University of Notre Dame

About: University of Notre Dame is a education organization based out in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 22238 authors who have published 55201 publications receiving 2032925 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Notre Dame du Lac & University of Notre Dame, South Bend.

SVMs Modeling for Highly Imbalanced Classification

Abstract: Traditional classification algorithms can be limited in their performance on highly unbalanced data sets. A popular stream of work for countering the problem of class imbalance has been the application of a sundry of sampling strategies. In this paper, we focus on designing modifications to support vector machines (SVMs) to appropriately tackle the problem of class imbalance. We incorporate different ldquorebalancerdquo heuristics in SVM modeling, including cost-sensitive learning, and over- and undersampling. These SVM-based strategies are compared with various state-of-the-art approaches on a variety of data sets by using various metrics, including G-mean, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, F-measure, and area under the precision/recall curve. We show that we are able to surpass or match the previously known best algorithms on each data set. In particular, of the four SVM variations considered in this paper, the novel granular SVMs-repetitive undersampling algorithm (GSVM-RU) is the best in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency. GSVM-RU is effective, as it can minimize the negative effect of information loss while maximizing the positive effect of data cleaning in the undersampling process. GSVM-RU is efficient by extracting much less support vectors and, hence, greatly speeding up SVM prediction.

Microvesicles: mediators of extracellular communication during cancer progression

Abstract: Microvesicles are generated by the outward budding and fission of membrane vesicles from the cell surface. Recent studies suggest that microvesicle shedding is a highly regulated process that occurs in a spectrum of cell types and, more frequently, in tumor cells. Microvesicles have been widely detected in various biological fluids including peripheral blood, urine and ascitic fluids, and their function and composition depend on the cells from which they originate. By facilitating the horizontal transfer of bioactive molecules such as proteins, RNAs and microRNAs, they are now thought to have vital roles in tumor invasion and metastases, inflammation, coagulation, and stem-cell renewal and expansion. This Commentary summarizes recent literature on the properties and biogenesis of microvesicles and their potential role in cancer progression.

An Examination of Differences Between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation

Abstract: Organizational legitimacy and organizational reputation have similar antecedents, social construction processes and consequences. Nonetheless, an improved understanding of relationships between legitimacy and reputation requires that differences between the two be specified and clarified. Our examination of past research indicates that legitimacy emphasizes the social acceptance resulting from adherence to social norms and expectations whereas reputation emphasizes comparisons among organizations. We empirically examine two antecedents of the financial, regulatory, and public dimensions of legitimacy and reputation in a population of US commercial banks. We find that isomorphism improves legitimacy, but its effects on reputation depend on the bank's reputation. Moreover, higher financial performance increases reputation, but does not increase the legitimacy of high performing banks.

Ecological forecasts: an emerging imperative.

Abstract: Planning and decision-making can be improved by access to reliable forecasts of ecosystem state, ecosystem services, and natural capital. Availability of new data sets, together with progress in computation and statistics, will increase our ability to forecast ecosystem change. An agenda that would lead toward a capacity to produce, evaluate, and communicate forecasts of critical ecosystem services requires a process that engages scientists and decision-makers. Interdisciplinary linkages are necessary because of the climate and societal controls on ecosystems, the feedbacks involving social change, and the decision-making relevance of forecasts.

Measuring the Macroeconomic Impact of Monetary Policy at the Zero Lower Bound

Abstract: This paper employs an approximation that makes a nonlinear term structure model extremely tractable for analysis of an economy operating near the zero lower bound for interest rates. We show that such a model offers an excellent description of the data compared to the benchmark model and can be used to summarize the macroeconomic effects of unconventional monetary policy. Our estimates imply that the efforts by the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy since July 2009 succeeded in making the unemployment rate in December 2013 1% lower, which is 0.13% more compared to the historical behavior of the Fed.