aged 18 or over were still living with their adoptive parents. Twelve (13%) placements had disrupted, but all except eight (9%) adoptees had achieved psychological permanence. Relationships between adoptees and adoptive parents were twice as likely to persist as those between care leavers and foster parents.

Clustering Accelerometer Activity Patterns from the UK Biobank Cohort

Many researchers are beginning to adopt the use of wrist-worn accelerometers to objectively measure personal activity levels. Data from these devices are often used to summarise such activity in terms of averages, variances, exceedances, and patterns within a profile. In this study, we report the development of a clustering utilising the whole activity profile. This was achieved using the robust clustering technique of k-medoids applied to an extensive data set of over 90,000 activity profiles, collected as part of the UK Biobank study. We identified nine distinct activity profiles in these data, which captured both the pattern of activity throughout a week and the intensity of the activity: “Active 9 to 5”, “Active”, “Morning Movers”, “Get up and Active”, “Live for the Weekend”, “Moderates”, “Leisurely 9 to 5”, “Sedate” and “Inactive”. These patterns are differentiated by sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and health and circadian rhythm data collected by UK Biobank. The utility of these findings are that they sit alongside existing summary measures of physical activity to provide a way to typify distinct activity patterns that may help to explain other health and morbidity outcomes, e.g., BMI or COVID-19. This research will be returned to the UK Biobank for other researchers to use.

Thematic Analysis on COVID-19 Photojournalism in Indonesia

The spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia is massive in terms of sufferers. This article aims to seek how national photo news agency ANTARA visualized the pandemic as part of contribution to COVID-19 research in the communication field. By utilizing thematic analysis and qualitative approach, the researchers want to identify, analyze, organize, describe, and report particular themes within an extensive data set of 466 photojournalism. The photos collected from www.antarafoto.com, start from 1 May until 12 May 2020. The finding shows that ANTARA visualized the current Indonesian condition of facing COVID-19 in 8 main themes, determined the countless efforts of ANTARA photojournalists working with a new protocol, and simultaneously also face the new resistance from society. The most popular theme produced by ANTARA photojournalists is economics (183 photos), Social (164), and health (80). Discussion on the most popular is divided into specific topics, namely location, subject’s gender, photographic approach, image format, and news photo category. By utilizing visual ethics on the field, photojournalists communicate the symbols and reality of the real world into a frame to change people’s views about COVID-19 amid the increasingly uncontrolled infodemic flow.

ESG Disclosure and Portfolio Performance

This paper illustrates the impact of Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure on European corporate equity performance. In this study, we use an extensive data set of European ESG ratings provided by Bloomberg to demonstrate that ESG disclosure is associated with improved return growth, with the Governance pillar exhibiting the strongest effect on corporate performance. The impact of ESG disclosure on volatility is changing over time, suggesting that the existence of opaque ratings limits the transmission of information disclosure into corporate performance.

Context-aware architecture for Industry 4.0-ready manufacturing facility

The industry 4.0 revolution is empowering the manufacturing sector with several advantages from the production to consumption stage of products, or beyond that. Recently, operators in factories have been accumulating extensive data from machine sensors and other organizational and operational technologies such as company enterprise and planning systems. Notably, having access to extensive data is a double-edged sword. To the best of our knowledge, there is not any work in the literature that proposed architecture for industry 4.0 based on a context-aware system. The aim of this research is to provide the context-aware architecture to enhance decision-making in factories and reduce the exposure of operators to the necessary and related findings. The proposed system is contextually aware of three aspects, operator feedback for previous similar findings, specifications of products under production, and historical data of manufacturing machines. The proposed system is proactive which attracted operator attention only when the findings were contextually related, based on the aforementioned aspects. The contributions of this research an intelligent architecture, a case study, and a mathematical model.

Which Jobs for Which Boys? Party Finance and the Politics of State Job Distribution in Africa

Much of the literature on clientelism views the distribution of state jobs in the same way it does other forms of clientelistic exchange: as a mechanism of political mobilization. Despite its prevalence, this perspective does not account for the services that job recipients frequently provide to their political principals beyond the one-time exchange of political support. Drawing on extensive data from Benin and Ghana, including a comprehensive database of minister biographies, surveys of bureaucrats, administrative data, and elite interviews, this article argues that leaders distribute and manage state jobs in ways that enable them to extract and control state money for political financing. Whether incumbent leaders extract state resources themselves, delegate to elite party agents, or co-opt and coerce bureaucrats to divert money to the party shapes which jobs they distribute politically and to whom. The findings suggest that jobs are substantively different from other currencies of clientelistic exchange.

Runway Excursions: Bearing Strength Control of Unpaved Areas

The paper deals with the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer application which is intended to work as a vital means to support the bearing strength evaluation over the vast unpaved airport areas. Having identified fundamental drawbacks, the authors proposed some refinements in the original methodology. These predominantly respect the needs of airport operation services. Specifically, the model based on fuzzy logic and two tables, exceptionally suitable for day-to-day applications, are proposed and tested upon the extensive data set acquired at four airports over the last four years.

Are Immigrant-Origin Candidates Penalized Due to Ingroup Favoritism or Outgroup Hostility?

An influential explanation for the persistent political underrepresentation of minorities in elected office is that minority candidates are discriminated against by voters of the dominant ethnic group. We argue, however, for the need to distinguish between two forms of discrimination: ingroup favoritism and outgroup hostility. We measure the impact of each by using an extensive data set drawn from Swiss elections, where voters can cast both positive and negative preference votes for candidates. Our results show that immigrant-origin candidates with non-Swiss names incur an electoral disadvantage because they receive more negative preference votes than candidates with typically Swiss names. But we also find that minority candidates face a second disadvantage: voters discriminate in favor of majority candidates by allocating them more positive preference votes. These two forms of electoral discrimination are critically related to a candidate’s party, whereas the impact of the specific outgroup to which a minority candidate belongs is less pronounced than expected.