Improved Transferability of Data‐Driven Damage Models Through Sample Selection Bias Correction

Damage models for natural hazards are used for decision making on reducing and transferring risk. The damage estimates from these models depend on many variables and their complex sometimes nonlinear relationships with the damage. In recent years, data‐driven modeling techniques have been used to capture those relationships. The available data to build such models are often limited. Therefore, in practice it is usually necessary to transfer models to a different context. In this article, we show that this implies the samples used to build the model are often not fully representative for the situation where they need to be applied on, which leads to a “sample selection bias.” In this article, we enhance data‐driven damage models by applying methods, not previously applied to damage modeling, to correct for this bias before the machine learning (ML) models are trained. We demonstrate this with case studies on flooding in Europe, and typhoon wind damage in the Philippines. Two sample selection bias correction methods from the ML literature are applied and one of these methods is also adjusted to our problem. These three methods are combined with stochastic generation of synthetic damage data. We demonstrate that for both case studies, the sample selection bias correction techniques reduce model errors, especially for the mean bias error this reduction can be larger than 30%. The novel combination with stochastic data generation seems to enhance these techniques. This shows that sample selection bias correction methods are beneficial for damage model transfer.     

Deaf and disabled? (Un)Employment of deaf people in Belgium: a comparison of eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century cohorts

In this article, the employment characteristics of pre-industrial and industrial cohorts of deaf men and women are compared with each other, as well as with a cohort of non-disabled siblings. The aim is to determine the extent to which the employment patterns of deaf persons lined up with those of non-disabled people and to see how nineteenth-century industrialization processes influenced their employment opportunities. This article challenges the widely held assumption that the nineteenth century constituted a definitive break by arguing that the professional lives of deaf people were not necessarily better before industrialization. Moreover, I demonstrate that the development of deaf schools in the course of the nineteenth century opened a new range of career opportunities for deaf individuals.     

舟山灯塔历史概述

灯塔一般位于海岸、港口或河道，用以指引船只的航行方向。灯塔大都类似塔的形状，透过塔顶的透镜系统，将光芒射向海面或河面照明。舟山地处我国大陆海岸线中部，长江口南侧，杭州湾外缘东海洋面上，自古有“江浙之门户，四明之藩篱”之称，历史上就为中国重要的海上贸易通道。为保障海上航行安全，舟山很早就设立导航设施，到清晚期，随着航线的日益繁忙以及导航技术的发展，舟山设立了众多的近代灯塔，这些灯塔大多保留完整，其数量之多，密度之高，在全国首屈一指。     

Decision‐making under uncertainty in child protection: Creating a just and learning culture

The argument is made for having a positive error culture in child protection to improve decision‐making and risk management. This requires organizations to accept that mistakes are likely and to treat them as opportunities for learning and improving. In contrast, in many organizations, a punitive reaction to errors leads to workers hiding them and developing a defensive approach to their practice with children and families. The safety management literature has shown how human error is generally not simply due to a “bad apple” but made more or less likely by the work context that helps or hinders good performance. Improving safety requires learning about the weaknesses in the organization that contribute to poor performance. To create a learning culture, people need to feel that when they talk about mistakes or weak practice, there will be a constructive response from their organization. One aspect of reducing the blame culture is to develop a shared understanding of how practice will be judged and how those appraising practice will avoid the hindsight bias. To facilitate a positive error culture, a set of risk principles are presented that offer a set of criteria by which practice should be appraised.     

论历史演义的虚构性

明清时期对历史演义的性质存在着争议,有些评论家认为历史演义是正史的通俗版,因而极力反对在历史演义中进行虚构。但大量的创作实践证明,为了增强作品的可读性,历史演义不可能句句依傍正史,必然在细节描写、心理刻画、语言描写、环境烘托等方面进行虚构,从而使历史演义成为虚实结合的历史小说。     

The University: An Agent of Social Change?

Can universities be agents of progressive social change? How would we know if a university was acting as an agent of social change? Drawing on four case studies, I raise a number of questions to problematize our understanding of the university as an agent of social change. I outline a number of contributing factors that appear to explain successful cases. I conclude by arguing the relevancy of these cases for larger, and more traditional, sociological projects.     

Challenges to Connecting Sociology and Service Learning

Service-learning programs are not free from challenges brought about by lack of financial support, lack of widespread commitment from professors, community agencies, and recipients of service, and lack of knowledge and insight in students directly involved in such programs. While service-learning initiatives and programs serve positive functions for organizations and individuals, rhetorical accolades for service learning can distort or omit the realities of program implementation and sustained delivery. This paper specifically explores the following challenges connected to service-learning programs: (1) pedagogical difficulties; (2) student limitations; (3) time constraints; and (4) community cooperation.     

英美TEFL的历史及其特征

本文简述了英美两国把英语作为外语教学(TEFL)的历史,并就英美两国的一些语言学家对于TEFL的贡献作了较详尽的描述。本文还谈及英美两国TEFL的历史特征,其中最重要的是语言学理论的研究在TEFL中的应用。     

关于高校办公室网络化管理的思考

随着科学技术和高等教育的发展,网络也广泛运用于高校办公室的管理工作,并在其中起着重要的作用。     

构建现代远程开放教育考试体系初探

现代远程开放教育是基于以学习者为中心的开放学习和个别化学习。我们应从素质教育的培养目标出发 ,依据现代考试测量理论 ,利用现代科技手段 ,建立现代远程开放教育考试体系 ,客观、准确地评价学习者的进步状况以及在学识、能力等方面达到的水平 ,使学习者在学习过程中不断自我完善 ,培养他们积极进取的精神