A simple proof is given for the monotonicity of entropy and Fisher information associated to sums of i.i.d. random variables. The proof relies on a characterization of maximal correlation for partial sums due to Dembo, Kagan and Shepp.

This paper gives an overview of the INEX 2010 Ad Hoc Track. The main goals of the Ad Hoc Track were three-fold. The first goal was to study focused retrieval under resource restricted conditions such as a small screen mobile device or a document summary on a hitlist. This leads to variants of the focused retrieval tasks that address the impact of result length/reading effort, thinking of focuse...

In the realm of causativization, the traditional tension between explaining crosslinguistic variation while maintaining that a phenomenon has a common universal source can be stated specifically as follows: how can we explain the fact that if a certain type of verb causativizes in both languages A and B, the derived predicate usually has the same syntactic and semantic properties, while also ac...

Scatterplots have been in use for about two centuries, primarily for observing the relationship between two variables and commonly for supporting correlation analysis. In this paper, we report an empirical study that examines how humans’ perception of correlation using scatterplots relates to the Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient (PPMCC) – a commonly used statistical measure of c...

In geriatrics, driving cessation is addressed within the biopsychosocial model. This has broadened the scope of practitioners, not only in terms of assessing fitness to drive, but also by helping to maintain social engagements and provide support for transport transition. Causes can be addressed at different levels by adapting medication, improving physical health, modifying behaviour, adapting...

In Part I soliton solutions to the ABS list of multi-dimensionally consistent difference equations (except Q4) were derived using connection between the Q3 equation and the NQC equations, and then by reductions. In that work central role was played by a Cauchy matrix. In this work we use a different approach, we derive the N -soliton solutions following Hirota’s direct and constructive method. ...

I welcome the chance to revisit my review of Making Things Happen and the book itself (Woodward 2003; Strevens 2007) in the light of Woodward’s response to the review (henceforth “Woodward’s reply”). In what follows I hope to provide a surer footing for some of the claims made in the original review, to address the new definition of unrelativized causation proposed in Woodward’s reply, and to e...

Exploring biological meaning from microarray data is very important but remains a great challenge. Here, we developed three new statistics: linear combination test, quadratic test and de-correlation test to identify differentially expressed pathways from gene expression profile. We apply our statistics to two rheumatoid arthritis datasets. Notably, our results reveal three significant pathways ...

However, philosophers now have no excuse for overlooking the important developments in this approach. For Judea Pearl in his landmark work (2000) has developed a theory that applies the structural equations approach to token-causation. Subsequently, in collaboration with David Halpern (2001), he has extended and simplified the theory. More recently, Christopher Hitchcock has written a series of...

Classical debates, recently rejoined, rage over the question of whether we want our political outcomes to be right or whether we want them to be fair. Democracy can be (and has been) justified in either way, or both at once. For epistemic democrats, the aim of democracy is to "track the truth." 1 For them, democracy is more desirable than alternative forms of decision-making because, and insofa...