Forecasting outcomes in tennis matches using within-match betting markets

Klaassen and Magnus (2003) provide a model of the probability of a given player winning a tennis match, with the prediction updated on a point-by-point basis. This paper provides a point-by-point comparison of that model with the probability of a given player winning the match, as implied by betting odds. The predictions implied by the betting odds match the model predictions closely, with an extremely high correlation being found between the model and the betting market. The results for both men’s and women’s matches also suggest that there is a high level of efficiency in the betting market, demonstrating that betting markets are a good predictor of the outcomes of tennis matches. The significance of service breaks and service being held is anticipated up to four points prior to the end of the game. However, the tendency of players to lose more points than would be expected after conceding a break of service is not captured instantaneously in betting odds. In contrast, there is no evidence of a biased reaction to a player winning a game on service.

The international match: Metaphors as vehicles of social identity building in cross-border mergers

This article focuses on cultural identity-building in the cross-border merger context. To provide an alternative to the dominant essentialist analyses of cultures and cultural differences, cultural identitybuilding is conceptualized as a metaphoric process. The focus is on two processes inherent in the cross-border merger context: construction of images of Us and Them and construction of images of a Common Future. Based on an analysis of a special metaphor exercise carried out in a recent Finnish–Swedish merger, the article illustrates how the metaphoric perspective reveals specific cognitive, emotional and political aspects of cultural identity-building that easily remain ‘hidden’ in the case of more traditional approaches.

Believe it or Not! Multicore CPUs can Match GPUs for FLOP-intensive Applications

In this work, we evaluate performance of a real-world image processing application that uses a cross-correlation algorithm to compare a given image with a reference one. The algorithm processes individual images represented as 2-dimensional matrices of single-precision floating-point values using O(n4) operations involving dot-products and additions. We implement this algorithm on a nVidia GTX 285 GPU using CUDA, and also parallelize it for the Intel Xeon (Nehalem) and IBM Power7 processors, using both manual and automatic techniques. Pthreads and OpenMP with SSE and VSX vector intrinsics are used for the manually parallelized version, while a state-of-the-art optimization framework based on the polyhedral model is used for automatic compiler parallelization and optimization. The performance of this algorithm on the nVidia GPU suffers from: (1) a smaller shared memory, (2) unaligned device memory access patterns, (3) expensive atomic operations, and (4) weaker single-thread performance. On commodity multi-core processors, the application dataset is small enough to fit in caches, and when parallelized using a combination of task and short-vector data parallelism (via SSE/VSX) or through fully automatic optimization from the compiler, the application matches or beats the performance of the GPU version. The primary reasons for better multi-core performance include larger and faster caches, higher clock frequency, higher on-chip memory bandwidth, and better compiler optimization and support for parallelization. The best performing versions on the Power7, Nehalem, and GTX 285 run in 1.02s, 1.82s, and 1.75s, respectively. These results conclusively demonstrate that, under certain conditions, it is possible for a FLOP-intensive structured application running on a multi-core processor to match or even beat the performance of an equivalent GPU version.

Broadband high-gain optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification near 780 nm with LBO-I near-degenerate near-collinear phase match

Near-degenerative near-collinear phase-match geometry for broadband optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) at approximate to 780 nm is calculated in comparison with nondegenerate noncollinear phase-match geometry. In an experiment on LBO-I near-degenerate near-collinear OPCPA, high gain with broad gain bandwidth (approximate to 71 nm, FWHM) at approximate to 780 nm is achieved by using an approximate to 390-nm pumping pulse. The stretched broadband chirped signal pulse near 780 nm is amplified to approximate to 412 mu J with a pumping energy of approximate to 15 mJ, and the total gain is > 3.7 X 10(6), which agrees well with the calculation. For a broadband (covering approximate to 100 nm) chirped signal pulse, the theoretical gain bandwidth has been attained experimentally for the first time. (c) 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Broadband high-gain optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification near 780 nm with LBO-I near-degenerate near-collinear phase match

Near-degenerative near-collinear phase-match geometry for broadband optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) at approximate to 780 nm is calculated in comparison with nondegenerate noncollinear phase-match geometry. In an experiment on LBO-I near-degenerate near-collinear OPCPA, high gain with broad gain bandwidth (approximate to 71 nm, FWHM) at approximate to 780 nm is achieved by using an approximate to 390-nm pumping pulse. The stretched broadband chirped signal pulse near 780 nm is amplified to approximate to 412 mu J with a pumping energy of approximate to 15 mJ, and the total gain is > 3.7 X 10(6), which agrees well with the calculation. For a broadband (covering approximate to 100 nm) chirped signal pulse, the theoretical gain bandwidth has been attained experimentally for the first time. (c) 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Theoretical research on noncollinear match conditions of the type I optical parametric process

Broad bandwidth group match conditions are reported for a noncollinear type I optical parametric process. The theoretical calculations corresponding to two special situations in practice were made, respectively, which are in accordance with the published experimental results. Furthermore, we provide a method to not only achieve maximal parametric bandwidth output but also match the group velocities between three waves. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

Beam match and preparation of SFC-CSR

In order to match the beam from the injection machine SFC of the HIRFL to the main ring of HIRFL-CSR, both beam emittance confining method and beam energy spread reducing method are proposed. The beam preparation principles and calculation results are presented

基于I-Match算法的垃圾邮件过滤研究

电子邮件(Electronic Mail，E-Mail)是目前使用最广泛的互联网应用。随着互联网络以惊人的速度增长，电子邮件成为发布恶意信息的一个重要途径，垃圾邮件已经成为危害互联网络的最大毒瘤。针对方式多样的垃圾邮件技术，垃圾邮件过滤系统往往也需要综合多种过滤技术以提高系统的有效性。其中摘要技术已经成为重要的垃圾邮件过滤方法之一：通过摘要技术判断一个邮件和已知垃圾邮件的相似度，从而对邮件进行分类。判断一个垃圾邮件过滤算法是否有效，要综合考虑算法的召回率、准确率以及时间性能。I-Match算法通过摘要值的精确匹配来判断两个邮件文本内容是否相似，算法在效率方面表现突出。但是I-Match算法在实际的应用中还存在很多问题，其中包括字典生成制约算法的性能以及面对攻击时算法表现出的鲁棒性不足。因此，优化算法的字典生成过程以及提高算法的鲁棒性成了算法应用于实际系统的两个重要问题。本文的主要工作包含以下内容： 对垃圾邮件进行相似性分析，包括垃圾邮件相似性的起因、垃圾邮件在时间和内容两方面所表现出的相似性特征。垃圾邮件体现出的相似性特征是使用摘要算法进行垃圾邮件过滤的必要条件之一。 改进I-Match算法的字典生成过程。提出利用特征的互信息作为特征选择依据改进字典生成过程，并对比几种不同的特征选择方式对算法性能的影响。 分析I-Match算法的鲁棒性以及几种I-Match改进算法对算法鲁棒性的提升，在实际的邮件语料上对各种改进算法进行评测，并综合分析各个算法的实用性。 完成了KSpam系统原型，以插件的形式综合多种邮件过滤方法，并给出了I-Match算法在KSpam系统中的实现方案。同时，系统实现了一种新式的邮件自动回收功能，有效减少邮件管理员的邮件语料收集工作。

Efeito do inseticida Match e sua interação com os inimigos naturais no controle de Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797), na cultura do milho.

2005

Strategy-proofness versus Efficiency in Matching with Indifferences: Redesigning the NYC High School Match

The design of the New York City (NYC) high school match involved trade-offs among efficiency, stability, and strategy-proofness that raise new theoretical questions. We analyze a model with indifferences-ties-in school preferences. Simulations with field data and the theory favor breaking indifferences the same way at every school-single tiebreaking-in a student-proposing deferred acceptance mechanism. Any inefficiency associated with a realized tiebreaking cannot be removed without harming student incentives. Finally, we empirically document the extent of potential efficiency loss associated with strategy-proofness and stability, and direct attention to some open questions. (JEL C78, D82, I21).

A written assessment is an invalid test of numeracy skills

Nurses need good clinical numeracy skills to aid them in their clinical practice. There is some concern, however, that the calculation skills learned during pre-registration nurse education have little practical application to nurses. This article discusses the Fitness for Practice initiatives from the Nursing and Midwifery Council which aim to ensure new registrants are numerate. The article argues that written numeracy assessment tools are not a valid test of the numeracy skills candidates will require for clinical practice and that nurse education needs to focus on researching and examining how best to support, assess and develop the numeracy skills of nursing students within their clinical practice placements to ensure that at the point of registration they are fit for practice.