The single-index support vector regression model to address the problem of high dimensionality

ABSTRACT

The last few years, the applications of Support Vector Machine (SVM) for solving classification and regression problems have been increasing, due to its high performance and ability to transform the non-linear relationships among variables to linear form by employing the kernel idea (kernel function). In this work, we develop a semi-parametric approach to fit single-index models to deal with high-dimensional problems. To achieve this goal, we use support vector regression (SVR) for estimating the unknown nonparametric link function, while the single-index is determined by using the semi-parametric least squares method (Ichimura 1993). This development enhances the ability of SVR to solve high-dimensional problem. We design a three simulation examples with high-dimensional problems (linear and nonlinear). The simulations demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method versus the standard SVR method. This is further illustrated by applying the real data.     

WEAPONS OF SEX,WEAPONS OF WAR

Recent international attention has focused on designations of rape and sexual violence in conflict zones. The most formative debates on this issue centre on the 1990s-era conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which also involved heated debates amongst feminists over designations of rape as genocide. While the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda case, the Prosecutor v. Akayesu, resulted in the first formal charge of wartime rape as genocide within international criminal law, the first case to charge wartime rape as genocidal occurred in US federal court. This project looks for the overarching social and political meaning of the contemporary international legal focus on rape and sexual violence. It examines why, how, and to what extent US and transnational feminist legal academics and activists transmitted and secured their understandings of the relationships between sex, violence and ethno-religious difference within the international legal arena. In doing so, I argue that their participation in the contemporary recognition and narration of sexual injury in a global context both retreads and reconfigures the heated 1980s-era US Sex Wars debates on the workings of gender, sex, race and power.     

Information systems project failure – analysis of causal links using interpretive structural modelling

The analysis of the root causes of information systems project failure has been the subject of intense scrutiny for some time within industry and the academic community. Researchers have developed various models, notions of failure and categorisations to succinctly classify project failure into a set of key factors for organisations and project managers to focus on in their attempts to avoid failure. This study incorporates a technique titled: interpretive structural modelling as the methodology to formalise the relationships between the selected failure factors. This approach is positioned as a mechanism that can yield greater insights into the relationships between the factors surrounding project failure, thereby developing a better understanding of how these relationships can have a bearing on project outcomes. The findings identify key driving variables that are presented as having significant impact on the other factors within the model. A number of variables are also identified as being heavily dependent on other connected factors highlighting that a failure in one or more of these connected factors is likely to result in a failure in one or more of the dependent factors unless timely steps are taken to address these key issues. This research details a number of practical implications for senior management and project managers as well as the academic community. These considerations form an underlying thread within this study as specific practice-related implications are highlighted and discussed throughout the study.     

The role of emotions during the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt in light of repertoires

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role of emotions during the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt in the context of collective level emotions in mobilizations. Emotions are understood as a catalyst whose mechanism of action is performed through repertories. This article seeks to answer how emotions, having a triggering role, are performed through repertoires while accelerating mobilization against authoritarian orders, creating the intersection of individual and collective level emotions in public spheres of Tunisia and Egypt, and thus affecting the transnational diffusion of emotions. The significant reason to address emotions is to explain what stimulated the Arab Spring and how it spread over the region starting from Tunisia and Egypt. This article synthesizes two literatures: International Relations (IR) and social movements studies in light of emotions and components of repertoires which are as follows: collective action, collective identity, symbolic politics, network society and information politics.     

Does Demographic Transition with Human Capital Dynamics Matter for Economic Growth? A Dynamic Panel Data Approach to GMM

Social Indicators Research - This study seeks to empirically investigate whether demographic transition with dynamics of human capital matters for economic growth for a representative sample of...     

Facilitating Transformation in Workforce Training: Using Clinical Theory to Understand Psychological Self-Sufficiency

Acknowledging the scarcity of a bottom up social work practice model in facilitating the development of success in workforce development programs, this study explores Psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) as an emerging social work practice theory. Phenomenological studies of low-income jobseekers in employment training along with the empirical validation of measures of the core constructs of PSS – employment hope scale (EHS) and perceived employment barrier scale (PEBS) – and testing of the theoretical model resulted in the emergence of a new theory of PSS. PSS was conceptually defined as a dynamic and internal drive that activates the process of transforming cognitively and affectively perceived barriers into hope driven action – the process that enables individuals to move forward toward goals. Based on the evidence of PSS, a participant-centered group intervention model called transforming impossible into possible (TIP) program was developed. This article delineates the trajectory of PSS theory development by critically reviewing various streams of practice theories influencing the PSS theory. Next, the conditions that necessitated the creation of the TIP program and its core principles underlying the functions of PSS are explained. By depicting the TIP program with direct quotes of clients’ experiences, authors exemplify the successful self-discovery process through enhanced PSS skills as a result of participating in the TIP program.