Parameter estimation for agenda-based user simulation

This paper presents an agenda-based user simulator which has been extended to be trainable on real data with the aim of more closely modelling the complex rational behaviour exhibited by real users. The train-able part is formed by a set of random decision points that may be encountered during the process of receiving a system act and responding with a user act. A sample-based method is presented for using real user data to estimate the parameters that control these decisions. Evaluation results are given both in terms of statistics of generated user behaviour and the quality of policies trained with different simulators. Compared to a handcrafted simulator, the trained system provides a much better fit to corpus data and evaluations suggest that this better fit should result in improved dialogue performance. © 2010 Association for Computational Linguistics.

Meeting Minutes July 7th, 1972

The first "business arising out of the minutes" is a protest made by Mr. W.R. Barnes concerning action taken at a previous meeting by the Directors. In the meeting in February, he had been replaced as Vice-President after 20 years in the role and 38 years as a Director. His record of attendance was called into question and would be discussed and shown at the next meeting. The second issue discussed is the "proposal with respect to purchasing the assets of the Corporation". A letter was received from F.L. Laundry Real Estate Limited with interest from a Central European client in "acquiring the assets of the Corporation, and indicating that if the circumstances warranted, a figure of 3.5 millions would not be beyond their capabilities". The offer would be explored by the solicitor. The next agenda item discusses was the Sault Ste. Marie store. Another issue discussed was the "Withdrawal from Valley Rouge Wines Limited".

An agenda for the European Council: feasible steps to bring the eurozone back from the precipice. CEPS Policy Brief No. 274, 20 June 2012

In the run-up to the emergency European Council meeting at the end of June, Stefano Micossi outlines in this Policy Brief the main elements of a realistic and yet incisive policy package, capable of reassuring financial markets and a bewildered public opinion. It is more than Germany has been willing to accept so far but much less than many of the demands it will confront at the Council meeting. More importantly, it only requires a minimum of additional disbursements by the member states, while strengthening risk-sharing for sovereign and banking risks.

Putting the Canal on the map: Panamanian agenda-setting and the 1973 Security Council meetings

In the early 1970s, Panama’s negotiations with the United States over the status of the Panama Canal ground to a standstill. General Omar Torrijos had rejected treaties left unratified by previous governments only to receive a less generous offer from the Nixon administration. Realizing that the talks were being ignored in Washington, the Panamanian government worked to internationalize the previously bilateral issue, creating and exploiting a high-profile forum: Extraordinary meetings of the UN Security Council in March 1973 held in Panama City. In those meetings, Panama isolated the United States in order to raise the issue’s profile and amplify the costs of leaving the matter unsettled. Using underutilized Panamanian sources, this article examines that meeting, the succeeding progress, and the effect of this early stage on the final negotiations several years later. The case also illustrates how, during the unsettled international environment of the 1970s, a small state utilized international organizations to obtain attention and support for its most important cause.

Residential housing and the green agenda

Australia’s residential development industry is at least superficially embracing environmental and sustainability issues in urban design. Rapidly emerging use of recycled water, lower impact outfalls, the use of roof water and water sensitive design for both housing and landscapes are all trends of interest to the property profession. There is particular interest in the cost of meeting end-user, local Government, State Government and development industry expectations for a green agenda for the residential sector.

Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013 : a report from the third annual meeting of the International Medulloblastoma Working Group.

Medulloblastoma is curable in approximately 70% of patients. Over the past decade, progress in improving survival using conventional therapies has stalled, resulting in reduced quality of life due to treatment-related side effects, which are a major concern in survivors. The vast amount of genomic and molecular data generated over the last 5-10 years encourages optimism that improved risk stratification and new molecular targets will improve outcomes. It is now clear that medulloblastoma is not a single-disease entity, but instead consists of at least four distinct molecular subgroups: WNT/Wingless, Sonic Hedgehog, Group 3, and Group 4. The Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013 meeting, which convened at Bunker Bay, Australia, brought together 50 leading clinicians and scientists. The 2-day agenda included focused sessions on pathology and molecular stratification, genomics and mouse models, high-throughput drug screening, and clinical trial design. The meeting established a global action plan to translate novel biologic insights and drug targeting into treatment regimens to improve outcomes. A consensus was reached in several key areas, with the most important being that a novel classification scheme for medulloblastoma based on the four molecular subgroups, as well as histopathologic features, should be presented for consideration in the upcoming fifth edition of the World Health Organization's classification of tumours of the central nervous system. Three other notable areas of agreement were as follows: (1) to establish a central repository of annotated mouse models that are readily accessible and freely available to the international research community; (2) to institute common eligibility criteria between the Children's Oncology Group and the International Society of Paediatric Oncology Europe and initiate joint or parallel clinical trials; (3) to share preliminary high-throughput screening data across discovery labs to hasten the development of novel therapeutics. Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013 was an effective forum for meaningful discussion, which resulted in enhancing international collaborative clinical and translational research of this rare disease. This template could be applied to other fields to devise global action plans addressing all aspects of a disease, from improved disease classification, treatment stratification, and drug targeting to superior treatment regimens to be assessed in cooperative international clinical trials.

Neighborhood environmental attributes and adults' sedentary behaviors: review and research agenda

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity recommendations are beginning to address sedentary behaviors - time spent sitting. Environmental and policy initiatives for physical activity might assist in addressing sedentary behaviors, but sedentary-specific innovations may be required. This review synthesizes current evidence on associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with adults' sedentary behaviors. METHODS: A search was conducted using three electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Transport Research Information Services). Relevant articles were assessed for their eligibility for inclusion (English-language articles with a quantitative examination of associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with adults' sedentary behaviors). RESULTS: Within 17 studies meeting inclusion criteria, associations of environmental attributes with sedentary behaviors were examined in 89 instances. Significant associations were found in 28% (n=25) of them; however, non-significant associations were found in 56% (n=50) of these instances. The most consistent association was for lower levels of sedentary behavior among residents of urban compared to regional areas. CONCLUSIONS: There is a modest but mixed initial evidence in associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with adults' sedentary behaviors. A research agenda required for this emerging field should include the development of more relevant conceptual models, measuring domain-specific sedentary behavior objectively, examining environments in close vicinity of and a larger area around home, and the use of prospective designs.

5th BRICS Trade and Economic Research Network (TERN) meeting: the impact of mega agreements on BRICS

The BRICS TERN – BRICS Trade and Economics Research Network is a group of independent research institutes established four years ago by five think tanks from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The main objective of the network is to study different aspects of trade and economic relations amongst these five countries. The purpose of the V BRICS TERN Meeting was to analyze and debate the effects of the negotiations of the Mega Agreements, mainly those initiated by the US and the EU, already in negotiation, to each of the BRICS Trade Policies. Both Mega Agreements were examined – the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The studies included the main impacts on trade flows and on the international trade rules system, respecting the perspective of each of the countries concerned. This workshop was an initiative of the Center for Global Trade and Investments (CGTI), a think-tank on International Trade held by FGV Sao Paulo School of Economics. Its main objective is the research on trade regulation, preferential trade agreements, trade and currency, trade and global value chains, through legal analysis and economic modelling. One of its main researches, now, is on the potential economic and legal impacts of the Mega Agreements on Brazil and WTO rules. This meeting was organized in March14, 2014, in Rio de Janeiro, in a perfect timing for introducing such issues in the international agenda, in advance of the 6th BRICS Summit scheduled to be held in Brazil in July 2014.

Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Follow-up to the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015 and to Rio+20

Includes bibliography