London (in Cheapside) : Published according to Act of Parliament, by J. Boydell engraver, Sept.r 3rd, 1763.

Springfield, Virginia : National Technical Information Service, 1974.

Yuling Yan, Bret Hanlon, Sebastien Roch, Karl Rohe.

Source: Electronic Journal of Statistics, Volume 14, Number 1, 1577--1610.

Abstract:
Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) collects a sample of individuals in a networked population by incentivizing the sampled individuals to refer their contacts into the sample. This iterative process is initialized from some seed node(s). Sometimes, this selection creates a large amount of seed bias. Other times, the seed bias is small. This paper gains a deeper understanding of this bias by characterizing its effect on the limiting distribution of various RDS estimators. Using classical tools and results from multi-type branching processes [12], we show that the seed bias is negligible for the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) estimator and non-negligible for both the inverse probability weighted and Volz-Heckathorn (VH) estimators. In particular, we show that (i) above a critical threshold, VH converge to a non-trivial mixture distribution, where the mixture component depends on the seed node, and the mixture distribution is possibly multi-modal. Moreover, (ii) GLS converges to a Gaussian distribution independent of the seed node, under a certain condition on the Markov process. Numerical experiments with both simulated data and empirical social networks suggest that these results appear to hold beyond the Markov conditions of the theorems.

Data-driven analysis has been increasingly used in various decision making processes. With more sources, including reviews, news, and pictures, can now be used for data analysis, the authenticity of data sources is in doubt. While previous literature attempted to detect fake data piece by piece, in the current work, we try to capture the fake data sender's strategic behavior to detect the fake data source. Specifically, we model the tension between a data receiver who makes data-driven decisions and a fake data sender who benefits from misleading the receiver. We propose a potentially infinite horizon continuous time game-theoretic model with asymmetric information to capture the fact that the receiver does not initially know the existence of fake data and learns about it during the course of the game. We use point processes to model the data traffic, where each piece of data can occur at any discrete moment in a continuous time flow. We fully solve the model and employ numerical examples to illustrate the players' strategies and payoffs for insights. Specifically, our results show that maintaining some suspicion about the data sources and understanding that the sender can be strategic are very helpful to the data receiver. In addition, based on our model, we propose a methodology of detecting fake data that is complementary to the previous studies on this topic, which suggested various approaches on analyzing the data piece by piece. We show that after analyzing each piece of data, understanding a source by looking at the its whole history of pushing data can be helpful.

Elena Issoglio, Francesco Russo.

Source: Bernoulli, Volume 26, Number 1, 728--766.

Abstract:
In this paper, we investigate BSDEs where the driver contains a distributional term (in the sense of generalised functions) and derive general Feynman–Kac formulae related to these BSDEs. We introduce an integral operator to give sense to the equation and then we show the existence of a strong solution employing results on a related PDE. Due to the irregularity of the driver, the $Y$-component of a couple $(Y,Z)$ solving the BSDE is not necessarily a semimartingale but a weak Dirichlet process.

Mingjie Liang, René L. Schilling, Jian Wang.

Source: Bernoulli, Volume 26, Number 1, 664--693.

Abstract:
We present a general method to construct couplings of stochastic differential equations driven by Lévy noise in terms of coupling operators. This approach covers both coupling by reflection and refined basic coupling which are often discussed in the literature. As applications, we prove regularity results for the transition semigroups and obtain successful couplings for the solutions to stochastic differential equations driven by additive Lévy noise.

Like conventional criminals, criminal hackers choose easy, lucrative targets. One group in the crosshairs is made up of companies that have data on millions of users, such as private sector entities with a Web presence. Why go after one user at a time when data is collected in one place? Criminal hackers also like to hunt small organizations that have modest capital but weak information security.

Traditional views of sensorimotor adaptation (i.e., adaptation of movements to perturbed sensory feedback) emphasize the role of automatic, implicit correction of sensory prediction errors. However, latent memories formed during sensorimotor adaptation, manifest as improved relearning (e.g., savings), have recently been attributed to strategic corrections of task errors (failures to achieve task goals). To dissociate contributions of task errors and sensory prediction errors to latent sensorimotor memories, we perturbed target locations to remove or enforce task errors during learning and/or test, with male/female human participants. Adaptation improved after learning in all conditions where participants were permitted to correct task errors, and did not improve whenever we prevented correction of task errors. Thus, previous correction of task errors was both necessary and sufficient to improve adaptation. In contrast, a history of sensory prediction errors was neither sufficient nor obligatory for improved adaptation. Limiting movement preparation time showed that the latent memories driven by learning to correct task errors take at least two forms: a time-consuming but flexible component, and a rapidly expressible, inflexible component. The results provide strong support for the idea that movement corrections driven by a failure to successfully achieve movement goals underpin motor memories that manifest as savings. Such persistent memories are not exclusively mediated by time-consuming strategic processes but also comprise a rapidly expressible but inflexible component. The distinct characteristics of these putative processes suggest dissociable underlying mechanisms, and imply that identification of the neural basis for adaptation and savings will require methods that allow such dissociations.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Latent motor memories formed during sensorimotor adaptation manifest as improved adaptation when sensorimotor perturbations are reencountered. Conflicting theories suggest that this "savings" is underpinned by different mechanisms, including a memory of successful actions, a memory of errors, or an aiming strategy to correct task errors. Here we show that learning to correct task errors is sufficient to show improved subsequent adaptation with respect to naive performance, even when tested in the absence of task errors. In contrast, a history of sensory prediction errors is neither sufficient nor obligatory for improved adaptation. Finally, we show that latent sensorimotor memories driven by task errors comprise at least two distinct components: a time-consuming, flexible component, and a rapidly expressible, inflexible component.

Reward has a remarkable ability to invigorate motor behavior, enabling individuals to select and execute actions with greater precision and speed. However, if reward is to be exploited in applied settings, such as rehabilitation, a thorough understanding of its underlying mechanisms is required. In a series of experiments, we first demonstrate that reward simultaneously improves the selection and execution components of a reaching movement. Specifically, reward promoted the selection of the correct action in the presence of distractors, while also improving execution through increased speed and maintenance of accuracy. These results led to a shift in the speed-accuracy functions for both selection and execution. In addition, punishment had a similar impact on action selection and execution, although it enhanced execution performance across all trials within a block, that is, its impact was noncontingent to trial value. Although the reward-driven enhancement of movement execution has been proposed to occur through enhanced feedback control, an untested possibility is that it is also driven by increased arm stiffness, an energy-consuming process that enhances limb stability. Computational analysis revealed that reward led to both an increase in feedback correction in the middle of the movement and a reduction in motor noise near the target. In line with our hypothesis, we provide novel evidence that this noise reduction is driven by a reward-dependent increase in arm stiffness. Therefore, reward drives multiple error-reduction mechanisms which enable individuals to invigorate motor performance without compromising accuracy.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT While reward is well-known for enhancing motor performance, how the nervous system generates these improvements is unclear. Despite recent work indicating that reward leads to enhanced feedback control, an untested possibility is that it also increases arm stiffness. We demonstrate that reward simultaneously improves the selection and execution components of a reaching movement. Furthermore, we show that punishment has a similar positive impact on performance. Importantly, by combining computational and biomechanical approaches, we show that reward leads to both improved feedback correction and an increase in stiffness. Therefore, reward drives multiple error-reduction mechanisms which enable individuals to invigorate performance without compromising accuracy. This work suggests that stiffness control plays a vital, and underappreciated, role in the reward-based imporvemenets in motor control.

FAO’s emergency programme to support farmers affected by severe flooding in northern Benin includes creating resilience among communities in order to avert further threats to their livelihoods and food security. Farming families in northern Benin lost crops, livestock and fishing grounds when the Niger River overran its banks in August, just as many villagers were trying to recover from previous floods [...]

Police say efforts to find the driver of an abandoned car in Kings County last week likely saved his life.

Even though this year's food truck season is looking dicey, Tyler Schmidt says he's doing his best to find business where he can.

A New Zealand mail carrier made it her mission to deliver a package that was vaguely addressed to "Phil and Kay," located "opposite Cust pub or thereabouts."

An Essex County OPP officer has been slapped with a cut in pay because of "inexplicable" investigative delays into a fatal collision, allowing the at-fault driver to "evade criminal prosecution."

As British Columbians maintain physical distancing recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Easter celebrations will have to change. In Kamloops, B.C., organizations are working to make sure Easter is as fun and social as it can be. 

In this country, where the dank, grim days of winter are as short as a resigned sigh, the onset of some decent, dry spring weather doesn’t half raise the morale. Well, it would if the coronavirus wasn’t lurking all over the parish.

A district reading intervention specialist explains how she makes sense of a sea of data to foster more proficient readers.

Balls up

Most states require driver education (DE) for novice drivers, and several recent substantial efforts have sought to realign DE with the aim of producing safer drivers. However, teen participation rates and how they differ among relevant subgroups remain unknown.

This study provides national estimates of teen driver participation in formal DE, a recognized gap in the literature, and identifies disparities in behind-the-wheel training among certain racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender groups, particularly in jurisdictions without a DE requirement. (Read the full article)

Motor vehicle crashes, heavy drinking, and drug use are serious, interactive health concerns for the teenage population. Teenage alcohol-impaired driving behaviors are associated with heavy drinking, parenting practices, and exposure to drinking and driving.

Earliness of exposure to alcohol/drug impaired driving (DWI) and early licensure were independent risk factors for teenage DWI. A strong, positive dose-response existed between DWI and amount of prior exposure to DWI in the form of riding with an impaired driver. (Read the full article)

Approximately 20% of US child passenger deaths involve an alcohol-impaired driver, typically in the child’s own vehicle. The higher the blood alcohol concentration of a driver, the more likely his or her child passenger was unrestrained in the fatal crash.

The risk of a child passenger dying while being transported with an alcohol-impaired driver varies meaningfully across states. These state-specific rates may help to inform renewed prevention efforts. (Read the full article)

We go back to UEFA EURO 2004 as Maniche recalls his memorable semi-final strike.

The JSE fell on Tuesday as global markets tumbled on the back of a rout in crude oil prices.

Loading and running Windows 10 from a USB drive is a handy option when you're using a computer saddled with an older version of Windows.

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides can already be saved and edited offline using the web app, but Google is expanding offline access to all file types, as long as you're using Chrome.

Alongside a new protected area of storage, OneDrive and Office 365 storage options are changing for the better.

Capacities range from 2TB right up to 12TB, with the P50 Game Drive boasting a 'first-to-industry' USB 3.2 gen 2x2 connection and 2,000MB/s read speeds.

You don't have to fork over a bunch of cash to get a bunch of storage. PNY flash drives, SD cards, and portable drives are on sale at Amazon, with prices starting as low as $5.84.

The 8TB SSD prototype includes SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps support; WD also showed off a portable Luxe drive with USB-C and five WD_Black drives for console and PC gamers

How a public research event can bring education stakeholders together to discuss important early education issues.

By providing instant torque to all four wheels you can drive as normal in all conditions according to Nissan, while also feeling like you're in a sports car.

A soundwave is saved from a voice recording, converted into a circular pattern, and then used for the indentations on 3D-printed wheel nuts and keys.

The 'accelerator suppression function' is a new safety feature which ignores accelerator pedal input if the car thinks the driver pressed it by mistake.

A popular 32-inch Dell 1080p IPS monitor is back at $150, the 2TB Seagate expansion is only $55, and the Netgear Arlo Pro 2 four-camera kit is just $400.

Seagate's FireCuda Gaming SSD and BarraCuda Fast SSD will appeal to those looking for a convenient way to give their laptop a boost, starting at less than $100.

Sexual assault kit testing initiative generates rape conviction; Child sexual abuse, armed robbery also lead to guilty pleas An employee of the state Division of Motor Vehicles and a man who bribed her have pleaded guilty to issuing drivers’ licenses to people who hadn’t earned them. Danielle Haldeman, 29, of Greenwood, who worked at the […]

DelDOT and the Department of Agriculture are urging Delaware drivers to be alert for the presence of agricultural equipment on roads and to practice safe road-sharing techniques when encountering them. The state is the midst of harvest season and farmers are moving large tractors, trailers, trucks and other large equipment on state roads as they move between fields or to equipment staging areas.

Agency: DOT Closing Date: 6/4/2020

The Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens (GACEC) and its community partners, are pleased to report that the Heart 2 Heart Hugs campaign has now begun. Heart 2 Heart Hugs is focused on providing warmth, comfort, hugs and smiles for kids and young adults in Delaware who are homeless or in foster care. Donations of […]

NEW CASTLE (May 15, 2019) – During Supervised Visitation Awareness Month, the Department of Health and Social Services’ Office of Community Services is conducting a toy drive to provide new toys, books and games for use at Delaware’s six Family Visitation Centers (FVCs). Through June 10, drop-off bins will be located at all State Service […]

A driver of a Porsche Boxster was forced to do squats while holding his ears by Indore Police when he ventured out in his convertible sportscar during the lockdown.

Road mishaps cost India 3-5% of its gross domestic product every year. India amounts to one percent of the vehicles across the world, yet it contributes almost 6% of the road fatalities on the road.

Campaign Launches Before July 4th Holiday FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Cynthia Cavett, Marketing Specialist & Public Information Officer Delaware Office of Highway Safety Cynthia.Cavett@delaware.gov 302-744-2743 DOVER, De. (July 1, 2019) – The Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is partnering with the Delaware State Police and local law enforcement statewide for the national summer […]

With the 4th of July holiday approaching, DelDOT advises motorist to expect heavy traffic volumes on roads throughout the state this week, with Wednesday, July 3, expected to be the day with the heaviest traffic. AAA is forecasting a record-breaking 48.9 million Americans will travel this Independence Day, an increase of more than four percent […]

While the third-party (TP) premium depends on your vehicle’s cubic capacity (CC), the motor own-damage is calculated basis the RTO/city you reside in and the make year and model of your car.

The recently introduced Scout variant of the Skoda Kodiaq in India comes with several visual updates which provide it with a unique appearance over the Style and L&K trims. In addition to this, it comes with a new off-road mode which promises to make this SUV more capable on the beaten path. In this video, […]

Volkswagen recently gave the Polo a facelift in India. While those changes can be labelled as minor, it hasn’t tinkered with the tried and tested formula – the powertrain. It is this combination along with the Polo’s bias towards handling that make it such a joy to drive.