Sample records for absolute deviation neural

  1. Introducing the Mean Absolute Deviation "Effect" Size

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gorard, Stephen

    2015-01-01

    This paper revisits the use of effect sizes in the analysis of experimental and similar results, and reminds readers of the relative advantages of the mean absolute deviation as a measure of variation, as opposed to the more complex standard deviation. The mean absolute deviation is easier to use and understand, and more tolerant of extreme…

  2. Forecasting Error Calculation with Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khair, Ummul; Fahmi, Hasanul; Hakim, Sarudin Al; Rahim, Robbi

    2017-12-01

    Prediction using a forecasting method is one of the most important things for an organization, the selection of appropriate forecasting methods is also important but the percentage error of a method is more important in order for decision makers to adopt the right culture, the use of the Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error to calculate the percentage of mistakes in the least square method resulted in a percentage of 9.77% and it was decided that the least square method be worked for time series and trend data.

  3. Neural Sensitivity to Absolute and Relative Anticipated Reward in Adolescents

    PubMed Central

    Vaidya, Jatin G.; Knutson, Brian; O'Leary, Daniel S.; Block, Robert I.; Magnotta, Vincent

    2013-01-01

    Adolescence is associated with a dramatic increase in risky and impulsive behaviors that have been attributed to developmental differences in neural processing of rewards. In the present study, we sought to identify age differences in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards. To do so, we modified a commonly used monetary incentive delay (MID) task in order to examine brain activity to relative anticipated reward value (neural sensitivity to the value of a reward as a function of other available rewards). This design also made it possible to examine developmental differences in brain activation to absolute anticipated reward magnitude (the degree to which neural activity increases with increasing reward magnitude). While undergoing fMRI, 18 adolescents and 18 adult participants were presented with cues associated with different reward magnitudes. After the cue, participants responded to a target to win money on that trial. Presentation of cues was blocked such that two reward cues associated with $.20, $1.00, or $5.00 were in play on a given block. Thus, the relative value of the $1.00 reward varied depending on whether it was paired with a smaller or larger reward. Reflecting age differences in neural responses to relative anticipated reward (i.e., reference dependent processing), adults, but not adolescents, demonstrated greater activity to a $1 reward when it was the larger of the two available rewards. Adults also demonstrated a more linear increase in ventral striatal activity as a function of increasing absolute reward magnitude compared to adolescents. Additionally, reduced ventral striatal sensitivity to absolute anticipated reward (i.e., the difference in activity to medium versus small rewards) correlated with higher levels of trait Impulsivity. Thus, ventral striatal activity in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards develops with age. Absolute reward processing is also linked to individual differences in Impulsivity. PMID:23544046

  4. Large Deviations for Nonlocal Stochastic Neural Fields

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    We study the effect of additive noise on integro-differential neural field equations. In particular, we analyze an Amari-type model driven by a Q-Wiener process, and focus on noise-induced transitions and escape. We argue that proving a sharp Kramers’ law for neural fields poses substantial difficulties, but that one may transfer techniques from stochastic partial differential equations to establish a large deviation principle (LDP). Then we demonstrate that an efficient finite-dimensional approximation of the stochastic neural field equation can be achieved using a Galerkin method and that the resulting finite-dimensional rate function for the LDP can have a multiscale structure in certain cases. These results form the starting point for an efficient practical computation of the LDP. Our approach also provides the technical basis for further rigorous study of noise-induced transitions in neural fields based on Galerkin approximations. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 60F10, 60H15, 65M60, 92C20. PMID:24742297

  5. Neural network versus classical time series forecasting models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nor, Maria Elena; Safuan, Hamizah Mohd; Shab, Noorzehan Fazahiyah Md; Asrul, Mohd; Abdullah, Affendi; Mohamad, Nurul Asmaa Izzati; Lee, Muhammad Hisyam

    2017-05-01

    Artificial neural network (ANN) has advantage in time series forecasting as it has potential to solve complex forecasting problems. This is because ANN is data driven approach which able to be trained to map past values of a time series. In this study the forecast performance between neural network and classical time series forecasting method namely seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models was being compared by utilizing gold price data. Moreover, the effect of different data preprocessing on the forecast performance of neural network being examined. The forecast accuracy was evaluated using mean absolute deviation, root mean square error and mean absolute percentage error. It was found that ANN produced the most accurate forecast when Box-Cox transformation was used as data preprocessing.

  6. Application of Mean of Absolute Deviation Method for the Selection of Best Nonlinear Component Based on Video Encryption

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anees, Amir; Khan, Waqar Ahmad; Gondal, Muhammad Asif; Hussain, Iqtadar

    2013-07-01

    The aim of this work is to make use of the mean of absolute deviation (MAD) method for the evaluation process of substitution boxes used in the advanced encryption standard. In this paper, we use the MAD technique to analyze some popular and prevailing substitution boxes used in encryption processes. In particular, MAD is applied to advanced encryption standard (AES), affine power affine (APA), Gray, Lui J., Residue Prime, S8 AES, SKIPJACK, and Xyi substitution boxes.

  7. Performance evaluations of continuous glucose monitoring systems: precision absolute relative deviation is part of the assessment.

    PubMed

    Obermaier, Karin; Schmelzeisen-Redeker, Günther; Schoemaker, Michael; Klötzer, Hans-Martin; Kirchsteiger, Harald; Eikmeier, Heino; del Re, Luigi

    2013-07-01

    Even though a Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute proposal exists on the design of studies and performance criteria for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, it has not yet led to a consistent evaluation of different systems, as no consensus has been reached on the reference method to evaluate them or on acceptance levels. As a consequence, performance assessment of CGM systems tends to be inconclusive, and a comparison of the outcome of different studies is difficult. Published information and available data (as presented in this issue of Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology by Freckmann and coauthors) are used to assess the suitability of several frequently used methods [International Organization for Standardization, continuous glucose error grid analysis, mean absolute relative deviation (MARD), precision absolute relative deviation (PARD)] when assessing performance of CGM systems in terms of accuracy and precision. The combined use of MARD and PARD seems to allow for better characterization of sensor performance. The use of different quantities for calibration and evaluation, e.g., capillary blood using a blood glucose (BG) meter versus venous blood using a laboratory measurement, introduces an additional error source. Using BG values measured in more or less large intervals as the only reference leads to a significant loss of information in comparison with the continuous sensor signal and possibly to an erroneous estimation of sensor performance during swings. Both can be improved using data from two identical CGM sensors worn by the same patient in parallel. Evaluation of CGM performance studies should follow an identical study design, including sufficient swings in glycemia. At least a part of the study participants should wear two identical CGM sensors in parallel. All data available should be used for evaluation, both by MARD and PARD, a good PARD value being a precondition to trust a good MARD value. Results should be analyzed and

  8. Adaptive Neural Mechanism for Listing’s Law Revealed in Patients with Skew Deviation Caused by Brainstem or Cerebellar Lesion

    PubMed Central

    Fesharaki, Maryam; Karagiannis, Peter; Tweed, Douglas; Sharpe, James A.; Wong, Agnes M. F.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose Skew deviation is a vertical strabismus caused by damage to the otolithic–ocular reflex pathway and is associated with abnormal ocular torsion. This study was conducted to determine whether patients with skew deviation show the normal pattern of three-dimensional eye control called Listing’s law, which specifies the eye’s torsional angle as a function of its horizontal and vertical position. Methods Ten patients with skew deviation caused by brain stem or cerebellar lesions and nine normal control subjects were studied. Patients with diplopia and neurologic symptoms less than 1 month in duration were designated as acute (n = 4) and those with longer duration were classified as chronic (n = 10). Serial recordings were made in the four patients with acute skew deviation. With the head immobile, subjects made saccades to a target that moved between straight ahead and eight eccentric positions, while wearing search coils. At each target position, fixation was maintained for 3 seconds before the next saccade. From the eye position data, the plane of best fit, referred to as Listing’s plane, was fitted. Violations of Listing’s law were quantified by computing the “thickness” of this plane, defined as the SD of the distances to the plane from the data points. Results Both the hypertropic and hypotropic eyes in patients with acute skew deviation violated Listing’s and Donders’ laws—that is, the eyes did not show one consistent angle of torsion in any given gaze direction, but rather an abnormally wide range of torsional angles. In contrast, each eye in patients with chronic skew deviation obeyed the laws. However, in chronic skew deviation, Listing’s planes in both eyes had abnormal orientations. Conclusions Patients with acute skew deviation violated Listing’s law, whereas those with chronic skew deviation obeyed it, indicating that despite brain lesions, neural adaptation can restore Listing’s law so that the neural linkage between

  9. Reducing the standard deviation in multiple-assay experiments where the variation matters but the absolute value does not.

    PubMed

    Echenique-Robba, Pablo; Nelo-Bazán, María Alejandra; Carrodeguas, José A

    2013-01-01

    When the value of a quantity x for a number of systems (cells, molecules, people, chunks of metal, DNA vectors, so on) is measured and the aim is to replicate the whole set again for different trials or assays, despite the efforts for a near-equal design, scientists might often obtain quite different measurements. As a consequence, some systems' averages present standard deviations that are too large to render statistically significant results. This work presents a novel correction method of a very low mathematical and numerical complexity that can reduce the standard deviation of such results and increase their statistical significance. Two conditions are to be met: the inter-system variations of x matter while its absolute value does not, and a similar tendency in the values of x must be present in the different assays (or in other words, the results corresponding to different assays must present a high linear correlation). We demonstrate the improvements this method offers with a cell biology experiment, but it can definitely be applied to any problem that conforms to the described structure and requirements and in any quantitative scientific field that deals with data subject to uncertainty.

  10. Absolutely relative or relatively absolute: violations of value invariance in human decision making.

    PubMed

    Teodorescu, Andrei R; Moran, Rani; Usher, Marius

    2016-02-01

    Making decisions based on relative rather than absolute information processing is tied to choice optimality via the accumulation of evidence differences and to canonical neural processing via accumulation of evidence ratios. These theoretical frameworks predict invariance of decision latencies to absolute intensities that maintain differences and ratios, respectively. While information about the absolute values of the choice alternatives is not necessary for choosing the best alternative, it may nevertheless hold valuable information about the context of the decision. To test the sensitivity of human decision making to absolute values, we manipulated the intensities of brightness stimuli pairs while preserving either their differences or their ratios. Although asked to choose the brighter alternative relative to the other, participants responded faster to higher absolute values. Thus, our results provide empirical evidence for human sensitivity to task irrelevant absolute values indicating a hard-wired mechanism that precedes executive control. Computational investigations of several modelling architectures reveal two alternative accounts for this phenomenon, which combine absolute and relative processing. One account involves accumulation of differences with activation dependent processing noise and the other emerges from accumulation of absolute values subject to the temporal dynamics of lateral inhibition. The potential adaptive role of such choice mechanisms is discussed.

  11. Time Series Forecasting of Daily Reference Evapotranspiration by Neural Network Ensemble Learning for Irrigation System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manikumari, N.; Murugappan, A.; Vinodhini, G.

    2017-07-01

    Time series forecasting has gained remarkable interest of researchers in the last few decades. Neural networks based time series forecasting have been employed in various application areas. Reference Evapotranspiration (ETO) is one of the most important components of the hydrologic cycle and its precise assessment is vital in water balance and crop yield estimation, water resources system design and management. This work aimed at achieving accurate time series forecast of ETO using a combination of neural network approaches. This work was carried out using data collected in the command area of VEERANAM Tank during the period 2004 - 2014 in India. In this work, the Neural Network (NN) models were combined by ensemble learning in order to improve the accuracy for forecasting Daily ETO (for the year 2015). Bagged Neural Network (Bagged-NN) and Boosted Neural Network (Boosted-NN) ensemble learning were employed. It has been proved that Bagged-NN and Boosted-NN ensemble models are better than individual NN models in terms of accuracy. Among the ensemble models, Boosted-NN reduces the forecasting errors compared to Bagged-NN and individual NNs. Regression co-efficient, Mean Absolute Deviation, Mean Absolute Percentage error and Root Mean Square Error also ascertain that Boosted-NN lead to improved ETO forecasting performance.

  12. Manifold absolute pressure estimation using neural network with hybrid training algorithm

    PubMed Central

    Selamat, Hazlina; Alimin, Ahmad Jais; Haniff, Mohamad Fadzli

    2017-01-01

    In a modern small gasoline engine fuel injection system, the load of the engine is estimated based on the measurement of the manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensor, which took place in the intake manifold. This paper present a more economical approach on estimating the MAP by using only the measurements of the throttle position and engine speed, resulting in lower implementation cost. The estimation was done via two-stage multilayer feed-forward neural network by combining Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm, Bayesian Regularization (BR) algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. Based on the results found in 20 runs, the second variant of the hybrid algorithm yields a better network performance than the first variant of hybrid algorithm, LM, LM with BR and PSO by estimating the MAP closely to the simulated MAP values. By using a valid experimental training data, the estimator network that trained with the second variant of the hybrid algorithm showed the best performance among other algorithms when used in an actual retrofit fuel injection system (RFIS). The performance of the estimator was also validated in steady-state and transient condition by showing a closer MAP estimation to the actual value. PMID:29190779

  13. Electronic Absolute Cartesian Autocollimator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B.

    2006-01-01

    An electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator performs the same basic optical function as does a conventional all-optical or a conventional electronic autocollimator but differs in the nature of its optical target and the manner in which the position of the image of the target is measured. The term absolute in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of the position measurement, which, unlike in a conventional electronic autocollimator, is based absolutely on the position of the image rather than on an assumed proportionality between the position and the levels of processed analog electronic signals. The term Cartesian in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of its optical target. Figure 1 depicts the electronic functional blocks of an electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator along with its basic optical layout, which is the same as that of a conventional autocollimator. Referring first to the optical layout and functions only, this or any autocollimator is used to measure the compound angular deviation of a flat datum mirror with respect to the optical axis of the autocollimator itself. The optical components include an illuminated target, a beam splitter, an objective or collimating lens, and a viewer or detector (described in more detail below) at a viewing plane. The target and the viewing planes are focal planes of the lens. Target light reflected by the datum mirror is imaged on the viewing plane at unit magnification by the collimating lens. If the normal to the datum mirror is parallel to the optical axis of the autocollimator, then the target image is centered on the viewing plane. Any angular deviation of the normal from the optical axis manifests itself as a lateral displacement of the target image from the center. The magnitude of the displacement is proportional to the focal length and to the magnitude (assumed to be small) of the angular deviation. The direction of the displacement is perpendicular to the axis about which the

  14. Finite-time convergent recurrent neural network with a hard-limiting activation function for constrained optimization with piecewise-linear objective functions.

    PubMed

    Liu, Qingshan; Wang, Jun

    2011-04-01

    This paper presents a one-layer recurrent neural network for solving a class of constrained nonsmooth optimization problems with piecewise-linear objective functions. The proposed neural network is guaranteed to be globally convergent in finite time to the optimal solutions under a mild condition on a derived lower bound of a single gain parameter in the model. The number of neurons in the neural network is the same as the number of decision variables of the optimization problem. Compared with existing neural networks for optimization, the proposed neural network has a couple of salient features such as finite-time convergence and a low model complexity. Specific models for two important special cases, namely, linear programming and nonsmooth optimization, are also presented. In addition, applications to the shortest path problem and constrained least absolute deviation problem are discussed with simulation results to demonstrate the effectiveness and characteristics of the proposed neural network.

  15. Assessing the Liquidity of Firms: Robust Neural Network Regression as an Alternative to the Current Ratio

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Andrés, Javier; Landajo, Manuel; Lorca, Pedro; Labra, Jose; Ordóñez, Patricia

    Artificial neural networks have proven to be useful tools for solving financial analysis problems such as financial distress prediction and audit risk assessment. In this paper we focus on the performance of robust (least absolute deviation-based) neural networks on measuring liquidity of firms. The problem of learning the bivariate relationship between the components (namely, current liabilities and current assets) of the so-called current ratio is analyzed, and the predictive performance of several modelling paradigms (namely, linear and log-linear regressions, classical ratios and neural networks) is compared. An empirical analysis is conducted on a representative data base from the Spanish economy. Results indicate that classical ratio models are largely inadequate as a realistic description of the studied relationship, especially when used for predictive purposes. In a number of cases, especially when the analyzed firms are microenterprises, the linear specification is improved by considering the flexible non-linear structures provided by neural networks.

  16. Human Age Recognition by Electrocardiogram Signal Based on Artificial Neural Network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dasgupta, Hirak

    2016-12-01

    The objective of this work is to make a neural network function approximation model to detect human age from the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. The input vectors of the neural network are the Katz fractal dimension of the ECG signal, frequencies in the QRS complex, male or female (represented by numeric constant) and the average of successive R-R peak distance of a particular ECG signal. The QRS complex has been detected by short time Fourier transform algorithm. The successive R peak has been detected by, first cutting the signal into periods by auto-correlation method and then finding the absolute of the highest point in each period. The neural network used in this problem consists of two layers, with Sigmoid neuron in the input and linear neuron in the output layer. The result shows the mean of errors as -0.49, 1.03, 0.79 years and the standard deviation of errors as 1.81, 1.77, 2.70 years during training, cross validation and testing with unknown data sets, respectively.

  17. Isotope pattern deconvolution for peptide mass spectrometry by non-negative least squares/least absolute deviation template matching

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The robust identification of isotope patterns originating from peptides being analyzed through mass spectrometry (MS) is often significantly hampered by noise artifacts and the interference of overlapping patterns arising e.g. from post-translational modifications. As the classification of the recorded data points into either ‘noise’ or ‘signal’ lies at the very root of essentially every proteomic application, the quality of the automated processing of mass spectra can significantly influence the way the data might be interpreted within a given biological context. Results We propose non-negative least squares/non-negative least absolute deviation regression to fit a raw spectrum by templates imitating isotope patterns. In a carefully designed validation scheme, we show that the method exhibits excellent performance in pattern picking. It is demonstrated that the method is able to disentangle complicated overlaps of patterns. Conclusions We find that regularization is not necessary to prevent overfitting and that thresholding is an effective and user-friendly way to perform feature selection. The proposed method avoids problems inherent in regularization-based approaches, comes with a set of well-interpretable parameters whose default configuration is shown to generalize well without the need for fine-tuning, and is applicable to spectra of different platforms. The R package IPPD implements the method and is available from the Bioconductor platform (http://bioconductor.fhcrc.org/help/bioc-views/devel/bioc/html/IPPD.html). PMID:23137144

  18. Interest rate next-day variation prediction based on hybrid feedforward neural network, particle swarm optimization, and multiresolution techniques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lahmiri, Salim

    2016-02-01

    Multiresolution analysis techniques including continuous wavelet transform, empirical mode decomposition, and variational mode decomposition are tested in the context of interest rate next-day variation prediction. In particular, multiresolution analysis techniques are used to decompose interest rate actual variation and feedforward neural network for training and prediction. Particle swarm optimization technique is adopted to optimize its initial weights. For comparison purpose, autoregressive moving average model, random walk process and the naive model are used as main reference models. In order to show the feasibility of the presented hybrid models that combine multiresolution analysis techniques and feedforward neural network optimized by particle swarm optimization, we used a set of six illustrative interest rates; including Moody's seasoned Aaa corporate bond yield, Moody's seasoned Baa corporate bond yield, 3-Month, 6-Month and 1-Year treasury bills, and effective federal fund rate. The forecasting results show that all multiresolution-based prediction systems outperform the conventional reference models on the criteria of mean absolute error, mean absolute deviation, and root mean-squared error. Therefore, it is advantageous to adopt hybrid multiresolution techniques and soft computing models to forecast interest rate daily variations as they provide good forecasting performance.

  19. On the robustness of EC-PC spike detection method for online neural recording.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Yin; Wu, Tong; Rastegarnia, Amir; Guan, Cuntai; Keefer, Edward; Yang, Zhi

    2014-09-30

    Online spike detection is an important step to compress neural data and perform real-time neural information decoding. An unsupervised, automatic, yet robust signal processing is strongly desired, thus it can support a wide range of applications. We have developed a novel spike detection algorithm called "exponential component-polynomial component" (EC-PC) spike detection. We firstly evaluate the robustness of the EC-PC spike detector under different firing rates and SNRs. Secondly, we show that the detection Precision can be quantitatively derived without requiring additional user input parameters. We have realized the algorithm (including training) into a 0.13 μm CMOS chip, where an unsupervised, nonparametric operation has been demonstrated. Both simulated data and real data are used to evaluate the method under different firing rates (FRs), SNRs. The results show that the EC-PC spike detector is the most robust in comparison with some popular detectors. Moreover, the EC-PC detector can track changes in the background noise due to the ability to re-estimate the neural data distribution. Both real and synthesized data have been used for testing the proposed algorithm in comparison with other methods, including the absolute thresholding detector (AT), median absolute deviation detector (MAD), nonlinear energy operator detector (NEO), and continuous wavelet detector (CWD). Comparative testing results reveals that the EP-PC detection algorithm performs better than the other algorithms regardless of recording conditions. The EC-PC spike detector can be considered as an unsupervised and robust online spike detection. It is also suitable for hardware implementation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Interactive Visual Least Absolutes Method: Comparison with the Least Squares and the Median Methods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Myung-Hoon; Kim, Michelle S.

    2016-01-01

    A visual regression analysis using the least absolutes method (LAB) was developed, utilizing an interactive approach of visually minimizing the sum of the absolute deviations (SAB) using a bar graph in Excel; the results agree very well with those obtained from nonvisual LAB using a numerical Solver in Excel. These LAB results were compared with…

  1. Robust Alternatives to the Standard Deviation in Processing of Physics Experimental Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shulenin, V. P.

    2016-10-01

    Properties of robust estimations of the scale parameter are studied. It is noted that the median of absolute deviations and the modified estimation of the average Gini differences have asymptotically normal distributions and bounded influence functions, are B-robust estimations, and hence, unlike the estimation of the standard deviation, are protected from the presence of outliers in the sample. Results of comparison of estimations of the scale parameter are given for a Gaussian model with contamination. An adaptive variant of the modified estimation of the average Gini differences is considered.

  2. Phytoremediation of palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE) by Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) using artificial neural networks.

    PubMed

    Darajeh, Negisa; Idris, Azni; Fard Masoumi, Hamid Reza; Nourani, Abolfazl; Truong, Paul; Rezania, Shahabaldin

    2017-05-04

    Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been widely used to solve the problems because of their reliable, robust, and salient characteristics in capturing the nonlinear relationships between variables in complex systems. In this study, ANN was applied for modeling of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and biodegradable organic matter (BOD) removal from palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE) by vetiver system. The independent variable, including POMSE concentration, vetiver slips density, and removal time, has been considered as input parameters to optimize the network, while the removal percentage of COD and BOD were selected as output. To determine the number of hidden layer nodes, the root mean squared error of testing set was minimized, and the topologies of the algorithms were compared by coefficient of determination and absolute average deviation. The comparison indicated that the quick propagation (QP) algorithm had minimum root mean squared error and absolute average deviation, and maximum coefficient of determination. The importance values of the variables was included vetiver slips density with 42.41%, time with 29.8%, and the POMSE concentration with 27.79%, which showed none of them, is negligible. Results show that the ANN has great potential ability in prediction of COD and BOD removal from POMSE with residual standard error (RSE) of less than 0.45%.

  3. The neural basis of financial risk taking.

    PubMed

    Kuhnen, Camelia M; Knutson, Brian

    2005-09-01

    Investors systematically deviate from rationality when making financial decisions, yet the mechanisms responsible for these deviations have not been identified. Using event-related fMRI, we examined whether anticipatory neural activity would predict optimal and suboptimal choices in a financial decision-making task. We characterized two types of deviations from the optimal investment strategy of a rational risk-neutral agent as risk-seeking mistakes and risk-aversion mistakes. Nucleus accumbens activation preceded risky choices as well as risk-seeking mistakes, while anterior insula activation preceded riskless choices as well as risk-aversion mistakes. These findings suggest that distinct neural circuits linked to anticipatory affect promote different types of financial choices and indicate that excessive activation of these circuits may lead to investing mistakes. Thus, consideration of anticipatory neural mechanisms may add predictive power to the rational actor model of economic decision making.

  4. Validation of Mean Absolute Sea Level of the North Atlantic obtained from Drifter, Altimetry and Wind Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maximenko, Nikolai A.

    2003-01-01

    Mean absolute sea level reflects the deviation of the Ocean surface from geoid due to the ocean currents and is an important characteristic of the dynamical state of the ocean. Values of its spatial variations (order of 1 m) are generally much smaller than deviations of the geoid shape from ellipsoid (order of 100 m) that makes the derivation of the absolute mean sea level a difficult task for gravity and satellite altimetry observations. Technique used by Niiler et al. for computation of the absolute mean sea level in the Kuroshio Extension was then developed into more general method and applied by Niiler et al. (2003b) to the global Ocean. The method is based on the consideration of balance of horizontal momentum.

  5. A Squeezed Artificial Neural Network for the Symbolic Network Reliability Functions of Binary-State Networks.

    PubMed

    Yeh, Wei-Chang

    Network reliability is an important index to the provision of useful information for decision support in the modern world. There is always a need to calculate symbolic network reliability functions (SNRFs) due to dynamic and rapid changes in network parameters. In this brief, the proposed squeezed artificial neural network (SqANN) approach uses the Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the corresponding reliability of a given designed matrix from the Box-Behnken design, and then the Taguchi method is implemented to find the appropriate number of neurons and activation functions of the hidden layer and the output layer in ANN to evaluate SNRFs. According to the experimental results of the benchmark networks, the comparison appears to support the superiority of the proposed SqANN method over the traditional ANN-based approach with at least 16.6% improvement in the median absolute deviation in the cost of extra 2 s on average for all experiments.Network reliability is an important index to the provision of useful information for decision support in the modern world. There is always a need to calculate symbolic network reliability functions (SNRFs) due to dynamic and rapid changes in network parameters. In this brief, the proposed squeezed artificial neural network (SqANN) approach uses the Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the corresponding reliability of a given designed matrix from the Box-Behnken design, and then the Taguchi method is implemented to find the appropriate number of neurons and activation functions of the hidden layer and the output layer in ANN to evaluate SNRFs. According to the experimental results of the benchmark networks, the comparison appears to support the superiority of the proposed SqANN method over the traditional ANN-based approach with at least 16.6% improvement in the median absolute deviation in the cost of extra 2 s on average for all experiments.

  6. Linking Comparisons of Absolute Gravimeters: A Proof of Concept for a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, H.; Palinkas, V.; Falk, R.; Vaľko, M.

    2016-12-01

    Since decades, absolute gravimeters are compared on a regular basis on an international level, starting at the International Bureau for Weights and Measures (BIPM) in 1981. Usually, these comparisons are based on constant reference values deduced from all accepted measurements acquired during the comparison period. Temporal changes between comparison epochs are usually not considered. Resolution No. 2, adopted by IAG during the IUGG General Assembly in Prague 2015, initiates the establishment of a Global Absolute Gravity Reference System based on key comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) under the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) in order to establish a common level in the microGal range. A stable and unique reference frame can only be achieved, if different AG are taking part in different kind of comparisons. Systematic deviations between the respective comparison reference values can be detected, if the AG can be considered stable over time. The continuous operation of superconducting gravimeters (SG) on selected stations further supports the temporal link of comparison reference values by establishing a reference function over time. By a homogenous reprocessing of different comparison epochs and including AG and SG time series at selected stations, links between several comparisons will be established and temporal comparison reference functions will be derived. By this, comparisons on a regional level can be traced to back to the level of key comparisons, providing a reference for other absolute gravimeters. It will be proved and discussed, how such a concept can be used to support the future absolute gravity reference system.

  7. Absolute auditory threshold: testing the absolute.

    PubMed

    Heil, Peter; Matysiak, Artur

    2017-11-02

    The mechanisms underlying the detection of sounds in quiet, one of the simplest tasks for auditory systems, are debated. Several models proposed to explain the threshold for sounds in quiet and its dependence on sound parameters include a minimum sound intensity ('hard threshold'), below which sound has no effect on the ear. Also, many models are based on the assumption that threshold is mediated by integration of a neural response proportional to sound intensity. Here, we test these ideas. Using an adaptive forced choice procedure, we obtained thresholds of 95 normal-hearing human ears for 18 tones (3.125 kHz carrier) in quiet, each with a different temporal amplitude envelope. Grand-mean thresholds and standard deviations were well described by a probabilistic model according to which sensory events are generated by a Poisson point process with a low rate in the absence, and higher, time-varying rates in the presence, of stimulation. The subject actively evaluates the process and bases the decision on the number of events observed. The sound-driven rate of events is proportional to the temporal amplitude envelope of the bandpass-filtered sound raised to an exponent. We find no evidence for a hard threshold: When the model is extended to include such a threshold, the fit does not improve. Furthermore, we find an exponent of 3, consistent with our previous studies and further challenging models that are based on the assumption of the integration of a neural response that, at threshold sound levels, is directly proportional to sound amplitude or intensity. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Neural network cloud top pressure and height for MODIS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Håkansson, Nina; Adok, Claudia; Thoss, Anke; Scheirer, Ronald; Hörnquist, Sara

    2018-06-01

    Cloud top height retrieval from imager instruments is important for nowcasting and for satellite climate data records. A neural network approach for cloud top height retrieval from the imager instrument MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is presented. The neural networks are trained using cloud top layer pressure data from the CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) dataset. Results are compared with two operational reference algorithms for cloud top height: the MODIS Collection 6 Level 2 height product and the cloud top temperature and height algorithm in the 2014 version of the NWC SAF (EUMETSAT (European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) Satellite Application Facility on Support to Nowcasting and Very Short Range Forecasting) PPS (Polar Platform System). All three techniques are evaluated using both CALIOP and CPR (Cloud Profiling Radar for CloudSat (CLOUD SATellite)) height. Instruments like AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) and VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) contain fewer channels useful for cloud top height retrievals than MODIS, therefore several different neural networks are investigated to test how infrared channel selection influences retrieval performance. Also a network with only channels available for the AVHRR1 instrument is trained and evaluated. To examine the contribution of different variables, networks with fewer variables are trained. It is shown that variables containing imager information for neighboring pixels are very important. The error distributions of the involved cloud top height algorithms are found to be non-Gaussian. Different descriptive statistic measures are presented and it is exemplified that bias and SD (standard deviation) can be misleading for non-Gaussian distributions. The median and mode are found to better describe the tendency of the error distributions and IQR (interquartile range) and MAE (mean absolute error) are found

  9. Earthquakes Magnitude Predication Using Artificial Neural Network in Northern Red Sea Area

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alarifi, A. S.; Alarifi, N. S.

    2009-12-01

    Earthquakes are natural hazards that do not happen very often, however they may cause huge losses in life and property. Early preparation for these hazards is a key factor to reduce their damage and consequence. Since early ages, people tried to predicate earthquakes using simple observations such as strange or a typical animal behavior. In this paper, we study data collected from existing earthquake catalogue to give better forecasting for future earthquakes. The 16000 events cover a time span of 1970 to 2009, the magnitude range from greater than 0 to less than 7.2 while the depth range from greater than 0 to less than 100km. We propose a new artificial intelligent predication system based on artificial neural network, which can be used to predicate the magnitude of future earthquakes in northern Red Sea area including the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez. We propose a feed forward new neural network model with multi-hidden layers to predicate earthquakes occurrences and magnitudes in northern Red Sea area. Although there are similar model that have been published before in different areas, to our best knowledge this is the first neural network model to predicate earthquake in northern Red Sea area. Furthermore, we present other forecasting methods such as moving average over different interval, normally distributed random predicator, and uniformly distributed random predicator. In addition, we present different statistical methods and data fitting such as linear, quadratic, and cubic regression. We present a details performance analyses of the proposed methods for different evaluation metrics. The results show that neural network model provides higher forecast accuracy than other proposed methods. The results show that neural network achieves an average absolute error of 2.6% while an average absolute error of 3.8%, 7.3% and 6.17% for moving average, linear regression and cubic regression, respectively. In this work, we show an analysis

  10. Allan deviation analysis of financial return series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hernández-Pérez, R.

    2012-05-01

    We perform a scaling analysis for the return series of different financial assets applying the Allan deviation (ADEV), which is used in the time and frequency metrology to characterize quantitatively the stability of frequency standards since it has demonstrated to be a robust quantity to analyze fluctuations of non-stationary time series for different observation intervals. The data used are opening price daily series for assets from different markets during a time span of around ten years. We found that the ADEV results for the return series at short scales resemble those expected for an uncorrelated series, consistent with the efficient market hypothesis. On the other hand, the ADEV results for absolute return series for short scales (first one or two decades) decrease following approximately a scaling relation up to a point that is different for almost each asset, after which the ADEV deviates from scaling, which suggests that the presence of clustering, long-range dependence and non-stationarity signatures in the series drive the results for large observation intervals.

  11. Small-Volume Injections: Evaluation of Volume Administration Deviation From Intended Injection Volumes.

    PubMed

    Muffly, Matthew K; Chen, Michael I; Claure, Rebecca E; Drover, David R; Efron, Bradley; Fitch, William L; Hammer, Gregory B

    2017-10-01

    regression model. Analysis of variance was used to determine whether the absolute log proportional error differed by the intended injection volume. Interindividual and intraindividual deviation from the intended injection volume was also characterized. As the intended injection volumes decreased, the absolute log proportional injection volume error increased (analysis of variance, P < .0018). The exploratory analysis revealed no significant difference in the standard deviations of the log proportional errors for injection volumes between physicians and pediatric PACU nurses; however, the difference in absolute bias was significantly higher for nurses with a 2-sided significance of P = .03. Clinically significant dose variation occurs when injecting volumes ≤0.5 mL. Administering small volumes of medications may result in unintended medication administration errors.

  12. Estimation of the neural drive to the muscle from surface electromyograms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hofmann, David

    Muscle force is highly correlated with the standard deviation of the surface electromyogram (sEMG) produced by the active muscle. Correctly estimating this quantity of non-stationary sEMG and understanding its relation to neural drive and muscle force is of paramount importance. The single constituents of the sEMG are called motor unit action potentials whose biphasic amplitude can interfere (named amplitude cancellation), potentially affecting the standard deviation (Keenan etal. 2005). However, when certain conditions are met the Campbell-Hardy theorem suggests that amplitude cancellation does not affect the standard deviation. By simulation of the sEMG, we verify the applicability of this theorem to myoelectric signals and investigate deviations from its conditions to obtain a more realistic setting. We find no difference in estimated standard deviation with and without interference, standing in stark contrast to previous results (Keenan etal. 2008, Farina etal. 2010). Furthermore, since the theorem provides us with the functional relationship between standard deviation and neural drive we conclude that complex methods based on high density electrode arrays and blind source separation might not bear substantial advantages for neural drive estimation (Farina and Holobar 2016). Funded by NIH Grant Number 1 R01 EB022872 and NSF Grant Number 1208126.

  13. LD-SPatt: large deviations statistics for patterns on Markov chains.

    PubMed

    Nuel, G

    2004-01-01

    Statistics on Markov chains are widely used for the study of patterns in biological sequences. Statistics on these models can be done through several approaches. Central limit theorem (CLT) producing Gaussian approximations are one of the most popular ones. Unfortunately, in order to find a pattern of interest, these methods have to deal with tail distribution events where CLT is especially bad. In this paper, we propose a new approach based on the large deviations theory to assess pattern statistics. We first recall theoretical results for empiric mean (level 1) as well as empiric distribution (level 2) large deviations on Markov chains. Then, we present the applications of these results focusing on numerical issues. LD-SPatt is the name of GPL software implementing these algorithms. We compare this approach to several existing ones in terms of complexity and reliability and show that the large deviations are more reliable than the Gaussian approximations in absolute values as well as in terms of ranking and are at least as reliable as compound Poisson approximations. We then finally discuss some further possible improvements and applications of this new method.

  14. A vibration-insensitive optical cavity and absolute determination of its ultrahigh stability.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Y N; Zhang, J; Stejskal, A; Liu, T; Elman, V; Lu, Z H; Wang, L J

    2009-05-25

    We use the three-cornered-hat method to evaluate the absolute frequency stabilities of three different ultrastable reference cavities, one of which has a vibration-insensitive design that does not even require vibration isolation. An Nd:YAG laser and a diode laser are implemented as light sources. We observe approximately 1 Hz beat note linewidths between all three cavities. The measurement demonstrates that the vibration-insensitive cavity has a good frequency stability over the entire measurement time from 100 ms to 200 s. An absolute, correlation-removed Allan deviation of 1.4 x 10(-15) at s of this cavity is obtained, giving a frequency uncertainty of only 0.44 Hz.

  15. Neural network approach to quantum-chemistry data: accurate prediction of density functional theory energies.

    PubMed

    Balabin, Roman M; Lomakina, Ekaterina I

    2009-08-21

    Artificial neural network (ANN) approach has been applied to estimate the density functional theory (DFT) energy with large basis set using lower-level energy values and molecular descriptors. A total of 208 different molecules were used for the ANN training, cross validation, and testing by applying BLYP, B3LYP, and BMK density functionals. Hartree-Fock results were reported for comparison. Furthermore, constitutional molecular descriptor (CD) and quantum-chemical molecular descriptor (QD) were used for building the calibration model. The neural network structure optimization, leading to four to five hidden neurons, was also carried out. The usage of several low-level energy values was found to greatly reduce the prediction error. An expected error, mean absolute deviation, for ANN approximation to DFT energies was 0.6+/-0.2 kcal mol(-1). In addition, the comparison of the different density functionals with the basis sets and the comparison of multiple linear regression results were also provided. The CDs were found to overcome limitation of the QD. Furthermore, the effective ANN model for DFT/6-311G(3df,3pd) and DFT/6-311G(2df,2pd) energy estimation was developed, and the benchmark results were provided.

  16. Analytical quality goals derived from the total deviation from patients' homeostatic set points, with a margin for analytical errors.

    PubMed

    Bolann, B J; Asberg, A

    2004-01-01

    The deviation of test results from patients' homeostatic set points in steady-state conditions may complicate interpretation of the results and the comparison of results with clinical decision limits. In this study the total deviation from the homeostatic set point is defined as the maximum absolute deviation for 95% of measurements, and we present analytical quality requirements that prevent analytical error from increasing this deviation to more than about 12% above the value caused by biology alone. These quality requirements are: 1) The stable systematic error should be approximately 0, and 2) a systematic error that will be detected by the control program with 90% probability, should not be larger than half the value of the combined analytical and intra-individual standard deviation. As a result, when the most common control rules are used, the analytical standard deviation may be up to 0.15 times the intra-individual standard deviation. Analytical improvements beyond these requirements have little impact on the interpretability of measurement results.

  17. Differential processing of melodic, rhythmic and simple tone deviations in musicians--an MEG study.

    PubMed

    Lappe, Claudia; Lappe, Markus; Pantev, Christo

    2016-01-01

    Rhythm and melody are two basic characteristics of music. Performing musicians have to pay attention to both, and avoid errors in either aspect of their performance. To investigate the neural processes involved in detecting melodic and rhythmic errors from auditory input we tested musicians on both kinds of deviations in a mismatch negativity (MMN) design. We found that MMN responses to a rhythmic deviation occurred at shorter latencies than MMN responses to a melodic deviation. Beamformer source analysis showed that the melodic deviation activated superior temporal, inferior frontal and superior frontal areas whereas the activation pattern of the rhythmic deviation focused more strongly on inferior and superior parietal areas, in addition to superior temporal cortex. Activation in the supplementary motor area occurred for both types of deviations. We also recorded responses to similar pitch and tempo deviations in a simple, non-musical repetitive tone pattern. In this case, there was no latency difference between the MMNs and cortical activation was smaller and mostly limited to auditory cortex. The results suggest that prediction and error detection of musical stimuli in trained musicians involve a broad cortical network and that rhythmic and melodic errors are processed in partially different cortical streams. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Absolute Magnitude Calibration for Dwarfs Based on the Colour-Magnitude Diagrams of Galactic Clusters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karaali, S.; Gökçe, E. Yaz; Bilir, S.; Güçtekin, S. Tunçel

    2014-07-01

    We present two absolute magnitude calibrations for dwarfs based on colour-magnitude diagrams of Galactic clusters. The combination of the Mg absolute magnitudes of the dwarf fiducial sequences of the clusters M92, M13, M5, NGC 2420, M67, and NGC 6791 with the corresponding metallicities provides absolute magnitude calibration for a given (g - r)0 colour. The calibration is defined in the colour interval 0.25 ≤ (g - r)0 ≤ 1.25 mag and it covers the metallicity interval - 2.15 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ +0.37 dex. The absolute magnitude residuals obtained by the application of the procedure to another set of Galactic clusters lie in the interval - 0.15 ≤ ΔMg ≤ +0.12 mag. The mean and standard deviation of the residuals are < ΔMg > = - 0.002 and σ = 0.065 mag, respectively. The calibration of the MJ absolute magnitude in terms of metallicity is carried out by using the fiducial sequences of the clusters M92, M13, 47 Tuc, NGC 2158, and NGC 6791. It is defined in the colour interval 0.90 ≤ (V - J)0 ≤ 1.75 mag and it covers the same metallicity interval of the Mg calibration. The absolute magnitude residuals obtained by the application of the procedure to the cluster M5 ([Fe/H] = -1.40 dex) and 46 solar metallicity, - 0.45 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ +0.35 dex, field stars lie in the interval - 0.29 and + 0.35 mag. However, the range of 87% of them is rather shorter, - 0.20 ≤ ΔMJ ≤ +0.20 mag. The mean and standard deviation of all residuals are < ΔMJ > =0.05 and σ = 0.13 mag, respectively. The derived relations are applicable to stars older than 4 Gyr for the Mg calibration, and older than 2 Gyr for the MJ calibration. The cited limits are the ages of the youngest calibration clusters in the two systems.

  19. Directly relating gas-phase cluster measurements to solution-phase hydrolysis, the absolute standard hydrogen electrode potential, and the absolute proton solvation energy.

    PubMed

    Donald, William A; Leib, Ryan D; O'Brien, Jeremy T; Williams, Evan R

    2009-06-08

    Solution-phase, half-cell potentials are measured relative to other half-cell potentials, resulting in a thermochemical ladder that is anchored to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), which is assigned an arbitrary value of 0 V. A new method for measuring the absolute SHE potential is demonstrated in which gaseous nanodrops containing divalent alkaline-earth or transition-metal ions are reduced by thermally generated electrons. Energies for the reactions 1) M(H(2)O)(24)(2+)(g) + e(-)(g)-->M(H(2)O)(24)(+)(g) and 2) M(H(2)O)(24)(2+)(g) + e(-)(g)-->MOH(H(2)O)(23)(+)(g) + H(g) and the hydrogen atom affinities of MOH(H(2)O)(23)(+)(g) are obtained from the number of water molecules lost through each pathway. From these measurements on clusters containing nine different metal ions and known thermochemical values that include solution hydrolysis energies, an average absolute SHE potential of +4.29 V vs. e(-)(g) (standard deviation of 0.02 V) and a real proton solvation free energy of -265 kcal mol(-1) are obtained. With this method, the absolute SHE potential can be obtained from a one-electron reduction of nanodrops containing divalent ions that are not observed to undergo one-electron reduction in aqueous solution.

  20. Directly Relating Gas-Phase Cluster Measurements to Solution-Phase Hydrolysis, the Absolute Standard Hydrogen Electrode Potential, and the Absolute Proton Solvation Energy

    PubMed Central

    Donald, William A.; Leib, Ryan D.; O’Brien, Jeremy T.; Williams, Evan R.

    2009-01-01

    Solution-phase, half-cell potentials are measured relative to other half-cell potentials, resulting in a thermochemical ladder that is anchored to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), which is assigned an arbitrary value of 0 V. A new method for measuring the absolute SHE potential is demonstrated in which gaseous nanodrops containing divalent alkaline-earth or transition-metal ions are reduced by thermally generated electrons. Energies for the reactions 1) M-(H2O)242+(g)+e−(g)→M(H2O)24+(g) and 2) M(H2O)242+(g)+e−(g)→MOH(H2O)23+(g)+H(g) and the hydrogen atom affinities of MOH(H2O)23+(g) are obtained from the number of water molecules lost through each pathway. From these measurements on clusters containing nine different metal ions and known thermochemical values that include solution hydrolysis energies, an average absolute SHE potential of +4.29 V vs. e−(g) (standard deviation of 0.02 V) and a real proton solvation free energy of −265 kcal mol−1 are obtained. With this method, the absolute SHE potential can be obtained from a one-electron reduction of nanodrops containing divalent ions that are not observed to undergo one-electron reduction in aqueous solution. PMID:19440999

  1. The truly remarkable universality of half a standard deviation: confirmation through another look.

    PubMed

    Norman, Geoffrey R; Sloan, Jeff A; Wyrwich, Kathleen W

    2004-10-01

    In this issue of Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Farivar, Liu, and Hays present their findings in 'Another look at the half standard deviation estimate of the minimally important difference in health-related quality of life scores (hereafter referred to as 'Another look') . These researchers have re-examined the May 2003 Medical Care article 'Interpretation of changes in health-related quality of life: the remarkable universality of half a standard deviation' (hereafter referred to as 'Remarkable') in the hope of supporting their hypothesis that the minimally important difference in health-related quality of life measures is undoubtedly closer to 0.3 standard deviations than 0.5. Nonetheless, despite their extensive wranglings with the exclusion of many articles that we included in our review; the inclusion of articles that we did not include in our review; and the recalculation of effect sizes using the absolute value of the mean differences, in our opinion, the results of the 'Another look' article confirm the same findings in the 'Remarkable' paper.

  2. Path integrals and large deviations in stochastic hybrid systems.

    PubMed

    Bressloff, Paul C; Newby, Jay M

    2014-04-01

    We construct a path-integral representation of solutions to a stochastic hybrid system, consisting of one or more continuous variables evolving according to a piecewise-deterministic dynamics. The differential equations for the continuous variables are coupled to a set of discrete variables that satisfy a continuous-time Markov process, which means that the differential equations are only valid between jumps in the discrete variables. Examples of stochastic hybrid systems arise in biophysical models of stochastic ion channels, motor-driven intracellular transport, gene networks, and stochastic neural networks. We use the path-integral representation to derive a large deviation action principle for a stochastic hybrid system. Minimizing the associated action functional with respect to the set of all trajectories emanating from a metastable state (assuming that such a minimization scheme exists) then determines the most probable paths of escape. Moreover, evaluating the action functional along a most probable path generates the so-called quasipotential used in the calculation of mean first passage times. We illustrate the theory by considering the optimal paths of escape from a metastable state in a bistable neural network.

  3. The effect of modeled absolute timing variability and relative timing variability on observational learning.

    PubMed

    Grierson, Lawrence E M; Roberts, James W; Welsher, Arthur M

    2017-05-01

    There is much evidence to suggest that skill learning is enhanced by skill observation. Recent research on this phenomenon indicates a benefit of observing variable/erred demonstrations. In this study, we explore whether it is variability within the relative organization or absolute parameterization of a movement that facilitates skill learning through observation. To do so, participants were randomly allocated into groups that observed a model with no variability, absolute timing variability, relative timing variability, or variability in both absolute and relative timing. All participants performed a four-segment movement pattern with specific absolute and relative timing goals prior to and following the observational intervention, as well as in a 24h retention test and transfers tests that featured new relative and absolute timing goals. Absolute timing error indicated that all groups initially acquired the absolute timing, maintained their performance at 24h retention, and exhibited performance deterioration in both transfer tests. Relative timing error revealed that the observation of no variability and relative timing variability produced greater performance at the post-test, 24h retention and relative timing transfer tests, but for the no variability group, deteriorated at absolute timing transfer test. The results suggest that the learning of absolute timing following observation unfolds irrespective of model variability. However, the learning of relative timing benefits from holding the absolute features constant, while the observation of no variability partially fails in transfer. We suggest learning by observing no variability and variable/erred models unfolds via similar neural mechanisms, although the latter benefits from the additional coding of information pertaining to movements that require a correction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Forecasting short-term data center network traffic load with convolutional neural networks.

    PubMed

    Mozo, Alberto; Ordozgoiti, Bruno; Gómez-Canaval, Sandra

    2018-01-01

    Efficient resource management in data centers is of central importance to content service providers as 90 percent of the network traffic is expected to go through them in the coming years. In this context we propose the use of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to forecast short-term changes in the amount of traffic crossing a data center network. This value is an indicator of virtual machine activity and can be utilized to shape the data center infrastructure accordingly. The behaviour of network traffic at the seconds scale is highly chaotic and therefore traditional time-series-analysis approaches such as ARIMA fail to obtain accurate forecasts. We show that our convolutional neural network approach can exploit the non-linear regularities of network traffic, providing significant improvements with respect to the mean absolute and standard deviation of the data, and outperforming ARIMA by an increasingly significant margin as the forecasting granularity is above the 16-second resolution. In order to increase the accuracy of the forecasting model, we exploit the architecture of the CNNs using multiresolution input distributed among separate channels of the first convolutional layer. We validate our approach with an extensive set of experiments using a data set collected at the core network of an Internet Service Provider over a period of 5 months, totalling 70 days of traffic at the one-second resolution.

  5. Forecasting short-term data center network traffic load with convolutional neural networks

    PubMed Central

    Ordozgoiti, Bruno; Gómez-Canaval, Sandra

    2018-01-01

    Efficient resource management in data centers is of central importance to content service providers as 90 percent of the network traffic is expected to go through them in the coming years. In this context we propose the use of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to forecast short-term changes in the amount of traffic crossing a data center network. This value is an indicator of virtual machine activity and can be utilized to shape the data center infrastructure accordingly. The behaviour of network traffic at the seconds scale is highly chaotic and therefore traditional time-series-analysis approaches such as ARIMA fail to obtain accurate forecasts. We show that our convolutional neural network approach can exploit the non-linear regularities of network traffic, providing significant improvements with respect to the mean absolute and standard deviation of the data, and outperforming ARIMA by an increasingly significant margin as the forecasting granularity is above the 16-second resolution. In order to increase the accuracy of the forecasting model, we exploit the architecture of the CNNs using multiresolution input distributed among separate channels of the first convolutional layer. We validate our approach with an extensive set of experiments using a data set collected at the core network of an Internet Service Provider over a period of 5 months, totalling 70 days of traffic at the one-second resolution. PMID:29408936

  6. Seismic velocity deviation log: An effective method for evaluating spatial distribution of reservoir pore types

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shirmohamadi, Mohamad; Kadkhodaie, Ali; Rahimpour-Bonab, Hossain; Faraji, Mohammad Ali

    2017-04-01

    Velocity deviation log (VDL) is a synthetic log used to determine pore types in reservoir rocks based on a combination of the sonic log with neutron-density logs. The current study proposes a two step approach to create a map of porosity and pore types by integrating the results of petrographic studies, well logs and seismic data. In the first step, velocity deviation log was created from the combination of the sonic log with the neutron-density log. The results allowed identifying negative, zero and positive deviations based on the created synthetic velocity log. Negative velocity deviations (below - 500 m/s) indicate connected or interconnected pores and fractures, while positive deviations (above + 500 m/s) are related to isolated pores. Zero deviations in the range of [- 500 m/s, + 500 m/s] are in good agreement with intercrystalline and microporosities. The results of petrographic studies were used to validate the main pore type derived from velocity deviation log. In the next step, velocity deviation log was estimated from seismic data by using a probabilistic neural network model. For this purpose, the inverted acoustic impedance along with the amplitude based seismic attributes were formulated to VDL. The methodology is illustrated by performing a case study from the Hendijan oilfield, northwestern Persian Gulf. The results of this study show that integration of petrographic, well logs and seismic attributes is an instrumental way for understanding the spatial distribution of main reservoir pore types.

  7. Study of the optimum level of electrode placement for the evaluation of absolute lung resistivity with the Mk3.5 EIT system.

    PubMed

    Nebuya, S; Noshiro, M; Yonemoto, A; Tateno, S; Brown, B H; Smallwood, R H; Milnes, P

    2006-05-01

    Inter-subject variability has caused the majority of previous electrical impedance tomography (EIT) techniques to focus on the derivation of relative or difference measures of in vivo tissue resistivity. Implicit in these techniques is the requirement for a reference or previously defined data set. This study assesses the accuracy and optimum electrode placement strategy for a recently developed method which estimates an absolute value of organ resistivity without recourse to a reference data set. Since this measurement of tissue resistivity is absolute, in Ohm metres, it should be possible to use EIT measurements for the objective diagnosis of lung diseases such as pulmonary oedema and emphysema. However, the stability and reproducibility of the method have not yet been investigated fully. To investigate these problems, this study used a Sheffield Mk3.5 system which was configured to operate with eight measurement electrodes. As a result of this study, the absolute resistivity measurement was found to be insensitive to the electrode level between 4 and 5 cm above the xiphoid process. The level of the electrode plane was varied between 2 cm and 7 cm above the xiphoid process. Absolute lung resistivity in 18 normal subjects (age 22.6 +/- 4.9, height 169.1 +/- 5.7 cm, weight 60.6 +/- 4.5 kg, body mass index 21.2 +/- 1.6: mean +/- standard deviation) was measured during both normal and deep breathing for 1 min. Three sets of measurements were made over a period of several days on each of nine of the normal male subjects. No significant differences in absolute lung resistivity were found, either during normal tidal breathing between the electrode levels of 4 and 5 cm (9.3 +/- 2.4 Omega m, 9.6 +/- 1.9 Omega m at 4 and 5 cm, respectively: mean +/- standard deviation) or during deep breathing between the electrode levels of 4 and 5 cm (10.9 +/- 2.9 Omega m and 11.1 +/- 2.3 Omega m, respectively: mean +/- standard deviation). However, the differences in absolute lung

  8. Absolute Parameters for the F-type Eclipsing Binary BW Aquarii

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maxted, P. F. L.

    2018-05-01

    BW Aqr is a bright eclipsing binary star containing a pair of F7V stars. The absolute parameters of this binary (masses, radii, etc.) are known to good precision so they are often used to test stellar models, particularly in studies of convective overshooting. ... Maxted & Hutcheon (2018) analysed the Kepler K2 data for BW Aqr and noted that it shows variability between the eclipses that may be caused by tidally induced pulsations. ... Table 1 shows the absolute parameters for BW Aqr derived from an improved analysis of the Kepler K2 light curve plus the RV measurements from both Imbert (1979) and Lester & Gies (2018). ... The values in Table 1 with their robust error estimates from the standard deviation of the mean are consistent with the values and errors from Maxted & Hutcheon (2018) based on the PPD calculated using emcee for a fit to the entire K2 light curve.

  9. [Application of wavelet neural networks model to forecast incidence of syphilis].

    PubMed

    Zhou, Xian-Feng; Feng, Zi-Jian; Yang, Wei-Zhong; Li, Xiao-Song

    2011-07-01

    To apply Wavelet Neural Networks (WNN) model to forecast incidence of Syphilis. Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) and WNN were developed based on the monthly incidence of Syphilis in Sichuan province from 2004 to 2008. The accuracy of forecast was compared between the two models. In the training approximation, the mean absolute error (MAE), rooted mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were 0.0719, 0.0862 and 11.52% respectively for WNN, and 0.0892, 0.1183 and 14.87% respectively for BPNN. The three indexes for generalization of models were 0.0497, 0.0513 and 4.60% for WNN, and 0.0816, 0.1119 and 7.25% for BPNN. WNN is a better model for short-term forecasting of Syphilis.

  10. Real-Time and Meter-Scale Absolute Distance Measurement by Frequency-Comb-Referenced Multi-Wavelength Interferometry.

    PubMed

    Wang, Guochao; Tan, Lilong; Yan, Shuhua

    2018-02-07

    We report on a frequency-comb-referenced absolute interferometer which instantly measures long distance by integrating multi-wavelength interferometry with direct synthetic wavelength interferometry. The reported interferometer utilizes four different wavelengths, simultaneously calibrated to the frequency comb of a femtosecond laser, to implement subwavelength distance measurement, while direct synthetic wavelength interferometry is elaborately introduced by launching a fifth wavelength to extend a non-ambiguous range for meter-scale measurement. A linearity test performed comparatively with a He-Ne laser interferometer shows a residual error of less than 70.8 nm in peak-to-valley over a 3 m distance, and a 10 h distance comparison is demonstrated to gain fractional deviations of ~3 × 10 -8 versus 3 m distance. Test results reveal that the presented absolute interferometer enables precise, stable, and long-term distance measurements and facilitates absolute positioning applications such as large-scale manufacturing and space missions.

  11. Simulation and analysis of spectroscopic filter of rotational Raman lidar for absolute measurement of atmospheric temperature

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Qimeng; Li, Shichun; Hu, Xianglong; Zhao, Jing; Xin, Wenhui; Song, Yuehui; Hua, Dengxin

    2018-01-01

    The absolute measurement technique for atmospheric temperature can avoid the calibration process and improve the measurement accuracy. To achieve the rotational Raman temperature lidar of absolute measurement, the two-stage parallel multi-channel spectroscopic filter combined a first-order blazed grating with a fiber Bragg grating is designed and its performance is tested. The parameters and the optical path structure of the core cascaded-device (micron-level fiber array) are optimized, the optical path of the primary spectroscope is simulated and the maximum centrifugal distortion of the rotational Raman spectrum is approximately 0.0031 nm, the centrifugal ratio of 0.69%. The experimental results show that the channel coefficients of the primary spectroscope are 0.67, 0.91, 0.67, 0.75, 0.82, 0.63, 0.87, 0.97, 0.89, 0.87 and 1 by using the twelfth channel as a reference and the average FWHM is about 0.44 nm. The maximum deviation between the experimental wavelength and the theoretical value is approximately 0.0398 nm, with the deviation degree of 8.86%. The effective suppression to elastic scattering signal are 30.6, 35.2, 37.1, 38.4, 36.8, 38.2, 41.0, 44.3, 44.0, 46.7 dB. That means, combined with the second spectroscope, the suppression at least is up to 65 dB. Therefore we can fine extract single rotational Raman line to achieve the absolute measurement technique.

  12. Real-Time and Meter-Scale Absolute Distance Measurement by Frequency-Comb-Referenced Multi-Wavelength Interferometry

    PubMed Central

    Tan, Lilong; Yan, Shuhua

    2018-01-01

    We report on a frequency-comb-referenced absolute interferometer which instantly measures long distance by integrating multi-wavelength interferometry with direct synthetic wavelength interferometry. The reported interferometer utilizes four different wavelengths, simultaneously calibrated to the frequency comb of a femtosecond laser, to implement subwavelength distance measurement, while direct synthetic wavelength interferometry is elaborately introduced by launching a fifth wavelength to extend a non-ambiguous range for meter-scale measurement. A linearity test performed comparatively with a He–Ne laser interferometer shows a residual error of less than 70.8 nm in peak-to-valley over a 3 m distance, and a 10 h distance comparison is demonstrated to gain fractional deviations of ~3 × 10−8 versus 3 m distance. Test results reveal that the presented absolute interferometer enables precise, stable, and long-term distance measurements and facilitates absolute positioning applications such as large-scale manufacturing and space missions. PMID:29414897

  13. Intracortical myelination in musicians with absolute pitch: Quantitative morphometry using 7‐T MRI

    PubMed Central

    Knösche, Thomas R.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Absolute pitch (AP) is known as the ability to recognize and label the pitch chroma of a given tone without external reference. Known brain structures and functions related to AP are mainly of macroscopic aspects. To shed light on the underlying neural mechanism of AP, we investigated the intracortical myeloarchitecture in musicians with and without AP using the quantitative mapping of the longitudinal relaxation rates with ultra‐high‐field magnetic resonance imaging at 7 T. We found greater intracortical myelination for AP musicians in the anterior region of the supratemporal plane, particularly the medial region of the right planum polare (PP). In the same region of the right PP, we also found a positive correlation with a behavioral index of AP performance. In addition, we found a positive correlation with a frequency discrimination threshold in the anterolateral Heschl's gyrus in the right hemisphere, demonstrating distinctive neural processes of absolute recognition and relative discrimination of pitch. Regarding possible effects of local myelination in the cortex and the known importance of the anterior superior temporal gyrus/sulcus for the identification of auditory objects, we argue that pitch chroma may be processed as an identifiable object property in AP musicians. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3486–3501, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:27160707

  14. Teaching Absolute Value Meaningfully

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wade, Angela

    2012-01-01

    What is the meaning of absolute value? And why do teachers teach students how to solve absolute value equations? Absolute value is a concept introduced in first-year algebra and then reinforced in later courses. Various authors have suggested instructional methods for teaching absolute value to high school students (Wei 2005; Stallings-Roberts…

  15. Intracortical myelination in musicians with absolute pitch: Quantitative morphometry using 7-T MRI.

    PubMed

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R

    2016-10-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is known as the ability to recognize and label the pitch chroma of a given tone without external reference. Known brain structures and functions related to AP are mainly of macroscopic aspects. To shed light on the underlying neural mechanism of AP, we investigated the intracortical myeloarchitecture in musicians with and without AP using the quantitative mapping of the longitudinal relaxation rates with ultra-high-field magnetic resonance imaging at 7 T. We found greater intracortical myelination for AP musicians in the anterior region of the supratemporal plane, particularly the medial region of the right planum polare (PP). In the same region of the right PP, we also found a positive correlation with a behavioral index of AP performance. In addition, we found a positive correlation with a frequency discrimination threshold in the anterolateral Heschl's gyrus in the right hemisphere, demonstrating distinctive neural processes of absolute recognition and relative discrimination of pitch. Regarding possible effects of local myelination in the cortex and the known importance of the anterior superior temporal gyrus/sulcus for the identification of auditory objects, we argue that pitch chroma may be processed as an identifiable object property in AP musicians. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3486-3501, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Radar prediction of absolute rain fade distributions for earth-satellite paths and general methods for extrapolation of fade statistics to other locations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goldhirsh, J.

    1982-01-01

    The first absolute rain fade distribution method described establishes absolute fade statistics at a given site by means of a sampled radar data base. The second method extrapolates absolute fade statistics from one location to another, given simultaneously measured fade and rain rate statistics at the former. Both methods employ similar conditional fade statistic concepts and long term rain rate distributions. Probability deviations in the 2-19% range, with an 11% average, were obtained upon comparison of measured and predicted levels at given attenuations. The extrapolation of fade distributions to other locations at 28 GHz showed very good agreement with measured data at three sites located in the continental temperate region.

  17. Rhythmic and melodic deviations in musical sequences recruit different cortical areas for mismatch detection.

    PubMed

    Lappe, Claudia; Steinsträter, Olaf; Pantev, Christo

    2013-01-01

    The mismatch negativity (MMN), an event-related potential (ERP) representing the violation of an acoustic regularity, is considered as a pre-attentive change detection mechanism at the sensory level on the one hand and as a prediction error signal on the other hand, suggesting that bottom-up as well as top-down processes are involved in its generation. Rhythmic and melodic deviations within a musical sequence elicit a MMN in musically trained subjects, indicating that acquired musical expertise leads to better discrimination accuracy of musical material and better predictions about upcoming musical events. Expectation violations to musical material could therefore recruit neural generators that reflect top-down processes that are based on musical knowledge. We describe the neural generators of the musical MMN for rhythmic and melodic material after a short-term sensorimotor-auditory (SA) training. We compare the localization of musical MMN data from two previous MEG studies by applying beamformer analysis. One study focused on the melodic harmonic progression whereas the other study focused on rhythmic progression. The MMN to melodic deviations revealed significant right hemispheric neural activation in the superior temporal gyrus (STG), inferior frontal cortex (IFC), and the superior frontal (SFG) and orbitofrontal (OFG) gyri. IFC and SFG activation was also observed in the left hemisphere. In contrast, beamformer analysis of the data from the rhythm study revealed bilateral activation within the vicinity of auditory cortices and in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), an area that has recently been implied in temporal processing. We conclude that different cortical networks are activated in the analysis of the temporal and the melodic content of musical material, and discuss these networks in the context of the dual-pathway model of auditory processing.

  18. Note: An absolute X-Y-Θ position sensor using a two-dimensional phase-encoded binary scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Jong-Ahn; Kim, Jae Wan; Kang, Chu-Shik; Jin, Jonghan

    2018-04-01

    This Note presents a new absolute X-Y-Θ position sensor for measuring planar motion of a precision multi-axis stage system. By analyzing the rotated image of a two-dimensional phase-encoded binary scale (2D), the absolute 2D position values at two separated points were obtained and the absolute X-Y-Θ position could be calculated combining these values. The sensor head was constructed using a board-level camera, a light-emitting diode light source, an imaging lens, and a cube beam-splitter. To obtain the uniform intensity profiles from the vignette scale image, we selected the averaging directions deliberately, and higher resolution in the angle measurement could be achieved by increasing the allowable offset size. The performance of a prototype sensor was evaluated in respect of resolution, nonlinearity, and repeatability. The sensor could resolve 25 nm linear and 0.001° angular displacements clearly, and the standard deviations were less than 18 nm when 2D grid positions were measured repeatedly.

  19. Easy Absolute Values? Absolutely

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Sharon E.; Mittag, Kathleen Cage

    2015-01-01

    The authors teach a problem-solving course for preservice middle-grades education majors that includes concepts dealing with absolute-value computations, equations, and inequalities. Many of these students like mathematics and plan to teach it, so they are adept at symbolic manipulations. Getting them to think differently about a concept that they…

  20. Regional comparison of absolute gravimeters SIM.M.G-K1 key comparison

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Newell, D. B.; van Westrum, D.; Francis, O.; Kanney, J.; Liard, J.; Ramirez, A. E.; Lucero, B.; Ellis, B.; Greco, F.; Pistorio, A.; Reudink, R.; Iacovone, D.; Baccaro, F.; Silliker, J.; Wheeler, R. D.; Falk, R.; Ruelke, A.

    2017-01-01

    Twelve absolute gravimeters were compared during the regional Key Comparison SIM.M.G-K1 of absolute gravimeters. The four gravimeters were from different NMIs and DIs. The comparison was linked to the CCM.G-K2 through EURAMET.M.G-K2 via the DI gravimeter FG5X-216. Overall, the results and uncertainties indicate an excellent agreement among the gravimeters, with a standard deviation of the gravimeters' DoEs better than 1.3 μGal. In the case of the official solution, all the gravimeters are in equivalence well within the declared uncertainties. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

  1. Results of the first North American comparison of absolute gravimeters, NACAG-2010

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schmerge, David; Francis, Olvier; Henton, J.; Ingles, D.; Jones, D.; Kennedy, Jeffrey R.; Krauterbluth, K.; Liard, J.; Newell, D.; Sands, R.; Schiel, J.; Silliker, J.; van Westrum, D.

    2012-01-01

    The first North American Comparison of absolute gravimeters (NACAG-2010) was hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at its newly renovated Table Mountain Geophysical Observatory (TMGO) north of Boulder, Colorado, in October 2010. NACAG-2010 and the renovation of TMGO are part of NGS’s GRAV-D project (Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum). Nine absolute gravimeters from three countries participated in the comparison. Before the comparison, the gravimeter operators agreed to a protocol describing the strategy to measure, calculate, and present the results. Nine sites were used to measure the free-fall acceleration of g. Each gravimeter measured the value of g at a subset of three of the sites, for a total set of 27 g-values for the comparison. The absolute gravimeters agree with one another with a standard deviation of 1.6 µGal (1 Gal = 1 cm s-2). The minimum and maximum offsets are -2.8 and 2.7 µGal. This is an excellent agreement and can be attributed to multiple factors, including gravimeters that were in good working order, good operators, a quiet observatory, and a short duration time for the experiment. These results can be used to standardize gravity surveys internationally.

  2. Independent coding of absolute duration and distance magnitudes in the prefrontal cortex

    PubMed Central

    Marcos, Encarni; Tsujimoto, Satoshi

    2016-01-01

    The estimation of space and time can interfere with each other, and neuroimaging studies have shown overlapping activation in the parietal and prefrontal cortical areas. We used duration and distance discrimination tasks to determine whether space and time share resources in prefrontal cortex (PF) neurons. Monkeys were required to report which of two stimuli, a red circle or blue square, presented sequentially, were longer and farther, respectively, in the duration and distance tasks. In a previous study, we showed that relative duration and distance are coded by different populations of neurons and that the only common representation is related to goal coding. Here, we examined the coding of absolute duration and distance. Our results support a model of independent coding of absolute duration and distance metrics by demonstrating that not only relative magnitude but also absolute magnitude are independently coded in the PF. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Human behavioral studies have shown that spatial and duration judgments can interfere with each other. We investigated the neural representation of such magnitudes in the prefrontal cortex. We found that the two magnitudes are independently coded by prefrontal neurons. We suggest that the interference among magnitude judgments might depend on the goal rather than the perceptual resource sharing. PMID:27760814

  3. Estimate of standard deviation for a log-transformed variable using arithmetic means and standard deviations.

    PubMed

    Quan, Hui; Zhang, Ji

    2003-09-15

    Analyses of study variables are frequently based on log transformations. To calculate the power for detecting the between-treatment difference in the log scale, we need an estimate of the standard deviation of the log-transformed variable. However, in many situations a literature search only provides the arithmetic means and the corresponding standard deviations. Without individual log-transformed data to directly calculate the sample standard deviation, we need alternative methods to estimate it. This paper presents methods for estimating and constructing confidence intervals for the standard deviation of a log-transformed variable given the mean and standard deviation of the untransformed variable. It also presents methods for estimating the standard deviation of change from baseline in the log scale given the means and standard deviations of the untransformed baseline value, on-treatment value and change from baseline. Simulations and examples are provided to assess the performance of these estimates. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. 48 CFR 2001.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Individual deviations. 2001... Individual deviations. In individual cases, deviations from either the FAR or the NRCAR will be authorized... deviations clearly in the best interest of the Government. Individual deviations must be authorized in...

  5. 48 CFR 801.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 801... Individual deviations. (a) Authority to authorize individual deviations from the FAR and VAAR is delegated to... nature of the deviation. (d) The DSPE may authorize individual deviations from the FAR and VAAR when an...

  6. Absolute biological needs.

    PubMed

    McLeod, Stephen

    2014-07-01

    Absolute needs (as against instrumental needs) are independent of the ends, goals and purposes of personal agents. Against the view that the only needs are instrumental needs, David Wiggins and Garrett Thomson have defended absolute needs on the grounds that the verb 'need' has instrumental and absolute senses. While remaining neutral about it, this article does not adopt that approach. Instead, it suggests that there are absolute biological needs. The absolute nature of these needs is defended by appeal to: their objectivity (as against mind-dependence); the universality of the phenomenon of needing across the plant and animal kingdoms; the impossibility that biological needs depend wholly upon the exercise of the abilities characteristic of personal agency; the contention that the possession of biological needs is prior to the possession of the abilities characteristic of personal agency. Finally, three philosophical usages of 'normative' are distinguished. On two of these, to describe a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' is to describe it as value-dependent. A description of a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' in the third sense does not entail such value-dependency, though it leaves open the possibility that value depends upon the phenomenon or upon the truth of the claim. It is argued that while survival needs (or claims about them) may well be normative in this third sense, they are normative in neither of the first two. Thus, the idea of absolute need is not inherently normative in either of the first two senses. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. 10 CFR 602.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Deviations. 602.4 Section 602.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS EPIDEMIOLOGY AND OTHER HEALTH STUDIES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM § 602.4 Deviations. (a) Single-case deviations from this part may be authorized in writing by the...

  8. 10 CFR 602.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Deviations. 602.4 Section 602.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS EPIDEMIOLOGY AND OTHER HEALTH STUDIES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM § 602.4 Deviations. (a) Single-case deviations from this part may be authorized in writing by the...

  9. 10 CFR 602.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Deviations. 602.4 Section 602.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS EPIDEMIOLOGY AND OTHER HEALTH STUDIES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM § 602.4 Deviations. (a) Single-case deviations from this part may be authorized in writing by the...

  10. 10 CFR 602.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations. 602.4 Section 602.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS EPIDEMIOLOGY AND OTHER HEALTH STUDIES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM § 602.4 Deviations. (a) Single-case deviations from this part may be authorized in writing by the...

  11. 10 CFR 602.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Deviations. 602.4 Section 602.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS EPIDEMIOLOGY AND OTHER HEALTH STUDIES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM § 602.4 Deviations. (a) Single-case deviations from this part may be authorized in writing by the...

  12. 48 CFR 1501.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Individual deviations. 1501.403 Section 1501.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GENERAL GENERAL Deviations 1501.403 Individual deviations. Requests for individual deviations from the FAR and the...

  13. Using statistical and artificial neural network models to forecast potentiometric levels at a deep well in South Texas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Uddameri, V.

    2007-01-01

    Reliable forecasts of monthly and quarterly fluctuations in groundwater levels are necessary for short- and medium-term planning and management of aquifers to ensure proper service of seasonal demands within a region. Development of physically based transient mathematical models at this time scale poses considerable challenges due to lack of suitable data and other uncertainties. Artificial neural networks (ANN) possess flexible mathematical structures and are capable of mapping highly nonlinear relationships. Feed-forward neural network models were constructed and trained using the back-percolation algorithm to forecast monthly and quarterly time-series water levels at a well that taps into the deeper Evangeline formation of the Gulf Coast aquifer in Victoria, TX. Unlike unconfined formations, no causal relationships exist between water levels and hydro-meteorological variables measured near the vicinity of the well. As such, an endogenous forecasting model using dummy variables to capture short-term seasonal fluctuations and longer-term (decadal) trends was constructed. The root mean square error, mean absolute deviation and correlation coefficient ( R) were noted to be 1.40, 0.33 and 0.77 m, respectively, for an evaluation dataset of quarterly measurements and 1.17, 0.46, and 0.88 m for an evaluative monthly dataset not used to train or test the model. These statistics were better for the ANN model than those developed using statistical regression techniques.

  14. 48 CFR 2401.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Individual deviations. 2401... DEVELOPMENT GENERAL FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Deviations 2401.403 Individual deviations. In individual cases, proposed deviations from the FAR or HUDAR shall be submitted to the Senior Procurement...

  15. 48 CFR 3401.404 - Class deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Class deviations. 3401.404 Section 3401.404 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL ED ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Deviations 3401.404 Class deviations. A class deviation from the...

  16. 10 CFR 961.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Deviations. 961.4 Section 961.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY STANDARD CONTRACT FOR DISPOSAL OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND/OR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE General § 961.4 Deviations. Requests for authority to deviate from this part shall be submitted in writing to...

  17. 10 CFR 961.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Deviations. 961.4 Section 961.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY STANDARD CONTRACT FOR DISPOSAL OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND/OR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE General § 961.4 Deviations. Requests for authority to deviate from this part shall be submitted in writing to...

  18. 10 CFR 961.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Deviations. 961.4 Section 961.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY STANDARD CONTRACT FOR DISPOSAL OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND/OR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE General § 961.4 Deviations. Requests for authority to deviate from this part shall be submitted in writing to...

  19. 10 CFR 961.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Deviations. 961.4 Section 961.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY STANDARD CONTRACT FOR DISPOSAL OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND/OR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE General § 961.4 Deviations. Requests for authority to deviate from this part shall be submitted in writing to...

  20. 10 CFR 961.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations. 961.4 Section 961.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY STANDARD CONTRACT FOR DISPOSAL OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND/OR HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE General § 961.4 Deviations. Requests for authority to deviate from this part shall be submitted in writing to...

  1. Near real-time analysis of extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors under damped vibration using artificial neural networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dua, Rohit; Watkins, Steve E.

    2009-03-01

    Strain analysis due to vibration can provide insight into structural health. An Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometric (EFPI) sensor under vibrational strain generates a non-linear modulated output. Advanced signal processing techniques, to extract important information such as absolute strain, are required to demodulate this non-linear output. Past research has employed Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) to demodulate the EFPI sensor for limited conditions. These demodulation systems could only handle variations in absolute value of strain and frequency of actuation during a vibration event. This project uses an ANN approach to extend the demodulation system to include the variation in the damping coefficient of the actuating vibration, in a near real-time vibration scenario. A computer simulation provides training and testing data for the theoretical output of the EFPI sensor to demonstrate the approaches. FFT needed to be performed on a window of the EFPI output data. A small window of observation is obtained, while maintaining low absolute-strain prediction errors, heuristically. Results are obtained and compared from employing different ANN architectures including multi-layered feedforward ANN trained using Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN), and Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN). A two-layered algorithm fusion system is developed and tested that yields better results.

  2. 48 CFR 1301.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations From the FAR 1301.403 Individual deviations. The designee authorized to approve individual deviations from the FAR is set forth in CAM 1301.70. ...

  3. 48 CFR 301.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 301... ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Deviations From the FAR 301.403 Individual deviations. Contracting activities shall prepare requests for individual deviations to either the FAR or HHSAR in accordance with 301.470. ...

  4. 48 CFR 1201.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations... FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM 70-Deviations From the FAR and TAR 1201.403 Individual deviations... Executive Service (SES) official or that of a Flag Officer, may authorize individual deviations (unless (FAR...

  5. An absolute cavity pyrgeometer to measure the absolute outdoor longwave irradiance with traceability to international system of units, SI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reda, Ibrahim; Zeng, Jinan; Scheuch, Jonathan; Hanssen, Leonard; Wilthan, Boris; Myers, Daryl; Stoffel, Tom

    2012-03-01

    This article describes a method of measuring the absolute outdoor longwave irradiance using an absolute cavity pyrgeometer (ACP), U.S. Patent application no. 13/049, 275. The ACP consists of domeless thermopile pyrgeometer, gold-plated concentrator, temperature controller, and data acquisition. The dome was removed from the pyrgeometer to remove errors associated with dome transmittance and the dome correction factor. To avoid thermal convection and wind effect errors resulting from using a domeless thermopile, the gold-plated concentrator was placed above the thermopile. The concentrator is a dual compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) with 180° view angle to measure the outdoor incoming longwave irradiance from the atmosphere. The incoming irradiance is reflected from the specular gold surface of the CPC and concentrated on the 11 mm diameter of the pyrgeometer's blackened thermopile. The CPC's interior surface design and the resulting cavitation result in a throughput value that was characterized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The ACP was installed horizontally outdoor on an aluminum plate connected to the temperature controller to control the pyrgeometer's case temperature. The responsivity of the pyrgeometer's thermopile detector was determined by lowering the case temperature and calculating the rate of change of the thermopile output voltage versus the changing net irradiance. The responsivity is then used to calculate the absolute atmospheric longwave irradiance with an uncertainty estimate (U95) of ±3.96 W m-2 with traceability to the International System of Units, SI. The measured irradiance was compared with the irradiance measured by two pyrgeometers calibrated by the World Radiation Center with traceability to the Interim World Infrared Standard Group, WISG. A total of 408 readings were collected over three different nights. The calculated irradiance measured by the ACP was 1.5 W/m2 lower than that measured by the two

  6. 48 CFR 501.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 501... Individual deviations. (a) An individual deviation affects only one contract action. (1) The Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) must approve an individual deviation to the FAR. The authority to grant an...

  7. 48 CFR 2801.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Individual deviations. 2801... OF JUSTICE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations From the FAR and JAR 2801.403 Individual deviations. Individual deviations from the FAR or the JAR shall be approved by the head of the contracting...

  8. 48 CFR 401.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 401... AGRICULTURE ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Deviations From the FAR and AGAR 401.403 Individual deviations. In individual cases, deviations from either the FAR or the AGAR will be authorized only when essential to effect...

  9. Visualizing the Sample Standard Deviation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sarkar, Jyotirmoy; Rashid, Mamunur

    2017-01-01

    The standard deviation (SD) of a random sample is defined as the square-root of the sample variance, which is the "mean" squared deviation of the sample observations from the sample mean. Here, we interpret the sample SD as the square-root of twice the mean square of all pairwise half deviations between any two sample observations. This…

  10. A determination of the absolute radiant energy of a Robertson-Berger meter sunburn unit

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeLuisi, John J.; Harris, Joyce M.

    Data from a Robertson-Berger (RB) sunburn meter were compared with concurrent measurements obtained with an ultraviolet double monochromator (DM), and the absolute energy of one sunburn unit measured by the RB-meter was determined. It was found that at a solar zenith angle of 30° one sunburn unit (SU) is equivalent to 35 ± 4 mJ cm -2, and at a solar zenith angle of 69°, one SU is equivalent to 20 ± 2 mJ cm -2 (relative to a wavelength of 297 nm), where the rate of change is non-linear. The deviation is due to the different response functions of the RB-meter and the DM system used to simulate the response of human skin to the incident u.v. solar spectrum. The average growth rate of the deviation with increasing solar zenith angle was found to be 1.2% per degree between solar zenith angles 30 and 50° and 2.3% per degree between solar zenith angles 50 and 70°. The deviations of response with solar zenith angle were found to be consistent with reported RB-meter characteristics.

  11. Evidence against global attention filters selective for absolute bar-orientation in human vision.

    PubMed

    Inverso, Matthew; Sun, Peng; Chubb, Charles; Wright, Charles E; Sperling, George

    2016-01-01

    The finding that an item of type A pops out from an array of distractors of type B typically is taken to support the inference that human vision contains a neural mechanism that is activated by items of type A but not by items of type B. Such a mechanism might be expected to yield a neural image in which items of type A produce high activation and items of type B low (or zero) activation. Access to such a neural image might further be expected to enable accurate estimation of the centroid of an ensemble of items of type A intermixed with to-be-ignored items of type B. Here, it is shown that as the number of items in stimulus displays is increased, performance in estimating the centroids of horizontal (vertical) items amid vertical (horizontal) distractors degrades much more quickly and dramatically than does performance in estimating the centroids of white (black) items among black (white) distractors. Together with previous findings, these results suggest that, although human vision does possess bottom-up neural mechanisms sensitive to abrupt local changes in bar-orientation, and although human vision does possess and utilize top-down global attention filters capable of selecting multiple items of one brightness or of one color from among others, it cannot use a top-down global attention filter capable of selecting multiple bars of a given absolute orientation and filtering bars of the opposite orientation in a centroid task.

  12. Jasminum flexile flower absolute from India--a detailed comparison with three other jasmine absolutes.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Kohlenberg, Birgit; Sim, Sherina; Meier, Manfred; Hammerschmidt, Franz-Josef

    2009-09-01

    Jasminum flexile flower absolute from the south of India and the corresponding vacuum headspace (VHS) sample of the absolute were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Three other commercially available Indian jasmine absolutes from the species: J. sambac, J. officinale subsp. grandiflorum, and J. auriculatum and the respective VHS samples were used for comparison purposes. One hundred and twenty-one compounds were characterized in J. flexile flower absolute, with methyl linolate, benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, (2E,6E)-farnesol, and benzyl acetate as the main constituents. A detailed olfactory evaluation was also performed.

  13. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-05-15

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  14. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2010-07-13

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  15. Artificial neural network modeling of dissolved oxygen in reservoir.

    PubMed

    Chen, Wei-Bo; Liu, Wen-Cheng

    2014-02-01

    The water quality of reservoirs is one of the key factors in the operation and water quality management of reservoirs. Dissolved oxygen (DO) in water column is essential for microorganisms and a significant indicator of the state of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, two artificial neural network (ANN) models including back propagation neural network (BPNN) and adaptive neural-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) approaches and multilinear regression (MLR) model were developed to estimate the DO concentration in the Feitsui Reservoir of northern Taiwan. The input variables of the neural network are determined as water temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity, suspended solids, total hardness, total alkalinity, and ammonium nitrogen. The performance of the ANN models and MLR model was assessed through the mean absolute error, root mean square error, and correlation coefficient computed from the measured and model-simulated DO values. The results reveal that ANN estimation performances were superior to those of MLR. Comparing to the BPNN and ANFIS models through the performance criteria, the ANFIS model is better than the BPNN model for predicting the DO values. Study results show that the neural network particularly using ANFIS model is able to predict the DO concentrations with reasonable accuracy, suggesting that the neural network is a valuable tool for reservoir management in Taiwan.

  16. Deviations of the visual upright in three dimensions in disorders of the brainstem: a clinical exploration.

    PubMed

    Frisén, Lars

    2010-12-01

    Deviations of the subjective visual vertical in the roll or fronto-parallel plane occur commonly in disorders of the brainstem and have been extensively explored. In contrast, little is known about deviations in other directions. The present retrospective study focused on deviations in the pitch (sagittal) direction in 176 patients with a wide variety of disorders. The test task was to set a self-illuminated rod in the apparent upright position, in total darkness. Abnormal results (outside ± 4°) were recorded in 58% of the subjects. Negative (top backward) deviations were the most common, particularly with mass lesions in the pineal region, obstructive hydrocephalus, cerebellar lesions and crowding at the craniocervical junction. Positive and negative deviations were about equally common with focal intra-axial lesions. Negative deviations appeared related to dorsal locations of lesions and vice versa. Normal pressure hydrocephalus, Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy were associated with smaller deviations, without a clear directional preponderance, and a larger individual variability. Most subjects lacked overt clinical corollaries. The most common ocular signs were aqueduct syndromes (n = 17) and ocular tilt reactions (n = 12), which were associated with deviations in 47 and 92% of instances, respectively. Subjective corollaries of deviation were never reported, not even by those subjects who showed a dramatic improvement upon resolution of the underlying condition. Deviations were also assessed in roll in a subgroup of 40 patients with focal lesions. Thirty subjects returned abnormal results: 13% in roll, 47% in pitch and 40% in pitch and roll. The direction of roll deviation appeared primarily related to laterality, with clockwise deviations with right-sided lesions and vice versa. All subjects with ocular tilt reactions had combined pitch and roll deviations, implying a common neural substrate. Correlation analyses, geometrical modelling

  17. Modeling of biosorption of Cu(II) by alkali-modified spent tea leaves using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghosh, Arpita; Das, Papita; Sinha, Keka

    2015-06-01

    In the present work, spent tea leaves were modified with Ca(OH)2 and used as a new, non-conventional and low-cost biosorbent for the removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solution. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used to develop predictive models for simulation and optimization of the biosorption process. The influence of process parameters (pH, biosorbent dose and reaction time) on the biosorption efficiency was investigated through a two-level three-factor (23) full factorial central composite design with the help of Design Expert. The same design was also used to obtain a training set for ANN. Finally, both modeling methodologies were statistically compared by the root mean square error and absolute average deviation based on the validation data set. Results suggest that RSM has better prediction performance as compared to ANN. The biosorption followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm and it followed pseudo-second-order kinetic. The optimum removal efficiency of the adsorbent was found as 96.12 %.

  18. An oil fraction neural sensor developed using electrical capacitance tomography sensor data.

    PubMed

    Zainal-Mokhtar, Khursiah; Mohamad-Saleh, Junita

    2013-08-26

    This paper presents novel research on the development of a generic intelligent oil fraction sensor based on Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) data. An artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been employed as the intelligent system to sense and estimate oil fractions from the cross-sections of two-component flows comprising oil and gas in a pipeline. Previous works only focused on estimating the oil fraction in the pipeline based on fixed ECT sensor parameters. With fixed ECT design sensors, an oil fraction neural sensor can be trained to deal with ECT data based on the particular sensor parameters, hence the neural sensor is not generic. This work focuses on development of a generic neural oil fraction sensor based on training a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) ANN with various ECT sensor parameters. On average, the proposed oil fraction neural sensor has shown to be able to give a mean absolute error of 3.05% for various ECT sensor sizes.

  19. An Oil Fraction Neural Sensor Developed Using Electrical capacitance Tomography Sensor Data

    PubMed Central

    Zainal-Mokhtar, Khursiah; Mohamad-Saleh, Junita

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents novel research on the development of a generic intelligent oil fraction sensor based on Electrical capacitance Tomography (ECT) data. An artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been employed as the intelligent system to sense and estimate oil fractions from the cross-sections of two-component flows comprising oil and gas in a pipeline. Previous works only focused on estimating the oil fraction in the pipeline based on fixed ECT sensor parameters. With fixed ECT design sensors, an oil fraction neural sensor can be trained to deal with ECT data based on the particular sensor parameters, hence the neural sensor is not generic. This work focuses on development of a generic neural oil fraction sensor based on training a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) ANN with various ECT sensor parameters. On average, the proposed oil fraction neural sensor has shown to be able to give a mean absolute error of 3.05% for various ECT sensor sizes. PMID:24064598

  20. Application of Artificial Neural Network to Optical Fluid Analyzer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kimura, Makoto; Nishida, Katsuhiko

    1994-04-01

    A three-layer artificial neural network has been applied to the presentation of optical fluid analyzer (OFA) raw data, and the accuracy of oil fraction determination has been significantly improved compared to previous approaches. To apply the artificial neural network approach to solving a problem, the first step is training to determine the appropriate weight set for calculating the target values. This involves using a series of data sets (each comprising a set of input values and an associated set of output values that the artificial neural network is required to determine) to tune artificial neural network weighting parameters so that the output of the neural network to the given set of input values is as close as possible to the required output. The physical model used to generate the series of learning data sets was the effective flow stream model, developed for OFA data presentation. The effectiveness of the training was verified by reprocessing the same input data as were used to determine the weighting parameters and then by comparing the results of the artificial neural network to the expected output values. The standard deviation of the expected and obtained values was approximately 10% (two sigma).

  1. allantools: Allan deviation calculation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wallin, Anders E. E.; Price, Danny C.; Carson, Cantwell G.; Meynadier, Frédéric

    2018-04-01

    allantools calculates Allan deviation and related time & frequency statistics. The library is written in Python and has a GPL v3+ license. It takes input data that is either evenly spaced observations of either fractional frequency, or phase in seconds. Deviations are calculated for given tau values in seconds. Several noise generators for creating synthetic datasets are also included.

  2. Quantifying gait deviations in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis using the Gait Deviation Index.

    PubMed

    Esbjörnsson, A-C; Rozumalski, A; Iversen, M D; Schwartz, M H; Wretenberg, P; Broström, E W

    2014-01-01

    In this study we evaluated the usability of the Gait Deviation Index (GDI), an index that summarizes the amount of deviation in movement from a standard norm, in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aims of the study were to evaluate the ability of the GDI to identify gait deviations, assess inter-trial repeatability, and examine the relationship between the GDI and walking speed, physical disability, and pain. Sixty-three adults with RA and 59 adults with typical gait patterns were included in this retrospective case-control study. Following a three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA), representative gait cycles were selected and GDI scores calculated. To evaluate the effect of walking speed, GDI scores were calculated using both a free-speed and a speed-matched reference set. Physical disability was assessed using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and subjects rated their pain during walking. Adults with RA had significantly increased gait deviations compared to healthy individuals, as shown by lower GDI scores [87.9 (SD = 8.7) vs. 99.4 (SD = 8.3), p < 0.001]. This difference was also seen when adjusting for walking speed [91.7 (SD = 9.0) vs. 99.9 (SD = 8.6), p < 0.001]. It was estimated that a change of ≥ 5 GDI units was required to account for natural variation in gait. There was no evident relationship between GDI and low/high RA-related physical disability and pain. The GDI seems to useful for identifying and summarizing gait deviations in individuals with RA. Thus, we consider that the GDI provides an overall measure of gait deviation that may reflect lower extremity pathology and may help clinicians to understand the impact of RA on gait dynamics.

  3. 48 CFR 2501.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Individual deviations. 2501.403 Section 2501.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GENERAL FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations From the FAR 2501.403 Individual deviations. Individual...

  4. 48 CFR 1.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 1.403 Section 1.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations from the FAR 1.403 Individual deviations. Individual...

  5. 48 CFR 1.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Individual deviations. 1.403 Section 1.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations from the FAR 1.403 Individual deviations. Individual...

  6. 48 CFR 1.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Individual deviations. 1.403 Section 1.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations from the FAR 1.403 Individual deviations. Individual...

  7. 48 CFR 3401.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 3401.403 Section 3401.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL ED ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Deviations 3401.403 Individual deviations. An individual...

  8. 48 CFR 601.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 601.403 Section 601.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations from the FAR 601.403 Individual deviations. The...

  9. 48 CFR 201.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 201.403 Section 201.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM... Individual deviations. (1) Individual deviations, except those described in 201.402(1) and paragraph (2) of...

  10. 48 CFR 2801.404 - Class deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Class deviations. 2801.404 Section 2801.404 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE General DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM Deviations From the FAR and JAR 2801.404 Class deviations. Requests...

  11. 48 CFR 3001.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations... from the FAR and HSAR 3001.403 Individual deviations. Unless precluded by law, executive order, or other regulation, the HCA is authorized to approve individual deviation (except with respect to (FAR) 48...

  12. 48 CFR 1901.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Individual deviations. 1901.403 Section 1901.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS GENERAL... Individual deviations. Deviations from the IAAR or the FAR in individual cases shall be authorized by the...

  13. Surface electromyographic amplitude does not identify differences in neural drive to synergistic muscles.

    PubMed

    Martinez-Valdes, Eduardo; Negro, Francesco; Falla, Deborah; De Nunzio, Alessandro Marco; Farina, Dario

    2018-04-01

    Surface electromyographic (EMG) signal amplitude is typically used to compare the neural drive to muscles. We experimentally investigated this association by studying the motor unit (MU) behavior and action potentials in the vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles. Eighteen participants performed isometric knee extensions at four target torques [10, 30, 50, and 70% of the maximum torque (MVC)] while high-density EMG signals were recorded from the VM and VL. The absolute EMG amplitude was greater for VM than VL ( P < 0.001), whereas the EMG amplitude normalized with respect to MVC was greater for VL than VM ( P < 0.04). Because differences in EMG amplitude can be due to both differences in the neural drive and in the size of the MU action potentials, we indirectly inferred the neural drives received by the two muscles by estimating the synaptic inputs received by the corresponding motor neuron pools. For this purpose, we analyzed the increase in discharge rate from recruitment to target torque for motor units matched by recruitment threshold in the two muscles. This analysis indicated that the two muscles received similar levels of neural drive. Nonetheless, the size of the MU action potentials was greater for VM than VL ( P < 0.001), and this difference explained most of the differences in EMG amplitude between the two muscles (~63% of explained variance). These results indicate that EMG amplitude, even following normalization, does not reflect the neural drive to synergistic muscles. Moreover, absolute EMG amplitude is mainly explained by the size of MU action potentials. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Electromyographic (EMG) amplitude is widely used to compare indirectly the strength of neural drive received by synergistic muscles. However, there are no studies validating this approach with motor unit data. Here, we compared between-muscles differences in surface EMG amplitude and motor unit behavior. The results clarify the limitations of surface EMG to

  14. Corsica: A Multi-Mission Absolute Calibration Site

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bonnefond, P.; Exertier, P.; Laurain, O.; Guinle, T.; Femenias, P.

    2013-09-01

    In collaboration with the CNES and NASA oceanographic projects (TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason), the OCA (Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur) developed a verification site in Corsica since 1996, operational since 1998. CALibration/VALidation embraces a wide variety of activities, ranging from the interpretation of information from internal-calibration modes of the sensors to validation of the fully corrected estimates of the reflector heights using in situ data. Now, Corsica is, like the Harvest platform (NASA side) [14], an operating calibration site able to support a continuous monitoring with a high level of accuracy: a 'point calibration' which yields instantaneous bias estimates with a 10-day repeatability of 30 mm (standard deviation) and mean errors of 4 mm (standard error). For a 35-day repeatability (ERS, Envisat), due to a smaller time series, the standard error is about the double ( 7 mm).In this paper, we will present updated results of the absolute Sea Surface Height (SSH) biases for TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P), Jason-1, Jason-2, ERS-2 and Envisat.

  15. Statistical optimization of the phytoremediation of arsenic by Ludwigia octovalvis- in a pilot reed bed using response surface methodology (RSM) versus an artificial neural network (ANN).

    PubMed

    Titah, Harmin Sulistiyaning; Halmi, Mohd Izuan Effendi Bin; Abdullah, Siti Rozaimah Sheikh; Hasan, Hassimi Abu; Idris, Mushrifah; Anuar, Nurina

    2018-06-07

    In this study, the removal of arsenic (As) by plant, Ludwigia octovalvis, in a pilot reed bed was optimized. A Box-Behnken design was employed including a comparative analysis of both Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for the prediction of maximum arsenic removal. The predicted optimum condition using the desirability function of both models was 39 mg kg -1 for the arsenic concentration in soil, an elapsed time of 42 days (the sampling day) and an aeration rate of 0.22 L/min, with the predicted values of arsenic removal by RSM and ANN being 72.6% and 71.4%, respectively. The validation of the predicted optimum point showed an actual arsenic removal of 70.6%. This was achieved with the deviation between the validation value and the predicted values being within 3.49% (RSM) and 1.87% (ANN). The performance evaluation of the RSM and ANN models showed that ANN performs better than RSM with a higher R 2 (0.97) close to 1.0 and very small Average Absolute Deviation (AAD) (0.02) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) (0.004) values close to zero. Both models were appropriate for the optimization of arsenic removal with ANN demonstrating significantly higher predictive and fitting ability than RSM.

  16. Analysis of Power Laws, Shape Collapses, and Neural Complexity: New Techniques and MATLAB Support via the NCC Toolbox

    PubMed Central

    Marshall, Najja; Timme, Nicholas M.; Bennett, Nicholas; Ripp, Monica; Lautzenhiser, Edward; Beggs, John M.

    2016-01-01

    Neural systems include interactions that occur across many scales. Two divergent methods for characterizing such interactions have drawn on the physical analysis of critical phenomena and the mathematical study of information. Inferring criticality in neural systems has traditionally rested on fitting power laws to the property distributions of “neural avalanches” (contiguous bursts of activity), but the fractal nature of avalanche shapes has recently emerged as another signature of criticality. On the other hand, neural complexity, an information theoretic measure, has been used to capture the interplay between the functional localization of brain regions and their integration for higher cognitive functions. Unfortunately, treatments of all three methods—power-law fitting, avalanche shape collapse, and neural complexity—have suffered from shortcomings. Empirical data often contain biases that introduce deviations from true power law in the tail and head of the distribution, but deviations in the tail have often been unconsidered; avalanche shape collapse has required manual parameter tuning; and the estimation of neural complexity has relied on small data sets or statistical assumptions for the sake of computational efficiency. In this paper we present technical advancements in the analysis of criticality and complexity in neural systems. We use maximum-likelihood estimation to automatically fit power laws with left and right cutoffs, present the first automated shape collapse algorithm, and describe new techniques to account for large numbers of neural variables and small data sets in the calculation of neural complexity. In order to facilitate future research in criticality and complexity, we have made the software utilized in this analysis freely available online in the MATLAB NCC (Neural Complexity and Criticality) Toolbox. PMID:27445842

  17. Analysis of Power Laws, Shape Collapses, and Neural Complexity: New Techniques and MATLAB Support via the NCC Toolbox.

    PubMed

    Marshall, Najja; Timme, Nicholas M; Bennett, Nicholas; Ripp, Monica; Lautzenhiser, Edward; Beggs, John M

    2016-01-01

    Neural systems include interactions that occur across many scales. Two divergent methods for characterizing such interactions have drawn on the physical analysis of critical phenomena and the mathematical study of information. Inferring criticality in neural systems has traditionally rested on fitting power laws to the property distributions of "neural avalanches" (contiguous bursts of activity), but the fractal nature of avalanche shapes has recently emerged as another signature of criticality. On the other hand, neural complexity, an information theoretic measure, has been used to capture the interplay between the functional localization of brain regions and their integration for higher cognitive functions. Unfortunately, treatments of all three methods-power-law fitting, avalanche shape collapse, and neural complexity-have suffered from shortcomings. Empirical data often contain biases that introduce deviations from true power law in the tail and head of the distribution, but deviations in the tail have often been unconsidered; avalanche shape collapse has required manual parameter tuning; and the estimation of neural complexity has relied on small data sets or statistical assumptions for the sake of computational efficiency. In this paper we present technical advancements in the analysis of criticality and complexity in neural systems. We use maximum-likelihood estimation to automatically fit power laws with left and right cutoffs, present the first automated shape collapse algorithm, and describe new techniques to account for large numbers of neural variables and small data sets in the calculation of neural complexity. In order to facilitate future research in criticality and complexity, we have made the software utilized in this analysis freely available online in the MATLAB NCC (Neural Complexity and Criticality) Toolbox.

  18. Early results from the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mather, J. C.; Cheng, E. S.; Shafer, R. A.; Eplee, R. E.; Isaacman, R. B.; Fixsen, D. J.; Read, S. M.; Meyer, S. S.; Weiss, R.; Wright, E. L.

    1991-01-01

    The Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mapped 98 percent of the sky, 60 percent of it twice, before the liquid helium coolant was exhausted. The FIRAS covers the frequency region from 1 to 100/cm with a 7 deg angular resolution. The spectral resolution is 0.2/cm for frequencies less than 20/cm and 0.8/cm for higher frequencies. Preliminary results include: a limit on the deviations from a Planck curve of 1 percent of the peak brightness from 1 to 20/cm, a temperature of 2.735 +/- 0.06 K, a limit on the Comptonization parameter y of 0.001, on the chemical potential parameter mu of 0.01, a strong limit on the existence of a hot smooth intergalactic medium, and a confirmation that the dipole anisotropy spectrum is that of a Doppler shifted blackbody.

  19. Multi-focus image fusion based on area-based standard deviation in dual tree contourlet transform domain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dong, Min; Dong, Chenghui; Guo, Miao; Wang, Zhe; Mu, Xiaomin

    2018-04-01

    Multiresolution-based methods, such as wavelet and Contourlet are usually used to image fusion. This work presents a new image fusion frame-work by utilizing area-based standard deviation in dual tree Contourlet trans-form domain. Firstly, the pre-registered source images are decomposed with dual tree Contourlet transform; low-pass and high-pass coefficients are obtained. Then, the low-pass bands are fused with weighted average based on area standard deviation rather than the simple "averaging" rule. While the high-pass bands are merged with the "max-absolute' fusion rule. Finally, the modified low-pass and high-pass coefficients are used to reconstruct the final fused image. The major advantage of the proposed fusion method over conventional fusion is the approximately shift invariance and multidirectional selectivity of dual tree Contourlet transform. The proposed method is compared with wavelet- , Contourletbased methods and other the state-of-the art methods on common used multi focus images. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed fusion framework is feasible and effective, and it performs better in both subjective and objective evaluation.

  20. Estimating the absolute wealth of households.

    PubMed

    Hruschka, Daniel J; Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-07-01

    To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. The median absolute wealth estimates of 1,403,186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723-6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R(2)  = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality.

  1. 7 CFR 2502.3 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Deviations. 2502.3 Section 2502.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ADVOCACY AND OUTREACH, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT (ACE) GRANTS PROGRAM General Information § 2502.3 Deviations...

  2. 7 CFR 2502.3 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Deviations. 2502.3 Section 2502.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ADVOCACY AND OUTREACH, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT (ACE) GRANTS PROGRAM General Information § 2502.3 Deviations...

  3. 7 CFR 2502.3 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Deviations. 2502.3 Section 2502.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ADVOCACY AND OUTREACH, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT (ACE) GRANTS PROGRAM General Information § 2502.3 Deviations...

  4. Entanglement transitions induced by large deviations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bhosale, Udaysinh T.

    2017-12-01

    The probability of large deviations of the smallest Schmidt eigenvalue for random pure states of bipartite systems, denoted as A and B , is computed analytically using a Coulomb gas method. It is shown that this probability, for large N , goes as exp[-β N2Φ (ζ ) ] , where the parameter β is the Dyson index of the ensemble, ζ is the large deviation parameter, while the rate function Φ (ζ ) is calculated exactly. Corresponding equilibrium Coulomb charge density is derived for its large deviations. Effects of the large deviations of the extreme (largest and smallest) Schmidt eigenvalues on the bipartite entanglement are studied using the von Neumann entropy. Effect of these deviations is also studied on the entanglement between subsystems 1 and 2, obtained by further partitioning the subsystem A , using the properties of the density matrix's partial transpose ρ12Γ. The density of states of ρ12Γ is found to be close to the Wigner's semicircle law with these large deviations. The entanglement properties are captured very well by a simple random matrix model for the partial transpose. The model predicts the entanglement transition across a critical large deviation parameter ζ . Log negativity is used to quantify the entanglement between subsystems 1 and 2. Analytical formulas for it are derived using the simple model. Numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with the analytical results.

  5. Entanglement transitions induced by large deviations.

    PubMed

    Bhosale, Udaysinh T

    2017-12-01

    The probability of large deviations of the smallest Schmidt eigenvalue for random pure states of bipartite systems, denoted as A and B, is computed analytically using a Coulomb gas method. It is shown that this probability, for large N, goes as exp[-βN^{2}Φ(ζ)], where the parameter β is the Dyson index of the ensemble, ζ is the large deviation parameter, while the rate function Φ(ζ) is calculated exactly. Corresponding equilibrium Coulomb charge density is derived for its large deviations. Effects of the large deviations of the extreme (largest and smallest) Schmidt eigenvalues on the bipartite entanglement are studied using the von Neumann entropy. Effect of these deviations is also studied on the entanglement between subsystems 1 and 2, obtained by further partitioning the subsystem A, using the properties of the density matrix's partial transpose ρ_{12}^{Γ}. The density of states of ρ_{12}^{Γ} is found to be close to the Wigner's semicircle law with these large deviations. The entanglement properties are captured very well by a simple random matrix model for the partial transpose. The model predicts the entanglement transition across a critical large deviation parameter ζ. Log negativity is used to quantify the entanglement between subsystems 1 and 2. Analytical formulas for it are derived using the simple model. Numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with the analytical results.

  6. 22 CFR 226.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Deviations. 226.4 Section 226.4 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION OF ASSISTANCE AWARDS TO U.S. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS General § 226.4 Deviations. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may grant exceptions for...

  7. 34 CFR 74.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Deviations. 74.4 Section 74.4 Education Office of the Secretary, Department of Education ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS General § 74.4 Deviations. The Secretary, after...

  8. 22 CFR 145.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Deviations. 145.4 Section 145.4 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL RIGHTS GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS General § 145.4 Deviations. The Office of Management and...

  9. Estimating the absolute wealth of households

    PubMed Central

    Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objective To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. Methods We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. Findings The median absolute wealth estimates of 1 403 186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723–6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R2 = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Conclusion Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality. PMID:26170506

  10. The impact of water temperature on the measurement of absolute dose

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Islam, Naveed Mehdi

    To standardize reference dosimetry in radiation therapy, Task Group 51 (TG 51) of American Association of Physicist's in Medicine (AAPM) recommends that dose calibration measurements be made in a water tank at a depth of 10 cm and at a reference geometry. Methodologies are provided for calculating various correction factors to be applied in calculating the absolute dose. However the protocol does not specify the water temperature to be used. In practice, the temperature of water during dosimetry may vary considerably between independent sessions and different centers. In this work the effect of water temperature on absolute dosimetry has been investigated. Density of water varies with temperature, which in turn may impact the beam attenuation and scatter properties. Furthermore, due to thermal expansion or contraction air volume inside the chamber may change. All of these effects can result in a change in the measurement. Dosimetric measurements were made using a Farmer type ion chamber on a Varian Linear Accelerator for 6 MV and 23 MV photon energies for temperatures ranging from 10 to 40 °C. A thermal insulation was designed for the water tank in order to maintain relatively stable temperature over the duration of the experiment. Dose measured at higher temperatures were found to be consistently higher by a very small magnitude. Although the differences in dose were less than the uncertainty in each measurement, a linear regression of the data suggests that the trend is statistically significant with p-values of 0.002 and 0.013 for 6 and 23 MV beams respectively. For a 10 degree difference in water phantom temperatures, which is a realistic deviation across clinics, the final calculated reference dose can differ by 0.24% or more. To address this effect, first a reference temperature (e.g.22 °C) can be set as the standard; subsequently a correction factor can be implemented for deviations from this reference. Such a correction factor is expected to be of similar

  11. The Standard Deviation of Launch Vehicle Environments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yunis, Isam

    2005-01-01

    Statistical analysis is used in the development of the launch vehicle environments of acoustics, vibrations, and shock. The standard deviation of these environments is critical to accurate statistical extrema. However, often very little data exists to define the standard deviation and it is better to use a typical standard deviation than one derived from a few measurements. This paper uses Space Shuttle and expendable launch vehicle flight data to define a typical standard deviation for acoustics and vibrations. The results suggest that 3dB is a conservative and reasonable standard deviation for the source environment and the payload environment.

  12. Activating Endogenous Neural Precursor Cells Using Metformin Leads to Neural Repair and Functional Recovery in a Model of Childhood Brain Injury.

    PubMed

    Dadwal, Parvati; Mahmud, Neemat; Sinai, Laleh; Azimi, Ashkan; Fatt, Michael; Wondisford, Fredric E; Miller, Freda D; Morshead, Cindi M

    2015-08-11

    The development of cell replacement strategies to repair the injured brain has gained considerable attention, with a particular interest in mobilizing endogenous neural stem and progenitor cells (known as neural precursor cells [NPCs]) to promote brain repair. Recent work demonstrated metformin, a drug used to manage type II diabetes, promotes neurogenesis. We sought to determine its role in neural repair following brain injury. We find that metformin administration activates endogenous NPCs, expanding the size of the NPC pool and promoting NPC migration and differentiation in the injured neonatal brain in a hypoxia-ischemia (H/I) injury model. Importantly, metformin treatment following H/I restores sensory-motor function. Lineage tracking reveals that metformin treatment following H/I causes an increase in the absolute number of subependyma-derived NPCs relative to untreated H/I controls in areas associated with sensory-motor function. Hence, activation of endogenous NPCs is a promising target for therapeutic intervention in childhood brain injury models. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent... are not under a retirement system. An absolute coverage group may include positions which were...

  14. LAI inversion from optical reflectance using a neural network trained with a multiple scattering model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smith, James A.

    1992-01-01

    The inversion of the leaf area index (LAI) canopy parameter from optical spectral reflectance measurements is obtained using a backpropagation artificial neural network trained using input-output pairs generated by a multiple scattering reflectance model. The problem of LAI estimation over sparse canopies (LAI < 1.0) with varying soil reflectance backgrounds is particularly difficult. Standard multiple regression methods applied to canopies within a single homogeneous soil type yield good results but perform unacceptably when applied across soil boundaries, resulting in absolute percentage errors of >1000 percent for low LAI. Minimization methods applied to merit functions constructed from differences between measured reflectances and predicted reflectances using multiple-scattering models are unacceptably sensitive to a good initial guess for the desired parameter. In contrast, the neural network reported generally yields absolute percentage errors of <30 percent when weighting coefficients trained on one soil type were applied to predicted canopy reflectance at a different soil background.

  15. 32 CFR 21.645 - Deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Deviation. 21.645 Section 21.645 National Defense Department of Defense OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DoD GRANT AND AGREEMENT REGULATIONS DoD GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS-GENERAL MATTERS Definitions § 21.645 Deviation. The issuance or use of a policy or...

  16. 32 CFR 21.645 - Deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Deviation. 21.645 Section 21.645 National Defense Department of Defense OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DoD GRANT AND AGREEMENT REGULATIONS DoD GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS-GENERAL MATTERS Definitions § 21.645 Deviation. The issuance or use of a policy or...

  17. 32 CFR 21.645 - Deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Deviation. 21.645 Section 21.645 National Defense Department of Defense OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DoD GRANT AND AGREEMENT REGULATIONS DoD GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS-GENERAL MATTERS Definitions § 21.645 Deviation. The issuance or use of a policy or...

  18. 32 CFR 21.645 - Deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Deviation. 21.645 Section 21.645 National Defense Department of Defense OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DoD GRANT AND AGREEMENT REGULATIONS DoD GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS-GENERAL MATTERS Definitions § 21.645 Deviation. The issuance or use of a policy or...

  19. 32 CFR 21.645 - Deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Deviation. 21.645 Section 21.645 National Defense Department of Defense OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DoD GRANT AND AGREEMENT REGULATIONS DoD GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS-GENERAL MATTERS Definitions § 21.645 Deviation. The issuance or use of a policy or...

  20. On-line determination of transient stability status using multilayer perceptron neural network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frimpong, Emmanuel Asuming; Okyere, Philip Yaw; Asumadu, Johnson

    2018-01-01

    A scheme to predict transient stability status following a disturbance is presented. The scheme is activated upon the tripping of a line or bus and operates as follows: Two samples of frequency deviation values at all generator buses are obtained. At each generator bus, the maximum frequency deviation within the two samples is extracted. A vector is then constructed from the extracted maximum frequency deviations. The Euclidean norm of the constructed vector is calculated and then fed as input to a trained multilayer perceptron neural network which predicts the stability status of the system. The scheme was tested using data generated from the New England test system. The scheme successfully predicted the stability status of all two hundred and five disturbance test cases.

  1. Full-Field Calibration of Color Camera Chromatic Aberration using Absolute Phase Maps.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xiaohong; Huang, Shujun; Zhang, Zonghua; Gao, Feng; Jiang, Xiangqian

    2017-05-06

    The refractive index of a lens varies for different wavelengths of light, and thus the same incident light with different wavelengths has different outgoing light. This characteristic of lenses causes images captured by a color camera to display chromatic aberration (CA), which seriously reduces image quality. Based on an analysis of the distribution of CA, a full-field calibration method based on absolute phase maps is proposed in this paper. Red, green, and blue closed sinusoidal fringe patterns are generated, consecutively displayed on an LCD (liquid crystal display), and captured by a color camera from the front viewpoint. The phase information of each color fringe is obtained using a four-step phase-shifting algorithm and optimum fringe number selection method. CA causes the unwrapped phase of the three channels to differ. These pixel deviations can be computed by comparing the unwrapped phase data of the red, blue, and green channels in polar coordinates. CA calibration is accomplished in Cartesian coordinates. The systematic errors introduced by the LCD are analyzed and corrected. Simulated results show the validity of the proposed method and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed full-field calibration method based on absolute phase maps will be useful for practical software-based CA calibration.

  2. Hierarchical modeling of molecular energies using a deep neural network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lubbers, Nicholas; Smith, Justin S.; Barros, Kipton

    2018-06-01

    We introduce the Hierarchically Interacting Particle Neural Network (HIP-NN) to model molecular properties from datasets of quantum calculations. Inspired by a many-body expansion, HIP-NN decomposes properties, such as energy, as a sum over hierarchical terms. These terms are generated from a neural network—a composition of many nonlinear transformations—acting on a representation of the molecule. HIP-NN achieves the state-of-the-art performance on a dataset of 131k ground state organic molecules and predicts energies with 0.26 kcal/mol mean absolute error. With minimal tuning, our model is also competitive on a dataset of molecular dynamics trajectories. In addition to enabling accurate energy predictions, the hierarchical structure of HIP-NN helps to identify regions of model uncertainty.

  3. Absolute distance measurement with correction of air refractive index by using two-color dispersive interferometry.

    PubMed

    Wu, Hanzhong; Zhang, Fumin; Liu, Tingyang; Li, Jianshuang; Qu, Xinghua

    2016-10-17

    Two-color interferometry is powerful for the correction of the air refractive index especially in the turbulent air over long distance, since the empirical equations could introduce considerable measurement uncertainty if the environmental parameters cannot be measured with sufficient precision. In this paper, we demonstrate a method for absolute distance measurement with high-accuracy correction of air refractive index using two-color dispersive interferometry. The distances corresponding to the two wavelengths can be measured via the spectrograms captured by a CCD camera pair in real time. In the long-term experiment of the correction of air refractive index, the experimental results show a standard deviation of 3.3 × 10-8 for 12-h continuous measurement without the precise knowledge of the environmental conditions, while the variation of the air refractive index is about 2 × 10-6. In the case of absolute distance measurement, the comparison with the fringe counting interferometer shows an agreement within 2.5 μm in 12 m range.

  4. An intelligent switch with back-propagation neural network based hybrid power system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Perdana, R. H. Y.; Fibriana, F.

    2018-03-01

    The consumption of conventional energy such as fossil fuels plays the critical role in the global warming issues. The carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc. could lead the greenhouse effects and change the climate pattern. In fact, 77% of the electrical energy is generated from fossil fuels combustion. Therefore, it is necessary to use the renewable energy sources for reducing the conventional energy consumption regarding electricity generation. This paper presents an intelligent switch to combine both energy resources, i.e., the solar panels as the renewable energy with the conventional energy from the State Electricity Enterprise (PLN). The artificial intelligence technology with the back-propagation neural network was designed to control the flow of energy that is distributed dynamically based on renewable energy generation. By the continuous monitoring on each load and source, the dynamic pattern of the intelligent switch was better than the conventional switching method. The first experimental results for 60 W solar panels showed the standard deviation of the trial at 0.7 and standard deviation of the experiment at 0.28. The second operation for a 900 W of solar panel obtained the standard deviation of the trial at 0.05 and 0.18 for the standard deviation of the experiment. Moreover, the accuracy reached 83% using this method. By the combination of the back-propagation neural network with the observation of energy usage of the load using wireless sensor network, each load can be evenly distributed and will impact on the reduction of conventional energy usage.

  5. 9 CFR 318.308 - Deviations in processing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ...) Deviations in processing (or process deviations) must be handled according to: (1)(i) A HACCP plan for canned...) of this section. (c) [Reserved] (d) Procedures for handling process deviations where the HACCP plan... accordance with the following procedures: (a) Emergency stops. (1) When retort jams or breakdowns occur...

  6. Age-specific absolute and relative organ weight distributions for B6C3F1 mice.

    PubMed

    Marino, Dale J

    2012-01-01

    The B6C3F1 mouse is the standard mouse strain used in toxicology studies conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP). While numerous reports have been published on growth, survival, and tumor incidence, no overall compilation of organ weight data is available. Importantly, organ weight change is an endpoint used by regulatory agencies to develop toxicity reference values (TRVs) for use in human health risk assessments. Furthermore, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, which utilize relative organ weights, are increasingly being used to develop TRVs. Therefore, all available absolute and relative organ weight data for untreated control B6C3F1 mice were collected from NCI/NTP studies in order to develop age-specific distributions. Results show that organ weights were collected more frequently in NCI/NTP studies at 2-wk (60 studies), 3-mo (147 studies), and 15-mo (40 studies) intervals than at other intervals, and more frequently from feeding and inhalation than drinking water studies. Liver, right kidney, lung, heart, thymus, and brain weights were most frequently collected. From the collected data, the mean and standard deviation for absolute and relative organ weights were calculated. Results show age-related increases in absolute liver, right kidney, lung, and heart weights and relatively stable brain and right testis weights. The results suggest a general variability trend in absolute organ weights of brain < right testis < right kidney < heart < liver < lung < spleen < thymus. This report describes the results of this effort.

  7. Comparison of absolute gain photometric calibration between Planck/HFI and Herschel/SPIRE at 545 and 857 GHz

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bertincourt, B.; Lagache, G.; Martin, P. G.; Schulz, B.; Conversi, L.; Dassas, K.; Maurin, L.; Abergel, A.; Beelen, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Crill, B. P.; Dole, H.; Eales, S.; Gudmundsson, J. E.; Lellouch, E.; Moreno, R.; Perdereau, O.

    2016-04-01

    We compare the absolute gain photometric calibration of the Planck/HFI and Herschel/SPIRE instruments on diffuse emission. The absolute calibration of HFI and SPIRE each relies on planet flux measurements and comparison with theoretical far-infrared emission models of planetary atmospheres. We measure the photometric cross calibration between the instruments at two overlapping bands, 545 GHz/500 μm and 857 GHz/350 μm. The SPIRE maps used have been processed in the Herschel Interactive Processing Environment (Version 12) and the HFI data are from the 2015 Public Data Release 2. For our study we used 15 large fields observed with SPIRE, which cover a total of about 120 deg2. We have selected these fields carefully to provide high signal-to-noise ratio, avoid residual systematics in the SPIRE maps, and span a wide range of surface brightness. The HFI maps are bandpass-corrected to match the emission observed by the SPIRE bandpasses. The SPIRE maps are convolved to match the HFI beam and put on a common pixel grid. We measure the cross-calibration relative gain between the instruments using two methods in each field, pixel-to-pixel correlation and angular power spectrum measurements. The SPIRE/HFI relative gains are 1.047 (±0.0069) and 1.003 (±0.0080) at 545 and 857 GHz, respectively, indicating very good agreement between the instruments. These relative gains deviate from unity by much less than the uncertainty of the absolute extended emission calibration, which is about 6.4% and 9.5% for HFI and SPIRE, respectively, but the deviations are comparable to the values 1.4% and 5.5% for HFI and SPIRE if the uncertainty from models of the common calibrator can be discounted. Of the 5.5% uncertainty for SPIRE, 4% arises from the uncertainty of the effective beam solid angle, which impacts the adopted SPIRE point source to extended source unit conversion factor, highlighting that as a focus for refinement.

  8. Application of hierarchical dissociated neural network in closed-loop hybrid system integrating biological and mechanical intelligence.

    PubMed

    Li, Yongcheng; Sun, Rong; Zhang, Bin; Wang, Yuechao; Li, Hongyi

    2015-01-01

    Neural networks are considered the origin of intelligence in organisms. In this paper, a new design of an intelligent system merging biological intelligence with artificial intelligence was created. It was based on a neural controller bidirectionally connected to an actual mobile robot to implement a novel vehicle. Two types of experimental preparations were utilized as the neural controller including 'random' and '4Q' (cultured neurons artificially divided into four interconnected parts) neural network. Compared to the random cultures, the '4Q' cultures presented absolutely different activities, and the robot controlled by the '4Q' network presented better capabilities in search tasks. Our results showed that neural cultures could be successfully employed to control an artificial agent; the robot performed better and better with the stimulus because of the short-term plasticity. A new framework is provided to investigate the bidirectional biological-artificial interface and develop new strategies for a future intelligent system using these simplified model systems.

  9. Application of Hierarchical Dissociated Neural Network in Closed-Loop Hybrid System Integrating Biological and Mechanical Intelligence

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Bin; Wang, Yuechao; Li, Hongyi

    2015-01-01

    Neural networks are considered the origin of intelligence in organisms. In this paper, a new design of an intelligent system merging biological intelligence with artificial intelligence was created. It was based on a neural controller bidirectionally connected to an actual mobile robot to implement a novel vehicle. Two types of experimental preparations were utilized as the neural controller including ‘random’ and ‘4Q’ (cultured neurons artificially divided into four interconnected parts) neural network. Compared to the random cultures, the ‘4Q’ cultures presented absolutely different activities, and the robot controlled by the ‘4Q’ network presented better capabilities in search tasks. Our results showed that neural cultures could be successfully employed to control an artificial agent; the robot performed better and better with the stimulus because of the short-term plasticity. A new framework is provided to investigate the bidirectional biological-artificial interface and develop new strategies for a future intelligent system using these simplified model systems. PMID:25992579

  10. Adaptive neural coding: from biological to behavioral decision-making

    PubMed Central

    Louie, Kenway; Glimcher, Paul W.; Webb, Ryan

    2015-01-01

    Empirical decision-making in diverse species deviates from the predictions of normative choice theory, but why such suboptimal behavior occurs is unknown. Here, we propose that deviations from optimality arise from biological decision mechanisms that have evolved to maximize choice performance within intrinsic biophysical constraints. Sensory processing utilizes specific computations such as divisive normalization to maximize information coding in constrained neural circuits, and recent evidence suggests that analogous computations operate in decision-related brain areas. These adaptive computations implement a relative value code that may explain the characteristic context-dependent nature of behavioral violations of classical normative theory. Examining decision-making at the computational level thus provides a crucial link between the architecture of biological decision circuits and the form of empirical choice behavior. PMID:26722666

  11. 9 CFR 318.308 - Deviations in processing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ...) Deviations in processing (or process deviations) must be handled according to: (1)(i) A HACCP plan for canned..., containers in the retort intake valve and in transfer valves between retort shells at the time of a jam or... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations in processing. 318.308...

  12. 48 CFR 2901.404 - Class deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... through the Director, DAMS. (b) Requests for deviations under paragraph (a) of this section must be... contracting actions which will be affected. (c) For a FAR class deviation the Director, DAMS will consult with... Director, DAMS as required in FAR 1.404. ...

  13. 48 CFR 2901.404 - Class deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... through the Director, DAMS. (b) Requests for deviations under paragraph (a) of this section must be... contracting actions which will be affected. (c) For a FAR class deviation the Director, DAMS will consult with... Director, DAMS as required in FAR 1.404. ...

  14. Response variance in functional maps: neural darwinism revisited.

    PubMed

    Takahashi, Hirokazu; Yokota, Ryo; Kanzaki, Ryohei

    2013-01-01

    The mechanisms by which functional maps and map plasticity contribute to cortical computation remain controversial. Recent studies have revisited the theory of neural Darwinism to interpret the learning-induced map plasticity and neuronal heterogeneity observed in the cortex. Here, we hypothesize that the Darwinian principle provides a substrate to explain the relationship between neuron heterogeneity and cortical functional maps. We demonstrate in the rat auditory cortex that the degree of response variance is closely correlated with the size of its representational area. Further, we show that the response variance within a given population is altered through training. These results suggest that larger representational areas may help to accommodate heterogeneous populations of neurons. Thus, functional maps and map plasticity are likely to play essential roles in Darwinian computation, serving as effective, but not absolutely necessary, structures to generate diverse response properties within a neural population.

  15. Response Variance in Functional Maps: Neural Darwinism Revisited

    PubMed Central

    Takahashi, Hirokazu; Yokota, Ryo; Kanzaki, Ryohei

    2013-01-01

    The mechanisms by which functional maps and map plasticity contribute to cortical computation remain controversial. Recent studies have revisited the theory of neural Darwinism to interpret the learning-induced map plasticity and neuronal heterogeneity observed in the cortex. Here, we hypothesize that the Darwinian principle provides a substrate to explain the relationship between neuron heterogeneity and cortical functional maps. We demonstrate in the rat auditory cortex that the degree of response variance is closely correlated with the size of its representational area. Further, we show that the response variance within a given population is altered through training. These results suggest that larger representational areas may help to accommodate heterogeneous populations of neurons. Thus, functional maps and map plasticity are likely to play essential roles in Darwinian computation, serving as effective, but not absolutely necessary, structures to generate diverse response properties within a neural population. PMID:23874733

  16. Fidelity deviation in quantum teleportation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bang, Jeongho; Ryu, Junghee; Kaszlikowski, Dagomir

    2018-04-01

    We analyze the performance of quantum teleportation in terms of average fidelity and fidelity deviation. The average fidelity is defined as the average value of the fidelities over all possible input states and the fidelity deviation is their standard deviation, which is referred to as a concept of fluctuation or universality. In the analysis, we find the condition to optimize both measures under a noisy quantum channel—we here consider the so-called Werner channel. To characterize our results, we introduce a 2D space defined by the aforementioned measures, in which the performance of the teleportation is represented as a point with the channel noise parameter. Through further analysis, we specify some regions drawn for different channel conditions, establishing the connection to the dissimilar contributions of the entanglement to the teleportation and the Bell inequality violation.

  17. 48 CFR 1401.403 - Individual deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Individual deviations. 1401.403 Section 1401.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Deviations from the FAR and DIAR 1401.403 Individual...

  18. Absolute color scale for improved diagnostics with wavefront error mapping.

    PubMed

    Smolek, Michael K; Klyce, Stephen D

    2007-11-01

    Wavefront data are expressed in micrometers and referenced to the pupil plane, but current methods to map wavefront error lack standardization. Many use normalized or floating scales that may confuse the user by generating ambiguous, noisy, or varying information. An absolute scale that combines consistent clinical information with statistical relevance is needed for wavefront error mapping. The color contours should correspond better to current corneal topography standards to improve clinical interpretation. Retrospective analysis of wavefront error data. Historic ophthalmic medical records. Topographic modeling system topographical examinations of 120 corneas across 12 categories were used. Corneal wavefront error data in micrometers from each topography map were extracted at 8 Zernike polynomial orders and for 3 pupil diameters expressed in millimeters (3, 5, and 7 mm). Both total aberrations (orders 2 through 8) and higher-order aberrations (orders 3 through 8) were expressed in the form of frequency histograms to determine the working range of the scale across all categories. The standard deviation of the mean error of normal corneas determined the map contour resolution. Map colors were based on corneal topography color standards and on the ability to distinguish adjacent color contours through contrast. Higher-order and total wavefront error contour maps for different corneal conditions. An absolute color scale was produced that encompassed a range of +/-6.5 microm and a contour interval of 0.5 microm. All aberrations in the categorical database were plotted with no loss of clinical information necessary for classification. In the few instances where mapped information was beyond the range of the scale, the type and severity of aberration remained legible. When wavefront data are expressed in micrometers, this absolute scale facilitates the determination of the severity of aberrations present compared with a floating scale, particularly for distinguishing

  19. Aircraft noise-induced awakenings are more reasonably predicted from relative than from absolute sound exposure levels.

    PubMed

    Fidell, Sanford; Tabachnick, Barbara; Mestre, Vincent; Fidell, Linda

    2013-11-01

    Assessment of aircraft noise-induced sleep disturbance is problematic for several reasons. Current assessment methods are based on sparse evidence and limited understandings; predictions of awakening prevalence rates based on indoor absolute sound exposure levels (SELs) fail to account for appreciable amounts of variance in dosage-response relationships and are not freely generalizable from airport to airport; and predicted awakening rates do not differ significantly from zero over a wide range of SELs. Even in conjunction with additional predictors, such as time of night and assumed individual differences in "sensitivity to awakening," nominally SEL-based predictions of awakening rates remain of limited utility and are easily misapplied and misinterpreted. Probabilities of awakening are more closely related to SELs scaled in units of standard deviates of local distributions of aircraft SELs, than to absolute sound levels. Self-selection of residential populations for tolerance of nighttime noise and habituation to airport noise environments offer more parsimonious and useful explanations for differences in awakening rates at disparate airports than assumed individual differences in sensitivity to awakening.

  20. Learning in Artificial Neural Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Matheus, Christopher J.; Hohensee, William E.

    1987-01-01

    This paper presents an overview and analysis of learning in Artificial Neural Systems (ANS's). It begins with a general introduction to neural networks and connectionist approaches to information processing. The basis for learning in ANS's is then described, and compared with classical Machine learning. While similar in some ways, ANS learning deviates from tradition in its dependence on the modification of individual weights to bring about changes in a knowledge representation distributed across connections in a network. This unique form of learning is analyzed from two aspects: the selection of an appropriate network architecture for representing the problem, and the choice of a suitable learning rule capable of reproducing the desired function within the given network. The various network architectures are classified, and then identified with explicit restrictions on the types of functions they are capable of representing. The learning rules, i.e., algorithms that specify how the network weights are modified, are similarly taxonomized, and where possible, the limitations inherent to specific classes of rules are outlined.

  1. 41 CFR 115-1.110 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Deviations. 115-1.110 Section 115-1.110 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 1-INTRODUCTION 1.1-Regulation System § 115-1.110 Deviations...

  2. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  3. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  4. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  5. 41 CFR 101-1.110 - Deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Deviation. 101-1.110 Section 101-1.110 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS GENERAL 1-INTRODUCTION 1.1-Regulation System § 101-1.110 Deviation...

  6. 41 CFR 105-1.110 - Deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Deviation. 105-1.110 Section 105-1.110 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION 1-INTRODUCTION 1.1-Regulations System § 105-1.110 Deviation. (a...

  7. Development of artificial neural network models based on experimental data of response surface methodology to establish the nutritional requirements of digestible lysine, methionine, and threonine in broiler chicks.

    PubMed

    Mehri, M

    2012-12-01

    An artificial neural network (ANN) approach was used to develop feed-forward multilayer perceptron models to estimate the nutritional requirements of digestible lysine (dLys), methionine (dMet), and threonine (dThr) in broiler chicks. Sixty data lines representing response of the broiler chicks during 3 to 16 d of age to dietary levels of dLys (0.88-1.32%), dMet (0.42-0.58%), and dThr (0.53-0.87%) were obtained from literature and used to train the networks. The prediction values of ANN were compared with those of response surface methodology to evaluate the fitness of these 2 methods. The models were tested using R(2), mean absolute deviation, mean absolute percentage error, and absolute average deviation. The random search algorithm was used to optimize the developed ANN models to estimate the optimal values of dietary dLys, dMet, and dThr. The ANN models were used to assess the relative importance of each dietary input on the bird performance using sensitivity analysis. The statistical evaluations revealed the higher accuracy of ANN to predict the bird performance compared with response surface methodology models. The optimization results showed that the maximum BW gain may be obtained with dietary levels of 1.11, 0.51, and 0.78% of dLys, dMet, and dThr, respectively. Minimum feed conversion ratio may be achieved with dietary levels of 1.13, 0.54, 0.78% of dLys, dMet, and dThr, respectively. The sensitivity analysis on the models indicated that dietary Lys is the most important variable in the growth performance of the broiler chicks, followed by dietary Thr and Met. The results of this research revealed that the experimental data of a response-surface-methodology design could be successfully used to develop the well-designed ANN for pattern recognition of bird growth and optimization of nutritional requirements. The comparison between the 2 methods also showed that the statistical methods may have little effect on the ideal ratios of dMet and dThr to dLys in

  8. Acute myocardial infarction with changing axis deviation.

    PubMed

    Patanè, Salvatore; Marte, Filippo

    2011-07-01

    Changing axis deviation has been rarely reported also during atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter. Changing axis deviation has been rarely reported also during acute myocardial infarction associated with atrial fibrillation. Isolated left posterior hemiblock is a very rare finding but the evidence of transient right axis deviation with a left posterior hemiblock pattern has been reported during acute anterior myocardial infarction as related with significant right coronary artery obstruction and collateral circulation between the left coronary system and the posterior descending artery. Left anterior hemiblock development during acute inferior myocardial infarction can be an indicator of left anterior descending coronary artery lesions, multivessel coronary artery disease, and impaired left ventricular systolic function. We present a case of changing axis deviation in a 62-year-old Italian man with acute myocardial infarction. Also this case focuses attention on changing axis deviation during acute myocardial infarction. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Perceptions of midline deviations among different facial types.

    PubMed

    Williams, Ryan P; Rinchuse, Daniel J; Zullo, Thomas G

    2014-02-01

    The correction of a deviated midline can involve complicated mechanics and a protracted treatment. The threshold below which midline deviations are considered acceptable might depend on multiple factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of facial type on laypersons' perceptions of various degrees of midline deviation. Smiling photographs of male and female subjects were altered to create 3 facial type variations (euryprosopic, mesoprosopic, and leptoprosopic) and deviations in the midline ranging from 0.0 to 4.0 mm. Evaluators rated the overall attractiveness and acceptability of each photograph. Data were collected from 160 raters. The overall threshold for the acceptability of a midline deviation was 2.92 ± 1.10 mm, with the threshold for the male subject significantly lower than that for the female subject. The euryprosopic facial type showed no decrease in mean attractiveness until the deviations were 2 mm or more. All other facial types were rated as decreasingly attractive from 1 mm onward. Among all facial types, the attractiveness of the male subject was only affected at deviations of 2 mm or greater; for the female subject, the attractiveness scores were significantly decreased at 1 mm. The mesoprosopic facial type was most attractive for the male subject but was the least attractive for the female subject. Facial type and sex may affect the thresholds at which a midline deviation is detected and above which a midline deviation is considered unacceptable. Both the euryprosopic facial type and male sex were associated with higher levels of attractiveness at relatively small levels of deviations. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Predicting Air Permeability of Handloom Fabrics: A Comparative Analysis of Regression and Artificial Neural Network Models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mitra, Ashis; Majumdar, Prabal Kumar; Bannerjee, Debamalya

    2013-03-01

    This paper presents a comparative analysis of two modeling methodologies for the prediction of air permeability of plain woven handloom cotton fabrics. Four basic fabric constructional parameters namely ends per inch, picks per inch, warp count and weft count have been used as inputs for artificial neural network (ANN) and regression models. Out of the four regression models tried, interaction model showed very good prediction performance with a meager mean absolute error of 2.017 %. However, ANN models demonstrated superiority over the regression models both in terms of correlation coefficient and mean absolute error. The ANN model with 10 nodes in the single hidden layer showed very good correlation coefficient of 0.982 and 0.929 and mean absolute error of only 0.923 and 2.043 % for training and testing data respectively.

  11. Modeling of surface dust concentrations using neural networks and kriging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buevich, Alexander G.; Medvedev, Alexander N.; Sergeev, Alexander P.; Tarasov, Dmitry A.; Shichkin, Andrey V.; Sergeeva, Marina V.; Atanasova, T. B.

    2016-12-01

    Creating models which are able to accurately predict the distribution of pollutants based on a limited set of input data is an important task in environmental studies. In the paper two neural approaches: (multilayer perceptron (MLP)) and generalized regression neural network (GRNN)), and two geostatistical approaches: (kriging and cokriging), are using for modeling and forecasting of dust concentrations in snow cover. The area of study is under the influence of dust emissions from a copper quarry and a several industrial companies. The comparison of two mentioned approaches is conducted. Three indices are used as the indicators of the models accuracy: the mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE) and relative root mean square error (RRMSE). Models based on artificial neural networks (ANN) have shown better accuracy. When considering all indices, the most precision model was the GRNN, which uses as input parameters for modeling the coordinates of sampling points and the distance to the probable emissions source. The results of work confirm that trained ANN may be more suitable tool for modeling of dust concentrations in snow cover.

  12. A Decline in Response Variability Improves Neural Signal Detection during Auditory Task Performance

    PubMed Central

    Buran, Bradley N.; Sen, Kamal; Semple, Malcolm N.; Sanes, Dan H.

    2016-01-01

    The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity, but a sensory neuron's response is rarely identical to successive presentations of the same stimulus. Large trial-to-trial variability would limit the central nervous system's ability to reliably detect a stimulus, presumably affecting perceptual performance. However, if response variability were to decrease while firing rate remained constant, then neural sensitivity could improve. Here, we asked whether engagement in an auditory detection task can modulate response variability, thereby increasing neural sensitivity. We recorded telemetrically from the core auditory cortex of gerbils, both while they engaged in an amplitude-modulation detection task and while they sat quietly listening to the identical stimuli. Using a signal detection theory framework, we found that neural sensitivity was improved during task performance, and this improvement was closely associated with a decrease in response variability. Moreover, units with the greatest change in response variability had absolute neural thresholds most closely aligned with simultaneously measured perceptual thresholds. Our findings suggest that the limitations imposed by response variability diminish during task performance, thereby improving the sensitivity of neural encoding and potentially leading to better perceptual sensitivity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity. However, trial-to-trial variability of the neural response may limit perceptual performance. If the neural response to a stimulus is quite variable, then the response on a given trial could be confused with the pattern of neural activity generated when the stimulus is absent. Therefore, a neural mechanism that served to reduce response variability would allow for better stimulus detection. By recording from the cortex of freely moving animals engaged in an auditory detection task, we

  13. A simulation study of nonparametric total deviation index as a measure of agreement based on quantile regression.

    PubMed

    Lin, Lawrence; Pan, Yi; Hedayat, A S; Barnhart, Huiman X; Haber, Michael

    2016-01-01

    Total deviation index (TDI) captures a prespecified quantile of the absolute deviation of paired observations from raters, observers, methods, assays, instruments, etc. We compare the performance of TDI using nonparametric quantile regression to the TDI assuming normality (Lin, 2000). This simulation study considers three distributions: normal, Poisson, and uniform at quantile levels of 0.8 and 0.9 for cases with and without contamination. Study endpoints include the bias of TDI estimates (compared with their respective theoretical values), standard error of TDI estimates (compared with their true simulated standard errors), and test size (compared with 0.05), and power. Nonparametric TDI using quantile regression, although it slightly underestimates and delivers slightly less power for data without contamination, works satisfactorily under all simulated cases even for moderate (say, ≥40) sample sizes. The performance of the TDI based on a quantile of 0.8 is in general superior to that of 0.9. The performances of nonparametric and parametric TDI methods are compared with a real data example. Nonparametric TDI can be very useful when the underlying distribution on the difference is not normal, especially when it has a heavy tail.

  14. Microfabricated Collector-Generator Electrode Sensor for Measuring Absolute pH and Oxygen Concentrations.

    PubMed

    Dengler, Adam K; Wightman, R Mark; McCarty, Gregory S

    2015-10-20

    Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) has attracted attention for studying in vivo neurotransmission due to its subsecond temporal resolution, selectivity, and sensitivity. Traditional FSCV measurements use background subtraction to isolate changes in the local electrochemical environment, providing detailed information on fluctuations in the concentration of electroactive species. This background subtraction removes information about constant or slowly changing concentrations. However, determination of background concentrations is still important for understanding functioning brain tissue. For example, neural activity is known to consume oxygen and produce carbon dioxide which affects local levels of oxygen and pH. Here, we present a microfabricated microelectrode array which uses FSCV to detect the absolute levels of oxygen and pH in vitro. The sensor is a collector-generator electrode array with carbon microelectrodes spaced 5 μm apart. In this work, a periodic potential step is applied at the generator producing transient local changes in the electrochemical environment. The collector electrode continuously performs FSCV enabling these induced changes in concentration to be recorded with the sensitivity and selectivity of FSCV. A negative potential step applied at the generator produces a transient local pH shift at the collector. The generator-induced pH signal is detected using FSCV at the collector and correlated to absolute solution pH by postcalibration of the anodic peak position. In addition, in oxygenated solutions a negative potential step at the generator produces hydrogen peroxide by reducing oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide is detected with FSCV at the collector electrode, and the magnitude of the oxidative peak is proportional to absolute oxygen concentrations. Oxygen interference on the pH signal is minimal and can be accounted for with a postcalibration.

  15. ORBITAL SOLUTIONS AND ABSOLUTE ELEMENTS OF THE ECLIPSING BINARY EE AQUARII

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wronka, Marissa Diehl; Gold, Caitlin; Sowell, James R.

    2010-04-15

    EE Aqr is a 7.9 mag Algol variable with a 12 hr orbital period. The Wilson-Devinney program is used to simultaneously solve 11 previously published light curves together with two existing radial velocity curves. The resulting masses are M {sub 1} = 2.24 {+-} 0.13 M {sub sun} and M {sub 2} = 0.72 {+-} 0.04 M {sub sun}, and the radii are R {sub 1} = 1.76 {+-} 0.03 R {sub sun} and R {sub 2} = 1.10 {+-} 0.02 R {sub sun}. The system has the lower-mass component completely filling its Roche lobe. Its distance from Hipparcos observationsmore » is 112 {+-} 10 pc. An improved ephemeris is derived, and no deviations in the period over time were seen. Light and velocity curve parameters, orbital elements, and absolute dimensions are presented, plus a comparison is made with previous solutions.« less

  16. Artificial neural network modelling of uncertainty in gamma-ray spectrometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dragović, S.; Onjia, A.; Stanković, S.; Aničin, I.; Bačić, G.

    2005-03-01

    An artificial neural network (ANN) model for the prediction of measuring uncertainties in gamma-ray spectrometry was developed and optimized. A three-layer feed-forward ANN with back-propagation learning algorithm was used to model uncertainties of measurement of activity levels of eight radionuclides ( 226Ra, 238U, 235U, 40K, 232Th, 134Cs, 137Cs and 7Be) in soil samples as a function of measurement time. It was shown that the neural network provides useful data even from small experimental databases. The performance of the optimized neural network was found to be very good, with correlation coefficients ( R2) between measured and predicted uncertainties ranging from 0.9050 to 0.9915. The correlation coefficients did not significantly deteriorate when the network was tested on samples with greatly different uranium-to-thorium ( 238U/ 232Th) ratios. The differences between measured and predicted uncertainties were not influenced by the absolute values of uncertainties of measured radionuclide activities. Once the ANN is trained, it could be employed in analyzing soil samples regardless of the 238U/ 232Th ratio. It was concluded that a considerable saving in time could be obtained using the trained neural network model for predicting the measurement times needed to attain the desired statistical accuracy.

  17. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates.

    PubMed

    Pfeiffer, R M; Petracci, E

    2011-07-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates.

  18. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates

    PubMed Central

    Pfeiffer, R.M.; Petracci, E.

    2011-01-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates. PMID:21643476

  19. Comparing Standard Deviation Effects across Contexts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ost, Ben; Gangopadhyaya, Anuj; Schiman, Jeffrey C.

    2017-01-01

    Studies using tests scores as the dependent variable often report point estimates in student standard deviation units. We note that a standard deviation is not a standard unit of measurement since the distribution of test scores can vary across contexts. As such, researchers should be cautious when interpreting differences in the numerical size of…

  20. Transport Coefficients from Large Deviation Functions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gao, Chloe; Limmer, David

    2017-10-01

    We describe a method for computing transport coefficients from the direct evaluation of large deviation function. This method is general, relying on only equilibrium fluctuations, and is statistically efficient, employing trajectory based importance sampling. Equilibrium fluctuations of molecular currents are characterized by their large deviation functions, which is a scaled cumulant generating function analogous to the free energy. A diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm is used to evaluate the large deviation functions, from which arbitrary transport coefficients are derivable. We find significant statistical improvement over traditional Green-Kubo based calculations. The systematic and statistical errors of this method are analyzed in the context of specific transport coefficient calculations, including the shear viscosity, interfacial friction coefficient, and thermal conductivity.

  1. Absolute Summ

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phillips, Alfred, Jr.

    Summ means the entirety of the multiverse. It seems clear, from the inflation theories of A. Guth and others, that the creation of many universes is plausible. We argue that Absolute cosmological ideas, not unlike those of I. Newton, may be consistent with dynamic multiverse creations. As suggested in W. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and with the Anthropic Principle defended by S. Hawking, et al., human consciousness, buttressed by findings of neuroscience, may have to be considered in our models. Predictability, as A. Einstein realized with Invariants and General Relativity, may be required for new ideas to be part of physics. We present here a two postulate model geared to an Absolute Summ. The seedbed of this work is part of Akhnaton's philosophy (see S. Freud, Moses and Monotheism). Most important, however, is that the structure of human consciousness, manifest in Kenya's Rift Valley 200,000 years ago as Homo sapiens, who were the culmination of the six million year co-creation process of Hominins and Nature in Africa, allows us to do the physics that we do. .

  2. 40 CFR 63.1965 - What is a deviation?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 13 2013-07-01 2012-07-01 true What is a deviation? 63.1965 Section 63.1965 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED... Compliance Requirements § 63.1965 What is a deviation? A deviation is defined in § 63.1990. For the purposes...

  3. Absolute optical metrology : nanometers to kilometers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dubovitsky, Serge; Lay, O. P.; Peters, R. D.; Liebe, C. C.

    2005-01-01

    We provide and overview of the developments in the field of high-accuracy absolute optical metrology with emphasis on space-based applications. Specific work on the Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging (MSTAR) sensor is described along with novel applications of the sensor.

  4. Estimation of dew point temperature using neuro-fuzzy and neural network techniques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kisi, Ozgur; Kim, Sungwon; Shiri, Jalal

    2013-11-01

    This study investigates the ability of two different artificial neural network (ANN) models, generalized regression neural networks model (GRNNM) and Kohonen self-organizing feature maps neural networks model (KSOFM), and two different adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) models, ANFIS model with sub-clustering identification (ANFIS-SC) and ANFIS model with grid partitioning identification (ANFIS-GP), for estimating daily dew point temperature. The climatic data that consisted of 8 years of daily records of air temperature, sunshine hours, wind speed, saturation vapor pressure, relative humidity, and dew point temperature from three weather stations, Daego, Pohang, and Ulsan, in South Korea were used in the study. The estimates of ANN and ANFIS models were compared according to the three different statistics, root mean square errors, mean absolute errors, and determination coefficient. Comparison results revealed that the ANFIS-SC, ANFIS-GP, and GRNNM models showed almost the same accuracy and they performed better than the KSOFM model. Results also indicated that the sunshine hours, wind speed, and saturation vapor pressure have little effect on dew point temperature. It was found that the dew point temperature could be successfully estimated by using T mean and R H variables.

  5. Absolute Power Spectral Density Changes in the Magnetoencephalographic Activity During the Transition from Childhood to Adulthood.

    PubMed

    Gómez, Carlos M; Rodríguez-Martínez, Elena I; Fernández, Alberto; Maestú, Fernando; Poza, Jesús; Gómez, Carlos

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to define the pattern of reduction in absolute power spectral density (PSD) of magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals throughout development. Specifically, we wanted to explore whether the human skull's high permeability for electromagnetic fields would allow us to question whether the pattern of absolute PSD reduction observed in the human electroencephalogram is due to an increase in the skull's resistive properties with age. Furthermore, the topography of the MEG signals during maturation was explored, providing additional insights about the areas and brain rhythms related to late maturation in the human brain. To attain these goals, spontaneous MEG activity was recorded from 148 sensors in a sample of 59 subjects divided into three age groups: children/adolescents (7-14 years), young adults (17-20 years) and adults (21-26 years). Statistical testing was carried out by means of an analysis of variance (ANOVA), with "age group" as between-subject factor and "sensor group" as within-subject factor. Additionally, correlations of absolute PSD with age were computed to assess the influence of age on the spectral content of MEG signals. Results showed a broadband PSD decrease in frontal areas, which suggests the late maturation of this region, but also a mild increase in high frequency PSD with age in posterior areas. These findings suggest that the intensity of the neural sources during spontaneous brain activity decreases with age, which may be related to synaptic pruning.

  6. 40 CFR 63.1965 - What is a deviation?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 12 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true What is a deviation? 63.1965 Section 63.1965 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED... Requirements § 63.1965 What is a deviation? A deviation is defined in § 63.1990. For the purposes of the...

  7. 40 CFR 63.1965 - What is a deviation?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 12 2011-07-01 2009-07-01 true What is a deviation? 63.1965 Section 63.1965 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED... Requirements § 63.1965 What is a deviation? A deviation is defined in § 63.1990. For the purposes of the...

  8. A global algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McDougall, T. J.; Jackett, D. R.; Millero, F. J.; Pawlowicz, R.; Barker, P. M.

    2012-12-01

    The International Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater - 2010 has defined the thermodynamic properties of seawater in terms of a new salinity variable, Absolute Salinity, which takes into account the spatial variation of the composition of seawater. Absolute Salinity more accurately reflects the effects of the dissolved material in seawater on the thermodynamic properties (particularly density) than does Practical Salinity. When a seawater sample has standard composition (i.e. the ratios of the constituents of sea salt are the same as those of surface water of the North Atlantic), Practical Salinity can be used to accurately evaluate the thermodynamic properties of seawater. When seawater is not of standard composition, Practical Salinity alone is not sufficient and the Absolute Salinity Anomaly needs to be estimated; this anomaly is as large as 0.025 g kg-1 in the northernmost North Pacific. Here we provide an algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity Anomaly for any location (x, y, p) in the world ocean. To develop this algorithm, we used the Absolute Salinity Anomaly that is found by comparing the density calculated from Practical Salinity to the density measured in the laboratory. These estimates of Absolute Salinity Anomaly however are limited to the number of available observations (namely 811). In order to provide a practical method that can be used at any location in the world ocean, we take advantage of approximate relationships between Absolute Salinity Anomaly and silicate concentrations (which are available globally).

  9. 33 CFR 155.5012 - Deviation from response plan.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Deviation from response plan. 155... Response Plans § 155.5012 Deviation from response plan. The owner or operator of a nontank vessel required to have a vessel response plan (VRP) under this subpart may not deviate from the approved VRP unless...

  10. A neural network controller for automated composite manufacturing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lichtenwalner, Peter F.

    1994-01-01

    At McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA), an artificial neural network based control system has been developed and implemented to control laser heating for the fiber placement composite manufacturing process. This neurocontroller learns an approximate inverse model of the process on-line to provide performance that improves with experience and exceeds that of conventional feedback control techniques. When untrained, the control system behaves as a proportional plus integral (PI) controller. However after learning from experience, the neural network feedforward control module provides control signals that greatly improve temperature tracking performance. Faster convergence to new temperature set points and reduced temperature deviation due to changing feed rate have been demonstrated on the machine. A Cerebellar Model Articulation Controller (CMAC) network is used for inverse modeling because of its rapid learning performance. This control system is implemented in an IBM compatible 386 PC with an A/D board interface to the machine.

  11. Absolute instability of the Gaussian wake profile

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hultgren, Lennart S.; Aggarwal, Arun K.

    1987-01-01

    Linear parallel-flow stability theory has been used to investigate the effect of viscosity on the local absolute instability of a family of wake profiles with a Gaussian velocity distribution. The type of local instability, i.e., convective or absolute, is determined by the location of a branch-point singularity with zero group velocity of the complex dispersion relation for the instability waves. The effects of viscosity were found to be weak for values of the wake Reynolds number, based on the center-line velocity defect and the wake half-width, larger than about 400. Absolute instability occurs only for sufficiently large values of the center-line wake defect. The critical value of this parameter increases with decreasing wake Reynolds number, thereby indicating a shrinking region of absolute instability with decreasing wake Reynolds number. If backflow is not allowed, absolute instability does not occur for wake Reynolds numbers smaller than about 38.

  12. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  13. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  14. Changing axis deviation during acute myocardial infarction.

    PubMed

    Patanè, Salvatore; Marte, Filippo

    2010-07-09

    Changing axis deviation has been reported during acute myocardial infarction also associated with atrial fibrillation. Isolated left posterior hemiblock is a very rare finding but the evidence of transient right axis deviation with a left posterior hemiblock pattern has been reported during acute anterior myocardial infarction as related with significant right coronary artery obstruction and collateral circulation between the left coronary system and the posterior descending artery. We present a case of changing axis deviation in a 70-year-old Italian man with acute myocardial infarction. Copyright (c) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Absolute quantification of microbial taxon abundances.

    PubMed

    Props, Ruben; Kerckhof, Frederiek-Maarten; Rubbens, Peter; De Vrieze, Jo; Hernandez Sanabria, Emma; Waegeman, Willem; Monsieurs, Pieter; Hammes, Frederik; Boon, Nico

    2017-02-01

    High-throughput amplicon sequencing has become a well-established approach for microbial community profiling. Correlating shifts in the relative abundances of bacterial taxa with environmental gradients is the goal of many microbiome surveys. As the abundances generated by this technology are semi-quantitative by definition, the observed dynamics may not accurately reflect those of the actual taxon densities. We combined the sequencing approach (16S rRNA gene) with robust single-cell enumeration technologies (flow cytometry) to quantify the absolute taxon abundances. A detailed longitudinal analysis of the absolute abundances resulted in distinct abundance profiles that were less ambiguous and expressed in units that can be directly compared across studies. We further provide evidence that the enrichment of taxa (increase in relative abundance) does not necessarily relate to the outgrowth of taxa (increase in absolute abundance). Our results highlight that both relative and absolute abundances should be considered for a comprehensive biological interpretation of microbiome surveys.

  16. Degrees of Freedom for Allan Deviation Estimates of Multiple Clocks

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-04-01

    Allan deviation . Allan deviation will be represented by σ and standard deviation will be represented by δ. In practice, when the Allan deviation of a...the Allan deviation of standard noise types. Once the number of degrees of freedom is known, an approximate confidence interval can be assigned by...measurement errors from paired difference data. We extend this approach by using the Allan deviation to estimate the error in a frequency standard

  17. Absolute Humidity and the Seasonality of Influenza (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shaman, J. L.; Pitzer, V.; Viboud, C.; Grenfell, B.; Goldstein, E.; Lipsitch, M.

    2010-12-01

    Much of the observed wintertime increase of mortality in temperate regions is attributed to seasonal influenza. A recent re-analysis of laboratory experiments indicates that absolute humidity strongly modulates the airborne survival and transmission of the influenza virus. Here we show that the onset of increased wintertime influenza-related mortality in the United States is associated with anomalously low absolute humidity levels during the prior weeks. We then use an epidemiological model, in which observed absolute humidity conditions temper influenza transmission rates, to successfully simulate the seasonal cycle of observed influenza-related mortality. The model results indicate that direct modulation of influenza transmissibility by absolute humidity alone is sufficient to produce this observed seasonality. These findings provide epidemiological support for the hypothesis that absolute humidity drives seasonal variations of influenza transmission in temperate regions. In addition, we show that variations of the basic and effective reproductive numbers for influenza, caused by seasonal changes in absolute humidity, are consistent with the general timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks observed for 2009 A/H1N1 in temperate regions. Indeed, absolute humidity conditions correctly identify the region of the United States vulnerable to a third, wintertime wave of pandemic influenza. These findings suggest that the timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks is controlled by a combination of absolute humidity conditions, levels of susceptibility and changes in population mixing and contact rates.

  18. Absolute backscatter coefficient estimates of tissue-mimicking phantoms in the 5–50 MHz frequency range

    PubMed Central

    McCormick, Matthew M.; Madsen, Ernest L.; Deaner, Meagan E.; Varghese, Tomy

    2011-01-01

    Absolute backscatter coefficients in tissue-mimicking phantoms were experimentally determined in the 5–50 MHz frequency range using a broadband technique. A focused broadband transducer from a commercial research system, the VisualSonics Vevo 770, was used with two tissue-mimicking phantoms. The phantoms differed regarding the thin layers covering their surfaces to prevent desiccation and regarding glass bead concentrations and diameter distributions. Ultrasound scanning of these phantoms was performed through the thin layer. To avoid signal saturation, the power spectra obtained from the backscattered radio frequency signals were calibrated by using the signal from a liquid planar reflector, a water-brominated hydrocarbon interface with acoustic impedance close to that of water. Experimental values of absolute backscatter coefficients were compared with those predicted by the Faran scattering model over the frequency range 5–50 MHz. The mean percent difference and standard deviation was 54% ± 45% for the phantom with a mean glass bead diameter of 5.40 μm and was 47% ± 28% for the phantom with 5.16 μm mean diameter beads. PMID:21877789

  19. Low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants.

    PubMed

    Kourtis, Athena P; Bramson, Brian; van der Horst, Charles; Kazembe, Peter; Ahmed, Yusuf; Chasela, Charles; Hosseinipour, Mina; Knight, Rodney; Lugalia, Lebah; Tegha, Gerald; Joaki, George; Jafali, Robert; Jamieson, Denise J

    2005-07-01

    Infants of African origin have a lower normal range of absolute neutrophil counts than white infants; this fact, however, remains under appreciated by clinical researchers in the United States. During the initial stages of a clinical trial in Malawi, the authors noted an unexpectedly high number of infants with absolute neutrophil counts that would be classifiable as neutropenic using the National Institutes of Health's Division of AIDS toxicity tables. The authors argue that the relevant Division of AIDS table does not take into account the available evidence of low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants and that a systematic collection of data from many African settings might help establish the absolute neutrophil count cutpoints to be used for defining neutropenia in African populations.

  20. Absolute colorimetric characterization of a DSLR camera

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guarnera, Giuseppe Claudio; Bianco, Simone; Schettini, Raimondo

    2014-03-01

    A simple but effective technique for absolute colorimetric camera characterization is proposed. It offers a large dynamic range requiring just a single, off-the-shelf target and a commonly available controllable light source for the characterization. The characterization task is broken down in two modules, respectively devoted to absolute luminance estimation and to colorimetric characterization matrix estimation. The characterized camera can be effectively used as a tele-colorimeter, giving an absolute estimation of the XYZ data in cd=m2. The user is only required to vary the f - number of the camera lens or the exposure time t, to better exploit the sensor dynamic range. The estimated absolute tristimulus values closely match the values measured by a professional spectro-radiometer.

  1. Money talks: neural substrate of modulation of fairness by monetary incentives

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Yuan; Wang, Yun; Rao, Li-Lin; Yang, Liu-Qing; Li, Shu

    2014-01-01

    A unique feature of the human species is compliance with social norms, e.g., fairness, even though this normative decision means curbing self-interest. However, sometimes people prefer to pursue wealth at the expense of moral goodness. Specifically, deviations from a fairness-related normative choice have been observed in the presence of a high monetary incentive. The neural mechanism underlying this deviation from the fairness-related normative choice has yet to be determined. In order to address this issue, using functional magnetic resonance imaging we employed an ultimatum game (UG) paradigm in which fairness and a proposed monetary amount were orthogonally varied. We found evidence for a significant modulation by the proposed amount on fairness in the right lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the bilateral insular cortices. Additionally, the insular subregions showed dissociable modulation patterns. Inter-individual differences in the modulation effects in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) accounted for inter-individual differences in the behavioral modulation effect as measured by the rejection rate, supporting the concept that the PFC plays a critical role in making fairness-related normative decisions in a social interaction condition. Our findings provide neural evidence for the modulation of fairness by monetary incentives as well as accounting for inter-individual differences. PMID:24834034

  2. A Markovian event-based framework for stochastic spiking neural networks.

    PubMed

    Touboul, Jonathan D; Faugeras, Olivier D

    2011-11-01

    In spiking neural networks, the information is conveyed by the spike times, that depend on the intrinsic dynamics of each neuron, the input they receive and on the connections between neurons. In this article we study the Markovian nature of the sequence of spike times in stochastic neural networks, and in particular the ability to deduce from a spike train the next spike time, and therefore produce a description of the network activity only based on the spike times regardless of the membrane potential process. To study this question in a rigorous manner, we introduce and study an event-based description of networks of noisy integrate-and-fire neurons, i.e. that is based on the computation of the spike times. We show that the firing times of the neurons in the networks constitute a Markov chain, whose transition probability is related to the probability distribution of the interspike interval of the neurons in the network. In the cases where the Markovian model can be developed, the transition probability is explicitly derived in such classical cases of neural networks as the linear integrate-and-fire neuron models with excitatory and inhibitory interactions, for different types of synapses, possibly featuring noisy synaptic integration, transmission delays and absolute and relative refractory period. This covers most of the cases that have been investigated in the event-based description of spiking deterministic neural networks.

  3. A Decline in Response Variability Improves Neural Signal Detection during Auditory Task Performance.

    PubMed

    von Trapp, Gardiner; Buran, Bradley N; Sen, Kamal; Semple, Malcolm N; Sanes, Dan H

    2016-10-26

    The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity, but a sensory neuron's response is rarely identical to successive presentations of the same stimulus. Large trial-to-trial variability would limit the central nervous system's ability to reliably detect a stimulus, presumably affecting perceptual performance. However, if response variability were to decrease while firing rate remained constant, then neural sensitivity could improve. Here, we asked whether engagement in an auditory detection task can modulate response variability, thereby increasing neural sensitivity. We recorded telemetrically from the core auditory cortex of gerbils, both while they engaged in an amplitude-modulation detection task and while they sat quietly listening to the identical stimuli. Using a signal detection theory framework, we found that neural sensitivity was improved during task performance, and this improvement was closely associated with a decrease in response variability. Moreover, units with the greatest change in response variability had absolute neural thresholds most closely aligned with simultaneously measured perceptual thresholds. Our findings suggest that the limitations imposed by response variability diminish during task performance, thereby improving the sensitivity of neural encoding and potentially leading to better perceptual sensitivity. The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity. However, trial-to-trial variability of the neural response may limit perceptual performance. If the neural response to a stimulus is quite variable, then the response on a given trial could be confused with the pattern of neural activity generated when the stimulus is absent. Therefore, a neural mechanism that served to reduce response variability would allow for better stimulus detection. By recording from the cortex of freely moving animals engaged in an auditory detection task, we found that variability

  4. Exploring Students' Conceptions of the Standard Deviation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    delMas, Robert; Liu, Yan

    2005-01-01

    This study investigated introductory statistics students' conceptual understanding of the standard deviation. A computer environment was designed to promote students' ability to coordinate characteristics of variation of values about the mean with the size of the standard deviation as a measure of that variation. Twelve students participated in an…

  5. Cryogenic, Absolute, High Pressure Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chapman, John J. (Inventor); Shams. Qamar A. (Inventor); Powers, William T. (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    A pressure sensor is provided for cryogenic, high pressure applications. A highly doped silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor is bonded to a silicon substrate in an absolute pressure sensing configuration. The absolute pressure sensor is bonded to an aluminum nitride substrate. Aluminum nitride has appropriate coefficient of thermal expansion for use with highly doped silicon at cryogenic temperatures. A group of sensors, either two sensors on two substrates or four sensors on a single substrate are packaged in a pressure vessel.

  6. Absolute Income, Relative Income, and Happiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ball, Richard; Chernova, Kateryna

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses data from the World Values Survey to investigate how an individual's self-reported happiness is related to (i) the level of her income in absolute terms, and (ii) the level of her income relative to other people in her country. The main findings are that (i) both absolute and relative income are positively and significantly…

  7. Comparison between artificial neural network and multilinear regression models in an evaluation of cognitive workload in a flight simulator.

    PubMed

    Hannula, Manne; Huttunen, Kerttu; Koskelo, Jukka; Laitinen, Tomi; Leino, Tuomo

    2008-01-01

    In this study, the performances of artificial neural network (ANN) analysis and multilinear regression (MLR) model-based estimation of heart rate were compared in an evaluation of individual cognitive workload. The data comprised electrocardiography (ECG) measurements and an evaluation of cognitive load that induces psychophysiological stress (PPS), collected from 14 interceptor fighter pilots during complex simulated F/A-18 Hornet air battles. In our data, the mean absolute error of the ANN estimate was 11.4 as a visual analog scale score, being 13-23% better than the mean absolute error of the MLR model in the estimation of cognitive workload.

  8. Moderate deviations-based importance sampling for stochastic recursive equations

    DOE PAGES

    Dupuis, Paul; Johnson, Dane

    2017-11-17

    Abstract Subsolutions to the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation associated with a moderate deviations approximation are used to design importance sampling changes of measure for stochastic recursive equations. Analogous to what has been done for large deviations subsolution-based importance sampling, these schemes are shown to be asymptotically optimal under the moderate deviations scaling. We present various implementations and numerical results to contrast their performance, and also discuss the circumstances under which a moderate deviation scaling might be appropriate.

  9. Moderate deviations-based importance sampling for stochastic recursive equations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dupuis, Paul; Johnson, Dane

    Abstract Subsolutions to the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation associated with a moderate deviations approximation are used to design importance sampling changes of measure for stochastic recursive equations. Analogous to what has been done for large deviations subsolution-based importance sampling, these schemes are shown to be asymptotically optimal under the moderate deviations scaling. We present various implementations and numerical results to contrast their performance, and also discuss the circumstances under which a moderate deviation scaling might be appropriate.

  10. The European Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters 2011 (ECAG-2011) in Walferdange, Luxembourg: results and recommendations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Francis, Olivier; Baumann, Henri; Volarik, Tomas; Rothleitner, Christian; Klein, Gilbert; Seil, Marc; Dando, Nicolas; Tracey, Ray; Ullrich, Christian; Castelein, Stefaan; Hua, Hu; Kang, Wu; Chongyang, Shen; Songbo, Xuan; Hongbo, Tan; Zhengyuan, Li; Pálinkás, Vojtech; Kostelecký, Jakub; Mäkinen, Jaakko; Näränen, Jyri; Merlet, Sébastien; Farah, Tristan; Guerlin, Christine; Pereira Dos Santos, Franck; Le Moigne, Nicolas; Champollion, Cédric; Deville, Sabrina; Timmen, Ludger; Falk, Reinhard; Wilmes, Herbert; Iacovone, Domenico; Baccaro, Francesco; Germak, Alessandro; Biolcati, Emanuele; Krynski, Jan; Sekowski, Marcin; Olszak, Tomasz; Pachuta, Andrzej; Agren, Jonas; Engfeldt, Andreas; Reudink, René; Inacio, Pedro; McLaughlin, Daniel; Shannon, Geoff; Eckl, Marc; Wilkins, Tim; van Westrum, Derek; Billson, Ryan

    2013-06-01

    We present the results of the third European Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters held in Walferdange, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in November 2011. Twenty-two gravimeters from both metrological and non-metrological institutes are compared. For the first time, corrections for the laser beam diffraction and the self-attraction of the gravimeters are implemented. The gravity observations are also corrected for geophysical gravity changes that occurred during the comparison using the observations of a superconducting gravimeter. We show that these corrections improve the degree of equivalence between the gravimeters. We present the results for two different combinations of data. In the first one, we use only the observations from the metrological institutes. In the second solution, we include all the data from both metrological and non-metrological institutes. Those solutions are then compared with the official result of the comparison published previously and based on the observations of the metrological institutes and the gravity differences at the different sites as measured by non-metrological institutes. Overall, the absolute gravity meters agree with one another with a standard deviation of 3.1 µGal. Finally, the results of this comparison are linked to previous ones. We conclude with some important recommendations for future comparisons.

  11. 14 CFR 142.9 - Deviations or waivers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations or waivers. 142.9 Section 142.9 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) SCHOOLS AND... Administrator may issue deviations or waivers from any of the requirements of this part. (b) A training center...

  12. 14 CFR 142.9 - Deviations or waivers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Deviations or waivers. 142.9 Section 142.9 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) SCHOOLS AND... Administrator may issue deviations or waivers from any of the requirements of this part. (b) A training center...

  13. 14 CFR 142.9 - Deviations or waivers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Deviations or waivers. 142.9 Section 142.9 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) SCHOOLS AND... Administrator may issue deviations or waivers from any of the requirements of this part. (b) A training center...

  14. 14 CFR 142.9 - Deviations or waivers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Deviations or waivers. 142.9 Section 142.9 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) SCHOOLS AND... Administrator may issue deviations or waivers from any of the requirements of this part. (b) A training center...

  15. 14 CFR 142.9 - Deviations or waivers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Deviations or waivers. 142.9 Section 142.9 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) SCHOOLS AND... Administrator may issue deviations or waivers from any of the requirements of this part. (b) A training center...

  16. Engine With Regression and Neural Network Approximators Designed

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Patnaik, Surya N.; Hopkins, Dale A.

    2001-01-01

    At the NASA Glenn Research Center, the NASA engine performance program (NEPP, ref. 1) and the design optimization testbed COMETBOARDS (ref. 2) with regression and neural network analysis-approximators have been coupled to obtain a preliminary engine design methodology. The solution to a high-bypass-ratio subsonic waverotor-topped turbofan engine, which is shown in the preceding figure, was obtained by the simulation depicted in the following figure. This engine is made of 16 components mounted on two shafts with 21 flow stations. The engine is designed for a flight envelope with 47 operating points. The design optimization utilized both neural network and regression approximations, along with the cascade strategy (ref. 3). The cascade used three algorithms in sequence: the method of feasible directions, the sequence of unconstrained minimizations technique, and sequential quadratic programming. The normalized optimum thrusts obtained by the three methods are shown in the following figure: the cascade algorithm with regression approximation is represented by a triangle, a circle is shown for the neural network solution, and a solid line indicates original NEPP results. The solutions obtained from both approximate methods lie within one standard deviation of the benchmark solution for each operating point. The simulation improved the maximum thrust by 5 percent. The performance of the linear regression and neural network methods as alternate engine analyzers was found to be satisfactory for the analysis and operation optimization of air-breathing propulsion engines (ref. 4).

  17. Size-independent neural networks based first-principles method for accurate prediction of heat of formation of fuels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, GuanYa; Wu, Jiang; Chen, ShuGuang; Zhou, WeiJun; Sun, Jian; Chen, GuanHua

    2018-06-01

    Neural network-based first-principles method for predicting heat of formation (HOF) was previously demonstrated to be able to achieve chemical accuracy in a broad spectrum of target molecules [L. H. Hu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 119, 11501 (2003)]. However, its accuracy deteriorates with the increase in molecular size. A closer inspection reveals a systematic correlation between the prediction error and the molecular size, which appears correctable by further statistical analysis, calling for a more sophisticated machine learning algorithm. Despite the apparent difference between simple and complex molecules, all the essential physical information is already present in a carefully selected set of small molecule representatives. A model that can capture the fundamental physics would be able to predict large and complex molecules from information extracted only from a small molecules database. To this end, a size-independent, multi-step multi-variable linear regression-neural network-B3LYP method is developed in this work, which successfully improves the overall prediction accuracy by training with smaller molecules only. And in particular, the calculation errors for larger molecules are drastically reduced to the same magnitudes as those of the smaller molecules. Specifically, the method is based on a 164-molecule database that consists of molecules made of hydrogen and carbon elements. 4 molecular descriptors were selected to encode molecule's characteristics, among which raw HOF calculated from B3LYP and the molecular size are also included. Upon the size-independent machine learning correction, the mean absolute deviation (MAD) of the B3LYP/6-311+G(3df,2p)-calculated HOF is reduced from 16.58 to 1.43 kcal/mol and from 17.33 to 1.69 kcal/mol for the training and testing sets (small molecules), respectively. Furthermore, the MAD of the testing set (large molecules) is reduced from 28.75 to 1.67 kcal/mol.

  18. Universal Cosmic Absolute and Modern Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kostro, Ludwik

    The official Sciences, especially all natural sciences, respect in their researches the principle of methodic naturalism i.e. they consider all phenomena as entirely natural and therefore in their scientific explanations they do never adduce or cite supernatural entities and forces. The purpose of this paper is to show that Modern Science has its own self-existent, self-acting, and self-sufficient Natural All-in Being or Omni-Being i.e. the entire Nature as a Whole that justifies the scientific methodic naturalism. Since this Natural All-in Being is one and only It should be considered as the own scientifically justified Natural Absolute of Science and should be called, in my opinion, the Universal Cosmic Absolute of Modern Science. It will be also shown that the Universal Cosmic Absolute is ontologically enormously stratified and is in its ultimate i.e. in its most fundamental stratum trans-reistic and trans-personal. It means that in its basic stratum. It is neither a Thing or a Person although It contains in Itself all things and persons with all other sentient and conscious individuals as well, On the turn of the 20th century the Science has begun to look for a theory of everything, for a final theory, for a master theory. In my opinion the natural Universal Cosmic Absolute will constitute in such a theory the radical all penetrating Ultimate Basic Reality and will substitute step by step the traditional supernatural personal Absolute.

  19. A Visual Model for the Variance and Standard Deviation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Orris, J. B.

    2011-01-01

    This paper shows how the variance and standard deviation can be represented graphically by looking at each squared deviation as a graphical object--in particular, as a square. A series of displays show how the standard deviation is the size of the average square.

  20. Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from India and China--geographic variations.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Sim, Sherina

    2012-05-01

    Seven Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from different locations in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Focus was placed on 41 key ingredients to investigate geographic variations in this species. These seven absolutes were compared with an Indian bud absolute and commercially available J. sambac flower absolutes from India and China. All absolutes showed broad variations for the 10 main ingredients between 8% and 96%. In addition, the odor of Indian and Chinese J. sambac flower absolutes were assessed.

  1. Application of Artificial Neural Network to Predict Colour Change, Shrinkage and Texture of Osmotically Dehydrated Pumpkin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, S. Y.; Lee, J. S.; Loh, S. P.; Tham, H. J.

    2017-06-01

    The objectives of this study were to use Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to predict colour change, shrinkage and texture of osmotically dehydrated pumpkin slices. The effects of process variables such as concentration of osmotic solution, immersion temperature and immersion time on the above mentioned physical properties were studied. The colour of the samples was measured using a colorimeter and the net colour difference changes, ΔE were determined. The texture was measured in terms of hardness by using a Texture Analyzer. As for the shrinkage, displacement of volume method was applied and percentage of shrinkage was obtained in terms of volume changes. A feed-forward backpropagation network with sigmoidal function was developed and best network configuration was chosen based on the highest correlation coefficients between the experimental values versus predicted values. As a comparison, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) statistical analysis was also employed. The performances of both RSM and ANN modelling were evaluated based on absolute average deviation (AAD), correlation of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE). The results showed that ANN has higher prediction capability as compared to RSM. The relative importance of the variables on the physical properties were also determined by using connection weight approach in ANN. It was found that solution concentration showed the highest influence on all three physical properties.

  2. Advancing Absolute Calibration for JWST and Other Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rieke, George; Bohlin, Ralph; Boyajian, Tabetha; Carey, Sean; Casagrande, Luca; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl; Kraemer, Kathleen; Marengo, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Su, Kate; Sloan, Greg; Volk, Kevin

    2017-10-01

    We propose to exploit the unique optical stability of the Spitzer telescope, along with that of IRAC, to (1) transfer the accurate absolute calibration obtained with MSX on very bright stars directly to two reference stars within the dynamic range of the JWST imagers (and of other modern instrumentation); (2) establish a second accurate absolute calibration based on the absolutely calibrated spectrum of the sun, transferred onto the astronomical system via alpha Cen A; and (3) provide accurate infrared measurements for the 11 (of 15) highest priority stars with no such data but with accurate interferometrically measured diameters, allowing us to optimize determinations of effective temperatures using the infrared flux method and thus to extend the accurate absolute calibration spectrally. This program is integral to plans for an accurate absolute calibration of JWST and will also provide a valuable Spitzer legacy.

  3. Absolute radiometric calibration of advanced remote sensing systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, P. N.

    1982-01-01

    The distinction between the uses of relative and absolute spectroradiometric calibration of remote sensing systems is discussed. The advantages of detector-based absolute calibration are described, and the categories of relative and absolute system calibrations are listed. The limitations and problems associated with three common methods used for the absolute calibration of remote sensing systems are addressed. Two methods are proposed for the in-flight absolute calibration of advanced multispectral linear array systems. One makes use of a sun-illuminated panel in front of the sensor, the radiance of which is monitored by a spectrally flat pyroelectric radiometer. The other uses a large, uniform, high-radiance reference ground surface. The ground and atmospheric measurements required as input to a radiative transfer program to predict the radiance level at the entrance pupil of the orbital sensor are discussed, and the ground instrumentation is described.

  4. 7 CFR 400.204 - Notification of deviation from standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Notification of deviation from standards. 400.204... Contract-Standards for Approval § 400.204 Notification of deviation from standards. A Contractor shall advise the Corporation immediately if the Contractor deviates from the requirements of these standards...

  5. Neural Prediction Errors Distinguish Perception and Misperception of Speech.

    PubMed

    Blank, Helen; Spangenberg, Marlene; Davis, Matthew H

    2018-06-11

    Humans use prior expectations to improve perception, especially of sensory signals that are degraded or ambiguous. However, if sensory input deviates from prior expectations, correct perception depends on adjusting or rejecting prior expectations. Failure to adjust or reject the prior leads to perceptual illusions especially if there is partial overlap (hence partial mismatch) between expectations and input. With speech, "Slips of the ear" occur when expectations lead to misperception. For instance, a entomologist, might be more susceptible to hear "The ants are my friends" for "The answer, my friend" (in the Bob Dylan song "Blowing in the Wind"). Here, we contrast two mechanisms by which prior expectations may lead to misperception of degraded speech. Firstly, clear representations of the common sounds in the prior and input (i.e., expected sounds) may lead to incorrect confirmation of the prior. Secondly, insufficient representations of sounds that deviate between prior and input (i.e., prediction errors) could lead to deception. We used cross-modal predictions from written words that partially match degraded speech to compare neural responses when male and female human listeners were deceived into accepting the prior or correctly reject it. Combined behavioural and multivariate representational similarity analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data shows that veridical perception of degraded speech is signalled by representations of prediction error in the left superior temporal sulcus. Instead of using top-down processes to support perception of expected sensory input, our findings suggest that the strength of neural prediction error representations distinguishes correct perception and misperception. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Misperceiving spoken words is an everyday experience with outcomes that range from shared amusement to serious miscommunication. For hearing-impaired individuals, frequent misperception can lead to social withdrawal and isolation

  6. Hybrid methodology for tuberculosis incidence time-series forecasting based on ARIMA and a NAR neural network.

    PubMed

    Wang, K W; Deng, C; Li, J P; Zhang, Y Y; Li, X Y; Wu, M C

    2017-04-01

    Tuberculosis (TB) affects people globally and is being reconsidered as a serious public health problem in China. Reliable forecasting is useful for the prevention and control of TB. This study proposes a hybrid model combining autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) with a nonlinear autoregressive (NAR) neural network for forecasting the incidence of TB from January 2007 to March 2016. Prediction performance was compared between the hybrid model and the ARIMA model. The best-fit hybrid model was combined with an ARIMA (3,1,0) × (0,1,1)12 and NAR neural network with four delays and 12 neurons in the hidden layer. The ARIMA-NAR hybrid model, which exhibited lower mean square error, mean absolute error, and mean absolute percentage error of 0·2209, 0·1373, and 0·0406, respectively, in the modelling performance, could produce more accurate forecasting of TB incidence compared to the ARIMA model. This study shows that developing and applying the ARIMA-NAR hybrid model is an effective method to fit the linear and nonlinear patterns of time-series data, and this model could be helpful in the prevention and control of TB.

  7. 9 CFR 381.308 - Deviations in processing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ..., containers in the retort intake valve and in transfer valves between retort shells at the time of a jam or... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations in processing. 381.308... Deviations in processing. (a) Whenever the actual process is less than the process schedule or when any...

  8. Quantitative Analysis of Ca, Mg, and K in the Roots of Angelica pubescens f. biserrata by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Combined with Artificial Neural Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, J.; Shi, M.; Zheng, P.; Xue, Sh.; Peng, R.

    2018-03-01

    Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been applied for the quantitative analysis of Ca, Mg, and K in the roots of Angelica pubescens Maxim. f. biserrata Shan et Yuan used in traditional Chinese medicine. Ca II 317.993 nm, Mg I 517.268 nm, and K I 769.896 nm spectral lines have been chosen to set up calibration models for the analysis using the external standard and artificial neural network methods. The linear correlation coefficients of the predicted concentrations versus the standard concentrations of six samples determined by the artificial neural network method are 0.9896, 0.9945, and 0.9911 for Ca, Mg, and K, respectively, which are better than for the external standard method. The artificial neural network method also gives better performance comparing with the external standard method for the average and maximum relative errors, average relative standard deviations, and most maximum relative standard deviations of the predicted concentrations of Ca, Mg, and K in the six samples. Finally, it is proved that the artificial neural network method gives better performance compared to the external standard method for the quantitative analysis of Ca, Mg, and K in the roots of Angelica pubescens.

  9. Online Deviation Detection for Medical Processes

    PubMed Central

    Christov, Stefan C.; Avrunin, George S.; Clarke, Lori A.

    2014-01-01

    Human errors are a major concern in many medical processes. To help address this problem, we are investigating an approach for automatically detecting when performers of a medical process deviate from the acceptable ways of performing that process as specified by a detailed process model. Such deviations could represent errors and, thus, detecting and reporting deviations as they occur could help catch errors before harm is done. In this paper, we identify important issues related to the feasibility of the proposed approach and empirically evaluate the approach for two medical procedures, chemotherapy and blood transfusion. For the evaluation, we use the process models to generate sample process executions that we then seed with synthetic errors. The process models describe the coordination of activities of different process performers in normal, as well as in exceptional situations. The evaluation results suggest that the proposed approach could be applied in clinical settings to help catch errors before harm is done. PMID:25954343

  10. 21 CFR 330.11 - NDA deviations from applicable monograph.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false NDA deviations from applicable monograph. 330.11... EFFECTIVE AND NOT MISBRANDED Administrative Procedures § 330.11 NDA deviations from applicable monograph. A new drug application requesting approval of an OTC drug deviating in any respect from a monograph that...

  11. 21 CFR 330.11 - NDA deviations from applicable monograph.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false NDA deviations from applicable monograph. 330.11... EFFECTIVE AND NOT MISBRANDED Administrative Procedures § 330.11 NDA deviations from applicable monograph. A new drug application requesting approval of an OTC drug deviating in any respect from a monograph that...

  12. 21 CFR 330.11 - NDA deviations from applicable monograph.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false NDA deviations from applicable monograph. 330.11... EFFECTIVE AND NOT MISBRANDED Administrative Procedures § 330.11 NDA deviations from applicable monograph. A new drug application requesting approval of an OTC drug deviating in any respect from a monograph that...

  13. 21 CFR 330.11 - NDA deviations from applicable monograph.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false NDA deviations from applicable monograph. 330.11... EFFECTIVE AND NOT MISBRANDED Administrative Procedures § 330.11 NDA deviations from applicable monograph. A new drug application requesting approval of an OTC drug deviating in any respect from a monograph that...

  14. 21 CFR 330.11 - NDA deviations from applicable monograph.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false NDA deviations from applicable monograph. 330.11... EFFECTIVE AND NOT MISBRANDED Administrative Procedures § 330.11 NDA deviations from applicable monograph. A new drug application requesting approval of an OTC drug deviating in any respect from a monograph that...

  15. Assessing Explosives Safety Risks, Deviations, And Consequences

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-07-31

    Technical Paper 23 31 July 2009 DDESB Assessing Explosives Safety Risks, Deviations, And Consequences ...Deviations, And Consequences 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER...and approaches to assist warfighters in executing their mission, conserving resources, and maximizing operational effectiveness . When mission risk

  16. Travel Time Estimation Using Freeway Point Detector Data Based on Evolving Fuzzy Neural Inference System.

    PubMed

    Tang, Jinjun; Zou, Yajie; Ash, John; Zhang, Shen; Liu, Fang; Wang, Yinhai

    2016-01-01

    Travel time is an important measurement used to evaluate the extent of congestion within road networks. This paper presents a new method to estimate the travel time based on an evolving fuzzy neural inference system. The input variables in the system are traffic flow data (volume, occupancy, and speed) collected from loop detectors located at points both upstream and downstream of a given link, and the output variable is the link travel time. A first order Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy rule set is used to complete the inference. For training the evolving fuzzy neural network (EFNN), two learning processes are proposed: (1) a K-means method is employed to partition input samples into different clusters, and a Gaussian fuzzy membership function is designed for each cluster to measure the membership degree of samples to the cluster centers. As the number of input samples increases, the cluster centers are modified and membership functions are also updated; (2) a weighted recursive least squares estimator is used to optimize the parameters of the linear functions in the Takagi-Sugeno type fuzzy rules. Testing datasets consisting of actual and simulated data are used to test the proposed method. Three common criteria including mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute relative error (MARE) are utilized to evaluate the estimation performance. Estimation results demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the EFNN method through comparison with existing methods including: multiple linear regression (MLR), instantaneous model (IM), linear model (LM), neural network (NN), and cumulative plots (CP).

  17. Travel Time Estimation Using Freeway Point Detector Data Based on Evolving Fuzzy Neural Inference System

    PubMed Central

    Tang, Jinjun; Zou, Yajie; Ash, John; Zhang, Shen; Liu, Fang; Wang, Yinhai

    2016-01-01

    Travel time is an important measurement used to evaluate the extent of congestion within road networks. This paper presents a new method to estimate the travel time based on an evolving fuzzy neural inference system. The input variables in the system are traffic flow data (volume, occupancy, and speed) collected from loop detectors located at points both upstream and downstream of a given link, and the output variable is the link travel time. A first order Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy rule set is used to complete the inference. For training the evolving fuzzy neural network (EFNN), two learning processes are proposed: (1) a K-means method is employed to partition input samples into different clusters, and a Gaussian fuzzy membership function is designed for each cluster to measure the membership degree of samples to the cluster centers. As the number of input samples increases, the cluster centers are modified and membership functions are also updated; (2) a weighted recursive least squares estimator is used to optimize the parameters of the linear functions in the Takagi-Sugeno type fuzzy rules. Testing datasets consisting of actual and simulated data are used to test the proposed method. Three common criteria including mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute relative error (MARE) are utilized to evaluate the estimation performance. Estimation results demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the EFNN method through comparison with existing methods including: multiple linear regression (MLR), instantaneous model (IM), linear model (LM), neural network (NN), and cumulative plots (CP). PMID:26829639

  18. Control of deviations and prediction of surface roughness from micro machining of THz waveguides using acoustic emission signals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Griffin, James M.; Diaz, Fernanda; Geerling, Edgar; Clasing, Matias; Ponce, Vicente; Taylor, Chris; Turner, Sam; Michael, Ernest A.; Patricio Mena, F.; Bronfman, Leonardo

    2017-02-01

    By using acoustic emission (AE) it is possible to control deviations and surface quality during micro milling operations. The method of micro milling is used to manufacture a submillimetre waveguide where micro machining is employed to achieve the required superior finish and geometrical tolerances. Submillimetre waveguide technology is used in deep space signal retrieval where highest detection efficiencies are needed and therefore every possible signal loss in the receiver has to be avoided and stringent tolerances achieved. With a sub-standard surface finish the signals travelling along the waveguides dissipate away faster than with perfect surfaces where the residual roughness becomes comparable with the electromagnetic skin depth. Therefore, the higher the radio frequency the more critical this becomes. The method of time-frequency analysis (STFT) is used to transfer raw AE into more meaningful salient signal features (SF). This information was then correlated against the measured geometrical deviations and, the onset of catastrophic tool wear. Such deviations can be offset from different AE signals (different deviations from subsequent tests) and feedback for a final spring cut ensuring the geometrical accuracies are met. Geometrical differences can impact on the required transfer of AE signals (change in cut off frequencies and diminished SNR at the interface) and therefore errors have to be minimised to within 1 μm. Rules based on both Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Neural Networks (NN) were used to implement a simulation displaying how such a control regime could be used as a real time controller, be it corrective measures (via spring cuts) over several initial machining passes or, with a micron cut introducing a level plain measure for allowing setup corrective measures (similar to a spirit level).

  19. 40 CFR 63.1965 - What is a deviation?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... of the landfill monitoring and SSM plan requirements, deviations include the items in paragraphs (a.... (c) A deviation occurs when a SSM plan is not developed or maintained on site. [68 FR 2238, Jan. 16...

  20. 40 CFR 63.1965 - What is a deviation?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... of the landfill monitoring and SSM plan requirements, deviations include the items in paragraphs (a.... (c) A deviation occurs when a SSM plan is not developed or maintained on site. [68 FR 2238, Jan. 16...

  1. Protocol deviations before and after IV tPA in community hospitals

    PubMed Central

    Adelman, Eric E.; Scott, Phillip A.; Skolarus, Lesli E.; Fox, Allison K.; Frederiksen, Shirley M.; Meurer, William J.

    2015-01-01

    Background Protocol deviations before and after tPA treatment for ischemic stroke are common. It is unclear if patient or hospital factors predict protocol deviations. We examined predictors of protocol deviations and the effects of protocol violations on symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Methods We used data from the INSTINCT trial, a cluster-randomized, controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of a barrier assessment and educational intervention to increase appropriate tPA use in 24 Michigan community hospitals, to review tPA treatments between 2007 and 2010. Protocol violations were defined as deviations from the standard tPA protocol, both before and after treatment. Multi-level logistic regression models were fitted to determine if patient and hospital variables were associated with pre-treatment or post-treatment protocol deviations. Results During the study, 557 patients (mean age 70; 52% male; median NIHSS 12) were treated with tPA. Protocol deviations occurred in 233 (42%) patients: 16% had pre-treatment deviations, 35% had post-treatment deviations, and 9% had both. The most common protocol deviations included elevated post-treatment blood pressure, antithrombotic agent use within 24 hours of treatment, and elevated pre-treatment blood pressure. Protocol deviations were not associated with symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage, stroke severity, or hospital factors. Older age was associated with pre-treatment protocol deviations (adjusted OR 0.52; 95% confidence interval 0.30-0.92). Pre-treatment deviations were associated with post-treatment deviations (adjusted OR 3.20; 95% confidence interval 1.91-5.35). Conclusions Protocol deviations were not associated with symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Aside from age, patient and hospital factors were not associated with protocol deviations. PMID:26419527

  2. SMOQ: a tool for predicting the absolute residue-specific quality of a single protein model with support vector machines

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background It is important to predict the quality of a protein structural model before its native structure is known. The method that can predict the absolute local quality of individual residues in a single protein model is rare, yet particularly needed for using, ranking and refining protein models. Results We developed a machine learning tool (SMOQ) that can predict the distance deviation of each residue in a single protein model. SMOQ uses support vector machines (SVM) with protein sequence and structural features (i.e. basic feature set), including amino acid sequence, secondary structures, solvent accessibilities, and residue-residue contacts to make predictions. We also trained a SVM model with two new additional features (profiles and SOV scores) on 20 CASP8 targets and found that including them can only improve the performance when real deviations between native and model are higher than 5Å. The SMOQ tool finally released uses the basic feature set trained on 85 CASP8 targets. Moreover, SMOQ implemented a way to convert predicted local quality scores into a global quality score. SMOQ was tested on the 84 CASP9 single-domain targets. The average difference between the residue-specific distance deviation predicted by our method and the actual distance deviation on the test data is 2.637Å. The global quality prediction accuracy of the tool is comparable to other good tools on the same benchmark. Conclusion SMOQ is a useful tool for protein single model quality assessment. Its source code and executable are available at: http://sysbio.rnet.missouri.edu/multicom_toolbox/. PMID:24776231

  3. SMOQ: a tool for predicting the absolute residue-specific quality of a single protein model with support vector machines.

    PubMed

    Cao, Renzhi; Wang, Zheng; Wang, Yiheng; Cheng, Jianlin

    2014-04-28

    It is important to predict the quality of a protein structural model before its native structure is known. The method that can predict the absolute local quality of individual residues in a single protein model is rare, yet particularly needed for using, ranking and refining protein models. We developed a machine learning tool (SMOQ) that can predict the distance deviation of each residue in a single protein model. SMOQ uses support vector machines (SVM) with protein sequence and structural features (i.e. basic feature set), including amino acid sequence, secondary structures, solvent accessibilities, and residue-residue contacts to make predictions. We also trained a SVM model with two new additional features (profiles and SOV scores) on 20 CASP8 targets and found that including them can only improve the performance when real deviations between native and model are higher than 5Å. The SMOQ tool finally released uses the basic feature set trained on 85 CASP8 targets. Moreover, SMOQ implemented a way to convert predicted local quality scores into a global quality score. SMOQ was tested on the 84 CASP9 single-domain targets. The average difference between the residue-specific distance deviation predicted by our method and the actual distance deviation on the test data is 2.637Å. The global quality prediction accuracy of the tool is comparable to other good tools on the same benchmark. SMOQ is a useful tool for protein single model quality assessment. Its source code and executable are available at: http://sysbio.rnet.missouri.edu/multicom_toolbox/.

  4. Fatigue, pilot deviations and time of day

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Baker, Susan P.

    1989-01-01

    The relationships between pilot fatigue, pilot deviations, reported incidents, and time of day are examined. A sample of 200 Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) reports were analyzed from 1985 and 200 reports from 1987, plus 100 reports from late 1987 and early 1988 that were selected because of possible association with fatigue. The FAA pilot deviation data and incident data were analyzed in relation to denominator data that summarized the hourly operations (landings and takeoffs of scheduled flights) at major U.S. airports. Using as numerators FAA data on pilot deviations and incidents reported to the FAA, the rates by time of day were calculated. Pilot age was also analyzed in relation to the time of day, phase of flight, and type of incident.

  5. Perception of midline deviations in smile esthetics by laypersons

    PubMed Central

    Ferreira, Jamille Barros; da Silva, Licínio Esmeraldo; Caetano, Márcia Tereza de Oliveira; da Motta, Andrea Fonseca Jardim; Cury-Saramago, Adriana de Alcantara; Mucha, José Nelson

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the esthetic perception of upper dental midline deviation by laypersons and if adjacent structures influence their judgment. Methods: An album with 12 randomly distributed frontal view photographs of the smile of a woman with the midline digitally deviated was evaluated by 95 laypersons. The frontal view smiling photograph was modified to create from 1 mm to 5 mm deviations in the upper midline to the left side. The photographs were cropped in two different manners and divided into two groups of six photographs each: group LCN included the lips, chin, and two-thirds of the nose, and group L included the lips only. The laypersons performed the rate of each smile using a visual analog scale (VAS). Wilcoxon test, Student’s t-test and Mann-Whitney test were applied, adopting a 5% level of significance. Results: Laypersons were able to perceive midline deviations starting at 1 mm. Statistically significant results (p< 0.05) were found for all multiple comparisons of the values in photographs of group LCN and for almost all comparisons in photographs of group L. Comparisons between the photographs of groups LCN and L showed statistically significant values (p< 0.05) when the deviation was 1 mm. Conclusions: Laypersons were able to perceive the upper dental midline deviations of 1 mm, and above when the adjacent structures of the smiles were included. Deviations of 2 mm and above when the lips only were included. The visualization of structures adjacent to the smile demonstrated influence on the perception of midline deviation. PMID:28125140

  6. Perception of midline deviations in smile esthetics by laypersons.

    PubMed

    Ferreira, Jamille Barros; Silva, Licínio Esmeraldo da; Caetano, Márcia Tereza de Oliveira; Motta, Andrea Fonseca Jardim da; Cury-Saramago, Adriana de Alcantara; Mucha, José Nelson

    2016-01-01

    To evaluate the esthetic perception of upper dental midline deviation by laypersons and if adjacent structures influence their judgment. An album with 12 randomly distributed frontal view photographs of the smile of a woman with the midline digitally deviated was evaluated by 95 laypersons. The frontal view smiling photograph was modified to create from 1 mm to 5 mm deviations in the upper midline to the left side. The photographs were cropped in two different manners and divided into two groups of six photographs each: group LCN included the lips, chin, and two-thirds of the nose, and group L included the lips only. The laypersons performed the rate of each smile using a visual analog scale (VAS). Wilcoxon test, Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney test were applied, adopting a 5% level of significance. Laypersons were able to perceive midline deviations starting at 1 mm. Statistically significant results (p< 0.05) were found for all multiple comparisons of the values in photographs of group LCN and for almost all comparisons in photographs of group L. Comparisons between the photographs of groups LCN and L showed statistically significant values (p< 0.05) when the deviation was 1 mm. Laypersons were able to perceive the upper dental midline deviations of 1 mm, and above when the adjacent structures of the smiles were included. Deviations of 2 mm and above when the lips only were included. The visualization of structures adjacent to the smile demonstrated influence on the perception of midline deviation.

  7. Effect of nasal deviation on quality of life.

    PubMed

    de Lima Ramos, Sueli; Hochman, Bernardo; Gomes, Heitor Carvalho; Abla, Luiz Eduardo Felipe; Veiga, Daniela Francescato; Juliano, Yara; Dini, Gal Moreira; Ferreira, Lydia Masako

    2011-07-01

    Nasal deviation is a common complaint in otorhinolaryngology and plastic surgery. This condition not only causes impairment of nasal function but also affects quality of life, leading to psychological distress. The subjective assessment of quality of life, as an important aspect of outcomes research, has received increasing attention in recent decades. Quality of life is measured using standardized questionnaires that have been tested for reliability, validity, and sensitivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate health-related quality of life, self-esteem, and depression in patients with nasal deviation. Sixty patients were selected for the study. Patients with nasal deviation (n = 32) were assigned to the study group, and patients without nasal deviation (n = 28) were assigned to the control group. The diagnosis of nasal deviation was made by digital photogrammetry. Quality of life was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire; the Rosenberg Self-Esteem/Federal University of São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina Scale; and the 20-item Self-Report Questionnaire. There were significant differences between groups in the physical functioning and general health subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (p < 0.05). Depression was detected in 11 patients (34.4 percent) in the study group and in two patients in the control group, with a significant difference between groups (p < 0.05). Nasal deviation is an aspect of rhinoplasty of which the surgeon should be aware so that proper psychological diagnosis can be made and suitable treatment can be planned because psychologically the patients with nasal deviation have significantly worse quality of life and are more prone to depression. Risk, II.(Figure is included in full-text article.).

  8. [Clinical evaluation on the operation of the deviated nose and the deviated nasal septum with the plastic operation--report of 268 cases].

    PubMed

    Wang, Gang; Liu, Liu; Li, Fang

    2011-04-01

    To explore the feasibility of combination plastic operation on the deviation nose and the deviation nasal septum. Design the butterfly cut from the root of the columella nasi to the middle part of each alae nasi. So that the nasal septum, the cartilage septodorsalis and the nose bones could be exposed well. It was key to separate and fix the arch keystone area in the plastic operation of the deviation nose. It was key to separate septal cartilage of nose from the perpendicular plate of ethmoid bone and maxilla nose pun in plastic operation of the deviation nasal septum. Pack the vaseline oil gauze or chitosan reshaping PVA into two side of nasal cavity in order to internal fixation of nasal cavity and prevent the hematoma of nasal septum. The vaseline oil gauze can be pull out on the morning and on the afternoon 24 hours after which can reduce the pain. The external fixation of nasal cavity is not important to which can be omitted. Two hundred and sixty-eight cases after 6 to 24 months follow-up. Two hundred and twenty-eight cases were satisfied. None was unsatisfied. The combination plastic operation on the deviation nose and the deviation nasal septum, could cope with both the beauty problem and reconstruct the nose function.

  9. Association between septal deviation and sinonasal papilloma.

    PubMed

    Nomura, Kazuhiro; Ogawa, Takenori; Sugawara, Mitsuru; Honkura, Yohei; Oshima, Hidetoshi; Arakawa, Kazuya; Oshima, Takeshi; Katori, Yukio

    2013-12-01

    Sinonasal papilloma is a common benign epithelial tumor of the sinonasal tract and accounts for 0.5% to 4% of all nasal tumors. The etiology of sinonasal papilloma remains unclear, although human papilloma virus has been proposed as a major risk factor. Other etiological factors, such as anatomical variations of the nasal cavity, may be related to the pathogenesis of sinonasal papilloma, because deviated nasal septum is seen in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. We, therefore, investigated the involvement of deviated nasal septum in the development of sinonasal papilloma. Preoperative computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging findings of 83 patients with sinonasal papilloma were evaluated retrospectively. The side of papilloma and the direction of septal deviation showed a significant correlation. Septum deviated to the intact side in 51 of 83 patients (61.4%) and to the affected side in 18 of 83 patients (21.7%). Straight or S-shaped septum was observed in 14 of 83 patients (16.9%). Even after excluding 27 patients who underwent revision surgery and 15 patients in whom the papilloma touched the concave portion of the nasal septum, the concave side of septal deviation was associated with the development of sinonasal papilloma (p = 0.040). The high incidence of sinonasal papilloma in the concave side may reflect the consequences of the traumatic effects caused by wall shear stress of the high-velocity airflow and the increased chance of inhaling viruses and pollutants. The present study supports the causative role of human papilloma virus and toxic chemicals in the occurrence of sinonasal papilloma.

  10. Investigating Absolute Value: A Real World Application

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kidd, Margaret; Pagni, David

    2009-01-01

    Making connections between various representations is important in mathematics. In this article, the authors discuss the numeric, algebraic, and graphical representations of sums of absolute values of linear functions. The initial explanations are accessible to all students who have experience graphing and who understand that absolute value simply…

  11. Stimulus probability effects in absolute identification.

    PubMed

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-05-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of presentation probability on both proportion correct and response times. The effects were moderated by the ubiquitous stimulus position effect. The accuracy and response time data were predicted by an exemplar-based model of perceptual cognition (Kent & Lamberts, 2005). The bow in discriminability was also attenuated when presentation probability for middle items was relatively high, an effect that will constrain future model development. The study provides evidence for item-specific learning in absolute identification. Implications for other theories of absolute identification are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Perception of aircraft Deviation Cues

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Martin, Lynne; Azuma, Ronald; Fox, Jason; Verma, Savita; Lozito, Sandra

    2005-01-01

    To begin to address the need for new displays, required by a future airspace concept to support new roles that will be assigned to flight crews, a study of potentially informative display cues was undertaken. Two cues were tested on a simple plan display - aircraft trajectory and flight corridor. Of particular interest was the speed and accuracy with which participants could detect an aircraft deviating outside its flight corridor. Presence of the trajectory cue significantly reduced participant reaction time to a deviation while the flight corridor cue did not. Although non-significant, the flight corridor cue seemed to have a relationship with the accuracy of participants judgments rather than their speed. As this is the second of a series of studies, these issues will be addressed further in future studies.

  13. A Conceptual Approach to Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Mark W.; Bryson, Janet L.

    2011-01-01

    The absolute value learning objective in high school mathematics requires students to solve far more complex absolute value equations and inequalities. When absolute value problems become more complex, students often do not have sufficient conceptual understanding to make any sense of what is happening mathematically. The authors suggest that the…

  14. Absolute pitch in a four-year-old boy with autism.

    PubMed

    Brenton, James N; Devries, Seth P; Barton, Christine; Minnich, Heike; Sokol, Deborah K

    2008-08-01

    Absolute pitch is the ability to identify the pitch of an isolated tone. We report on a 4-year-old boy with autism and absolute pitch, one of the youngest reported in the literature. Absolute pitch is thought to be attributable to a single gene, transmitted in an autosomal-dominant fashion. The association of absolute pitch with autism raises the speculation that this talent could be linked to a genetically distinct subset of children with autism. Further, the identification of absolute pitch in even young children with autism may lead to a lifelong skill.

  15. The Effectiveness of Neural Therapy in Patients With Bell’s Palsy

    PubMed Central

    Yavuz, Ferdi; Kelle, Bayram; Balaban, Birol

    2016-01-01

    This report describes the case of a 42-y-old man with a type of facial nerve palsy of the lower motor neurons (LMNs) on the right side, who was treated with neural therapy. After exposure to cold weather, the patient had suddenly developed difficulty in closing his right eye and a deviation to the left in the angle of his mouth. He had no previous medical illness and had no history of trauma, smoking, alcohol intake, or blood transfusion. PMID:27547166

  16. SU-F-T-492: The Impact of Water Temperature On Absolute Dose Calibration

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Islam, N; Podgorsak, M; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY

    Purpose: The Task Group 51 (TG 51) protocol prescribes that dose calibration of photon beams be done by irradiating an ionization chamber in a water tank at pre-defined depths. Methodologies are provided to account for variations in measurement conditions by applying correction factors. However, the protocol does not completely account for the impact of water temperature. It is well established that water temperature will influence the density of air in the ion chamber collecting volume. Water temperature, however, will also influence the size of the collecting volume via thermal expansion of the cavity wall and the density of the watermore » in the tank. In this work the overall effect of water temperature on absolute dosimetry has been investigated. Methods: Dose measurements were made using a Farmer-type ion chamber for 6 and 23 MV photon beams with water temperatures ranging from 10 to 40°C. A reference ion chamber was used to account for fluctuations in beam output between successive measurements. Results: For the same beam output, the dose determined using TG 51 was dependent on the temperature of the water in the tank. A linear regression of the data suggests that the dependence is statistically significant with p-values of the slope equal to 0.003 and 0.01 for 6 and 23 MV beams, respectively. For a 10 degree increase in water phantom temperature, the absolute dose determined with TG 51 increased by 0.27% and 0.31% for 6 and 23 MV beams, respectively. Conclusion: There is a measurable effect of water temperature on absolute dose calibration. To account for this effect, a reference temperature can be defined and a correction factor applied to account for deviations from this reference temperature during beam calibration. Such a factor is expected to be of similar magnitude to most of the existing TG 51 correction factors.« less

  17. Neural-genetic synthesis for state-space controllers based on linear quadratic regulator design for eigenstructure assignment.

    PubMed

    da Fonseca Neto, João Viana; Abreu, Ivanildo Silva; da Silva, Fábio Nogueira

    2010-04-01

    Toward the synthesis of state-space controllers, a neural-genetic model based on the linear quadratic regulator design for the eigenstructure assignment of multivariable dynamic systems is presented. The neural-genetic model represents a fusion of a genetic algorithm and a recurrent neural network (RNN) to perform the selection of the weighting matrices and the algebraic Riccati equation solution, respectively. A fourth-order electric circuit model is used to evaluate the convergence of the computational intelligence paradigms and the control design method performance. The genetic search convergence evaluation is performed in terms of the fitness function statistics and the RNN convergence, which is evaluated by landscapes of the energy and norm, as a function of the parameter deviations. The control problem solution is evaluated in the time and frequency domains by the impulse response, singular values, and modal analysis.

  18. Implementation of neural network for color properties of polycarbonates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saeed, U.; Ahmad, S.; Alsadi, J.; Ross, D.; Rizvi, G.

    2014-05-01

    In present paper, the applicability of artificial neural networks (ANN) is investigated for color properties of plastics. The neural networks toolbox of Matlab 6.5 is used to develop and test the ANN model on a personal computer. An optimal design is completed for 10, 12, 14,16,18 & 20 hidden neurons on single hidden layer with five different algorithms: batch gradient descent (GD), batch variable learning rate (GDX), resilient back-propagation (RP), scaled conjugate gradient (SCG), levenberg-marquardt (LM) in the feed forward back-propagation neural network model. The training data for ANN is obtained from experimental measurements. There were twenty two inputs including resins, additives & pigments while three tristimulus color values L*, a* and b* were used as output layer. Statistical analysis in terms of Root-Mean-Squared (RMS), absolute fraction of variance (R squared), as well as mean square error is used to investigate the performance of ANN. LM algorithm with fourteen neurons on hidden layer in Feed Forward Back-Propagation of ANN model has shown best result in the present study. The degree of accuracy of the ANN model in reduction of errors is proven acceptable in all statistical analysis and shown in results. However, it was concluded that ANN provides a feasible method in error reduction in specific color tristimulus values.

  19. Visual field progression in glaucoma: total versus pattern deviation analyses.

    PubMed

    Artes, Paul H; Nicolela, Marcelo T; LeBlanc, Raymond P; Chauhan, Balwantray C

    2005-12-01

    To compare visual field progression with total and pattern deviation analyses in a prospective longitudinal study of patients with glaucoma and healthy control subjects. A group of 101 patients with glaucoma (168 eyes) with early to moderately advanced visual field loss at baseline (average mean deviation [MD], -3.9 dB) and no clinical evidence of media opacity were selected from a prospective longitudinal study on visual field progression in glaucoma. Patients were examined with static automated perimetry at 6-month intervals for a median follow-up of 9 years. At each test location, change was established with event and trend analyses of total and pattern deviation. The event analyses compared each follow-up test to a baseline obtained from averaging the first two tests, and visual field progression was defined as deterioration beyond the 5th percentile of test-retest variability at three test locations, observed on three consecutive tests. The trend analyses were based on point-wise linear regression, and visual field progression was defined as statistically significant deterioration (P < 5%) worse than -1 dB/year at three locations, confirmed by independently omitting the last and the penultimate observation. The incidence and the time-to-progression were compared between total and pattern deviation analyses. To estimate the specificity of the progression analyses, identical criteria were applied to visual fields obtained in 102 healthy control subjects, and the rate of visual field improvement was established in the patients with glaucoma and the healthy control subjects. With both event and trend methods, pattern deviation analyses classified approximately 15% fewer eyes as having progressed than did the total deviation analyses. In eyes classified as progressing by both the total and pattern deviation methods, total deviation analyses tended to detect progression earlier than the pattern deviation analyses. A comparison of the changes observed in MD and the

  20. High-dimensional neural network potentials for solvation: The case of protonated water clusters in helium.

    PubMed

    Schran, Christoph; Uhl, Felix; Behler, Jörg; Marx, Dominik

    2018-03-14

    The design of accurate helium-solute interaction potentials for the simulation of chemically complex molecules solvated in superfluid helium has long been a cumbersome task due to the rather weak but strongly anisotropic nature of the interactions. We show that this challenge can be met by using a combination of an effective pair potential for the He-He interactions and a flexible high-dimensional neural network potential (NNP) for describing the complex interaction between helium and the solute in a pairwise additive manner. This approach yields an excellent agreement with a mean absolute deviation as small as 0.04 kJ mol -1 for the interaction energy between helium and both hydronium and Zundel cations compared with coupled cluster reference calculations with an energetically converged basis set. The construction and improvement of the potential can be performed in a highly automated way, which opens the door for applications to a variety of reactive molecules to study the effect of solvation on the solute as well as the solute-induced structuring of the solvent. Furthermore, we show that this NNP approach yields very convincing agreement with the coupled cluster reference for properties like many-body spatial and radial distribution functions. This holds for the microsolvation of the protonated water monomer and dimer by a few helium atoms up to their solvation in bulk helium as obtained from path integral simulations at about 1 K.

  1. High-dimensional neural network potentials for solvation: The case of protonated water clusters in helium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schran, Christoph; Uhl, Felix; Behler, Jörg; Marx, Dominik

    2018-03-01

    The design of accurate helium-solute interaction potentials for the simulation of chemically complex molecules solvated in superfluid helium has long been a cumbersome task due to the rather weak but strongly anisotropic nature of the interactions. We show that this challenge can be met by using a combination of an effective pair potential for the He-He interactions and a flexible high-dimensional neural network potential (NNP) for describing the complex interaction between helium and the solute in a pairwise additive manner. This approach yields an excellent agreement with a mean absolute deviation as small as 0.04 kJ mol-1 for the interaction energy between helium and both hydronium and Zundel cations compared with coupled cluster reference calculations with an energetically converged basis set. The construction and improvement of the potential can be performed in a highly automated way, which opens the door for applications to a variety of reactive molecules to study the effect of solvation on the solute as well as the solute-induced structuring of the solvent. Furthermore, we show that this NNP approach yields very convincing agreement with the coupled cluster reference for properties like many-body spatial and radial distribution functions. This holds for the microsolvation of the protonated water monomer and dimer by a few helium atoms up to their solvation in bulk helium as obtained from path integral simulations at about 1 K.

  2. The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kogut, A. J.

    2010-01-01

    The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP) is an Explorer-class mission to map the absolute intensity and linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background and diffuse astrophysical foregrounds over the full sky from 30 GHz to 5 THz. The principal science goal is the detection and characterization of linear polarization from an inflationary epoch in the early universe, with tensor-to-scalar ratio r much greater than 1O(raised to the power of { -3}) and Compton distortion y < 10 (raised to the power of{-6}). We describe the ASP instrument and mission architecture needed to detect the signature of an inflationary epoch in the early universe using only 4 semiconductor bolometers.

  3. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities.

    PubMed

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-06-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1).

  4. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities

    PubMed Central

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-01-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1). PMID:27248566

  5. Application of Multilayer Feedforward Neural Networks to Precipitation Cell-Top Altitude Estimation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Spina, Michelle S.; Schwartz, Michael J.; Staelin, David H.; Gasiewski, Albin J.

    1998-01-01

    The use of passive 118-GHz O2 observations of rain cells for precipitation cell-top altitude estimation is demonstrated by using a multilayer feed forward neural network retrieval system. Rain cell observations at 118 GHz were compared with estimates of the cell-top altitude obtained by optical stereoscopy. The observations were made with 2 4 km horizontal spatial resolution by using the Millimeter-wave Temperature Sounder (MTS) scanning spectrometer aboard the NASA ER-2 research aircraft during the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment (GALE) and the COoperative Huntsville Meteorological EXperiment (COHMEX) in 1986. The neural network estimator applied to MTS spectral differences between clouds, and nearby clear air yielded an rms discrepancy of 1.76 km for a combined cumulus, mature, and dissipating cell set and 1.44 km for the cumulus-only set. An improvement in rms discrepancy to 1.36 km was achieved by including additional MTS information on the absolute atmospheric temperature profile. An incremental method for training neural networks was developed that yielded robust results, despite the use of as few as 56 training spectra. Comparison of these results with a nonlinear statistical estimator shows that superior results can be obtained with a neural network retrieval system. Imagery of estimated cell-top altitudes was created from 118-GHz spectral imagery gathered from CAMEX, September through October 1993, and from cyclone Oliver, February 7, 1993.

  6. The Resource Consumption Principle: Attention and Memory in Volumes of Neural Tissue

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montague, P. Read

    1996-04-01

    In the cerebral cortex, the small volume of the extracellular space in relation to the volume enclosed by synapses suggests an important functional role for this relationship. It is well known that there are atoms and molecules in the extracellular space that are absolutely necessary for synapses to function (e.g., calcium). I propose here the hypothesis that the rapid shift of these atoms and molecules from extracellular to intrasynaptic compartments represents the consumption of a shared, limited resource available to local volumes of neural tissue. Such consumption results in a dramatic competition among synapses for resources necessary for their function. In this paper, I explore a theory in which this resource consumption plays a critical role in the way local volumes of neural tissue operate. On short time scales, this principle of resource consumption permits a tissue volume to choose those synapses that function in a particular context and thereby helps to integrate the many neural signals that impinge on a tissue volume at any given moment. On longer time scales, the same principle aids in the stable storage and recall of information. The theory provides one framework for understanding how cerebral cortical tissue volumes integrate, attend to, store, and recall information. In this account, the capacity of neural tissue to attend to stimuli is intimately tied to the way tissue volumes are organized at fine spatial scales.

  7. Neural Correlates of Odor Learning in the Presynaptic Microglomerular Circuitry in the Honeybee Mushroom Body Calyx.

    PubMed

    Haenicke, Joachim; Yamagata, Nobuhiro; Zwaka, Hanna; Nawrot, Martin; Menzel, Randolf

    2018-01-01

    The mushroom body (MB) in insects is known as a major center for associative learning and memory, although exact locations for the correlating memory traces remain to be elucidated. Here, we asked whether presynaptic boutons of olfactory projection neurons (PNs) in the main input site of the MB undergo neuronal plasticity during classical odor-reward conditioning and correlate with the conditioned behavior. We simultaneously measured Ca 2+ responses in the boutons and conditioned behavioral responses to learned odors in honeybees. We found that the absolute amount of the neural change for the rewarded but not for the unrewarded odor was correlated with the behavioral learning rate across individuals. The temporal profile of the induced changes matched with odor response dynamics of the MB-associated inhibitory neurons, suggestive of activity modulation of boutons by this neural class. We hypothesize the circuit-specific neural plasticity relates to the learned value of the stimulus and underlies the conditioned behavior of the bees.

  8. Determinants of ocular deviation in esotropic subjects under general anesthesia.

    PubMed

    Daien, Vincent; Turpin, Chloé; Lignereux, François; Belghobsi, Riadh; Le Meur, Guylene; Lebranchu, Pierre; Pechereau, Alain

    2013-01-01

    The authors attempted to identify the determinants of ocular deviation in a population of patients with esotropia under general anesthesia. Forty-one patients with esotropia were included. Horizontal ocular deviation was evaluated by the photographic Hirschberg test both in the awakened state and under general anesthesia before surgery. Changes in ocular deviation were measured and a multivariate analysis was used to assess its clinical determinants. The mean age (± standard deviation [SD]) of study subjects was 13 ± 11 years and 51% were females. The mean spherical equivalent refraction of the right eye was 2.44 ± 2.50 diopters (D), with no significant difference between eyes (P = .26). The mean ocular deviation changed significantly, from 33.5 ± 12.5 prism diopters (PD) at preoperative examination to 8.8 ± 11.4 PD under general anesthesia (P = .0001). The changes in ocular deviation positively correlated with the pre-operative ocular deviation (correlation coefficient r = 0.59, P = .0001) and negatively correlated with patient age (correlation coefficient r = -0.53, P = .0001). These two determinants remained significant after multivariate adjustment of the following variables: preoperative ocular deviation; age; gender; spherical equivalent refraction; and number of previous strabismus surgeries (model r(2) = 0.49, P = .0001). The ocular position under general anesthesia was reported as a key factor in the surgical treatment of subjects with esotropia; therefore, its clinical determinants were assessed. The authors observed that preoperative ocular deviation and patient age were the main factors that influenced the ocular position under general anesthesia. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  9. Nasal Septal Deviations: A Systematic Review of Classification Systems.

    PubMed

    Teixeira, Jeffrey; Certal, Victor; Chang, Edward T; Camacho, Macario

    2016-01-01

    Objective. To systematically review the international literature for internal nasal septal deviation classification systems and summarize them for clinical and research purposes. Data Sources. Four databases (including PubMed/MEDLINE) were systematically searched through December 16, 2015. Methods. Systematic review, adhering to PRISMA. Results. After removal of duplicates, this study screened 952 articles for relevance. A final comprehensive review of 50 articles identified that 15 of these articles met the eligibility criteria. The classification systems defined in these articles included C-shaped, S-shaped, reverse C-shaped, and reverse S-shaped descriptions of the septal deviation in both the cephalocaudal and anteroposterior dimensions. Additional studies reported use of computed tomography and categorized deviation based on predefined locations. Three studies graded the severity of septal deviations based on the amount of deflection. The systems defined in the literature also included an evaluation of nasal septal spurs and perforations. Conclusion. This systematic review ascertained that the majority of the currently published classification systems for internal nasal septal deviations can be summarized by C-shaped or reverse C-shaped, as well as S-shaped or reverse S-shaped deviations in the anteroposterior and cephalocaudal dimensions. For imaging studies, predefined points have been defined along the septum. Common terminology can facilitate future research.

  10. Statistical Modeling and Prediction for Tourism Economy Using Dendritic Neural Network

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Ying; Wang, Yirui; Tang, Zheng

    2017-01-01

    With the impact of global internationalization, tourism economy has also been a rapid development. The increasing interest aroused by more advanced forecasting methods leads us to innovate forecasting methods. In this paper, the seasonal trend autoregressive integrated moving averages with dendritic neural network model (SA-D model) is proposed to perform the tourism demand forecasting. First, we use the seasonal trend autoregressive integrated moving averages model (SARIMA model) to exclude the long-term linear trend and then train the residual data by the dendritic neural network model and make a short-term prediction. As the result showed in this paper, the SA-D model can achieve considerably better predictive performances. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SA-D model, we also use the data that other authors used in the other models and compare the results. It also proved that the SA-D model achieved good predictive performances in terms of the normalized mean square error, absolute percentage of error, and correlation coefficient. PMID:28246527

  11. Statistical Modeling and Prediction for Tourism Economy Using Dendritic Neural Network.

    PubMed

    Yu, Ying; Wang, Yirui; Gao, Shangce; Tang, Zheng

    2017-01-01

    With the impact of global internationalization, tourism economy has also been a rapid development. The increasing interest aroused by more advanced forecasting methods leads us to innovate forecasting methods. In this paper, the seasonal trend autoregressive integrated moving averages with dendritic neural network model (SA-D model) is proposed to perform the tourism demand forecasting. First, we use the seasonal trend autoregressive integrated moving averages model (SARIMA model) to exclude the long-term linear trend and then train the residual data by the dendritic neural network model and make a short-term prediction. As the result showed in this paper, the SA-D model can achieve considerably better predictive performances. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SA-D model, we also use the data that other authors used in the other models and compare the results. It also proved that the SA-D model achieved good predictive performances in terms of the normalized mean square error, absolute percentage of error, and correlation coefficient.

  12. 38 CFR 36.4304 - Deviations; changes of identity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... identity. 36.4304 Section 36.4304 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS... Deviations; changes of identity. A deviation of more than 5 percent between the estimates upon which a... change in the identity of the property upon which the original appraisal was based, will invalidate the...

  13. 38 CFR 36.4304 - Deviations; changes of identity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... identity. 36.4304 Section 36.4304 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS... Deviations; changes of identity. A deviation of more than 5 percent between the estimates upon which a... change in the identity of the property upon which the original appraisal was based, will invalidate the...

  14. 38 CFR 36.4304 - Deviations; changes of identity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... identity. 36.4304 Section 36.4304 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS... Deviations; changes of identity. A deviation of more than 5 percent between the estimates upon which a... change in the identity of the property upon which the original appraisal was based, will invalidate the...

  15. 38 CFR 36.4304 - Deviations; changes of identity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... identity. 36.4304 Section 36.4304 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS... Deviations; changes of identity. A deviation of more than 5 percent between the estimates upon which a... change in the identity of the property upon which the original appraisal was based, will invalidate the...

  16. 38 CFR 36.4304 - Deviations; changes of identity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... identity. 36.4304 Section 36.4304 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS... Deviations; changes of identity. A deviation of more than 5 percent between the estimates upon which a... change in the identity of the property upon which the original appraisal was based, will invalidate the...

  17. Influence of occlusal plane inclination and mandibular deviation on esthetics

    PubMed Central

    Corte, Cristiane Cherobini Dalla; da Silveira, Bruno Lopes; Marquezan, Mariana

    2015-01-01

    Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the degree of perception of occlusal plane inclination and mandibular deviation in facial esthetics, assessed by laypeople, dentists and orthodontists. Methods: A woman with 5.88° of inclination and 5.54 mm of mandibular deviation was selected and, based on her original photograph, four new images were created correcting the deviations and creating more symmetric faces and smiles. Examiners assessed the images by means of a questionnaire. Their opinions were compared by qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results: A total of 45 laypeople, 27 dentists and 31 orthodontists filled out the questionnaires. All groups were able to perceive the asymmetry; however, orthodontists were more sensitive, identifying asymmetries as from 4.32° of occlusal plane inclination and 4.155 mm of mandibular deviation (p< 0.05). The other categories of evaluators identified asymmetries and assigned significantly lower grades, starting from 5.88° of occlusal plane inclination and 5.54 mm of mandibular deviation (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Occlusal plane inclination and mandibular deviation were perceived by all groups, but orthodontists presented higher perception of deviations. PMID:26560821

  18. Monolithically integrated absolute frequency comb laser system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wanke, Michael C.

    2016-07-12

    Rather than down-convert optical frequencies, a QCL laser system directly generates a THz frequency comb in a compact monolithically integrated chip that can be locked to an absolute frequency without the need of a frequency-comb synthesizer. The monolithic, absolute frequency comb can provide a THz frequency reference and tool for high-resolution broad band spectroscopy.

  19. 7 CFR 400.174 - Notification of deviation from financial standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Notification of deviation from financial standards... Agreement-Standards for Approval; Regulations for the 1997 and Subsequent Reinsurance Years § 400.174 Notification of deviation from financial standards. An insurer must immediately advise FCIC if it deviates from...

  20. Absolute S- and P-plane polarization efficiencies for high frequency holographic gratings in the VUV

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Caruso, A. J.; Woodgate, B. E.; Mount, G. H.

    1981-01-01

    High frequency plane gratings (3500 and 3600 gr/mm) have been holographically ruled and blazed for the VUV spectral region. All gratings were coated with 70 nm Al + 25 nm MgF2. Absolute unpolarized and S- and P-plane polarization efficiencies have been measured for the first and second orders in the 120- to 450-nm spectral region at 18.5 and 30 deg angles of deviation. For deep grooves, anomalous features are more pronounced for the P-plane polarization efficiency than for the S-plane polarization efficiency. Holographic gratings can be tailored to produce high polarization or low polarization in the VUV. For comparison, efficiencies and polarization of the best conventional high frequency gratings were also determined. Measurements show that scattered light is significantly lower for holographic gratings in the VUV when compared with the conventional gratings.

  1. Density Large Deviations for Multidimensional Stochastic Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barré, J.; Bernardin, C.; Chetrite, R.

    2018-02-01

    We investigate the density large deviation function for a multidimensional conservation law in the vanishing viscosity limit, when the probability concentrates on weak solutions of a hyperbolic conservation law. When the mobility and diffusivity matrices are proportional, i.e. an Einstein-like relation is satisfied, the problem has been solved in Bellettini and Mariani (Bull Greek Math Soc 57:31-45, 2010). When this proportionality does not hold, we compute explicitly the large deviation function for a step-like density profile, and we show that the associated optimal current has a non trivial structure. We also derive a lower bound for the large deviation function, valid for a more general weak solution, and leave the general large deviation function upper bound as a conjecture.

  2. Endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the uterus with a minimal deviation invasive pattern.

    PubMed

    Landry, D; Mai, K T; Senterman, M K; Perkins, D G; Yazdi, H M; Veinot, J P; Thomas, J

    2003-01-01

    Minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type is a rare pathological entity. We describe a variant of typical endometrioid adenocarcinoma associated with minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type. One 'pilot' case of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type associated with typical endometrioid adenocarcinoma was encountered at our institution in 2001. A second case of same type was received in consultation. We reviewed 168 consecutive hysterectomy specimens diagnosed with 'endometrioid adenocarcinoma' specifically to identify areas of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type. Immunohistochemistry was done with the following antibodies: MIB1, p53, oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), cytokeratin 7 (CK7), cytokeratin 20 (CK20), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and vimentin (VIM). Four additional cases of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type were identified. All six cases of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type were associated with superficial endometrioid adenocarcinoma. In two cases with a large amount of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type, the cervix was involved. The immunoprofile of two representative cases was ER+, PR+, CK7+, CK20-, CEA-, VIM+. MIB1 immunostaining of four cases revealed little proliferative activity of the minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type glandular cells (0-1%) compared with the associated 'typical' endometrioid adenocarcinoma (20-30%). The same four cases showed no p53 immunostaining in minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type compared with a range of positive staining in the associated endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type more often develops as a result of differentiation from typical endometrioid adenocarcinoma than de novo. Due to its deceptively benign microscopic appearance, minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of endometrioid type may be overlooked and

  3. Artificial neural network modelling of a large-scale wastewater treatment plant operation.

    PubMed

    Güçlü, Dünyamin; Dursun, Sükrü

    2010-11-01

    Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), a method of artificial intelligence method, provide effective predictive models for complex processes. Three independent ANN models trained with back-propagation algorithm were developed to predict effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS) and aeration tank mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentrations of the Ankara central wastewater treatment plant. The appropriate architecture of ANN models was determined through several steps of training and testing of the models. ANN models yielded satisfactory predictions. Results of the root mean square error, mean absolute error and mean absolute percentage error were 3.23, 2.41 mg/L and 5.03% for COD; 1.59, 1.21 mg/L and 17.10% for SS; 52.51, 44.91 mg/L and 3.77% for MLSS, respectively, indicating that the developed model could be efficiently used. The results overall also confirm that ANN modelling approach may have a great implementation potential for simulation, precise performance prediction and process control of wastewater treatment plants.

  4. 20 CFR 435.4 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Deviations. 435.4 Section 435.4 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, HOSPITALS, OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS...

  5. 7 CFR 3430.3 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations. 3430.3 Section 3430.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS-GENERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS...

  6. Beyond the hype: deep neural networks outperform established methods using a ChEMBL bioactivity benchmark set.

    PubMed

    Lenselink, Eelke B; Ten Dijke, Niels; Bongers, Brandon; Papadatos, George; van Vlijmen, Herman W T; Kowalczyk, Wojtek; IJzerman, Adriaan P; van Westen, Gerard J P

    2017-08-14

    The increase of publicly available bioactivity data in recent years has fueled and catalyzed research in chemogenomics, data mining, and modeling approaches. As a direct result, over the past few years a multitude of different methods have been reported and evaluated, such as target fishing, nearest neighbor similarity-based methods, and Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR)-based protocols. However, such studies are typically conducted on different datasets, using different validation strategies, and different metrics. In this study, different methods were compared using one single standardized dataset obtained from ChEMBL, which is made available to the public, using standardized metrics (BEDROC and Matthews Correlation Coefficient). Specifically, the performance of Naïve Bayes, Random Forests, Support Vector Machines, Logistic Regression, and Deep Neural Networks was assessed using QSAR and proteochemometric (PCM) methods. All methods were validated using both a random split validation and a temporal validation, with the latter being a more realistic benchmark of expected prospective execution. Deep Neural Networks are the top performing classifiers, highlighting the added value of Deep Neural Networks over other more conventional methods. Moreover, the best method ('DNN_PCM') performed significantly better at almost one standard deviation higher than the mean performance. Furthermore, Multi-task and PCM implementations were shown to improve performance over single task Deep Neural Networks. Conversely, target prediction performed almost two standard deviations under the mean performance. Random Forests, Support Vector Machines, and Logistic Regression performed around mean performance. Finally, using an ensemble of DNNs, alongside additional tuning, enhanced the relative performance by another 27% (compared with unoptimized 'DNN_PCM'). Here, a standardized set to test and evaluate different machine learning algorithms in the context of multi

  7. A General Conditional Large Deviation Principle

    DOE PAGES

    La Cour, Brian R.; Schieve, William C.

    2015-07-18

    Given a sequence of Borel probability measures on a Hausdorff space which satisfy a large deviation principle (LDP), we consider the corresponding sequence of measures formed by conditioning on a set B. If the large deviation rate function I is good and effectively continuous, and the conditioning set has the property that (1)more » $$\\overline{B°}$$=$$\\overline{B}$$ and (2) I(x)<∞ for all xε$$\\overline{B}$$, then the sequence of conditional measures satisfies a LDP with the good, effectively continuous rate function I B, where I B(x)=I(x)-inf I(B) if xε$$\\overline{B}$$ and I B(x)=∞ otherwise.« less

  8. Artificial neural network predictions of lengths of stay on a post-coronary care unit.

    PubMed

    Mobley, B A; Leasure, R; Davidson, L

    1995-01-01

    To create and validate a model that predicts length of hospital unit stay. Ex post facto. Seventy-four independent admission variables in 15 general categories were utilized to predict possible stays of 1 to 20 days. Laboratory. Records of patients discharged from a post-coronary care unit in early 1993. An artificial neural network was trained on 629 records and tested on an additional 127 records of patients. The absolute disparity between the actual lengths of stays in the test records and the predictions of the network averaged 1.4 days per record, and the actual length of stay was predicted within 1 day 72% of the time. The artificial neural network demonstrated the capacity to utilize common patient admission characteristics to predict lengths of stay. This technology shows promise in aiding timely initiation of treatment and effective resource planning and cost control.

  9. Peak load demand forecasting using two-level discrete wavelet decomposition and neural network algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bunnoon, Pituk; Chalermyanont, Kusumal; Limsakul, Chusak

    2010-02-01

    This paper proposed the discrete transform and neural network algorithms to obtain the monthly peak load demand in mid term load forecasting. The mother wavelet daubechies2 (db2) is employed to decomposed, high pass filter and low pass filter signals from the original signal before using feed forward back propagation neural network to determine the forecasting results. The historical data records in 1997-2007 of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is used as reference. In this study, historical information of peak load demand(MW), mean temperature(Tmean), consumer price index (CPI), and industrial index (economic:IDI) are used as feature inputs of the network. The experimental results show that the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) is approximately 4.32%. This forecasting results can be used for fuel planning and unit commitment of the power system in the future.

  10. 2 CFR 170.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Deviations. 170.115 Section 170.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS REPORTING...

  11. 2 CFR 170.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Deviations. 170.115 Section 170.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS Reserved REPORTING SUBAWARD AND EXECUTIVE...

  12. 2 CFR 170.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Deviations. 170.115 Section 170.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS REPORTING...

  13. 2 CFR 170.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations. 170.115 Section 170.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS [Reserved] REPORTING SUBAWARD AND...

  14. A digital, constant-frequency pulsed phase-locked-loop instrument for real-time, absolute ultrasonic phase measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haldren, H. A.; Perey, D. F.; Yost, W. T.; Cramer, K. E.; Gupta, M. C.

    2018-05-01

    A digitally controlled instrument for conducting single-frequency and swept-frequency ultrasonic phase measurements has been developed based on a constant-frequency pulsed phase-locked-loop (CFPPLL) design. This instrument uses a pair of direct digital synthesizers to generate an ultrasonically transceived tone-burst and an internal reference wave for phase comparison. Real-time, constant-frequency phase tracking in an interrogated specimen is possible with a resolution of 0.000 38 rad (0.022°), and swept-frequency phase measurements can be obtained. Using phase measurements, an absolute thickness in borosilicate glass is presented to show the instrument's efficacy, and these results are compared to conventional ultrasonic pulse-echo time-of-flight (ToF) measurements. The newly developed instrument predicted the thickness with a mean error of -0.04 μm and a standard deviation of error of 1.35 μm. Additionally, the CFPPLL instrument shows a lower measured phase error in the absence of changing temperature and couplant thickness than high-resolution cross-correlation ToF measurements at a similar signal-to-noise ratio. By showing higher accuracy and precision than conventional pulse-echo ToF measurements and lower phase errors than cross-correlation ToF measurements, the new digitally controlled CFPPLL instrument provides high-resolution absolute ultrasonic velocity or path-length measurements in solids or liquids, as well as tracking of material property changes with high sensitivity. The ability to obtain absolute phase measurements allows for many new applications than possible with previous ultrasonic pulsed phase-locked loop instruments. In addition to improved resolution, swept-frequency phase measurements add useful capability in measuring properties of layered structures, such as bonded joints, or materials which exhibit non-linear frequency-dependent behavior, such as dispersive media.

  15. 48 CFR 2901.405 - Deviations pertaining to treaties and executive agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... DOLAR 2901.405 Deviations pertaining to treaties and executive agreements. (a) The Director, DAMS is... deviations not authorized by FAR 1.405(b) or (c), the Director, DAMS, will process the request for deviation...

  16. 48 CFR 2901.405 - Deviations pertaining to treaties and executive agreements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... DOLAR 2901.405 Deviations pertaining to treaties and executive agreements. (a) The Director, DAMS is... deviations not authorized by FAR 1.405(b) or (c), the Director, DAMS, will process the request for deviation...

  17. Complexity analysis based on generalized deviation for financial markets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Chao; Shang, Pengjian

    2018-03-01

    In this paper, a new modified method is proposed as a measure to investigate the correlation between past price and future volatility for financial time series, known as the complexity analysis based on generalized deviation. In comparison with the former retarded volatility model, the new approach is both simple and computationally efficient. The method based on the generalized deviation function presents us an exhaustive way showing the quantization of the financial market rules. Robustness of this method is verified by numerical experiments with both artificial and financial time series. Results show that the generalized deviation complexity analysis method not only identifies the volatility of financial time series, but provides a comprehensive way distinguishing the different characteristics between stock indices and individual stocks. Exponential functions can be used to successfully fit the volatility curves and quantify the changes of complexity for stock market data. Then we study the influence for negative domain of deviation coefficient and differences during the volatile periods and calm periods. after the data analysis of the experimental model, we found that the generalized deviation model has definite advantages in exploring the relationship between the historical returns and future volatility.

  18. Incremental evolution of the neural crest, neural crest cells and neural crest-derived skeletal tissues

    PubMed Central

    Hall, Brian K; Gillis, J Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Urochordates (ascidians) have recently supplanted cephalochordates (amphioxus) as the extant sister taxon of vertebrates. Given that urochordates possess migratory cells that have been classified as ‘neural crest-like’– and that cephalochordates lack such cells – this phylogenetic hypothesis may have significant implications with respect to the origin of the neural crest and neural crest-derived skeletal tissues in vertebrates. We present an overview of the genes and gene regulatory network associated with specification of the neural crest in vertebrates. We then use these molecular data – alongside cell behaviour, cell fate and embryonic context – to assess putative antecedents (latent homologues) of the neural crest or neural crest cells in ascidians and cephalochordates. Ascidian migratory mesenchymal cells – non-pigment-forming trunk lateral line cells and pigment-forming ‘neural crest-like cells’ (NCLC) – are unlikely latent neural crest cell homologues. Rather, Snail-expressing cells at the neural plate of border of urochordates and cephalochordates likely represent the extent of neural crest elaboration in non-vertebrate chordates. We also review evidence for the evolutionary origin of two neural crest-derived skeletal tissues – cartilage and dentine. Dentine is a bona fide vertebrate novelty, and dentine-secreting odontoblasts represent a cell type that is exclusively derived from the neural crest. Cartilage, on the other hand, likely has a much deeper origin within the Metazoa. The mesodermally derived cellular cartilages of some protostome invertebrates are much more similar to vertebrate cartilage than is the acellular ‘cartilage-like’ tissue in cephalochordate pharyngeal arches. Cartilage, therefore, is not a vertebrate novelty, and a well-developed chondrogenic program was most likely co-opted from mesoderm to the neural crest along the vertebrate stem. We conclude that the neural crest is a vertebrate novelty, but that neural

  19. 2 CFR 25.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Deviations. 25.115 Section 25.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS Reserved UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER AND CENTRAL CONTRACTOR...

  20. 2 CFR 25.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Deviations. 25.115 Section 25.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS PRE-AWARD RESPONSIBILITIES UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER AND CENTRAL...

  1. 2 CFR 25.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Deviations. 25.115 Section 25.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS PRE-AWARD RESPONSIBILITIES UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER AND CENTRAL...

  2. 2 CFR 25.115 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Deviations. 25.115 Section 25.115 Grants and Agreements Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET GOVERNMENTWIDE GUIDANCE FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS Pre-award responsibilities UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER AND CENTRAL...

  3. Influence of asymmetrical drawing radius deviation in micro deep drawing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heinrich, L.; Kobayashi, H.; Shimizu, T.; Yang, M.; Vollertsen, F.

    2017-09-01

    Nowadays, an increasing demand for small metal parts in electronic and automotive industries can be observed. Deep drawing is a well-suited technology for the production of such parts due to its excellent qualities for mass production. However, the downscaling of the forming process leads to new challenges in tooling and process design, such as high relative deviation of tool geometry or blank displacement compared to the macro scale. FEM simulation has been a widely-used tool to investigate the influence of symmetrical process deviations as for instance a global variance of the drawing radius. This study shows a different approach that allows to determine the impact of asymmetrical process deviations on micro deep drawing. In this particular case the impact of an asymmetrical drawing radius deviation and blank displacement on cup geometry deviation was investigated for different drawing ratios by experiments and FEM simulation. It was found that both variations result in an increasing cup height deviation. Nevertheless, with increasing drawing ratio a constant drawing radius deviation has an increasing impact, while blank displacement results in a decreasing offset of the cups geometry. This is explained by different mechanisms that result in an uneven cup geometry. While blank displacement leads to material surplus on one side of the cup, an unsymmetrical radius deviation on the other hand generates uneven stretching of the cups wall. This is intensified for higher drawing ratios. It can be concluded that the effect of uneven radius geometry proves to be of major importance for the production of accurately shaped micro cups and cannot be compensated by intentional blank displacement.

  4. Frequency comb calibrated frequency-sweeping interferometry for absolute group refractive index measurement of air.

    PubMed

    Yang, Lijun; Wu, Xuejian; Wei, Haoyun; Li, Yan

    2017-04-10

    The absolute group refractive index of air at 194061.02 GHz is measured in real time using frequency-sweeping interferometry calibrated by an optical frequency comb. The group refractive index of air is calculated from the calibration peaks of the laser frequency variation and the interference signal of the two beams passing through the inner and outer regions of a vacuum cell when the frequency of a tunable external cavity diode laser is scanned. We continuously measure the refractive index of air for 2 h, which shows that the difference between measured results and Ciddor's equation is less than 9.6×10-8, and the standard deviation of that difference is 5.9×10-8. The relative uncertainty of the measured refractive index of air is estimated to be 8.6×10-8. The data update rate is 0.2 Hz, making it applicable under conditions in which air refractive index fluctuates fast.

  5. Using, Seeing, Feeling, and Doing Absolute Value for Deeper Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ponce, Gregorio A.

    2008-01-01

    Using sticky notes and number lines, a hands-on activity is shared that anchors initial student thinking about absolute value. The initial point of reference should help students successfully evaluate numeric problems involving absolute value. They should also be able to solve absolute value equations and inequalities that are typically found in…

  6. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Prasad, Mano K.; Snyderman, Neal J.; Rowland, Mark S.

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  7. Planck absolute entropy of a rotating BTZ black hole

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riaz, S. M. Jawwad

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, the Planck absolute entropy and the Bekenstein-Smarr formula of the rotating Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black hole are presented via a complex thermodynamical system contributed by its inner and outer horizons. The redefined entropy approaches zero as the temperature of the rotating BTZ black hole tends to absolute zero, satisfying the Nernst formulation of a black hole. Hence, it can be regarded as the Planck absolute entropy of the rotating BTZ black hole.

  8. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-06-05

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  9. Refraction in Terms of the Deviation of the Light.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldberg, Fred M.

    1985-01-01

    Discusses refraction in terms of the deviation of light. Points out that in physics courses where very little mathematics is used, it might be more suitable to describe refraction entirely in terms of the deviation, rather than by introducing Snell's law. (DH)

  10. Developmental Dyslexia, Neurolinguistic Theory and Deviations in Brain Morphology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hynd, George W.; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Reviews computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies examining deviations in brain morphology. Discusses methodological and technical issues. Concludes that dyslexics show variations in specific brain regions. Suggests that neuroimaging procedures appear to provide direct evidence supporting the importance of deviations in normal…

  11. The neural basis of suppression and amblyopia in strabismus.

    PubMed

    Sengpiel, F; Blakemore, C

    1996-01-01

    The neurophysiological consequences of artificial strabismus in cats and monkeys have been studied for 30 years. However, until very recently no clear picture has emerged of neural deficits that might account for the powerful interocular suppression that strabismic humans experience, nor for the severe amblyopia that is often associated with convergent strabismus. Here we review the effects of squint on the integrative capacities of the primary visual cortex and propose a hypothesis about the relationship between suppression and amblyopia. Most neurons in the visual cortex of normal cats and monkeys can be excited through either eye and show strong facilitation during binocular stimulation with contours of similar orientation in the two eyes. But in strabismic animals, cortical neurons tend to fall into two populations of monocularly excitable cells and exhibit suppressive binocular interactions that share key properties with perceptual suppression in strabismic humans. Such interocular suppression, if prolonged and asymmetric (with input from the squinting eye habitually suppressed by that from the fixating eye), might lead to neural defects in the representation of the deviating eye and hence to amblyopia.

  12. Explaining neural signals in human visual cortex with an associative learning model.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Jiefeng; Schmajuk, Nestor; Egner, Tobias

    2012-08-01

    "Predictive coding" models posit a key role for associative learning in visual cognition, viewing perceptual inference as a process of matching (learned) top-down predictions (or expectations) against bottom-up sensory evidence. At the neural level, these models propose that each region along the visual processing hierarchy entails one set of processing units encoding predictions of bottom-up input, and another set computing mismatches (prediction error or surprise) between predictions and evidence. This contrasts with traditional views of visual neurons operating purely as bottom-up feature detectors. In support of the predictive coding hypothesis, a recent human neuroimaging study (Egner, Monti, & Summerfield, 2010) showed that neural population responses to expected and unexpected face and house stimuli in the "fusiform face area" (FFA) could be well-described as a summation of hypothetical face-expectation and -surprise signals, but not by feature detector responses. Here, we used computer simulations to test whether these imaging data could be formally explained within the broader framework of a mathematical neural network model of associative learning (Schmajuk, Gray, & Lam, 1996). Results show that FFA responses could be fit very closely by model variables coding for conditional predictions (and their violations) of stimuli that unconditionally activate the FFA. These data document that neural population signals in the ventral visual stream that deviate from classic feature detection responses can formally be explained by associative prediction and surprise signals.

  13. Conducting Polymers for Neural Prosthetic and Neural Interface Applications

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Neural interfacing devices are an artificial mechanism for restoring or supplementing the function of the nervous system lost as a result of injury or disease. Conducting polymers (CPs) are gaining significant attention due to their capacity to meet the performance criteria of a number of neuronal therapies including recording and stimulating neural activity, the regeneration of neural tissue and the delivery of bioactive molecules for mediating device-tissue interactions. CPs form a flexible platform technology that enables the development of tailored materials for a range of neuronal diagnostic and treatment therapies. In this review the application of CPs for neural prostheses and other neural interfacing devices are discussed, with a specific focus on neural recording, neural stimulation, neural regeneration, and therapeutic drug delivery. PMID:26414302

  14. Mean-deviation analysis in the theory of choice.

    PubMed

    Grechuk, Bogdan; Molyboha, Anton; Zabarankin, Michael

    2012-08-01

    Mean-deviation analysis, along with the existing theories of coherent risk measures and dual utility, is examined in the context of the theory of choice under uncertainty, which studies rational preference relations for random outcomes based on different sets of axioms such as transitivity, monotonicity, continuity, etc. An axiomatic foundation of the theory of coherent risk measures is obtained as a relaxation of the axioms of the dual utility theory, and a further relaxation of the axioms are shown to lead to the mean-deviation analysis. Paradoxes arising from the sets of axioms corresponding to these theories and their possible resolutions are discussed, and application of the mean-deviation analysis to optimal risk sharing and portfolio selection in the context of rational choice is considered. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

  15. A spiking neural integrator model of the adaptive control of action by the medial prefrontal cortex.

    PubMed

    Bekolay, Trevor; Laubach, Mark; Eliasmith, Chris

    2014-01-29

    Subjects performing simple reaction-time tasks can improve reaction times by learning the expected timing of action-imperative stimuli and preparing movements in advance. Success or failure on the previous trial is often an important factor for determining whether a subject will attempt to time the stimulus or wait for it to occur before initiating action. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in enabling the top-down control of action depending on the outcome of the previous trial. Analysis of spike activity from the rat mPFC suggests that neural integration is a key mechanism for adaptive control in precisely timed tasks. We show through simulation that a spiking neural network consisting of coupled neural integrators captures the neural dynamics of the experimentally recorded mPFC. Errors lead to deviations in the normal dynamics of the system, a process that could enable learning from past mistakes. We expand on this coupled integrator network to construct a spiking neural network that performs a reaction-time task by following either a cue-response or timing strategy, and show that it performs the task with similar reaction times as experimental subjects while maintaining the same spiking dynamics as the experimentally recorded mPFC.

  16. Deviations from Newton's law in supersymmetric large extra dimensions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Callin, P.; Burgess, C. P.

    2006-09-01

    Deviations from Newton's inverse-squared law at the micron length scale are smoking-gun signals for models containing supersymmetric large extra dimensions (SLEDs), which have been proposed as approaches for resolving the cosmological constant problem. Just like their non-supersymmetric counterparts, SLED models predict gravity to deviate from the inverse-square law because of the advent of new dimensions at sub-millimeter scales. However SLED models differ from their non-supersymmetric counterparts in three important ways: (i) the size of the extra dimensions is fixed by the observed value of the dark energy density, making it impossible to shorten the range over which new deviations from Newton's law must be seen; (ii) supersymmetry predicts there to be more fields in the extra dimensions than just gravity, implying different types of couplings to matter and the possibility of repulsive as well as attractive interactions; and (iii) the same mechanism which is purported to keep the cosmological constant naturally small also keeps the extra-dimensional moduli effectively massless, leading to deviations from general relativity in the far infrared of the scalar-tensor form. We here explore the deviations from Newton's law which are predicted over micron distances, and show the ways in which they differ and resemble those in the non-supersymmetric case.

  17. An analog neural hardware implementation using charge-injection multipliers and neutron-specific gain control.

    PubMed

    Massengill, L W; Mundie, D B

    1992-01-01

    A neural network IC based on a dynamic charge injection is described. The hardware design is space and power efficient, and achieves massive parallelism of analog inner products via charge-based multipliers and spatially distributed summing buses. Basic synaptic cells are constructed of exponential pulse-decay modulation (EPDM) dynamic injection multipliers operating sequentially on propagating signal vectors and locally stored analog weights. Individually adjustable gain controls on each neutron reduce the effects of limited weight dynamic range. A hardware simulator/trainer has been developed which incorporates the physical (nonideal) characteristics of actual circuit components into the training process, thus absorbing nonlinearities and parametric deviations into the macroscopic performance of the network. Results show that charge-based techniques may achieve a high degree of neural density and throughput using standard CMOS processes.

  18. Artificial neural networks for modeling ammonia emissions released from sewage sludge composting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boniecki, P.; Dach, J.; Pilarski, K.; Piekarska-Boniecka, H.

    2012-09-01

    The project was designed to develop, test and validate an original Neural Model describing ammonia emissions generated in composting sewage sludge. The composting mix was to include the addition of such selected structural ingredients as cereal straw, sawdust and tree bark. All created neural models contain 7 input variables (chemical and physical parameters of composting) and 1 output (ammonia emission). The α data file was subdivided into three subfiles: the learning file (ZU) containing 330 cases, the validation file (ZW) containing 110 cases and the test file (ZT) containing 110 cases. The standard deviation ratios (for all 4 created networks) ranged from 0.193 to 0.218. For all of the selected models, the correlation coefficient reached the high values of 0.972-0.981. The results show that he predictive neural model describing ammonia emissions from composted sewage sludge is well suited for assessing such emissions. The sensitivity analysis of the model for the input of variables of the process in question has shown that the key parameters describing ammonia emissions released in composting sewage sludge are pH and the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N).

  19. 48 CFR 570.704 - Deviations to provisions and clauses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Deviations to provisions and clauses. 570.704 Section 570.704 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES... contracting officer also needs an approved deviation to modify the language of a provision or clause mandated...

  20. 48 CFR 570.704 - Deviations to provisions and clauses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Deviations to provisions and clauses. 570.704 Section 570.704 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES... contracting officer also needs an approved deviation to modify the language of a provision or clause mandated...

  1. 48 CFR 570.704 - Deviations to provisions and clauses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Deviations to provisions and clauses. 570.704 Section 570.704 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES... contracting officer also needs an approved deviation to modify the language of a provision or clause mandated...

  2. 48 CFR 570.704 - Deviations to provisions and clauses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Deviations to provisions and clauses. 570.704 Section 570.704 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES... contracting officer also needs an approved deviation to modify the language of a provision or clause mandated...

  3. Importance sampling large deviations in nonequilibrium steady states. I.

    PubMed

    Ray, Ushnish; Chan, Garnet Kin-Lic; Limmer, David T

    2018-03-28

    Large deviation functions contain information on the stability and response of systems driven into nonequilibrium steady states and in such a way are similar to free energies for systems at equilibrium. As with equilibrium free energies, evaluating large deviation functions numerically for all but the simplest systems is difficult because by construction they depend on exponentially rare events. In this first paper of a series, we evaluate different trajectory-based sampling methods capable of computing large deviation functions of time integrated observables within nonequilibrium steady states. We illustrate some convergence criteria and best practices using a number of different models, including a biased Brownian walker, a driven lattice gas, and a model of self-assembly. We show how two popular methods for sampling trajectory ensembles, transition path sampling and diffusion Monte Carlo, suffer from exponentially diverging correlations in trajectory space as a function of the bias parameter when estimating large deviation functions. Improving the efficiencies of these algorithms requires introducing guiding functions for the trajectories.

  4. Importance sampling large deviations in nonequilibrium steady states. I

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ray, Ushnish; Chan, Garnet Kin-Lic; Limmer, David T.

    2018-03-01

    Large deviation functions contain information on the stability and response of systems driven into nonequilibrium steady states and in such a way are similar to free energies for systems at equilibrium. As with equilibrium free energies, evaluating large deviation functions numerically for all but the simplest systems is difficult because by construction they depend on exponentially rare events. In this first paper of a series, we evaluate different trajectory-based sampling methods capable of computing large deviation functions of time integrated observables within nonequilibrium steady states. We illustrate some convergence criteria and best practices using a number of different models, including a biased Brownian walker, a driven lattice gas, and a model of self-assembly. We show how two popular methods for sampling trajectory ensembles, transition path sampling and diffusion Monte Carlo, suffer from exponentially diverging correlations in trajectory space as a function of the bias parameter when estimating large deviation functions. Improving the efficiencies of these algorithms requires introducing guiding functions for the trajectories.

  5. Novalis' Poetic Uncertainty: A "Bildung" with the Absolute

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mika, Carl

    2016-01-01

    Novalis, the Early German Romantic poet and philosopher, had at the core of his work a mysterious depiction of the "absolute." The absolute is Novalis' name for a substance that defies precise knowledge yet calls for a tentative and sensitive speculation. How one asserts a truth, represents an object, and sets about encountering things…

  6. Population-based absolute risk estimation with survey data

    PubMed Central

    Kovalchik, Stephanie A.; Pfeiffer, Ruth M.

    2013-01-01

    Absolute risk is the probability that a cause-specific event occurs in a given time interval in the presence of competing events. We present methods to estimate population-based absolute risk from a complex survey cohort that can accommodate multiple exposure-specific competing risks. The hazard function for each event type consists of an individualized relative risk multiplied by a baseline hazard function, which is modeled nonparametrically or parametrically with a piecewise exponential model. An influence method is used to derive a Taylor-linearized variance estimate for the absolute risk estimates. We introduce novel measures of the cause-specific influences that can guide modeling choices for the competing event components of the model. To illustrate our methodology, we build and validate cause-specific absolute risk models for cardiovascular and cancer deaths using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Our applications demonstrate the usefulness of survey-based risk prediction models for predicting health outcomes and quantifying the potential impact of disease prevention programs at the population level. PMID:23686614

  7. Clinical Implications of Septal Deviation in Lateralized Olfaction

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Yoon-Seok; Ryu, Yoon-Jong; Rhee, Jihye; Seok, Jungirl; Han, Sungjun; Jin, Hong Ryul; Kim, Dae Woo

    2016-01-01

    Objectives Results of butanol threshold tests (BTTs) have shown that birhinal olfaction tends to converge toward monorhinal olfaction of the dominant nostril. However, birhinal olfaction may also be worse than dominant-side monorhinal olfaction. The goal of our study was to investigate the effect of deviated nasal septum on birhinal olfaction in patients with lateralized olfaction and to examine the effect of septoplasty in these patients. Methods A retrospective study with planned data collection was conducted in 518 patients who underwent BTTs. Lateralized olfaction was defined as monorhinal BTT scores that differed by >2 between sides. Underestimated birhinal olfaction was defined as a birhinal BTT score >2 lower than the dominant nostril monorhinal BTT score. Patients with lateralized olfaction were divided into 2 groups: group 1, underestimated birhinal olfaction; and group 2, without underestimated birhinal olfaction. Results Among 518 patients, 112 with lateralized olfaction were enrolled in this study. Group 1 included 23 patients (20.5%) and group 2 included 89 patients (79.5%). The severity of septal deviation (ratio of the distance of narrower side to wider side) did not differ between the 2 groups. Septal deviation to the dominant nostril was more common in group 1 than group 2 (73.9% vs. 37.6%; P=0.002). Five patients with septal deviation to the dominant nostril with underestimated birhinal olfaction underwent septoplasty. Improved lateralized olfaction occurred in all 5 patients postoperatively (P=0.041). Conclusion Septal deviation of the dominant nostril in patients with lateralized olfaction is associated with underestimated birhinal olfaction. Septoplasty may improve olfaction by increasing airflow in the dominant olfactory side. PMID:26976025

  8. Absolute marine gravimetry with matter-wave interferometry.

    PubMed

    Bidel, Y; Zahzam, N; Blanchard, C; Bonnin, A; Cadoret, M; Bresson, A; Rouxel, D; Lequentrec-Lalancette, M F

    2018-02-12

    Measuring gravity from an aircraft or a ship is essential in geodesy, geophysics, mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, and navigation. Today, only relative sensors are available for onboard gravimetry. This is a major drawback because of the calibration and drift estimation procedures which lead to important operational constraints. Atom interferometry is a promising technology to obtain onboard absolute gravimeter. But, despite high performances obtained in static condition, no precise measurements were reported in dynamic. Here, we present absolute gravity measurements from a ship with a sensor based on atom interferometry. Despite rough sea conditions, we obtained precision below 10 -5  m s -2 . The atom gravimeter was also compared with a commercial spring gravimeter and showed better performances. This demonstration opens the way to the next generation of inertial sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope) based on atom interferometry which should provide high-precision absolute measurements from a moving platform.

  9. Standard Deviation for Small Samples

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Joarder, Anwar H.; Latif, Raja M.

    2006-01-01

    Neater representations for variance are given for small sample sizes, especially for 3 and 4. With these representations, variance can be calculated without a calculator if sample sizes are small and observations are integers, and an upper bound for the standard deviation is immediate. Accessible proofs of lower and upper bounds are presented for…

  10. Influence of neural adaptation on dynamics and equilibrium state of neural activities in a ring neural network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takiyama, Ken

    2017-12-01

    How neural adaptation affects neural information processing (i.e. the dynamics and equilibrium state of neural activities) is a central question in computational neuroscience. In my previous works, I analytically clarified the dynamics and equilibrium state of neural activities in a ring-type neural network model that is widely used to model the visual cortex, motor cortex, and several other brain regions. The neural dynamics and the equilibrium state in the neural network model corresponded to a Bayesian computation and statistically optimal multiple information integration, respectively, under a biologically inspired condition. These results were revealed in an analytically tractable manner; however, adaptation effects were not considered. Here, I analytically reveal how the dynamics and equilibrium state of neural activities in a ring neural network are influenced by spike-frequency adaptation (SFA). SFA is an adaptation that causes gradual inhibition of neural activity when a sustained stimulus is applied, and the strength of this inhibition depends on neural activities. I reveal that SFA plays three roles: (1) SFA amplifies the influence of external input in neural dynamics; (2) SFA allows the history of the external input to affect neural dynamics; and (3) the equilibrium state corresponds to the statistically optimal multiple information integration independent of the existence of SFA. In addition, the equilibrium state in a ring neural network model corresponds to the statistically optimal integration of multiple information sources under biologically inspired conditions, independent of the existence of SFA.

  11. The absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bosch, Wolfgang; Savcenko, Roman

    The sea surface slopes relative to the geoid (an equipotential surface) basically carry the in-formation on the absolute velocity field of the surface circulation. Pure oceanographic models may remain unspecific with respect to the absolute level of the ocean topography. In contrast, the geodetic approach to estimate the ocean topography as difference between sea level and the geoid gives by definition an absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT). This approach requires, however, a consistent treatment of geoid and sea surface heights, the first being usually derived from a band limited spherical harmonic series of the Earth gravity field and the second observed with much higher spectral resolution by satellite altimetry. The present contribution shows a procedure for estimating the ADOT along the altimeter profiles, preserving as much sea surface height details as the consistency w.r.t. the geoid heights will allow. The consistent treatment at data gaps and the coast is particular demanding and solved by a filter correction. The ADOT profiles are inspected for their innocent properties towards the coast and compared to external estimates of the ocean topography or the velocity field of the surface circulation as derived, for example, by ARGO floats.

  12. Stability of discrete time recurrent neural networks and nonlinear optimization problems.

    PubMed

    Singh, Jayant; Barabanov, Nikita

    2016-02-01

    We consider the method of Reduction of Dissipativity Domain to prove global Lyapunov stability of Discrete Time Recurrent Neural Networks. The standard and advanced criteria for Absolute Stability of these essentially nonlinear systems produce rather weak results. The method mentioned above is proved to be more powerful. It involves a multi-step procedure with maximization of special nonconvex functions over polytopes on every step. We derive conditions which guarantee an existence of at most one point of local maximum for such functions over every hyperplane. This nontrivial result is valid for wide range of neuron transfer functions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Absolute configuration of a chiral CHD group via neutron diffraction: confirmation of the absolute stereochemistry of the enzymatic formation of malic acid

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bau, R.; Brewer, I.; Chiang, M.Y.

    Neutron diffraction has been used to monitor the absolute stereochemistry of an enzymatic reaction. (-)(2S)malic-3-d acid was prepared by the action of fumarase on fumaric acid in D/sub 2/O. After a large number of cations were screened, it was found that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylamine forms the large crystals necessary for a neutron diffraction analysis. The subsequent structure determination showed that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylammonium (-)(2S)malate-3-d has an absolute configuration of R at the CHD site. This result confirms the absolute stereochemistry of fumarate-to-malate transformation as catalyzed by the enzyme fumarase.

  14. The Absolute Magnitude of the Sun in Several Filters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Willmer, Christopher N. A.

    2018-06-01

    This paper presents a table with estimates of the absolute magnitude of the Sun and the conversions from vegamag to the AB and ST systems for several wide-band filters used in ground-based and space-based observatories. These estimates use the dustless spectral energy distribution (SED) of Vega, calibrated absolutely using the SED of Sirius, to set the vegamag zero-points and a composite spectrum of the Sun that coadds space-based observations from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared with models of the Solar atmosphere. The uncertainty of the absolute magnitudes is estimated by comparing the synthetic colors with photometric measurements of solar analogs and is found to be ∼0.02 mag. Combined with the uncertainty of ∼2% in the calibration of the Vega SED, the errors of these absolute magnitudes are ∼3%–4%. Using these SEDs, for three of the most utilized filters in extragalactic work the estimated absolute magnitudes of the Sun are M B = 5.44, M V = 4.81, and M K = 3.27 mag in the vegamag system and M B = 5.31, M V = 4.80, and M K = 5.08 mag in AB.

  15. A Reward-Based Behavioral Platform to Measure Neural Activity during Head-Fixed Behavior.

    PubMed

    Micallef, Andrew H; Takahashi, Naoya; Larkum, Matthew E; Palmer, Lucy M

    2017-01-01

    Understanding the neural computations that contribute to behavior requires recording from neurons while an animal is behaving. This is not an easy task as most subcellular recording techniques require absolute head stability. The Go/No-Go sensory task is a powerful decision-driven task that enables an animal to report a binary decision during head-fixation. Here we discuss how to set up an Ardunio and Python based platform system to control a Go/No-Go sensory behavior paradigm. Using an Arduino micro-controller and Python-based custom written program, a reward can be delivered to the animal depending on the decision reported. We discuss the various components required to build the behavioral apparatus that can control and report such a sensory stimulus paradigm. This system enables the end user to control the behavioral testing in real-time and therefore it provides a strong custom-made platform for probing the neural basis of behavior.

  16. A Reward-Based Behavioral Platform to Measure Neural Activity during Head-Fixed Behavior

    PubMed Central

    Micallef, Andrew H.; Takahashi, Naoya; Larkum, Matthew E.; Palmer, Lucy M.

    2017-01-01

    Understanding the neural computations that contribute to behavior requires recording from neurons while an animal is behaving. This is not an easy task as most subcellular recording techniques require absolute head stability. The Go/No-Go sensory task is a powerful decision-driven task that enables an animal to report a binary decision during head-fixation. Here we discuss how to set up an Ardunio and Python based platform system to control a Go/No-Go sensory behavior paradigm. Using an Arduino micro-controller and Python-based custom written program, a reward can be delivered to the animal depending on the decision reported. We discuss the various components required to build the behavioral apparatus that can control and report such a sensory stimulus paradigm. This system enables the end user to control the behavioral testing in real-time and therefore it provides a strong custom-made platform for probing the neural basis of behavior. PMID:28620282

  17. Regional application of multi-layer artificial neural networks in 3-D ionosphere tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghaffari Razin, Mir Reza; Voosoghi, Behzad

    2016-08-01

    Tomography is a very cost-effective method to study physical properties of the ionosphere. In this paper, residual minimization training neural network (RMTNN) is used in voxel-based tomography to reconstruct of 3-D ionosphere electron density with high spatial resolution. For numerical experiments, observations collected at 37 GPS stations from Iranian permanent GPS network (IPGN) are used. A smoothed TEC approach was used for absolute STEC recovery. To improve the vertical resolution, empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) obtained from international reference ionosphere 2012 (IRI-2012) used as object function in training neural network. Ionosonde observations is used for validate reliability of the proposed method. Minimum relative error for RMTNN is 1.64% and maximum relative error is 15.61%. Also root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.17 × 1011 (electrons/m3) is computed for RMTNN which is less than RMSE of IRI2012. The results show that RMTNN has higher accuracy and compiles speed than other ionosphere reconstruction methods.

  18. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moseev, D.; Laqua, H. P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V.; Gellert, F.; Oosterbeek, J. W.

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power is measured.

  19. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X.

    PubMed

    Moseev, D; Laqua, H P; Marsen, S; Stange, T; Braune, H; Erckmann, V; Gellert, F; Oosterbeek, J W

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power is measured.

  20. Preparation of an oakmoss absolute with reduced allergenic potential.

    PubMed

    Ehret, C; Maupetit, P; Petrzilka, M; Klecak, G

    1992-06-01

    Synopsis Oakmoss absolute, an extract of the lichen Evernia prunastri, is known to cause allergenic skin reactions due to the presence of certain aromatic aldehydes such as atranorin, chloratranorin, ethyl hematommate and ethyl chlorohematommate. In this paper it is shown that treatment of Oakmoss absolute with amino acids such as lysine and/or leucine, lowers considerably the content of these allergenic constituents including atranol and chloratranol. The resulting Oakmoss absolute, which exhibits an excellent olfactive quality, was tested extensively in comparative studies on guinea pigs and on man. The results of the Guinea Pig Maximization Test (GPMT) and Human Repeated Insult Patch Test (HRIPT) indicate that, in comparison with the commercial test sample, the allergenicity of this new quality of Oakmoss absolute was considerably reduced, and consequently better skin tolerance of this fragrance for man was achieved.

  1. Prediction of forced expiratory volume in pulmonary function test using radial basis neural networks and k-means clustering.

    PubMed

    Manoharan, Sujatha C; Ramakrishnan, Swaminathan

    2009-10-01

    In this work, prediction of forced expiratory volume in pulmonary function test, carried out using spirometry and neural networks is presented. The pulmonary function data were recorded from volunteers using commercial available flow volume spirometer in standard acquisition protocol. The Radial Basis Function neural networks were used to predict forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) from the recorded flow volume curves. The optimal centres of the hidden layer of radial basis function were determined by k-means clustering algorithm. The performance of the neural network model was evaluated by computing their prediction error statistics of average value, standard deviation, root mean square and their correlation with the true data for normal, restrictive and obstructive cases. Results show that the adopted neural networks are capable of predicting FEV1 in both normal and abnormal cases. Prediction accuracy was more in obstructive abnormality when compared to restrictive cases. It appears that this method of assessment is useful in diagnosing the pulmonary abnormalities with incomplete data and data with poor recording.

  2. Physics of negative absolute temperatures.

    PubMed

    Abraham, Eitan; Penrose, Oliver

    2017-01-01

    Negative absolute temperatures were introduced into experimental physics by Purcell and Pound, who successfully applied this concept to nuclear spins; nevertheless, the concept has proved controversial: a recent article aroused considerable interest by its claim, based on a classical entropy formula (the "volume entropy") due to Gibbs, that negative temperatures violated basic principles of statistical thermodynamics. Here we give a thermodynamic analysis that confirms the negative-temperature interpretation of the Purcell-Pound experiments. We also examine the principal arguments that have been advanced against the negative temperature concept; we find that these arguments are not logically compelling, and moreover that the underlying "volume" entropy formula leads to predictions inconsistent with existing experimental results on nuclear spins. We conclude that, despite the counterarguments, negative absolute temperatures make good theoretical sense and did occur in the experiments designed to produce them.

  3. Efficiency and large deviations in time-asymmetric stochastic heat engines

    DOE PAGES

    Gingrich, Todd R.; Rotskoff, Grant M.; Vaikuntanathan, Suriyanarayanan; ...

    2014-10-24

    In a stochastic heat engine driven by a cyclic non-equilibrium protocol, fluctuations in work and heat give rise to a fluctuating efficiency. Using computer simulations and tools from large deviation theory, we have examined these fluctuations in detail for a model two-state engine. We find in general that the form of efficiency probability distributions is similar to those described by Verley et al (2014 Nat. Commun. 5 4721), in particular featuring a local minimum in the long-time limit. In contrast to the time-symmetric engine protocols studied previously, however, this minimum need not occur at the value characteristic of a reversible Carnot engine. Furthermore, while the local minimum may reside at the global minimum of a large deviation rate function, it does not generally correspond to the least likely efficiency measured over finite time. Lastly, we introduce a general approximation for the finite-time efficiency distribution,more » $$P(\\eta )$$, based on large deviation statistics of work and heat, that remains very accurate even when $$P(\\eta )$$ deviates significantly from its large deviation form.« less

  4. Triangular Resection of the Upper Lateral Cartilage for Middle Vault Deviation.

    PubMed

    Ryu, Gwanghui; Seo, Min Young; Lee, Kyung Eun; Hong, Sang Duk; Chung, Seung-Kyu; Dhong, Hun-Jong; Kim, Hyo Yeol

    2018-06-02

    Middle vault deviation has a significant effect on the aesthetic and functional aspects of the nose, and its management continues to be a challenge. Spreader graft and its modification techniques have been focused, but there has been scarce consideration for removing surplus portion and balancing the upper lateral cartilage (ULC). This study aimed to report the newly invented triangular-shaped resection technique ("triangular resection") of the ULC and to evaluate its efficacy for correcting middle vault deviation. A retrospective study included 17 consecutive patients who presented with middle vault deviation and underwent septorhinoplasty by using triangular resection at a tertiary academic hospital from February 2014 and March 2016. Their outcomes were evaluated pre- and postoperatively including medical photographs, acoustic rhinometry and subjective nasal obstruction using a 7-point Likert scale. The immediate outcomes were evaluated around 1 month after surgery, and long-term outcomes were available in 12 patients; the mean follow-up period was 9.1 months. Nasal tip deviation angle was reduced from 5.66º to 2.37º immediately (P<0.001). Middle vault deviation also improved from 169.50º to 177.24º (P<0.001). Long-term results were 2.49º (P=0.015) for nasal tip deviation and 178.68º (P=0.002) for middle vault deviation. The aesthetic outcome involved a complete correction in eight patients (47.1%), a minimally visible deviation in seven patients (41.2%) and a remaining residual deviation in two patients (11.8%). Pre- and postoperative minimal cross-sectional areas (summation of the right and left sides) were 0.86 and 1.07, respectively (P=0.021). Fifteen patients answered about their nasal obstruction symptoms and the median symptom score had alleviated from 6.0 to 3.0 (P=0.004). Triangular resection of the ULC is a simple and effective method for correcting middle vault deviation and balancing the ULCs without complications as internal nasal valve

  5. 45 CFR 63.19 - Budget revisions and minor deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Budget revisions and minor deviations. 63.19 Section 63.19 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION GRANT PROGRAMS... Budget revisions and minor deviations. Pursuant to § 74.102(d) of this title, paragraphs (b)(3) and (b)(4...

  6. 45 CFR 63.19 - Budget revisions and minor deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Budget revisions and minor deviations. 63.19 Section 63.19 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION GRANT PROGRAMS... Budget revisions and minor deviations. Pursuant to § 74.102(d) of this title, paragraphs (b)(3) and (b)(4...

  7. Absolute extinction and the influence of environment - Dark cloud sight lines toward VCT 10, 30, and Walker 67

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cardelli, Jason A.; Clayton, Geoffrey C.

    1991-01-01

    The range of validity of the average absolute extinction law (AAEL) proposed by Cardelli et al. (1988 and 1989) is investigated, combining published visible and NIR data with IUE UV observations for three lines of sight through dense dark cloud environments with high values of total-to-selective extinction. The characteristics of the data sets and the reduction and parameterization methods applied are described in detail, and the results are presented in extensive tables and graphs. Good agreement with the AAEL is demonstrated for wavelengths from 3.4 microns to 250 nm, but significant deviations are found at shorter wavelengths (where previous studies of lines of sight through bright nebulosity found good agreement with the AAEL). These differences are attributed to the effects of coatings on small-bump and FUV grains.

  8. Neoclassical canons of facial beauty: Do we see the deviations?

    PubMed

    Pavlic, Andrej; Trinajstic Zrinski, Magda; Katic, Visnja; Spalj, Stjepan

    2017-05-01

    To explore the presence of neoclassical canons of facial beauty among young people in Croatia and to question possible psychosocial repercussions occurring in those who demonstrate deviations in relation to canons. The study was cross-sectional and the sample included 249 subjects (60% female) aged 12-39 (median 20). Their en face and profile photographs were taken in Natural Head Position. Photogrammetry included analysis of nine neoclassical canons of facial beauty originating from the Renaissance. Psychosocial issues were assessed using the Self-Esteem Scale, Big Five Inventory and three domains of Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire. Significant deviations from neoclassical facial beauty canons were observed in 55-65% of adolescents and young adults. Gender and age showed no relation to deviations. The deviations from canons that influenced the quality of life were mainly those related to vertical facial proportions and demonstrated increased facial aesthetics concern and social impact, and higher self-reported treatment need (p < 0.05). Deviations from canons were not related to self-esteem but a decrease in openness, agreeableness and neuroticism was observed. Neoclassical canons were not valid for the majority of adolescents and young adults in Croatia. Only deviations from some canons appear to provoke mild psychosocial repercussions. Copyright © 2017 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Neural dynamics based on the recognition of neural fingerprints

    PubMed Central

    Carrillo-Medina, José Luis; Latorre, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    Experimental evidence has revealed the existence of characteristic spiking features in different neural signals, e.g., individual neural signatures identifying the emitter or functional signatures characterizing specific tasks. These neural fingerprints may play a critical role in neural information processing, since they allow receptors to discriminate or contextualize incoming stimuli. This could be a powerful strategy for neural systems that greatly enhances the encoding and processing capacity of these networks. Nevertheless, the study of information processing based on the identification of specific neural fingerprints has attracted little attention. In this work, we study (i) the emerging collective dynamics of a network of neurons that communicate with each other by exchange of neural fingerprints and (ii) the influence of the network topology on the self-organizing properties within the network. Complex collective dynamics emerge in the network in the presence of stimuli. Predefined inputs, i.e., specific neural fingerprints, are detected and encoded into coexisting patterns of activity that propagate throughout the network with different spatial organization. The patterns evoked by a stimulus can survive after the stimulation is over, which provides memory mechanisms to the network. The results presented in this paper suggest that neural information processing based on neural fingerprints can be a plausible, flexible, and powerful strategy. PMID:25852531

  10. Neural signatures of social conformity: A coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies.

    PubMed

    Wu, Haiyan; Luo, Yi; Feng, Chunliang

    2016-12-01

    People often align their behaviors with group opinions, known as social conformity. Many neuroscience studies have explored the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying social conformity. Here we employed a coordinate-based meta-analysis on neuroimaging studies of social conformity with the purpose to reveal the convergence of the underlying neural architecture. We identified a convergence of reported activation foci in regions associated with normative decision-making, including ventral striatum (VS), dorsal posterior medial frontal cortex (dorsal pMFC), and anterior insula (AI). Specifically, consistent deactivation of VS and activation of dorsal pMFC and AI are identified when people's responses deviate from group opinions. In addition, the deviation-related responses in dorsal pMFC predict people's conforming behavioral adjustments. These are consistent with current models that disagreement with others might evoke "error" signals, cognitive imbalance, and/or aversive feelings, which are plausibly detected in these brain regions as control signals to facilitate subsequent conforming behaviors. Finally, group opinions result in altered neural correlates of valuation, manifested as stronger responses of VS to stimuli endorsed than disliked by others. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Absolute gravimetry for monitoring geodynamics in Greenland.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nielsen, E.; Strykowski, G.; Forsberg, R.

    2015-12-01

    Here are presented the preliminary results of the absolute gravity measurements done in Greenland by DTU Space with their A10 absolute gravimeter (the A10-019). The purpose, besides establishing and maintaining a national gravity network, is to study geodynamics.The absolute gravity measurements are juxtaposed with the permanent GNET GNSS stations. The first measurements were conducted in 2009 and a few sites have been re-visited. As of present is there a gravity value at 18 GNET sites.There are challenges in interpreting the measurements from Greenland and several signals has to be taken into account, besides the geodynamical signals originating from the changing load of the ice, there is also a clear signal of direct attraction from different masses. Here are presented the preliminary results of our measurements in Greenland and attempts explain them through modelling of the geodynamical signals and the direct attraction from the ocean and ice.

  12. Note Onset Deviations as Musical Piece Signatures

    PubMed Central

    Serrà, Joan; Özaslan, Tan Hakan; Arcos, Josep Lluis

    2013-01-01

    A competent interpretation of a musical composition presents several non-explicit departures from the written score. Timing variations are perhaps the most important ones: they are fundamental for expressive performance and a key ingredient for conferring a human-like quality to machine-based music renditions. However, the nature of such variations is still an open research question, with diverse theories that indicate a multi-dimensional phenomenon. In the present study, we consider event-shift timing variations and show that sequences of note onset deviations are robust and reliable predictors of the musical piece being played, irrespective of the performer. In fact, our results suggest that only a few consecutive onset deviations are already enough to identify a musical composition with statistically significant accuracy. We consider a mid-size collection of commercial recordings of classical guitar pieces and follow a quantitative approach based on the combination of standard statistical tools and machine learning techniques with the semi-automatic estimation of onset deviations. Besides the reported results, we believe that the considered materials and the methodology followed widen the testing ground for studying musical timing and could open new perspectives in related research fields. PMID:23935971

  13. Note onset deviations as musical piece signatures.

    PubMed

    Serrà, Joan; Özaslan, Tan Hakan; Arcos, Josep Lluis

    2013-01-01

    A competent interpretation of a musical composition presents several non-explicit departures from the written score. Timing variations are perhaps the most important ones: they are fundamental for expressive performance and a key ingredient for conferring a human-like quality to machine-based music renditions. However, the nature of such variations is still an open research question, with diverse theories that indicate a multi-dimensional phenomenon. In the present study, we consider event-shift timing variations and show that sequences of note onset deviations are robust and reliable predictors of the musical piece being played, irrespective of the performer. In fact, our results suggest that only a few consecutive onset deviations are already enough to identify a musical composition with statistically significant accuracy. We consider a mid-size collection of commercial recordings of classical guitar pieces and follow a quantitative approach based on the combination of standard statistical tools and machine learning techniques with the semi-automatic estimation of onset deviations. Besides the reported results, we believe that the considered materials and the methodology followed widen the testing ground for studying musical timing and could open new perspectives in related research fields.

  14. Current Global Absolute Plate Velocities Inferred from the Trends of Hotspot Tracks: Implications for Motion between Groups of Hotspots and Comparison and Combination with Absolute Velocities Inferred from the Orientation of Seismic Anisotropy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, C.; Gordon, R. G.; Zheng, L.

    2016-12-01

    Hotspot tracks are widely used to estimate the absolute velocities of plates, i.e., relative to the lower mantle. Knowledge of current motion between hotspots is important for both plate kinematics and mantle dynamics and informs the discussion on the origin of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend. Following Morgan & Morgan (2007), we focus only on the trends of young hotspot tracks and omit volcanic propagation rates. The dispersion of the trends can be partitioned into between-plate and within-plate dispersion. Applying the method of Gripp & Gordon (2002) to the hotspot trend data set of Morgan & Morgan (2007) constrained to the MORVEL relative plate angular velocities (DeMets et al., 2010) results in a standard deviation of the 56 hotspot trends of 22°. The largest angular misfits tend to occur on the slowest moving plates. Alternatively, estimation of best-fitting poles to hotspot tracks on the nine individual plates, results in a standard deviation of trends of only 13°, a statistically significant reduction from the introduction of 15 additional adjustable parameters. If all of the between-plate misfit is due to motion of groups of hotspots (beneath different plates), nominal velocities relative to the mean hotspot reference frame range from 1 to 4 mm/yr with the lower bounds ranging from 1 to 3 mm/yr and the greatest upper bound being 8 mm/yr. These are consistent with bounds on motion between Pacific and Indo-Atlantic hotspots over the past ≈50 Ma, which range from zero (lower bound) to 8 to 13 mm/yr (upper bounds) (Koivisto et al., 2014). We also determine HS4-MORVEL, a new global set of plate angular velocities relative to the hotspots constrained to consistency with the MORVEL relative plate angular velocities, using a two-tier analysis similar to that used by Zheng et al. (2014) to estimate the SKS-MORVEL global set of absolute plate velocities fit to the orientation of seismic anisotropy. We find that the 95% confidence limits of HS4-MORVEL and SKS

  15. Strongly nonlinear theory of rapid solidification near absolute stability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kowal, Katarzyna N.; Altieri, Anthony L.; Davis, Stephen H.

    2017-10-01

    We investigate the nonlinear evolution of the morphological deformation of a solid-liquid interface of a binary melt under rapid solidification conditions near two absolute stability limits. The first of these involves the complete stabilization of the system to cellular instabilities as a result of large enough surface energy. We derive nonlinear evolution equations in several limits in this scenario and investigate the effect of interfacial disequilibrium on the nonlinear deformations that arise. In contrast to the morphological stability problem in equilibrium, in which only cellular instabilities appear and only one absolute stability boundary exists, in disequilibrium the system is prone to oscillatory instabilities and a second absolute stability boundary involving attachment kinetics arises. Large enough attachment kinetics stabilize the oscillatory instabilities. We derive a nonlinear evolution equation to describe the nonlinear development of the solid-liquid interface near this oscillatory absolute stability limit. We find that strong asymmetries develop with time. For uniform oscillations, the evolution equation for the interface reduces to the simple form f''+(βf')2+f =0 , where β is the disequilibrium parameter. Lastly, we investigate a distinguished limit near both absolute stability limits in which the system is prone to both cellular and oscillatory instabilities and derive a nonlinear evolution equation that captures the nonlinear deformations in this limit. Common to all these scenarios is the emergence of larger asymmetries in the resulting shapes of the solid-liquid interface with greater departures from equilibrium and larger morphological numbers. The disturbances additionally sharpen near the oscillatory absolute stability boundary, where the interface becomes deep-rooted. The oscillations are time-periodic only for small-enough initial amplitudes and their frequency depends on a single combination of physical parameters, including the

  16. A hybrid method with deviational particles for spatial inhomogeneous plasma

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, Bokai

    2016-03-01

    In this work we propose a Hybrid method with Deviational Particles (HDP) for a plasma modeled by the inhomogeneous Vlasov-Poisson-Landau system. We split the distribution into a Maxwellian part evolved by a grid based fluid solver and a deviation part simulated by numerical particles. These particles, named deviational particles, could be both positive and negative. We combine the Monte Carlo method proposed in [31], a Particle in Cell method and a Macro-Micro decomposition method [3] to design an efficient hybrid method. Furthermore, coarse particles are employed to accelerate the simulation. A particle resampling technique on both deviational particles and coarse particles is also investigated and improved. This method is applicable in all regimes and significantly more efficient compared to a PIC-DSMC method near the fluid regime.

  17. Sub-grain induced crack deviation in multi-crystalline silicon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Lv; Nelias, Daniel; Bardel, Didier; Wang, Meng; Marie, Benoit

    2017-06-01

    The fracture process in crystalline silicon is dictated by energy dissipation. Here, we show that sub-grains can deviate the crack path from the most energetically favorable ( 111) plane. Albeit a small misorientation across the sub-grain boundary is identified, upon entering into the sub-grain region, the crack either slightly deviates from the ideal ( 111) plane or directly chooses the secondly most favorable ( 110) one. We propose that the deviation is related to the dislocation core in the ( 111) crystal plane, which leads to a discontinuous atom debonding process and consequently a pronounced lattice trapping. In this circumstance, localized crystal defects prevail in the fracture process of silicon, while energetical criterion fails to interpret the crack path.

  18. Absolute far-ultraviolet spectrophotometry of hot subluminous stars from Voyager

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Holberg, J. B.; Ali, B.; Carone, T. E.; Polidan, R. S.

    1991-01-01

    Observations, obtained with the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers, are presented of absolute fluxes for two well-known hot subluminous stars: BD + 28 deg 4211, an sdO, and G191 - B2B, a hot DA white dwarf. Complete absolute energy distributions for these two stars, from the Lyman limit at 912 A to 1 micron, are given. For BD + 28 deg 4211, a single power law closely represents the entire observed energy distribution. For G191 - B2B, a pure hydrogen model atmosphere provides an excellent match to the entire absolute energy distribution. Voyager absolute fluxes are discussed in relation to those reported from various sounding rocket experiments, including a recent rocket observation of BD + 28 deg 4211.

  19. From Hubble's NGSL to Absolute Fluxes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heap, Sara R.; Lindler, Don

    2012-01-01

    Hubble's Next Generation Spectral Library (NGSL) consists of R-l000 spectra of 374 stars of assorted temperature, gravity, and metallicity. Each spectrum covers the wavelength range, 0.18-1.00 microns. The library can be viewed and/or downloaded from the website, http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/stisngsll. Stars in the NGSL are now being used as absolute flux standards at ground-based observatories. However, the uncertainty in the absolute flux is about 2%, which does not meet the requirements of dark-energy surveys. We are therefore developing an observing procedure that should yield fluxes with uncertainties less than 1 % and will take part in an HST proposal to observe up to 15 stars using this new procedure.

  20. Absolute calibration of optical flats

    DOEpatents

    Sommargren, Gary E.

    2005-04-05

    The invention uses the phase shifting diffraction interferometer (PSDI) to provide a true point-by-point measurement of absolute flatness over the surface of optical flats. Beams exiting the fiber optics in a PSDI have perfect spherical wavefronts. The measurement beam is reflected from the optical flat and passed through an auxiliary optic to then be combined with the reference beam on a CCD. The combined beams include phase errors due to both the optic under test and the auxiliary optic. Standard phase extraction algorithms are used to calculate this combined phase error. The optical flat is then removed from the system and the measurement fiber is moved to recombine the two beams. The newly combined beams include only the phase errors due to the auxiliary optic. When the second phase measurement is subtracted from the first phase measurement, the absolute phase error of the optical flat is obtained.

  1. Absolute Quantification of Rifampicin by MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry Using Multiple TOF/TOF Events in a Single Laser Shot

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prentice, Boone M.; Chumbley, Chad W.; Caprioli, Richard M.

    2017-01-01

    Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI IMS) allows for the visualization of molecular distributions within tissue sections. While providing excellent molecular specificity and spatial information, absolute quantification by MALDI IMS remains challenging. Especially in the low molecular weight region of the spectrum, analysis is complicated by matrix interferences and ionization suppression. Though tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) can be used to ensure chemical specificity and improve sensitivity by eliminating chemical noise, typical MALDI MS/MS modalities only scan for a single MS/MS event per laser shot. Herein, we describe TOF/TOF instrumentation that enables multiple fragmentation events to be performed in a single laser shot, allowing the intensity of the analyte to be referenced to the intensity of the internal standard in each laser shot while maintaining the benefits of MS/MS. This approach is illustrated by the quantitative analyses of rifampicin (RIF), an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis, in pooled human plasma using rifapentine (RPT) as an internal standard. The results show greater than 4-fold improvements in relative standard deviation as well as improved coefficients of determination (R2) and accuracy (>93% quality controls, <9% relative errors). This technology is used as an imaging modality to measure absolute RIF concentrations in liver tissue from an animal dosed in vivo. Each microspot in the quantitative image measures the local RIF concentration in the tissue section, providing absolute pixel-to-pixel quantification from different tissue microenvironments. The average concentration determined by IMS is in agreement with the concentration determined by HPLC-MS/MS, showing a percent difference of 10.6%.

  2. Character Recognition Using Genetically Trained Neural Networks

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Diniz, C.; Stantz, K.M.; Trahan, M.W.

    1998-10-01

    Computationally intelligent recognition of characters and symbols addresses a wide range of applications including foreign language translation and chemical formula identification. The combination of intelligent learning and optimization algorithms with layered neural structures offers powerful techniques for character recognition. These techniques were originally developed by Sandia National Laboratories for pattern and spectral analysis; however, their ability to optimize vast amounts of data make them ideal for character recognition. An adaptation of the Neural Network Designer soflsvare allows the user to create a neural network (NN_) trained by a genetic algorithm (GA) that correctly identifies multiple distinct characters. The initial successfidmore » recognition of standard capital letters can be expanded to include chemical and mathematical symbols and alphabets of foreign languages, especially Arabic and Chinese. The FIN model constructed for this project uses a three layer feed-forward architecture. To facilitate the input of characters and symbols, a graphic user interface (GUI) has been developed to convert the traditional representation of each character or symbol to a bitmap. The 8 x 8 bitmap representations used for these tests are mapped onto the input nodes of the feed-forward neural network (FFNN) in a one-to-one correspondence. The input nodes feed forward into a hidden layer, and the hidden layer feeds into five output nodes correlated to possible character outcomes. During the training period the GA optimizes the weights of the NN until it can successfully recognize distinct characters. Systematic deviations from the base design test the network's range of applicability. Increasing capacity, the number of letters to be recognized, requires a nonlinear increase in the number of hidden layer neurodes. Optimal character recognition performance necessitates a minimum threshold for the number of cases when genetically training the net. And, the

  3. Validation of artificial neural network models for predicting biochemical markers associated with male infertility.

    PubMed

    Vickram, A S; Kamini, A Rao; Das, Raja; Pathy, M Ramesh; Parameswari, R; Archana, K; Sridharan, T B

    2016-08-01

    Seminal fluid is the secretion from many glands comprised of several organic and inorganic compounds including free amino acids, proteins, fructose, glucosidase, zinc, and other scavenging elements like Mg(2+), Ca(2+), K(+), and Na(+). Therefore, in the view of development of novel approaches and proper diagnosis to male infertility, overall understanding of the biochemical and molecular composition and its role in regulation of sperm quality is highly desirable. Perhaps this can be achieved through artificial intelligence. This study was aimed to elucidate and predict various biochemical markers present in human seminal plasma with three different neural network models. A total of 177 semen samples were collected for this research (both fertile and infertile samples) and immediately processed to prepare a semen analysis report, based on the protocol of the World Health Organization (WHO [2010]). The semen samples were then categorized into oligoasthenospermia (n=35), asthenospermia (n=35), azoospermia (n=22), normospermia (n=34), oligospermia (n=34), and control (n=17). The major biochemical parameters like total protein content, fructose, glucosidase, and zinc content were elucidated by standard protocols. All the biochemical markers were predicted by using three different artificial neural network (ANN) models with semen parameters as inputs. Of the three models, the back propagation neural network model (BPNN) yielded the best results with mean absolute error 0.025, -0.080, 0.166, and -0.057 for protein, fructose, glucosidase, and zinc, respectively. This suggests that BPNN can be used to predict biochemical parameters for the proper diagnosis of male infertility in assisted reproductive technology (ART) centres. AAS: absorption spectroscopy; AI: artificial intelligence; ANN: artificial neural networks; ART: assisted reproductive technology; BPNN: back propagation neural network model; DT: decision tress; MLP: multilayer perceptron; PESA: percutaneous

  4. Robust stability of interval bidirectional associative memory neural network with time delays.

    PubMed

    Liao, Xiaofeng; Wong, Kwok-wo

    2004-04-01

    In this paper, the conventional bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural network with signal transmission delay is intervalized in order to study the bounded effect of deviations in network parameters and external perturbations. The resultant model is referred to as a novel interval dynamic BAM (IDBAM) model. By combining a number of different Lyapunov functionals with the Razumikhin technique, some sufficient conditions for the existence of unique equilibrium and robust stability are derived. These results are fairly general and can be verified easily. To go further, we extend our investigation to the time-varying delay case. Some robust stability criteria for BAM with perturbations of time-varying delays are derived. Besides, our approach for the analysis allows us to consider several different types of activation functions, including piecewise linear sigmoids with bounded activations as well as the usual C1-smooth sigmoids. We believe that the results obtained have leading significance in the design and application of BAM neural networks.

  5. Probative value of absolute and relative judgments in eyewitness identification.

    PubMed

    Clark, Steven E; Erickson, Michael A; Breneman, Jesse

    2011-10-01

    It is well-accepted that eyewitness identification decisions based on relative judgments are less accurate than identification decisions based on absolute judgments. However, the theoretical foundation for this view has not been established. In this study relative and absolute judgments were compared through simulations of the WITNESS model (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629-654, 2003) to address the question: Do suspect identifications based on absolute judgments have higher probative value than suspect identifications based on relative judgments? Simulations of the WITNESS model showed a consistent advantage for absolute judgments over relative judgments for suspect-matched lineups. However, simulations of same-foils lineups showed a complex interaction based on the accuracy of memory and the similarity relationships among lineup members.

  6. Optimization of extraction of linarin from Flos chrysanthemi indici by response surface methodology and artificial neural network.

    PubMed

    Pan, Hongye; Zhang, Qing; Cui, Keke; Chen, Guoquan; Liu, Xuesong; Wang, Longhu

    2017-05-01

    The extraction of linarin from Flos chrysanthemi indici by ethanol was investigated. Two modeling techniques, response surface methodology and artificial neural network, were adopted to optimize the process parameters, such as, ethanol concentration, extraction period, extraction frequency, and solvent to material ratio. We showed that both methods provided good predictions, but artificial neural network provided a better and more accurate result. The optimum process parameters include, ethanol concentration of 74%, extraction period of 2 h, extraction three times, solvent to material ratio of 12 mL/g. The experiment yield of linarin was 90.5% that deviated less than 1.6% from that obtained by predicted result. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Determination of Absolute Zero Using a Computer-Based Laboratory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amrani, D.

    2007-01-01

    We present a simple computer-based laboratory experiment for evaluating absolute zero in degrees Celsius, which can be performed in college and undergraduate physical sciences laboratory courses. With a computer, absolute zero apparatus can help demonstrators or students to observe the relationship between temperature and pressure and use…

  8. Computationally Aided Absolute Stereochemical Determination of Enantioenriched Amines.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jun; Gholami, Hadi; Ding, Xinliang; Chun, Minji; Vasileiou, Chrysoula; Nehira, Tatsuo; Borhan, Babak

    2017-03-17

    A simple and efficient protocol for sensing the absolute stereochemistry and enantiomeric excess of chiral monoamines is reported. Preparation of the sample requires a single-step reaction of the 1,1'-(bromomethylene)dinaphthalene (BDN) with the chiral amine. Analysis of the exciton coupled circular dichroism generated from the BDN-derivatized chiral amine sample, along with comparison to conformational analysis performed computationally, yields the absolute stereochemistry of the parent chiral monoamine.

  9. 41 CFR 109-1.5304 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... High Risk Personal Property § 109-1.5304 Deviations. (a) Life cycle control determinations. When the HFO approves a contractor program containing controls, other than life cycle control consistent with... Secretary for Procurement and Assistance Management. A HFO's decision not to provide life-cycle control...

  10. 41 CFR 109-1.5304 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... High Risk Personal Property § 109-1.5304 Deviations. (a) Life cycle control determinations. When the HFO approves a contractor program containing controls, other than life cycle control consistent with... Secretary for Procurement and Assistance Management. A HFO's decision not to provide life-cycle control...

  11. 41 CFR 109-1.5304 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... High Risk Personal Property § 109-1.5304 Deviations. (a) Life cycle control determinations. When the HFO approves a contractor program containing controls, other than life cycle control consistent with... Secretary for Procurement and Assistance Management. A HFO's decision not to provide life-cycle control...

  12. 41 CFR 109-1.5304 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... High Risk Personal Property § 109-1.5304 Deviations. (a) Life cycle control determinations. When the HFO approves a contractor program containing controls, other than life cycle control consistent with... Secretary for Procurement and Assistance Management. A HFO's decision not to provide life-cycle control...

  13. 41 CFR 109-1.5304 - Deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... High Risk Personal Property § 109-1.5304 Deviations. (a) Life cycle control determinations. When the HFO approves a contractor program containing controls, other than life cycle control consistent with... Secretary for Procurement and Assistance Management. A HFO's decision not to provide life-cycle control...

  14. Use of Absolute and Comparative Performance Feedback in Absolute and Comparative Judgments and Decisions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moore, Don A.; Klein, William M. P.

    2008-01-01

    Which matters more--beliefs about absolute ability or ability relative to others? This study set out to compare the effects of such beliefs on satisfaction with performance, self-evaluations, and bets on future performance. In Experiment 1, undergraduate participants were told they had answered 20% correct, 80% correct, or were not given their…

  15. Generalized regression neural network (GRNN)-based approach for colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) retrieval: case study of Connecticut River at Middle Haddam Station, USA.

    PubMed

    Heddam, Salim

    2014-11-01

    The prediction of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) using artificial neural network approaches has received little attention in the past few decades. In this study, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) was modeled using generalized regression neural network (GRNN) and multiple linear regression (MLR) models as a function of Water temperature (TE), pH, specific conductance (SC), and turbidity (TU). Evaluation of the prediction accuracy of the models is based on the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), coefficient of correlation (CC), and Willmott's index of agreement (d). The results indicated that GRNN can be applied successfully for prediction of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM).

  16. A Special Application of Absolute Value Techniques in Authentic Problem Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stupel, Moshe

    2013-01-01

    There are at least five different equivalent definitions of the absolute value concept. In instances where the task is an equation or inequality with only one or two absolute value expressions, it is a worthy educational experience for learners to solve the task using each one of the definitions. On the other hand, if more than two absolute value…

  17. Structure elucidation and absolute stereochemistry of isomeric monoterpene chromane esters.

    PubMed

    Batista, João M; Batista, Andrea N L; Mota, Jonas S; Cass, Quezia B; Kato, Massuo J; Bolzani, Vanderlan S; Freedman, Teresa B; López, Silvia N; Furlan, Maysa; Nafie, Laurence A

    2011-04-15

    Six novel monoterpene chromane esters were isolated from the aerial parts of Peperomia obtusifolia (Piperaceae) using chiral chromatography. This is the first time that chiral chromane esters of this kind, ones with a tethered chiral terpene, have been isolated in nature. Due to their structural features, it is not currently possible to assess directly their absolute stereochemistry using any of the standard classical approaches, such as X-ray crystallography, NMR, optical rotation, or electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Herein we report the absolute configuration of these molecules, involving four chiral centers, using vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and density functional theory (DFT) (B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations. This work further reinforces the capability of VCD to determine unambiguously the absolute configuration of structurally complex molecules in solution, without crystallization or derivatization, and demonstrates the sensitivity of VCD to specify the absolute configuration for just one among a number of chiral centers. We also demonstrate the sufficiency of using the so-called inexpensive basis set 6-31G* compared to the triple-ζ basis set TZVP for absolute configuration analysis of larger molecules using VCD. Overall, this work extends our knowledge of secondary metabolites in plants and provides a straightforward way to determine the absolute configuration of complex natural products involving a chiral parent moiety combined with a chiral terpene adduct.

  18. Bio-Inspired Stretchable Absolute Pressure Sensor Network

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Yue; Li, Yu-Hung; Guo, Zhiqiang; Kim, Kyunglok; Chang, Fu-Kuo; Wang, Shan X.

    2016-01-01

    A bio-inspired absolute pressure sensor network has been developed. Absolute pressure sensors, distributed on multiple silicon islands, are connected as a network by stretchable polyimide wires. This sensor network, made on a 4’’ wafer, has 77 nodes and can be mounted on various curved surfaces to cover an area up to 0.64 m × 0.64 m, which is 100 times larger than its original size. Due to Micro Electro-Mechanical system (MEMS) surface micromachining technology, ultrathin sensing nodes can be realized with thicknesses of less than 100 µm. Additionally, good linearity and high sensitivity (~14 mV/V/bar) have been achieved. Since the MEMS sensor process has also been well integrated with a flexible polymer substrate process, the entire sensor network can be fabricated in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner. Moreover, an accurate pressure contour can be obtained from the sensor network. Therefore, this absolute pressure sensor network holds significant promise for smart vehicle applications, especially for unmanned aerial vehicles. PMID:26729134

  19. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch.

    PubMed

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them.

  20. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R.

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them. PMID:29085275

  1. Moral absolutism and ectopic pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Kaczor, C

    2001-02-01

    If one accepts a version of absolutism that excludes the intentional killing of any innocent human person from conception to natural death, ectopic pregnancy poses vexing difficulties. Given that the embryonic life almost certainly will die anyway, how can one retain one's moral principle and yet adequately respond to a situation that gravely threatens the life of the mother and her future fertility? The four options of treatment most often discussed in the literature are non-intervention, salpingectomy (removal of tube with embryo), salpingostomy (removal of embryo alone), and use of methotrexate (MXT). In this essay, I review these four options and introduce a fifth (the milking technique). In order to assess these options in terms of the absolutism mentioned, it will also be necessary to discuss various accounts of the intention/foresight distinction. I conclude that salpingectomy, salpingostomy, and the milking technique are compatible with absolutist presuppositions, but not the use of methotrexate.

  2. Weed Growth Stage Estimator Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks.

    PubMed

    Teimouri, Nima; Dyrmann, Mads; Nielsen, Per Rydahl; Mathiassen, Solvejg Kopp; Somerville, Gayle J; Jørgensen, Rasmus Nyholm

    2018-05-16

    This study outlines a new method of automatically estimating weed species and growth stages (from cotyledon until eight leaves are visible) of in situ images covering 18 weed species or families. Images of weeds growing within a variety of crops were gathered across variable environmental conditions with regards to soil types, resolution and light settings. Then, 9649 of these images were used for training the computer, which automatically divided the weeds into nine growth classes. The performance of this proposed convolutional neural network approach was evaluated on a further set of 2516 images, which also varied in term of crop, soil type, image resolution and light conditions. The overall performance of this approach achieved a maximum accuracy of 78% for identifying Polygonum spp. and a minimum accuracy of 46% for blackgrass. In addition, it achieved an average 70% accuracy rate in estimating the number of leaves and 96% accuracy when accepting a deviation of two leaves. These results show that this new method of using deep convolutional neural networks has a relatively high ability to estimate early growth stages across a wide variety of weed species.

  3. Absolute irradiance of the Moon for on-orbit calibration

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stone, T.C.; Kieffer, H.H.; ,

    2002-01-01

    The recognized need for on-orbit calibration of remote sensing imaging instruments drives the ROLO project effort to characterize the Moon for use as an absolute radiance source. For over 5 years the ground-based ROLO telescopes have acquired spatially-resolved lunar images in 23 VNIR (Moon diameter ???500 pixels) and 9 SWIR (???250 pixels) passbands at phase angles within ??90 degrees. A numerical model for lunar irradiance has been developed which fits hundreds of ROLO images in each band, corrected for atmospheric extinction and calibrated to absolute radiance, then integrated to irradiance. The band-coupled extinction algorithm uses absorption spectra of several gases and aerosols derived from MODTRAN to fit time-dependent component abundances to nightly observations of standard stars. The absolute radiance scale is based upon independent telescopic measurements of the star Vega. The fitting process yields uncertainties in lunar relative irradiance over small ranges of phase angle and the full range of lunar libration well under 0.5%. A larger source of uncertainty enters in the absolute solar spectral irradiance, especially in the SWIR, where solar models disagree by up to 6%. Results of ROLO model direct comparisons to spacecraft observations demonstrate the ability of the technique to track sensor responsivity drifts to sub-percent precision. Intercomparisons among instruments provide key insights into both calibration issues and the absolute scale for lunar irradiance.

  4. High-resolution absolute position detection using a multiple grating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schilling, Ulrich; Drabarek, Pawel; Kuehnle, Goetz; Tiziani, Hans J.

    1996-08-01

    To control electro-mechanical engines, high-resolution linear and rotary encoders are needed. Interferometric methods (grating interferometers) promise a resolution of a few nanometers, but have an ambiguity range of some microns. Incremental encoders increase the absolute measurement range by counting the signal periods starting from a defined initial point. In many applications, however, it is not possible to move to this initial point, so that absolute encoders have to be used. Absolute encoders generally have a scale with two or more tracks placed next to each other. Therefore, they use a two-dimensional grating structure to measure a one-dimensional position. We present a new method, which uses a one-dimensional structure to determine the position in one dimension. It is based on a grating with a large grating period up to some millimeters, having the same diffraction efficiency in several predefined diffraction orders (multiple grating). By combining the phase signals of the different diffraction orders, it is possible to establish the position in an absolute range of the grating period with a resolution like incremental grating interferometers. The principal functionality was demonstrated by applying the multiple grating in a heterodyne grating interferometer. The heterodyne frequency was generated by a frequency modulated laser in an unbalanced interferometer. In experimental measurements an absolute range of 8 mm was obtained while achieving a resolution of 10 nm.

  5. Evolvable synthetic neural system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Curtis, Steven A. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    An evolvable synthetic neural system includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to at least one neural basis function. Each neural basis function includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to a heuristic neural system to perform high-level functions and an autonomic neural system to perform low-level functions. In some embodiments, the evolvable synthetic neural system is operably coupled to one or more evolvable synthetic neural systems in a hierarchy.

  6. Neural electrical activity and neural network growth.

    PubMed

    Gafarov, F M

    2018-05-01

    The development of central and peripheral neural system depends in part on the emergence of the correct functional connectivity in its input and output pathways. Now it is generally accepted that molecular factors guide neurons to establish a primary scaffold that undergoes activity-dependent refinement for building a fully functional circuit. However, a number of experimental results obtained recently shows that the neuronal electrical activity plays an important role in the establishing of initial interneuronal connections. Nevertheless, these processes are rather difficult to study experimentally, due to the absence of theoretical description and quantitative parameters for estimation of the neuronal activity influence on growth in neural networks. In this work we propose a general framework for a theoretical description of the activity-dependent neural network growth. The theoretical description incorporates a closed-loop growth model in which the neural activity can affect neurite outgrowth, which in turn can affect neural activity. We carried out the detailed quantitative analysis of spatiotemporal activity patterns and studied the relationship between individual cells and the network as a whole to explore the relationship between developing connectivity and activity patterns. The model, developed in this work will allow us to develop new experimental techniques for studying and quantifying the influence of the neuronal activity on growth processes in neural networks and may lead to a novel techniques for constructing large-scale neural networks by self-organization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. 40 CFR 62.14740 - What must I include in the deviation report?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... your unit deviated from the emission limitations or operating limit requirements. (b) The averaged and recorded data for those dates. (c) Duration and causes of each deviation from the emission limitations or... that deviated from the emission limitations or operating limits specified in this subpart, include the...

  8. Absolute Distance Measurement with the MSTAR Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lay, Oliver P.; Dubovitsky, Serge; Peters, Robert; Burger, Johan; Ahn, Seh-Won; Steier, William H.; Fetterman, Harrold R.; Chang, Yian

    2003-01-01

    The MSTAR sensor (Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging) is a new system for measuring absolute distance, capable of resolving the integer cycle ambiguity of standard interferometers, and making it possible to measure distance with sub-nanometer accuracy. The sensor uses a single laser in conjunction with fast phase modulators and low frequency detectors. We describe the design of the system - the principle of operation, the metrology source, beamlaunching optics, and signal processing - and show results for target distances up to 1 meter. We then demonstrate how the system can be scaled to kilometer-scale distances.

  9. Statistics as Unbiased Estimators: Exploring the Teaching of Standard Deviation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wasserman, Nicholas H.; Casey, Stephanie; Champion, Joe; Huey, Maryann

    2017-01-01

    This manuscript presents findings from a study about the knowledge for and planned teaching of standard deviation. We investigate how understanding variance as an unbiased (inferential) estimator--not just a descriptive statistic for the variation (spread) in data--is related to teachers' instruction regarding standard deviation, particularly…

  10. Complexities of follicle deviation during selection of a dominant follicle in Bos taurus heifers.

    PubMed

    Ginther, O J; Baldrighi, J M; Siddiqui, M A R; Araujo, E R

    2016-11-01

    Follicle deviation during a follicular wave is a continuation in growth rate of the dominant follicle (F1) and decreased growth rate of the largest subordinate follicle (F2). The reliability of using an F1 of 8.5 mm to represent the beginning of expected deviation for experimental purposes during waves 1 and 2 (n = 26 per wave) was studied daily in heifers. Each wave was subgrouped as follows: standard subgroup (F1 larger than F2 for 2 days preceding deviation and F2 > 7.0 mm on the day of deviation), undersized subgroup (F2 did not attain 7.0 mm by the day of deviation), and switched subgroup (F2 larger than F1 at least once on the 2 days before or on the day of deviation). For each wave, mean differences in diameter between F1 and F2 changed abruptly at expected deviation in the standard subgroup but began 1 day before expected deviation in the undersized and switched subgroups. Concentrations of FSH in the wave-stimulating FSH surge and an increase in LH centered on expected deviation did not differ among subgroups. Results for each wave indicated that (1) expected deviation (F1, 8.5 mm) was a reliable representation of actual deviation in the standard subgroup but not in the undersized and switched subgroups; (2) concentrations of the gonadotropins normalized to expected deviation were similar among the three subgroups, indicating that the day of deviation was related to diameter of F1 and not F2; and (3) defining an expected day of deviation for experimental use should consider both diameter of F1 and the characteristics of deviation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. A better norm-referenced grading using the standard deviation criterion.

    PubMed

    Chan, Wing-shing

    2014-01-01

    The commonly used norm-referenced grading assigns grades to rank-ordered students in fixed percentiles. It has the disadvantage of ignoring the actual distance of scores among students. A simple norm-referenced grading via standard deviation is suggested for routine educational grading. The number of standard deviation of a student's score from the class mean was used as the common yardstick to measure achievement level. Cumulative probability of a normal distribution was referenced to help decide the amount of students included within a grade. RESULTS of the foremost 12 students from a medical examination were used for illustrating this grading method. Grading by standard deviation seemed to produce better cutoffs in allocating an appropriate grade to students more according to their differential achievements and had less chance in creating arbitrary cutoffs in between two similarly scored students than grading by fixed percentile. Grading by standard deviation has more advantages and is more flexible than grading by fixed percentile for norm-referenced grading.

  12. Reassessment of carotid intima-media thickness by standard deviation score in children and adolescents after Kawasaki disease.

    PubMed

    Noto, Nobutaka; Kato, Masataka; Abe, Yuriko; Kamiyama, Hiroshi; Karasawa, Kensuke; Ayusawa, Mamoru; Takahashi, Shori

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies that used carotid ultrasound have been largely conflicting in regards to whether or not patients after Kawasaki disease (KD) have a greater carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) than controls. To test the hypothesis that there are significant differences between the values of CIMT expressed as absolute values and standard deviation scores (SDS) in children and adolescents after KD and controls, we reviewed 12 published articles regarding CIMT on KD patients and controls. The mean ± SD of absolute CIMT (mm) in the KD patients and controls obtained from each article was transformed to SDS (CIMT-SDS) using age-specific reference values established by Jourdan et al. (J: n = 247) and our own data (N: n = 175), and the results among these 12 articles were compared between the two groups and the references for comparison of racial disparities. There were no significant differences in mean absolute CIMT and mean CIMT-SDS for J between KD patients and controls (0.46 ± 0.06 mm vs. 0.44 ± 0.04 mm, p = 0.133, and 1.80 ± 0.84 vs. 1.25 ± 0.12, p = 0.159, respectively). However, there were significant differences in mean CIMT-SDS for N between KD patients and controls (0.60 ± 0.71 vs. 0.01 ± 0.65, p = 0.042). When we assessed the nine articles on Asian subjects, the difference of CIMT-SDS between the two groups was invariably significant only for N (p = 0.015). Compared with the reference values, CIMT-SDS of controls was within the normal range at a rate of 41.6 % for J and 91.6 % for N. These results indicate that age- and race-specific reference values for CIMT are mandatory for performing accurate assessment of the vascular status in healthy children and adolescents, particularly in those after KD considered at increased long-term cardiovascular risk.

  13. Absolute and Relative Socioeconomic Health Inequalities across Age Groups

    PubMed Central

    van Zon, Sander K. R.; Bültmann, Ute; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F.; Reijneveld, Sijmen A.

    2015-01-01

    Background The magnitude of socioeconomic health inequalities differs across age groups. It is less clear whether socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by other factors that are known to affect the relation between socioeconomic position and health, like the indicator of socioeconomic position, the health outcome, gender, and as to whether socioeconomic health inequalities are measured in absolute or in relative terms. The aim is to investigate whether absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Methods The study sample was derived from the baseline measurement of the LifeLines Cohort Study and consisted of 95,432 participants. Socioeconomic position was measured as educational level and household income. Physical and mental health were measured with the RAND-36. Age concerned eleven 5-years age groups. Absolute inequalities were examined by comparing means. Relative inequalities were examined by comparing Gini-coefficients. Analyses were performed for both health outcomes by both educational level and household income. Analyses were performed for all age groups, and stratified by gender. Results Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome, and gender. Absolute inequalities were most pronounced for mental health by household income. They were larger in younger than older age groups. Relative inequalities were most pronounced for physical health by educational level. Gini-coefficients were largest in young age groups and smallest in older age groups. Conclusions Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed cross-sectionally across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Researchers should critically consider the implications of choosing a specific age group, in addition to the indicator of

  14. Quantifying prosthetic gait deviation using simple outcome measures

    PubMed Central

    Kark, Lauren; Odell, Ross; McIntosh, Andrew S; Simmons, Anne

    2016-01-01

    AIM: To develop a subset of simple outcome measures to quantify prosthetic gait deviation without needing three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA). METHODS: Eight unilateral, transfemoral amputees and 12 unilateral, transtibial amputees were recruited. Twenty-eight able-bodied controls were recruited. All participants underwent 3DGA, the timed-up-and-go test and the six-minute walk test (6MWT). The lower-limb amputees also completed the Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire. Results from 3DGA were summarised using the gait deviation index (GDI), which was subsequently regressed, using stepwise regression, against the other measures. RESULTS: Step-length (SL), self-selected walking speed (SSWS) and the distance walked during the 6MWT (6MWD) were significantly correlated with GDI. The 6MWD was the strongest, single predictor of the GDI, followed by SL and SSWS. The predictive ability of the regression equations were improved following inclusion of self-report data related to mobility and prosthetic utility. CONCLUSION: This study offers a practicable alternative to quantifying kinematic deviation without the need to conduct complete 3DGA. PMID:27335814

  15. Some things ought never be done: moral absolutes in clinical ethics.

    PubMed

    Pellegrino, Edmund D

    2005-01-01

    Moral absolutes have little or no moral standing in our morally diverse modern society. Moral relativism is far more palatable for most ethicists and to the public at large. Yet, when pressed, every moral relativist will finally admit that there are some things which ought never be done. It is the rarest of moral relativists that will take rape, murder, theft, child sacrifice as morally neutral choices. In general ethics, the list of those things that must never be done will vary from person to person. In clinical ethics, however, the nature of the physician-patient relationship is such that certain moral absolutes are essential to the attainment of the good of the patient - the end of the relationship itself. These are all derivatives of the first moral absolute of all morality: Do good and avoid evil. In the clinical encounter, this absolute entails several subsidiary absolutes - act for the good of the patient, do not kill, keep promises, protect the dignity of the patient, do not lie, avoid complicity with evil. Each absolute is intrinsic to the healing and helping ends of the clinical encounter.

  16. Absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression in Europe.

    PubMed

    Dudal, Pieter; Bracke, Piet

    2016-09-01

    To investigate (1) the size of absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression, (2) their variation between European countries, and (3) their relationship with underlying prevalence rates. Analyses are based on the European Social Survey, rounds three and six (N = 57,419). Depression is measured using the shortened Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Education is coded by use of the International Standard Classification of Education. Country-specific logistic regressions are applied. Results point to an elevated risk of depressive symptoms among the lower educated. The cross-national patterns differ between absolute and relative measurements. For men, large relative inequalities are found for countries including Denmark and Sweden, but are accompanied by small absolute inequalities. For women, large relative and absolute inequalities are found in Belgium, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Results point to an empirical association between inequalities and the underlying prevalence rates. However, the strength of the association is only moderate. This research stresses the importance of including both measurements for comparative research and suggests the inclusion of the level of population health in research into inequalities in health.

  17. Relativistic Absolutism in Moral Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vogt, W. Paul

    1982-01-01

    Discusses Emile Durkheim's "Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Application of the Sociology of Education," which holds that morally healthy societies may vary in culture and organization but must possess absolute rules of moral behavior. Compares this moral theory with current theory and practice of American educators. (MJL)

  18. Ozone indices based on simple meteorological parameters: potentials and limitations of regression and neural network models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soja, G.; Soja, A.-M.

    This study tested the usefulness of extremely simple meteorological models for the prediction of ozone indices. The models were developed with the input parameters of daily maximum temperature and sunshine duration and are based on a data collection period of three years. For a rural environment in eastern Austria, the meteorological and ozone data of three summer periods have been used to develop functions to describe three ozone exposure indices (daily maximum, 7 h mean 9.00-16.00 h, accumulated ozone dose AOT40). Data sets for other years or stations not included in the development of the models were used as test data to validate the performance of the models. Generally, optimized regression models performed better than simplest linear models, especially in the case of AOT40. For the description of the summer period from May to September, the mean absolute daily differences between observed and calculated indices were 8±6 ppb for the maximum half hour mean value, 6±5 ppb for the 7 h mean and 41±40 ppb h for the AOT40. When the parameters were further optimized to describe individual months separately, the mean absolute residuals decreased by ⩽10%. Neural network models did not always perform better than the regression models. This is attributed to the low number of inputs in this comparison and to the simple architecture of these models (2-2-1). Further factorial analyses of those days when the residuals were higher than the mean plus one standard deviation should reveal possible reasons why the models did not perform well on certain days. It was observed that overestimations by the models mainly occurred on days with partly overcast, hazy or very windy conditions. Underestimations more frequently occurred on weekdays than on weekends. It is suggested that the application of this kind of meteorological model will be more successful in topographically homogeneous regions and in rural environments with relatively constant rates of emission and long

  19. Statistical analysis of solid waste composition data: Arithmetic mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficients.

    PubMed

    Edjabou, Maklawe Essonanawe; Martín-Fernández, Josep Antoni; Scheutz, Charlotte; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

    2017-11-01

    Data for fractional solid waste composition provide relative magnitudes of individual waste fractions, the percentages of which always sum to 100, thereby connecting them intrinsically. Due to this sum constraint, waste composition data represent closed data, and their interpretation and analysis require statistical methods, other than classical statistics that are suitable only for non-constrained data such as absolute values. However, the closed characteristics of waste composition data are often ignored when analysed. The results of this study showed, for example, that unavoidable animal-derived food waste amounted to 2.21±3.12% with a confidence interval of (-4.03; 8.45), which highlights the problem of the biased negative proportions. A Pearson's correlation test, applied to waste fraction generation (kg mass), indicated a positive correlation between avoidable vegetable food waste and plastic packaging. However, correlation tests applied to waste fraction compositions (percentage values) showed a negative association in this regard, thus demonstrating that statistical analyses applied to compositional waste fraction data, without addressing the closed characteristics of these data, have the potential to generate spurious or misleading results. Therefore, ¨compositional data should be transformed adequately prior to any statistical analysis, such as computing mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Determining absolute protein numbers by quantitative fluorescence microscopy.

    PubMed

    Verdaasdonk, Jolien Suzanne; Lawrimore, Josh; Bloom, Kerry

    2014-01-01

    Biological questions are increasingly being addressed using a wide range of quantitative analytical tools to examine protein complex composition. Knowledge of the absolute number of proteins present provides insights into organization, function, and maintenance and is used in mathematical modeling of complex cellular dynamics. In this chapter, we outline and describe three microscopy-based methods for determining absolute protein numbers--fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, stepwise photobleaching, and ratiometric comparison of fluorescence intensity to known standards. In addition, we discuss the various fluorescently labeled proteins that have been used as standards for both stepwise photobleaching and ratiometric comparison analysis. A detailed procedure for determining absolute protein number by ratiometric comparison is outlined in the second half of this chapter. Counting proteins by quantitative microscopy is a relatively simple yet very powerful analytical tool that will increase our understanding of protein complex composition. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. 48 CFR 201.404 - Class deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ..., and the Defense Logistics Agency, may approve any class deviation, other than those described in 201...) Diminish any preference given small business concerns by the FAR or DFARS; or (D) Extend to requirements imposed by statute or by regulations of other agencies such as the Small Business Administration and the...

  2. Large deviations in the presence of cooperativity and slow dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whitelam, Stephen

    2018-06-01

    We study simple models of intermittency, involving switching between two states, within the dynamical large-deviation formalism. Singularities appear in the formalism when switching is cooperative or when its basic time scale diverges. In the first case the unbiased trajectory distribution undergoes a symmetry breaking, leading to a change in shape of the large-deviation rate function for a particular dynamical observable. In the second case the symmetry of the unbiased trajectory distribution remains unbroken. Comparison of these models suggests that singularities of the dynamical large-deviation formalism can signal the dynamical equivalent of an equilibrium phase transition but do not necessarily do so.

  3. 48 CFR 1352.219-71 - Notification to delay performance (Deviation).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... not begin performance under this purchase order until 2 working days have passed from the date of its... performance (Deviation). 1352.219-71 Section 1352.219-71 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF....219-71 Notification to delay performance (Deviation). As prescribed in 48 CFR 1319.811-3(b), insert...

  4. 10 CFR 1017.5 - Requesting a deviation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... create a potential or real vulnerability); or (3) An exception (i.e., an approved deviation from a requirement in these regulations for which DOE accepts the risk of a safeguards and security vulnerability...

  5. Welding deviation detection algorithm based on extremum of molten pool image contour

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zou, Yong; Jiang, Lipei; Li, Yunhua; Xue, Long; Huang, Junfen; Huang, Jiqiang

    2016-01-01

    The welding deviation detection is the basis of robotic tracking welding, but the on-line real-time measurement of welding deviation is still not well solved by the existing methods. There is plenty of information in the gas metal arc welding(GMAW) molten pool images that is very important for the control of welding seam tracking. The physical meaning for the curvature extremum of molten pool contour is revealed by researching the molten pool images, that is, the deviation information points of welding wire center and the molten tip center are the maxima and the local maxima of the contour curvature, and the horizontal welding deviation is the position difference of these two extremum points. A new method of weld deviation detection is presented, including the process of preprocessing molten pool images, extracting and segmenting the contours, obtaining the contour extremum points, and calculating the welding deviation, etc. Extracting the contours is the premise, segmenting the contour lines is the foundation, and obtaining the contour extremum points is the key. The contour images can be extracted with the method of discrete dyadic wavelet transform, which is divided into two sub contours including welding wire and molten tip separately. The curvature value of each point of the two sub contour lines is calculated based on the approximate curvature formula of multi-points for plane curve, and the two points of the curvature extremum are the characteristics needed for the welding deviation calculation. The results of the tests and analyses show that the maximum error of the obtained on-line welding deviation is 2 pixels(0.16 mm), and the algorithm is stable enough to meet the requirements of the pipeline in real-time control at a speed of less than 500 mm/min. The method can be applied to the on-line automatic welding deviation detection.

  6. Establishing Ion Ratio Thresholds Based on Absolute Peak Area for Absolute Protein Quantification using Protein Cleavage Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry

    PubMed Central

    Loziuk, Philip L.; Sederoff, Ronald R.; Chiang, Vincent L.; Muddiman, David C.

    2014-01-01

    Quantitative mass spectrometry has become central to the field of proteomics and metabolomics. Selected reaction monitoring is a widely used method for the absolute quantification of proteins and metabolites. This method renders high specificity using several product ions measured simultaneously. With growing interest in quantification of molecular species in complex biological samples, confident identification and quantitation has been of particular concern. A method to confirm purity or contamination of product ion spectra has become necessary for achieving accurate and precise quantification. Ion abundance ratio assessments were introduced to alleviate some of these issues. Ion abundance ratios are based on the consistent relative abundance (RA) of specific product ions with respect to the total abundance of all product ions. To date, no standardized method of implementing ion abundance ratios has been established. Thresholds by which product ion contamination is confirmed vary widely and are often arbitrary. This study sought to establish criteria by which the relative abundance of product ions can be evaluated in an absolute quantification experiment. These findings suggest that evaluation of the absolute ion abundance for any given transition is necessary in order to effectively implement RA thresholds. Overall, the variation of the RA value was observed to be relatively constant beyond an absolute threshold ion abundance. Finally, these RA values were observed to fluctuate significantly over a 3 year period, suggesting that these values should be assessed as close as possible to the time at which data is collected for quantification. PMID:25154770

  7. Arabic morphology in the neural language system.

    PubMed

    Boudelaa, Sami; Pulvermüller, Friedemann; Hauk, Olaf; Shtyrov, Yury; Marslen-Wilson, William

    2010-05-01

    There are two views about morphology, the aspect of language concerned with the internal structure of words. One view holds that morphology is a domain of knowledge with a specific type of neurocognitive representation supported by specific brain mechanisms lateralized to left fronto-temporal cortex. The alternate view characterizes morphological effects as being a by-product of the correlation between form and meaning and where no brain area is predicted to subserve morphological processing per se. Here we provided evidence from Arabic that morphemes do have specific memory traces, which differ as a function of their functional properties. In an MMN study, we showed that the abstract consonantal root, which conveys semantic meaning (similarly to monomorphemic content words in English), elicits an MMN starting from 160 msec after the deviation point, whereas the abstract vocalic word pattern, which plays a range of grammatical roles, elicits an MMN response starting from 250 msec after the deviation point. Topographically, the root MMN has a symmetric fronto-central distribution, whereas the word pattern MMN lateralizes significantly to the left, indicating stronger involvement of left peri-sylvian areas. In languages with rich morphologies, morphemic processing seems to be supported by distinct neural networks, thereby providing evidence for a specific neuronal basis for morphology as part of the cerebral language machinery.

  8. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function.

    PubMed

    Madazio, Glaucya; Leão, Sylvia; Behlau, Mara

    2011-01-01

    To identify the discriminative characteristics of the phonatory deviation diagram (PDD) in rough, breathy and tense voices. One hundred and ninety-six samples of normal and dysphonic voices from adults were submitted to perceptual auditory evaluation, focusing on the predominant vocal quality and the degree of deviation. Acoustic analysis was performed with the VoxMetria (CTS Informatica). Significant differences were observed between the dysphonic and normal groups (p < 0.001), and also between the breathy and rough samples (p = 0.044) and the breathy and tense samples (p < 0.001). All normal voices were positioned in the inferior left quadrant, 45% of the rough voices in the inferior right quadrant, 52.6% of the breathy voices in the superior right quadrant and 54.3% of the tense voices in the inferior left quadrant of the PDD. In the inferior left quadrant, 93.8% of voices with no deviation were located and 72.7% of voices with mild deviation; voices with moderate deviation were distributed in the inferior and superior right quadrants, the latter ones containing the most deviant voices and 80% of voices with severe deviation. The PDD was able to discriminate normal from dysphonic voices, and the distribution was related to the type and degree of voice alteration. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  9. Prediction of daily sea surface temperature using efficient neural networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Patil, Kalpesh; Deo, Makaranad Chintamani

    2017-04-01

    Short-term prediction of sea surface temperature (SST) is commonly achieved through numerical models. Numerical approaches are more suitable for use over a large spatial domain than in a specific site because of the difficulties involved in resolving various physical sub-processes at local levels. Therefore, for a given location, a data-driven approach such as neural networks may provide a better alternative. The application of neural networks, however, needs a large experimentation in their architecture, training methods, and formation of appropriate input-output pairs. A network trained in this manner can provide more attractive results if the advances in network architecture are additionally considered. With this in mind, we propose the use of wavelet neural networks (WNNs) for prediction of daily SST values. The prediction of daily SST values was carried out using WNN over 5 days into the future at six different locations in the Indian Ocean. First, the accuracy of site-specific SST values predicted by a numerical model, ROMS, was assessed against the in situ records. The result pointed out the necessity for alternative approaches. First, traditional networks were tried and after noticing their poor performance, WNN was used. This approach produced attractive forecasts when judged through various error statistics. When all locations were viewed together, the mean absolute error was within 0.18 to 0.32 °C for a 5-day-ahead forecast. The WNN approach was thus found to add value to the numerical method of SST prediction when location-specific information is desired.

  10. Essential Oils, Part VI: Sandalwood Oil, Ylang-Ylang Oil, and Jasmine Absolute.

    PubMed

    de Groot, Anton C; Schmidt, Erich

    In this article, some aspects of sandalwood oil, ylang-ylang oil, and jasmine absolute are discussed including their botanical origin, uses of the plants and the oils and absolute, chemical composition, contact allergy to and allergic contact dermatitis from these essential oils and absolute, and their causative allergenic ingredients.

  11. Large Deviations: Advanced Probability for Undergrads

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rolls, David A.

    2007-01-01

    In the branch of probability called "large deviations," rates of convergence (e.g. of the sample mean) are considered. The theory makes use of the moment generating function. So, particularly for sums of independent and identically distributed random variables, the theory can be made accessible to senior undergraduates after a first course in…

  12. Temporal Dynamics of Microbial Rhodopsin Fluorescence Reports Absolute Membrane Voltage

    PubMed Central

    Hou, Jennifer H.; Venkatachalam, Veena; Cohen, Adam E.

    2014-01-01

    Plasma membrane voltage is a fundamentally important property of a living cell; its value is tightly coupled to membrane transport, the dynamics of transmembrane proteins, and to intercellular communication. Accurate measurement of the membrane voltage could elucidate subtle changes in cellular physiology, but existing genetically encoded fluorescent voltage reporters are better at reporting relative changes than absolute numbers. We developed an Archaerhodopsin-based fluorescent voltage sensor whose time-domain response to a stepwise change in illumination encodes the absolute membrane voltage. We validated this sensor in human embryonic kidney cells. Measurements were robust to variation in imaging parameters and in gene expression levels, and reported voltage with an absolute accuracy of 10 mV. With further improvements in membrane trafficking and signal amplitude, time-domain encoding of absolute voltage could be applied to investigate many important and previously intractable bioelectric phenomena. PMID:24507604

  13. Minimization of deviations of gear real tooth surfaces determined by coordinate measurements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Litvin, F. L.; Kuan, C.; Wang, J.-C.; Handschuh, R. F.; Masseth, J.; Maruyama, N.

    1992-01-01

    The deviations of a gear's real tooth surface from the theoretical surface are determined by coordinate measurements at the grid of the surface. A method was developed to transform the deviations from Cartesian coordinates to those along the normal at the measurement locations. Equations are derived that relate the first order deviations with the adjustment to the manufacturing machine-tool settings. The deviations of the entire surface are minimized. The minimization is achieved by application of the least-square method for an overdetermined system of linear equations. The proposed method is illustrated with a numerical example for hypoid gear and pinion.

  14. A software sensor model based on hybrid fuzzy neural network for rapid estimation water quality in Guangzhou section of Pearl River, China.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Chunshan; Zhang, Chao; Tian, Di; Wang, Ke; Huang, Mingzhi; Liu, Yanbiao

    2018-01-02

    In order to manage water resources, a software sensor model was designed to estimate water quality using a hybrid fuzzy neural network (FNN) in Guangzhou section of Pearl River, China. The software sensor system was composed of data storage module, fuzzy decision-making module, neural network module and fuzzy reasoning generator module. Fuzzy subtractive clustering was employed to capture the character of model, and optimize network architecture for enhancing network performance. The results indicate that, on basis of available on-line measured variables, the software sensor model can accurately predict water quality according to the relationship between chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved oxygen (DO), pH and NH 4 + -N. Owing to its ability in recognizing time series patterns and non-linear characteristics, the software sensor-based FNN is obviously superior to the traditional neural network model, and its R (correlation coefficient), MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) and RMSE (root mean square error) are 0.8931, 10.9051 and 0.4634, respectively.

  15. Large deviation function for a driven underdamped particle in a periodic potential

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fischer, Lukas P.; Pietzonka, Patrick; Seifert, Udo

    2018-02-01

    Employing large deviation theory, we explore current fluctuations of underdamped Brownian motion for the paradigmatic example of a single particle in a one-dimensional periodic potential. Two different approaches to the large deviation function of the particle current are presented. First, we derive an explicit expression for the large deviation functional of the empirical phase space density, which replaces the level 2.5 functional used for overdamped dynamics. Using this approach, we obtain several bounds on the large deviation function of the particle current. We compare these to bounds for overdamped dynamics that have recently been derived, motivated by the thermodynamic uncertainty relation. Second, we provide a method to calculate the large deviation function via the cumulant generating function. We use this method to assess the tightness of the bounds in a numerical case study for a cosine potential.

  16. Syntactic Deviations in the Novel "The Sound and the Fury"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alirezazadeh, Pooria; Talebinezhad, Mohammad Reza

    2014-01-01

    This article looks at William Faulkner's work "The Sound and the Fury." The goals are to investigate different types of syntactic deviations in the novel, and how these deviations helped the writer to create a literary work in the field of modernist literature and stream of consciousness. To this end, the theoretical framework for…

  17. Rod-Shaped Neural Units for Aligned 3D Neural Network Connection.

    PubMed

    Kato-Negishi, Midori; Onoe, Hiroaki; Ito, Akane; Takeuchi, Shoji

    2017-08-01

    This paper proposes neural tissue units with aligned nerve fibers (called rod-shaped neural units) that connect neural networks with aligned neurons. To make the proposed units, 3D fiber-shaped neural tissues covered with a calcium alginate hydrogel layer are prepared with a microfluidic system and are cut in an accurate and reproducible manner. These units have aligned nerve fibers inside the hydrogel layer and connectable points on both ends. By connecting the units with a poly(dimethylsiloxane) guide, 3D neural tissues can be constructed and maintained for more than two weeks of culture. In addition, neural networks can be formed between the different neural units via synaptic connections. Experimental results indicate that the proposed rod-shaped neural units are effective tools for the construction of spatially complex connections with aligned nerve fibers in vitro. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. 242Pu absolute neutron-capture cross section measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buckner, M. Q.; Wu, C. Y.; Henderson, R. A.; Bucher, B.; Chyzh, A.; Bredeweg, T. A.; Baramsai, B.; Couture, A.; Jandel, M.; Mosby, S.; O'Donnell, J. M.; Ullmann, J. L.

    2017-09-01

    The absolute neutron-capture cross section of 242Pu was measured at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center using the Detector for Advanced Neutron-Capture Experiments array along with a compact parallel-plate avalanche counter for fission-fragment detection. During target fabrication, a small amount of 239Pu was added to the active target so that the absolute scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section could be set according to the known 239Pu(n,f) resonance at En,R = 7.83 eV. The relative scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section covers four orders of magnitude for incident neutron energies from thermal to ≈ 40 keV. The cross section reported in ENDF/B-VII.1 for the 242Pu(n,γ) En,R = 2.68 eV resonance was found to be 2.4% lower than the new absolute 242Pu(n,γ) cross section.

  19. HYBRID NEURAL NETWORK AND SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE METHOD FOR OPTIMIZATION

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rai, Man Mohan (Inventor)

    2005-01-01

    System and method for optimization of a design associated with a response function, using a hybrid neural net and support vector machine (NN/SVM) analysis to minimize or maximize an objective function, optionally subject to one or more constraints. As a first example, the NN/SVM analysis is applied iteratively to design of an aerodynamic component, such as an airfoil shape, where the objective function measures deviation from a target pressure distribution on the perimeter of the aerodynamic component. As a second example, the NN/SVM analysis is applied to data classification of a sequence of data points in a multidimensional space. The NN/SVM analysis is also applied to data regression.

  20. Hybrid Neural Network and Support Vector Machine Method for Optimization

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rai, Man Mohan (Inventor)

    2007-01-01

    System and method for optimization of a design associated with a response function, using a hybrid neural net and support vector machine (NN/SVM) analysis to minimize or maximize an objective function, optionally subject to one or more constraints. As a first example, the NN/SVM analysis is applied iteratively to design of an aerodynamic component, such as an airfoil shape, where the objective function measures deviation from a target pressure distribution on the perimeter of the aerodynamic component. As a second example, the NN/SVM analysis is applied to data classification of a sequence of data points in a multidimensional space. The NN/SVM analysis is also applied to data regression.

  1. Validating neural-network refinements of nuclear mass models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Utama, R.; Piekarewicz, J.

    2018-01-01

    Background: Nuclear astrophysics centers on the role of nuclear physics in the cosmos. In particular, nuclear masses at the limits of stability are critical in the development of stellar structure and the origin of the elements. Purpose: We aim to test and validate the predictions of recently refined nuclear mass models against the newly published AME2016 compilation. Methods: The basic paradigm underlining the recently refined nuclear mass models is based on existing state-of-the-art models that are subsequently refined through the training of an artificial neural network. Bayesian inference is used to determine the parameters of the neural network so that statistical uncertainties are provided for all model predictions. Results: We observe a significant improvement in the Bayesian neural network (BNN) predictions relative to the corresponding "bare" models when compared to the nearly 50 new masses reported in the AME2016 compilation. Further, AME2016 estimates for the handful of impactful isotopes in the determination of r -process abundances are found to be in fairly good agreement with our theoretical predictions. Indeed, the BNN-improved Duflo-Zuker model predicts a root-mean-square deviation relative to experiment of σrms≃400 keV. Conclusions: Given the excellent performance of the BNN refinement in confronting the recently published AME2016 compilation, we are confident of its critical role in our quest for mass models of the highest quality. Moreover, as uncertainty quantification is at the core of the BNN approach, the improved mass models are in a unique position to identify those nuclei that will have the strongest impact in resolving some of the outstanding questions in nuclear astrophysics.

  2. A Preliminary Analysis on Empirical Attenuation of Absolute Velocity Response Spectra (1 to 10s) in Japan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dhakal, Y. P.; Kunugi, T.; Suzuki, W.; Aoi, S.

    2013-12-01

    (T) = c+ aMw - log10R - bR +∑gS +hD where Y (T) is the 5% damped peak vector response in cm/s derived from two horizontal component records for a natural period T in second; in (2) S is a dummy variable which is one if a site is located inside a sedimentary basin, otherwise zero. In (3), D is depth to the top of layer having a particular S-wave velocity. We used the deep underground S-wave velocity model available from Japan Seismic Hazard Information Station (J-SHIS). In (5), sites are classified to various sedimentary basins. Analyses show that the standard deviations decrease in the order of the models listed and the all coefficients are significant. Interestingly, coefficients g are found to be different from basin to basin at most periods, and the depth to the top of layer having S-wave velocity of 1.7km/s gives the smallest standard deviation of 0.31 at T=4.4s in (5). This study shows the possibility of describing the observed peak absolute velocity response values by using simple model parameters like site location and sedimentary depth soon after the location and magnitude of an earthquake are known.

  3. Gait Deviations in Children With Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type I.

    PubMed

    Garman, Christina R; Graf, Adam; Krzak, Joseph; Caudill, Angela; Smith, Peter; Harris, Gerald

    2017-08-02

    Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a congenital connective tissue disorder often characterized by orthopaedic complications that impact normal gait. As such, mobility is of particular interest in the OI population as it is associated with multiple aspects of participation and quality of life. The purpose of the current study was to identify and describe common gait deviations in a large sample of individuals with type I OI and speculate the etiology with a goal of improving function. Gait analysis was performed on 44 subjects with type I (11.7±3.08 y old) and 30 typically developing controls (9.54±3.1 y old ). Spatial temporal, kinematic, and kinetic gait data were calculated from the Vicon Plug-in-Gait Model. Musculoskeletal modeling of the muscle tendon lengths (MTL) was done in OpenSim 3.3 to evaluate the MTL of the gastrocnemius and gluteus maximus. The gait deviation index, a dimensionless parameter that evaluates the deviation of 9 kinematic gait parameters from a control database, was also calculated. Walking speed, single support time, stride, and step length were lower and double support time was higher in the OI group. The gait deviation index score was lower and external hip rotation angle was higher in the OI group. Peak hip flexor, knee extensor and ankle plantarflexor moments, and power generation at the ankle were lower in the OI group. MTL analysis revealed no significant length discrepancies between the OI group and the typically developing group. Together, these findings provide a comprehensive description of gait characteristics among a group of individuals with type I OI. Such data inform clinicians about specific gait deviations in this population allowing clinicians to recommend more focused interventions. Level III-case-control study.

  4. A Taxonomy of Delivery and Documentation Deviations During Delivery of High-Fidelity Simulations.

    PubMed

    McIvor, William R; Banerjee, Arna; Boulet, John R; Bekhuis, Tanja; Tseytlin, Eugene; Torsher, Laurence; DeMaria, Samuel; Rask, John P; Shotwell, Matthew S; Burden, Amanda; Cooper, Jeffrey B; Gaba, David M; Levine, Adam; Park, Christine; Sinz, Elizabeth; Steadman, Randolph H; Weinger, Matthew B

    2017-02-01

    We developed a taxonomy of simulation delivery and documentation deviations noted during a multicenter, high-fidelity simulation trial that was conducted to assess practicing physicians' performance. Eight simulation centers sought to implement standardized scenarios over 2 years. Rules, guidelines, and detailed scenario scripts were established to facilitate reproducible scenario delivery; however, pilot trials revealed deviations from those rubrics. A taxonomy with hierarchically arranged terms that define a lack of standardization of simulation scenario delivery was then created to aid educators and researchers in assessing and describing their ability to reproducibly conduct simulations. Thirty-six types of delivery or documentation deviations were identified from the scenario scripts and study rules. Using a Delphi technique and open card sorting, simulation experts formulated a taxonomy of high-fidelity simulation execution and documentation deviations. The taxonomy was iteratively refined and then tested by 2 investigators not involved with its development. The taxonomy has 2 main classes, simulation center deviation and participant deviation, which are further subdivided into as many as 6 subclasses. Inter-rater classification agreement using the taxonomy was 74% or greater for each of the 7 levels of its hierarchy. Cohen kappa calculations confirmed substantial agreement beyond that expected by chance. All deviations were classified within the taxonomy. This is a useful taxonomy that standardizes terms for simulation delivery and documentation deviations, facilitates quality assurance in scenario delivery, and enables quantification of the impact of deviations upon simulation-based performance assessment.

  5. Accounting for body size deviations when reporting bone mineral density variables in children.

    PubMed

    Webber, C E; Sala, A; Barr, R D

    2009-01-01

    In a child, bone mineral density (BMD) may differ from an age-expected normal value, not only because of the presence of disease, but also because of deviations of height or weight from population averages. Appropriate adjustment for body size deviations simplifies interpretation of BMD measurements. For children, a bone mineral density (BMD) measurement is normally expressed as a Z score. Interpretation is complicated when weight or height distinctly differ from age-matched children. We develop a procedure to allow for the influence of body size deviations upon measured BMD. We examined the relation between body size deviation and spine, hip and whole body BMD deviation in 179 normal children (91 girls). Expressions were developed that allowed derivation of an expected BMD based on age, gender and body size deviation. The difference between measured and expected BMD was expressed as a HAW score (Height-, Age-, Weight-adjusted score). In a second independent sample of 26 normal children (14 girls), measured spine, total femur and whole body BMD all fell within the same single normal range after accounting for age, gender and body size deviations. When traditional Z scores and HAW scores were compared in 154 children, 17.5% showed differences of more than 1 unit and such differences were associated with height and weight deviations. For almost 1 in 5 children, body size deviations influence BMD to an extent that could alter clinical management.

  6. Electronic Neural Networks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thakoor, Anil

    1990-01-01

    Viewgraphs on electronic neural networks for space station are presented. Topics covered include: electronic neural networks; electronic implementations; VLSI/thin film hybrid hardware for neurocomputing; computations with analog parallel processing; features of neuroprocessors; applications of neuroprocessors; neural network hardware for terrain trafficability determination; a dedicated processor for path planning; neural network system interface; neural network for robotic control; error backpropagation algorithm for learning; resource allocation matrix; global optimization neuroprocessor; and electrically programmable read only thin-film synaptic array.

  7. [Prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia].

    PubMed

    Szerafin, László; Jakó, János; Riskó, Ferenc

    2015-04-01

    The low peripheral absolute lymphocyte and high monocyte count have been reported to correlate with poor clinical outcome in various lymphomas and other cancers. However, a few data known about the prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The aim of the authors was to investigate the impact of absolute monocyte count measured at the time of diagnosis in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia on the time to treatment and overal survival. Between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2012, 223 patients with newly-diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia were included. The rate of patients needing treatment, time to treatment, overal survival and causes of mortality based on Rai stages, CD38, ZAP-70 positivity and absolute monocyte count were analyzed. Therapy was necessary in 21.1%, 57.4%, 88.9%, 88.9% and 100% of patients in Rai stage 0, I, II, III an IV, respectively; in 61.9% and 60.8% of patients exhibiting CD38 and ZAP-70 positivity, respectively; and in 76.9%, 21.2% and 66.2% of patients if the absolute monocyte count was <0.25 G/l, between 0.25-0.75 G/l and >0.75 G/l, respectively. The median time to treatment and the median overal survival were 19.5, 65, and 35.5 months; and 41.5, 65, and 49.5 months according to the three groups of monocyte counts. The relative risk of beginning the therapy was 1.62 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count <0.25 G/l or >0.75 G/l, as compared to those with 0.25-0.75 G/l, and the risk of overal survival was 2.41 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count lower than 0.25 G/l as compared to those with higher than 0.25 G/l. The relative risks remained significant in Rai 0 patients, too. The leading causes of mortality were infections (41.7%) and the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (58.3%) in patients with low monocyte count, while tumours (25.9-35.3%) and other events (48.1 and 11.8%) occurred in patients with medium or high monocyte counts. Patients with low and high monocyte

  8. Neural Network Technique for Continous Transition from Ocean to Coastal Retrackers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hazrina Idris, Nurul; Deng, Xiaoli; Hawani Idris, Nurul

    2017-04-01

    This paper presents the development of neural network for continuous transition of altimeter sea surface heights when switching from ocean to coastal waveform retrackers. In attempting to produce precise coastal sea level anomaly (SLA) via retracking waveforms, issue arose when employing multiple retracking algorithms (i.e. MLE-4, sub-waveform and threshold). The existence of relative offset between those retrackers creates 'jump' in the retracked SLA profiles. In this study, the offset between retrackers is minimized using multi-layer feed forward neural network technique. The technique reduces the offset values by modelling the complicated functions of those retracked SLAs. The technique is tested over the region of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. The validation with Townsville and Bundaberg tide gauges shows that the threshold retracker achieves temporal correlations (r) of 0.84 and 0.75, respectively, and root mean square (RMS) error is 16 cm for both stations, indicating that the retracker produces more accurate SLAs than those of two retrackers. Meanwhile, values of r (RMS error) for MLE-4 is only 0.79 (18 cm) and 0.71 (16 cm), respectively, and for sub-waveform is 0.82 (16 cm) and 0.67 (16 cm), respectively. Therefore, with the neural network, retracked SLAs from MLE-4 and sub-waveform are aligned to those of the threshold retracker. The performance of neural network is compared with the normal procedure of offset removal, which is based on the mean of SLA differences (mean method). The performance is assessed by computing the standard deviation of difference (STD) between the SLAs above a referenced ellipsoid and the geoidal height, and the improvement of percentage (IMP). The results indicate that the neural network provides improvement in SLA precision in all 12 cases, while the mean method provides improvement in 10 out of 12 cases and deterioration is seen in two cases. In terms of STD and IMP, neural network reduces the offset better than

  9. Confidence-Accuracy Calibration in Absolute and Relative Face Recognition Judgments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weber, Nathan; Brewer, Neil

    2004-01-01

    Confidence-accuracy (CA) calibration was examined for absolute and relative face recognition judgments as well as for recognition judgments from groups of stimuli presented simultaneously or sequentially (i.e., simultaneous or sequential mini-lineups). When the effect of difficulty was controlled, absolute and relative judgments produced…

  10. SU-F-T-472: Validation of Absolute Dose Measurements for MR-IGRT With and Without Magnetic Field

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Green, O; Li, H; Goddu, S

    Purpose: To validate absolute dose measurements for a MR-IGRT system without presence of the magnetic field. Methods: The standard method (AAPM’s TG-51) of absolute dose measurement with ionization chambers was tested with and without the presence of the magnetic field for a clinical 0.32-T Co-60 MR-IGRT system. Two ionization chambers were used - the Standard Imaging (Madison, WI) A18 (0.123 cc) and the PTW (Freiburg, Germany). A previously reported Monte Carlo simulation suggested a difference on the order of 0.5% for dose measured with and without the presence of the magnetic field, but testing this was not possible until anmore » engineering solution to allow the radiation system to be used without the nominal magnetic field was found. A previously identified effect of orientation in the magnetic field was also tested by placing the chamber either parallel or perpendicular to the field and irradiating from two opposing angles (90 and 270). Finally, the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core provided OSLD detectors for five irradiations each with and without the field - with two heads at both 0 and 90 degrees, and one head at 90 degrees only as it doesn’t reach 0 (IEC convention). Results: For the TG-51 comparison, expected dose was obtained by decaying values measured at the time of source installation. The average measured difference was 0.4%±0.12% for A18 and 0.06%±0.15% for Farmer chamber. There was minimal (0.3%) orientation dependence without the magnetic field for the A18 chamber, while previous measurements with the magnetic field had a deviation of 3.2% with chamber perpendicular to magnetic field. Results reported by IROC for the OSLDs with and without the field had a maximum difference of 2%. Conclusion: Accurate absolute dosimetry was verified by measurement under the same conditions with and without the magnetic field for both ionization chambers and independently-verifiable OSLDs.« less

  11. Reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach for 3D measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Shuang; Zhang, Jing; Yu, Xiaoyang; Sun, Xiaoming; Wu, Haibin; Chen, Deyun

    2017-11-01

    The wrapped phase of phase-shifting approach can be unwrapped by using Gray code, but both the wrapped phase error and Gray code decoding error can result in period jump error, which will lead to gross measurement error. Therefore, this paper presents a reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach. The combination of unequal-period Gray code and phase shifting patterns at high frequencies are used to obtain high-frequency absolute analog code, and at low frequencies, the same unequal-period combination patterns are used to obtain the low-frequency absolute analog code. Next, the difference between the two absolute analog codes was employed to eliminate period jump errors, and a reliable unwrapped result can be obtained. Error analysis was used to determine the applicable conditions, and this approach was verified through theoretical analysis. The proposed approach was further verified experimentally. Theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can perform reliable analog code unwrapping.

  12. Auditory working memory predicts individual differences in absolute pitch learning.

    PubMed

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Koch, Rachelle; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2015-07-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is typically defined as the ability to label an isolated tone as a musical note in the absence of a reference tone. At first glance the acquisition of AP note categories seems like a perceptual learning task, since individuals must assign a category label to a stimulus based on a single perceptual dimension (pitch) while ignoring other perceptual dimensions (e.g., loudness, octave, instrument). AP, however, is rarely discussed in terms of domain-general perceptual learning mechanisms. This is because AP is typically assumed to depend on a critical period of development, in which early exposure to pitches and musical labels is thought to be necessary for the development of AP precluding the possibility of adult acquisition of AP. Despite this view of AP, several previous studies have found evidence that absolute pitch category learning is, to an extent, trainable in a post-critical period adult population, even if the performance typically achieved by this population is below the performance of a "true" AP possessor. The current studies attempt to understand the individual differences in learning to categorize notes using absolute pitch cues by testing a specific prediction regarding cognitive capacity related to categorization - to what extent does an individual's general auditory working memory capacity (WMC) predict the success of absolute pitch category acquisition. Since WMC has been shown to predict performance on a wide variety of other perceptual and category learning tasks, we predict that individuals with higher WMC should be better at learning absolute pitch note categories than individuals with lower WMC. Across two studies, we demonstrate that auditory WMC predicts the efficacy of learning absolute pitch note categories. These results suggest that a higher general auditory WMC might underlie the formation of absolute pitch categories for post-critical period adults. Implications for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the

  13. Gait deviations in Duchenne muscular dystrophy-Part 2. Statistical non-parametric mapping to analyze gait deviations in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

    PubMed

    Goudriaan, Marije; Van den Hauwe, Marleen; Simon-Martinez, Cristina; Huenaerts, Catherine; Molenaers, Guy; Goemans, Nathalie; Desloovere, Kaat

    2018-04-30

    Prolonged ambulation is considered important in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). However, previous studies analyzing DMD gait were sensitive to false positive outcomes, caused by uncorrected multiple comparisons, regional focus bias, and inter-component covariance bias. Also, while muscle weakness is often suggested to be the main cause for the altered gait pattern in DMD, this was never verified. Our research question was twofold: 1) are we able to confirm the sagittal kinematic and kinetic gait alterations described in a previous review with statistical non-parametric mapping (SnPM)? And 2) are these gait deviations related to lower limb weakness? We compared gait kinematics and kinetics of 15 children with DMD and 15 typical developing (TD) children (5-17 years), with a two sample Hotelling's T 2 test and post-hoc two-tailed, two-sample t-test. We used canonical correlation analyses to study the relationship between weakness and altered gait parameters. For all analyses, α-level was corrected for multiple comparisons, resulting in α = 0.005. We only found one of the previously reported kinematic deviations: the children with DMD had an increased knee flexion angle during swing (p = 0.0006). Observed gait deviations that were not reported in the review were an increased hip flexion angle during stance (p = 0.0009) and swing (p = 0.0001), altered combined knee and ankle torques (p = 0.0002), and decreased power absorption during stance (p = 0.0001). No relationships between weakness and these gait deviations were found. We were not able to replicate the gait deviations in DMD previously reported in literature, thus DMD gait remains undefined. Further, weakness does not seem to be linearly related to altered gait features. The progressive nature of the disease requires larger study populations and longitudinal analyses to gain more insight into DMD gait and its underlying causes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights

  14. Direct process estimation from tomographic data using artificial neural systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mohamad-Saleh, Junita; Hoyle, Brian S.; Podd, Frank J.; Spink, D. M.

    2001-07-01

    The paper deals with the goal of component fraction estimation in multicomponent flows, a critical measurement in many processes. Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is a well-researched sensing technique for this task, due to its low-cost, non-intrusion, and fast response. However, typical systems, which include practicable real-time reconstruction algorithms, give inaccurate results, and existing approaches to direct component fraction measurement are flow-regime dependent. In the investigation described, an artificial neural network approach is used to directly estimate the component fractions in gas-oil, gas-water, and gas-oil-water flows from ECT measurements. A 2D finite- element electric field model of a 12-electrode ECT sensor is used to simulate ECT measurements of various flow conditions. The raw measurements are reduced to a mutually independent set using principal components analysis and used with their corresponding component fractions to train multilayer feed-forward neural networks (MLFFNNs). The trained MLFFNNs are tested with patterns consisting of unlearned ECT simulated and plant measurements. Results included in the paper have a mean absolute error of less than 1% for the estimation of various multicomponent fractions of the permittivity distribution. They are also shown to give improved component fraction estimation compared to a well known direct ECT method.

  15. Deep Recurrent Neural Network-Based Autoencoders for Acoustic Novelty Detection

    PubMed Central

    Vesperini, Fabio; Schuller, Björn

    2017-01-01

    In the emerging field of acoustic novelty detection, most research efforts are devoted to probabilistic approaches such as mixture models or state-space models. Only recent studies introduced (pseudo-)generative models for acoustic novelty detection with recurrent neural networks in the form of an autoencoder. In these approaches, auditory spectral features of the next short term frame are predicted from the previous frames by means of Long-Short Term Memory recurrent denoising autoencoders. The reconstruction error between the input and the output of the autoencoder is used as activation signal to detect novel events. There is no evidence of studies focused on comparing previous efforts to automatically recognize novel events from audio signals and giving a broad and in depth evaluation of recurrent neural network-based autoencoders. The present contribution aims to consistently evaluate our recent novel approaches to fill this white spot in the literature and provide insight by extensive evaluations carried out on three databases: A3Novelty, PASCAL CHiME, and PROMETHEUS. Besides providing an extensive analysis of novel and state-of-the-art methods, the article shows how RNN-based autoencoders outperform statistical approaches up to an absolute improvement of 16.4% average F-measure over the three databases. PMID:28182121

  16. Method and apparatus for two-dimensional absolute optical encoding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    This invention presents a two-dimensional absolute optical encoder and a method for determining position of an object in accordance with information from the encoder. The encoder of the present invention comprises a scale having a pattern being predetermined to indicate an absolute location on the scale, means for illuminating the scale, means for forming an image of the pattern; and detector means for outputting signals derived from the portion of the image of the pattern which lies within a field of view of the detector means, the field of view defining an image reference coordinate system, and analyzing means, receiving the signals from the detector means, for determining the absolute location of the object. There are two types of scale patterns presented in this invention: grid type and starfield type.

  17. New design and facilities for the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements (AGrav): A support for the Establishment of a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, Hartmut; Falk, Reinhard; Bonvalot, Sylvain; Rülke, Axel

    2017-04-01

    After about 10 years of successful joint operation by BGI and BKG, the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements "AGrav" (see references hereafter) was under a major revision. The outdated web interface was replaced by a responsive, high level web application framework based on Python and built on top of Pyramid. Functionality was added, like interactive time series plots or a report generator and the interactive map-based station overview was updated completely, comprising now clustering and the classification of stations. Furthermore, the database backend was migrated to PostgreSQL for better support of the application framework and long-term availability. As comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) become essential to realize a precise and uniform gravity standard, the database was extended to document the results on international and regional level, including those performed at monitoring stations equipped with SGs. By this it will be possible to link different AGs and to trace their equivalence back to the key comparisons under the auspices of International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) as the best metrological realization of the absolute gravity standard. In this way the new AGrav database accommodates the demands of the new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System as recommended by the IAG Resolution No. 2 adopted in Prague 2015. The new database will be presented with focus on the new user interface and new functionality, calling all institutions involved in absolute gravimetry to participate and contribute with their information to built up a most complete picture of high precision absolute gravimetry and improve its visibility. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be provided by BGI to contributors to give a better traceability and facilitate the referencing of their gravity surveys. Links and references: BGI mirror site : http://bgi.obs-mip.fr/data-products/Gravity-Databases/Absolute-Gravity-data/ BKG mirror site: http

  18. Quicklook Constituent Abundance and Stretch Parameter Retrieval for the Juno Microwave Radiometer using Neural Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bellotti, A.; Steffes, P. G.

    2016-12-01

    The Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) has six channels ranging from 1.36-50 cm and the ability to peer deep into the Jovian atmosphere. An Artifical Neural Network algorithm has been developed to rapidly perform inversion for the deep abundance of ammonia, the deep abundance of water vapor, and atmospheric "stretch" (a parameter that reflects the deviation from a wet adiabate in the higher atmosphere). This algorithm is "trained" by using simulated emissions at the six wavelengths computed using the Juno atmospheric microwave radiative transfer (JAMRT) model presented by Oyafuso et al. (This meeting). By exploiting the emission measurements conducted at six wavelengths and at various incident angles, the neural network can provide preliminary results to a useful precison in a computational method hundreds of times faster than conventional methods. This can quickly provide important insights into the variability and structure of the Jovian atmosphere.

  19. 237Np absolute delayed neutron yield measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doré, D.; Ledoux, X.; Nolte, R.; Gagnon-Moisan, F.; Thulliez, L.; Litaize, O.; Roettger, S.; Serot, O.

    2017-09-01

    237Np absolute delayed neutron yields have been measured at different incident neutron energies from 1.5 to 16 MeV. The experiment was performed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) facility where the Van de Graaff accelerator and the cyclotron CV28 delivered 9 different neutron energy beams using p+T, d+D and d+T reactions. The detection system is made up of twelve 3He tubes inserted into a polyethylene cylinder. In this paper, the experimental setup and the data analysis method are described. The evolution of the absolute DN yields as a function of the neutron incident beam energies are presented and compared to experimental data found in the literature and data from the libraries.

  20. An absolute measure for a key currency

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oya, Shunsuke; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Hirata, Yoshito

    It is generally considered that the US dollar and the euro are the key currencies in the world and in Europe, respectively. However, there is no absolute general measure for a key currency. Here, we investigate the 24-hour periodicity of foreign exchange markets using a recurrence plot, and define an absolute measure for a key currency based on the strength of the periodicity. Moreover, we analyze the time evolution of this measure. The results show that the credibility of the US dollar has not decreased significantly since the Lehman shock, when the Lehman Brothers bankrupted and influenced the economic markets, and has increased even relatively better than that of the euro and that of the Japanese yen.

  1. Left-hemisphere activation is associated with enhanced vocal pitch error detection in musicians with absolute pitch

    PubMed Central

    Behroozmand, Roozbeh; Ibrahim, Nadine; Korzyukov, Oleg; Robin, Donald A.; Larson, Charles R.

    2014-01-01

    The ability to process auditory feedback for vocal pitch control is crucial during speaking and singing. Previous studies have suggested that musicians with absolute pitch (AP) develop specialized left-hemisphere mechanisms for pitch processing. The present study adopted an auditory feedback pitch perturbation paradigm combined with ERP recordings to test the hypothesis whether the neural mechanisms of the left-hemisphere enhance vocal pitch error detection and control in AP musicians compared with relative pitch (RP) musicians and non-musicians (NM). Results showed a stronger N1 response to pitch-shifted voice feedback in the right-hemisphere for both AP and RP musicians compared with the NM group. However, the left-hemisphere P2 component activation was greater in AP and RP musicians compared with NMs and also for the AP compared with RP musicians. The NM group was slower in generating compensatory vocal reactions to feedback pitch perturbation compared with musicians, and they failed to re-adjust their vocal pitch after the feedback perturbation was removed. These findings suggest that in the earlier stages of cortical neural processing, the right hemisphere is more active in musicians for detecting pitch changes in voice feedback. In the later stages, the left-hemisphere is more active during the processing of auditory feedback for vocal motor control and seems to involve specialized mechanisms that facilitate pitch processing in the AP compared with RP musicians. These findings indicate that the left hemisphere mechanisms of AP ability are associated with improved auditory feedback pitch processing during vocal pitch control in tasks such as speaking or singing. PMID:24355545

  2. Non-Invasive Method of Determining Absolute Intracranial Pressure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yost, William T. (Inventor); Cantrell, John H., Jr. (Inventor); Hargens, Alan E. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    A method is presented for determining absolute intracranial pressure (ICP) in a patient. Skull expansion is monitored while changes in ICP are induced. The patient's blood pressure is measured when skull expansion is approximately zero. The measured blood pressure is indicative of a reference ICP value. Subsequently, the method causes a known change in ICP and measured the change in skull expansion associated therewith. The absolute ICP is a function of the reference ICP value, the known change in ICP and its associated change in skull expansion; and a measured change in skull expansion.

  3. A Correlational Study of Scoliosis and Trunk Balance in Adult Patients with Mandibular Deviation

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Yang; Wang, Na; Wang, Wenyong; Ding, Yin; Sun, Shiyao

    2013-01-01

    Previous studies have confirmed that patients with mandibular deviation often have abnormal morphology of their cervical vertebrae. However, the relationship between mandibular deviation, scoliosis, and trunk balance has not been studied. Currently, mandibular deviation is usually treated as a single pathology, which leads to poor clinical efficiency. We investigated the relationship of spine coronal morphology and trunk balance in adult patients with mandibular deviation, and compared the finding to those in healthy volunteers. 35 adult patients with skeletal mandibular deviation and 10 healthy volunteers underwent anterior X-ray films of the head and posteroanterior X-ray films of the spine. Landmarks and lines were drawn and measured on these films. The axis distance method was used to measure the degree of scoliosis and the balance angle method was used to measure trunk balance. The relationship of mandibular deviation, spine coronal morphology and trunk balance was evaluated with the Pearson correlation method. The spine coronal morphology of patients with mandibular deviation demonstrated an “S” type curve, while a straight line parallel with the gravity line was found in the control group (significant difference, p<0.01). The trunk balance of patients with mandibular deviation was disturbed (imbalance angle >1°), while the control group had a normal trunk balance (imbalance angle <1°). There was a significant difference between the two groups (p<0.01). The degree of scoliosis and shoulder imbalance correlated with the degree of mandibular deviation, and presented a linear trend. The direction of mandibular deviation was the same as that of the lateral bending of thoracolumbar vertebrae, which was opposite to the direction of lateral bending of cervical vertebrae. Our study shows the degree of mandibular deviation has a high correlation with the degree of scoliosis and trunk imbalance, all the three deformities should be clinically evaluated in the

  4. A highly accurate absolute gravimetric network for Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullrich, Christian; Ruess, Diethard; Butta, Hubert; Qirko, Kristaq; Pavicevic, Bozidar; Murat, Meha

    2016-04-01

    The objective of this project is to establish a basic gravity network in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro to enable further investigations in geodetic and geophysical issues. Therefore the first time in history absolute gravity measurements were performed in these countries. The Norwegian mapping authority Kartverket is assisting the national mapping authorities in Kosovo (KCA) (Kosovo Cadastral Agency - Agjencia Kadastrale e Kosovës), Albania (ASIG) (Autoriteti Shtetëror i Informacionit Gjeohapësinor) and in Montenegro (REA) (Real Estate Administration of Montenegro - Uprava za nekretnine Crne Gore) in improving the geodetic frameworks. The gravity measurements are funded by Kartverket. The absolute gravimetric measurements were performed from BEV (Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying) with the absolute gravimeter FG5-242. As a national metrology institute (NMI) the Metrology Service of the BEV maintains the national standards for the realisation of the legal units of measurement and ensures their international equivalence and recognition. Laser and clock of the absolute gravimeter were calibrated before and after the measurements. The absolute gravimetric survey was carried out from September to October 2015. Finally all 8 scheduled stations were successfully measured: there are three stations located in Montenegro, two stations in Kosovo and three stations in Albania. The stations are distributed over the countries to establish a gravity network for each country. The vertical gradients were measured at all 8 stations with the relative gravimeter Scintrex CG5. The high class quality of some absolute gravity stations can be used for gravity monitoring activities in future. The measurement uncertainties of the absolute gravity measurements range around 2.5 micro Gal at all stations (1 microgal = 10-8 m/s2). In Montenegro the large gravity difference of 200 MilliGal between station Zabljak and Podgorica can be even used for calibration of relative gravimeters

  5. Chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil.

    PubMed

    Perriot, Rodolphe; Breme, Katharina; Meierhenrich, Uwe J; Carenini, Elise; Ferrando, Georges; Baldovini, Nicolas

    2010-02-10

    Since decades mimosa (Acacia dealbata) absolute oil has been used in the flavor and perfume industry. Today, it finds an application in over 80 perfumes, and its worldwide industrial production is estimated five tons per year. Here we report on the chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil. Straight-chain analogues from C6 to C26 with different functional groups (hydrocarbons, esters, aldehydes, diethyl acetals, alcohols, and ketones) were identified in the volatile fraction. Most of them are long-chain molecules: (Z)-heptadec-8-ene, heptadecane, nonadecane, and palmitic acid are the most abundant, and constituents such as 2-phenethyl alcohol, methyl anisate, and ethyl palmitate are present in smaller amounts. The heavier constituents were mainly triterpenoids such as lupenone and lupeol, which were identified as two of the main components. (Z)-Heptadec-8-ene, lupenone, and lupeol were quantified by GC-MS in SIM mode using external standards and represents 6%, 20%, and 7.8% (w/w) of the absolute oil. Moreover, odorant compounds were extracted by SPME and analyzed by GC-sniffing leading to the perception of 57 odorant zones, of which 37 compounds were identified by their odorant description, mass spectrum, retention index, and injection of the reference compound.

  6. Measurement of absolute gravity acceleration in Firenze

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Angelis, M.; Greco, F.; Pistorio, A.; Poli, N.; Prevedelli, M.; Saccorotti, G.; Sorrentino, F.; Tino, G. M.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports the results from the accurate measurement of the acceleration of gravity g taken at two separate premises in the Polo Scientifico of the University of Firenze (Italy). In these laboratories, two separate experiments aiming at measuring the Newtonian constant and testing the Newtonian law at short distances are in progress. Both experiments require an independent knowledge on the local value of g. The only available datum, pertaining to the italian zero-order gravity network, was taken more than 20 years ago at a distance of more than 60 km from the study site. Gravity measurements were conducted using an FG5 absolute gravimeter, and accompanied by seismic recordings for evaluating the noise condition at the site. The absolute accelerations of gravity at the two laboratories are (980 492 160.6 ± 4.0) μGal and (980 492 048.3 ± 3.0) μGal for the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS) and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, respectively. Other than for the two referenced experiments, the data here presented will serve as a benchmark for any future study requiring an accurate knowledge of the absolute value of the acceleration of gravity in the study region.

  7. Absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Jian; Zhou, Tingting; Yuan, Bo; Wang, Liqiang

    2015-08-01

    A new encoding method for absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction was proposed in the present study. In this method, an encoder disc is specially designed that a series of elements are uniformly spaced in one circle and each element is consisted of four diffraction gratings, which are tilted in the directions of 30°, 60°, -60° and -30°, respectively. The disc is illuminated by a coherent light and the diffractive signals are received. The positions of diffractive spots are used for absolute encoding and their intensities are for subdivision, which is different from the traditional optical encoder based on transparent/opaque binary principle. Since the track's width in the disc is not limited in the diffraction pattern, it provides a new way to solve the contradiction between the size and resolution, which is good for minimization of encoder. According to the proposed principle, the diffraction pattern disc with a diameter of 40 mm was made by lithography in the glass substrate. A prototype of absolute angular encoder with a resolution of 20" was built up. Its maximum error was tested as 78" by comparing with a small angle measuring system based on laser beam deflection.

  8. Neural-Network Approach to Hyperspectral Data Analysis for Volcanic Ash Clouds Monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Piscini, Alessandro; Ventress, Lucy; Carboni, Elisa; Grainger, Roy Gordon; Del Frate, Fabio

    2015-11-01

    In this study three artificial neural networks (ANN) were implemented in order to emulate a retrieval model and to estimate the ash Aerosol optical Depth (AOD), particle effective radius (reff) and cloud height from volcanic eruption using hyperspectral remotely sensed data. ANNs were trained using a selection of Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) channels in Thermal Infrared (TIR) as inputs, and the corresponding ash parameters retrieved obtained using the Oxford retrievals as target outputs. The retrieval is demonstrated for the eruption of the Eyjafjallajo ̈kull volcano (Iceland) occurred in 2010. The results of validation provided root mean square error (RMSE) values between neural network outputs and targets lower than standard deviation (STD) of corresponding target outputs, therefore demonstrating the feasibility to estimate volcanic ash parameters using an ANN approach, and its importance in near real time monitoring activities, owing to its fast application. A high accuracy has been achieved for reff and cloud height estimation, while a decreasing in accuracy was obtained when applying the NN approach for AOD estimation, in particular for those values not well characterized during NN training phase.

  9. Quantum Entanglement in Neural Network States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deng, Dong-Ling; Li, Xiaopeng; Das Sarma, S.

    2017-04-01

    Machine learning, one of today's most rapidly growing interdisciplinary fields, promises an unprecedented perspective for solving intricate quantum many-body problems. Understanding the physical aspects of the representative artificial neural-network states has recently become highly desirable in the applications of machine-learning techniques to quantum many-body physics. In this paper, we explore the data structures that encode the physical features in the network states by studying the quantum entanglement properties, with a focus on the restricted-Boltzmann-machine (RBM) architecture. We prove that the entanglement entropy of all short-range RBM states satisfies an area law for arbitrary dimensions and bipartition geometry. For long-range RBM states, we show by using an exact construction that such states could exhibit volume-law entanglement, implying a notable capability of RBM in representing quantum states with massive entanglement. Strikingly, the neural-network representation for these states is remarkably efficient, in the sense that the number of nonzero parameters scales only linearly with the system size. We further examine the entanglement properties of generic RBM states by randomly sampling the weight parameters of the RBM. We find that their averaged entanglement entropy obeys volume-law scaling, and the meantime strongly deviates from the Page entropy of the completely random pure states. We show that their entanglement spectrum has no universal part associated with random matrix theory and bears a Poisson-type level statistics. Using reinforcement learning, we demonstrate that RBM is capable of finding the ground state (with power-law entanglement) of a model Hamiltonian with a long-range interaction. In addition, we show, through a concrete example of the one-dimensional symmetry-protected topological cluster states, that the RBM representation may also be used as a tool to analytically compute the entanglement spectrum. Our results uncover the

  10. Ion track based tunable device as humidity sensor: a neural network approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharma, Mamta; Sharma, Anuradha; Bhattacherjee, Vandana

    2013-01-01

    Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been applied in statistical model development, adaptive control system, pattern recognition in data mining, and decision making under uncertainty. The nonlinear dependence of any sensor output on the input physical variable has been the motivation for many researchers to attempt unconventional modeling techniques such as neural networks and other machine learning approaches. Artificial neural network (ANN) is a computational tool inspired by the network of neurons in biological nervous system. It is a network consisting of arrays of artificial neurons linked together with different weights of connection. The states of the neurons as well as the weights of connections among them evolve according to certain learning rules.. In the present work we focus on the category of sensors which respond to electrical property changes such as impedance or capacitance. Recently, sensor materials have been embedded in etched tracks due to their nanometric dimensions and high aspect ratio which give high surface area available for exposure to sensing material. Various materials can be used for this purpose to probe physical (light intensity, temperature etc.), chemical (humidity, ammonia gas, alcohol etc.) or biological (germs, hormones etc.) parameters. The present work involves the application of TEMPOS structures as humidity sensors. The sample to be studied was prepared using the polymer electrolyte (PEO/NH4ClO4) with CdS nano-particles dispersed in the polymer electrolyte. In the present research we have attempted to correlate the combined effects of voltage and frequency on impedance of humidity sensors using a neural network model and results have indicated that the mean absolute error of the ANN Model for the training data was 3.95% while for the validation data it was 4.65%. The corresponding values for the LR model were 8.28% and 8.35% respectively. It was also demonstrated the percentage improvement of the ANN Model with respect to the

  11. Deciding Optimal Noise Monitoring Sites with Matrix Gray Absolute Relation Degree Theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gao, Zhihua; Li, Yadan; Zhao, Limin; Wang, Shuangwei

    2015-08-01

    Noise maps are applied to assess noise level in cities all around the world. There are mainly two ways of producing noise maps: one way is producing noise maps through theoretical simulations with the surrounding conditions, such as traffic flow, building distribution, etc.; the other one is calculating noise level with actual measurement data from noise monitors. Currently literature mainly focuses on considering more factors that affect sound traveling during theoretical simulations and interpolation methods in producing noise maps based on measurements of noise. Although many factors were considered during simulation, noise maps have to be calibrated by actual noise measurements. Therefore, the way of obtaining noise data is significant to both producing and calibrating a noise map. However, there is little literature mentioned about rules of deciding the right monitoring sites when placed the specified number of noise sensors and given the deviation of a noise map produced with data from them. In this work, by utilizing matrix Gray Absolute Relation Degree Theory, we calculated the relation degrees between the most precise noise surface and those interpolated with different combinations of noise data with specified number. We found that surfaces plotted with different combinations of noise data produced different relation degrees with the most precise one. Then we decided the least significant one among the total and calculated the corresponding deviation when it was excluded in making a noise surface. Processing the left noise data in the same way, we found out the least significant datum among the left data one by one. With this method, we optimized the noise sensor’s distribution in an area about 2km2. And we also calculated the bias of surfaces with the least significant data removed. Our practice provides an optimistic solution to the situation faced by most governments that there is limited financial budget available for noise monitoring, especially in

  12. Neural Networks

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Smith, Patrick I.

    2003-09-23

    Physicists use large detectors to measure particles created in high-energy collisions at particle accelerators. These detectors typically produce signals indicating either where ionization occurs along the path of the particle, or where energy is deposited by the particle. The data produced by these signals is fed into pattern recognition programs to try to identify what particles were produced, and to measure the energy and direction of these particles. Ideally, there are many techniques used in this pattern recognition software. One technique, neural networks, is particularly suitable for identifying what type of particle caused by a set of energy deposits. Neuralmore » networks can derive meaning from complicated or imprecise data, extract patterns, and detect trends that are too complex to be noticed by either humans or other computer related processes. To assist in the advancement of this technology, Physicists use a tool kit to experiment with several neural network techniques. The goal of this research is interface a neural network tool kit into Java Analysis Studio (JAS3), an application that allows data to be analyzed from any experiment. As the final result, a physicist will have the ability to train, test, and implement a neural network with the desired output while using JAS3 to analyze the results or output. Before an implementation of a neural network can take place, a firm understanding of what a neural network is and how it works is beneficial. A neural network is an artificial representation of the human brain that tries to simulate the learning process [5]. It is also important to think of the word artificial in that definition as computer programs that use calculations during the learning process. In short, a neural network learns by representative examples. Perhaps the easiest way to describe the way neural networks learn is to explain how the human brain functions. The human brain contains billions of neural cells that are responsible for

  13. Cirrus cloud retrieval from MSG/SEVIRI during day and night using artificial neural networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strandgren, Johan; Bugliaro, Luca

    2017-04-01

    By covering a large part of the Earth, cirrus clouds play an important role in climate as they reflect incoming solar radiation and absorb outgoing thermal radiation. Nevertheless, the cirrus clouds remain one of the largest uncertainties in atmospheric research and the understanding of the physical processes that govern their life cycle is still poorly understood, as is their representation in climate models. To monitor and better understand the properties and physical processes of cirrus clouds, it's essential that those tenuous clouds can be observed from geostationary spaceborne imagers like SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager), that possess a high temporal resolution together with a large field of view and play an important role besides in-situ observations for the investigation of cirrus cloud processes. CiPS (Cirrus Properties from Seviri) is a new algorithm targeting thin cirrus clouds. CiPS is an artificial neural network trained with coincident SEVIRI and CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) observations in order to retrieve a cirrus cloud mask along with the cloud top height (CTH), ice optical thickness (IOT) and ice water path (IWP) from SEVIRI. By utilizing only the thermal/IR channels of SEVIRI, CiPS can be used during day and night making it a powerful tool for the cirrus life cycle analysis. Despite the great challenge of detecting thin cirrus clouds and retrieving their properties from a geostationary imager using only the thermal/IR wavelengths, CiPS performs well. Among the cirrus clouds detected by CALIOP, CiPS detects 70 and 95 % of the clouds with an optical thickness of 0.1 and 1.0 respectively. Among the cirrus free pixels, CiPS classify 96 % correctly. For the CTH retrieval, CiPS has a mean absolute percentage error of 10 % or less with respect to CALIOP for cirrus clouds with a CTH greater than 8 km. For the IOT retrieval, CiPS has a mean absolute percentage error of 100 % or less with respect to

  14. Absolute Radiometric Calibration of EUNIS-06

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thomas, R. J.; Rabin, D. M.; Kent, B. J.; Paustian, W.

    2007-01-01

    The Extreme-Ultraviolet Normal-Incidence Spectrometer (EUNIS) is a soundingrocket payload that obtains imaged high-resolution spectra of individual solar features, providing information about the Sun's corona and upper transition region. Shortly after its successful initial flight last year, a complete end-to-end calibration was carried out to determine the instrument's absolute radiometric response over its Longwave bandpass of 300 - 370A. The measurements were done at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in England, using the same vacuum facility and EUV radiation source used in the pre-flight calibrations of both SOHO/CDS and Hinode/EIS, as well as in three post-flight calibrations of our SERTS sounding rocket payload, the precursor to EUNIS. The unique radiation source provided by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) had been calibrated to an absolute accuracy of 7% (l-sigma) at 12 wavelengths covering our bandpass directly against the Berlin electron storage ring BESSY, which is itself a primary radiometric source standard. Scans of the EUNIS aperture were made to determine the instrument's absolute spectral sensitivity to +- 25%, considering all sources of error, and demonstrate that EUNIS-06 was the most sensitive solar E W spectrometer yet flown. The results will be matched against prior calibrations which relied on combining measurements of individual optical components, and on comparisons with theoretically predicted 'insensitive' line ratios. Coordinated observations were made during the EUNIS-06 flight by SOHO/CDS and EIT that will allow re-calibrations of those instruments as well. In addition, future EUNIS flights will provide similar calibration updates for TRACE, Hinode/EIS, and STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI.

  15. 48 CFR 927.403 - Negotiations and deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Negotiations and deviations. 927.403 Section 927.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Technical Data and Copyrights 927.403 Negotiations and...

  16. 48 CFR 927.403 - Negotiations and deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Negotiations and deviations. 927.403 Section 927.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Technical Data and Copyrights 927.403 Negotiations and...

  17. 48 CFR 927.403 - Negotiations and deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Negotiations and deviations. 927.403 Section 927.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Technical Data and Copyrights 927.403 Negotiations and...

  18. 48 CFR 927.403 - Negotiations and deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Negotiations and deviations. 927.403 Section 927.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Technical Data and Copyrights 927.403 Negotiations and...

  19. 48 CFR 927.403 - Negotiations and deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Negotiations and deviations. 927.403 Section 927.403 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Technical Data and Copyrights 927.403 Negotiations and...

  20. Laser interferometry method for absolute measurement of the acceleration of gravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hudson, O. K.

    1971-01-01

    Gravimeter permits more accurate and precise absolute measurement of g without reference to Potsdam values as absolute standards. Device is basically Michelson laser beam interferometer in which one arm is mass fitted with corner cube reflector.

  1. Analysis of form deviation in non-isothermal glass molding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kreilkamp, H.; Grunwald, T.; Dambon, O.; Klocke, F.

    2018-02-01

    Especially in the market of sensors, LED lighting and medical technologies, there is a growing demand for precise yet low-cost glass optics. This demand poses a major challenge for glass manufacturers who are confronted with the challenge arising from the trend towards ever-higher levels of precision combined with immense pressure on market prices. Since current manufacturing technologies especially grinding and polishing as well as Precision Glass Molding (PGM) are not able to achieve the desired production costs, glass manufacturers are looking for alternative technologies. Non-isothermal Glass Molding (NGM) has been shown to have a big potential for low-cost mass manufacturing of complex glass optics. However, the biggest drawback of this technology at the moment is the limited accuracy of the manufactured glass optics. This research is addressing the specific challenges of non-isothermal glass molding with respect to form deviation of molded glass optics. Based on empirical models, the influencing factors on form deviation in particular form accuracy, waviness and surface roughness will be discussed. A comparison with traditional isothermal glass molding processes (PGM) will point out the specific challenges of non-isothermal process conditions. Furthermore, the underlying physical principle leading to the formation of form deviations will be analyzed in detail with the help of numerical simulation. In this way, this research contributes to a better understanding of form deviations in non-isothermal glass molding and is an important step towards new applications demanding precise yet low-cost glass optics.

  2. Absolute Coefficients and the Graphical Representation of Airfoil Characteristics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Munk, Max

    1921-01-01

    It is argued that there should be an agreement as to what conventions to use in determining absolute coefficients used in aeronautics and in how to plot those coefficients. Of particular importance are the absolute coefficients of lift and drag. The author argues for the use of the German method over the kind in common use in the United States and England, and for the Continental over the usual American and British method of graphically representing the characteristics of an airfoil. The author notes that, on the whole, it appears that the use of natural absolute coefficients in a polar diagram is the logical method for presentation of airfoil characteristics, and that serious consideration should be given to the advisability of adopting this method in all countries, in order to advance uniformity and accuracy in the science of aeronautics.

  3. Peripheral absolute threshold spectral sensitivity in retinitis pigmentosa.

    PubMed Central

    Massof, R W; Johnson, M A; Finkelstein, D

    1981-01-01

    Dark-adapted spectral sensitivities were measured in the peripheral retinas of 38 patients diagnosed as having typical retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and in 3 normal volunteers. The patients included those having autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive inheritance patterns. Results were analysed by comparisons with the CIE standard scotopic spectral visibility function and with Judd's modification of the photopic spectral visibility function, with consideration of contributions from changes in spectral transmission of preretinal media. The data show 3 general patterns. One group of patients had absolute threshold spectral sensitivities that were fit by Judd's photopic visibility curve. Absolute threshold spectral sensitivities for a second group of patients were fit by a normal scotopic spectral visibility curve. The third group of patients had absolute threshold spectral sensitivities that were fit by a combination of scotopic and photopic spectral visibility curves. The autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive modes of inheritance were represented in each group of patients. These data indicate that RP patients have normal rod and/or cone spectral sensitivities, and support the subclassification of patients described previously by Massof and Finkelstein. PMID:7459312

  4. EDITORIAL: Focus on the neural interface Focus on the neural interface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Durand, Dominique M.

    2009-10-01

    The possibility of an effective connection between neural tissue and computers has inspired scientists and engineers to develop new ways of controlling and obtaining information from the nervous system. These applications range from `brain hacking' to neural control of artificial limbs with brain signals. Notwithstanding the significant advances in neural prosthetics in the last few decades and the success of some stimulation devices such as cochlear prosthesis, neurotechnology remains below its potential for restoring neural function in patients with nervous system disorders. One of the reasons for this limited impact can be found at the neural interface and close attention to the integration between electrodes and tissue should improve the possibility of successful outcomes. The neural interfaces research community consists of investigators working in areas such as deep brain stimulation, functional neuromuscular/electrical stimulation, auditory prostheses, cortical prostheses, neuromodulation, microelectrode array technology, brain-computer/machine interfaces. Following the success of previous neuroprostheses and neural interfaces workshops, funding (from NIH) was obtained to establish a biennial conference in the area of neural interfaces. The first Neural Interfaces Conference took place in Cleveland, OH in 2008 and several topics from this conference have been selected for publication in this special section of the Journal of Neural Engineering. Three `perspectives' review the areas of neural regeneration (Corredor and Goldberg), cochlear implants (O'Leary et al) and neural prostheses (Anderson). Seven articles focus on various aspects of neural interfacing. One of the most popular of these areas is the field of brain-computer interfaces. Fraser et al, report on a method to generate robust control with simple signal processing algorithms of signals obtained with electrodes implanted in the brain. One problem with implanted electrode arrays, however, is that

  5. Scaling Deviations for Neutrino Reactions in Aysmptotically Free Field Theories

    DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

    Wilczek, F. A.; Zee, A.; Treiman, S. B.

    1974-11-01

    Several aspects of deep inelastic neutrino scattering are discussed in the framework of asymptotically free field theories. We first consider the growth behavior of the total cross sections at large energies. Because of the deviations from strict scaling which are characteristic of such theories the growth need not be linear. However, upper and lower bounds are established which rather closely bracket a linear growth. We next consider in more detail the expected pattern of scaling deviation for the structure functions and, correspondingly, for the differential cross sections. The analysis here is based on certain speculative assumptions. The focus is on qualitative effects of scaling breakdown as they may show up in the X and y distributions. The last section of the paper deals with deviations from the Callan-Gross relation.

  6. Does standard deviation matter? Using "standard deviation" to quantify security of multistage testing.

    PubMed

    Wang, Chun; Zheng, Yi; Chang, Hua-Hua

    2014-01-01

    With the advent of web-based technology, online testing is becoming a mainstream mode in large-scale educational assessments. Most online tests are administered continuously in a testing window, which may post test security problems because examinees who take the test earlier may share information with those who take the test later. Researchers have proposed various statistical indices to assess the test security, and one most often used index is the average test-overlap rate, which was further generalized to the item pooling index (Chang & Zhang, 2002, 2003). These indices, however, are all defined as the means (that is, the expected proportion of common items among examinees) and they were originally proposed for computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Recently, multistage testing (MST) has become a popular alternative to CAT. The unique features of MST make it important to report not only the mean, but also the standard deviation (SD) of test overlap rate, as we advocate in this paper. The standard deviation of test overlap rate adds important information to the test security profile, because for the same mean, a large SD reflects that certain groups of examinees share more common items than other groups. In this study, we analytically derived the lower bounds of the SD under MST, with the results under CAT as a benchmark. It is shown that when the mean overlap rate is the same between MST and CAT, the SD of test overlap tends to be larger in MST. A simulation study was conducted to provide empirical evidence. We also compared the security of MST under the single-pool versus the multiple-pool designs; both analytical and simulation studies show that the non-overlapping multiple-pool design will slightly increase the security risk.

  7. Closed loop adaptive control of spectrum-producing step using neural networks

    DOEpatents

    Fu, Chi Yung

    1998-01-01

    Characteristics of the plasma in a plasma-based manufacturing process step are monitored directly and in real time by observing the spectrum which it produces. An artificial neural network analyzes the plasma spectrum and generates control signals to control one or more of the process input parameters in response to any deviation of the spectrum beyond a narrow range. In an embodiment, a plasma reaction chamber forms a plasma in response to input parameters such as gas flow, pressure and power. The chamber includes a window through which the electromagnetic spectrum produced by a plasma in the chamber, just above the subject surface, may be viewed. The spectrum is conducted to an optical spectrometer which measures the intensity of the incoming optical spectrum at different wavelengths. The output of optical spectrometer is provided to an analyzer which produces a plurality of error signals, each indicating whether a respective one of the input parameters to the chamber is to be increased or decreased. The microcontroller provides signals to control respective controls, but these lines are intercepted and first added to the error signals, before being provided to the controls for the chamber. The analyzer can include a neural network and an optional spectrum preprocessor to reduce background noise, as well as a comparator which compares the parameter values predicted by the neural network with a set of desired values provided by the microcontroller.

  8. Closed loop adaptive control of spectrum-producing step using neural networks

    DOEpatents

    Fu, C.Y.

    1998-11-24

    Characteristics of the plasma in a plasma-based manufacturing process step are monitored directly and in real time by observing the spectrum which it produces. An artificial neural network analyzes the plasma spectrum and generates control signals to control one or more of the process input parameters in response to any deviation of the spectrum beyond a narrow range. In an embodiment, a plasma reaction chamber forms a plasma in response to input parameters such as gas flow, pressure and power. The chamber includes a window through which the electromagnetic spectrum produced by a plasma in the chamber, just above the subject surface, may be viewed. The spectrum is conducted to an optical spectrometer which measures the intensity of the incoming optical spectrum at different wavelengths. The output of optical spectrometer is provided to an analyzer which produces a plurality of error signals, each indicating whether a respective one of the input parameters to the chamber is to be increased or decreased. The microcontroller provides signals to control respective controls, but these lines are intercepted and first added to the error signals, before being provided to the controls for the chamber. The analyzer can include a neural network and an optional spectrum preprocessor to reduce background noise, as well as a comparator which compares the parameter values predicted by the neural network with a set of desired values provided by the microcontroller. 7 figs.

  9. [Prediction of soil nutrients spatial distribution based on neural network model combined with goestatistics].

    PubMed

    Li, Qi-Quan; Wang, Chang-Quan; Zhang, Wen-Jiang; Yu, Yong; Li, Bing; Yang, Juan; Bai, Gen-Chuan; Cai, Yan

    2013-02-01

    In this study, a radial basis function neural network model combined with ordinary kriging (RBFNN_OK) was adopted to predict the spatial distribution of soil nutrients (organic matter and total N) in a typical hilly region of Sichuan Basin, Southwest China, and the performance of this method was compared with that of ordinary kriging (OK) and regression kriging (RK). All the three methods produced the similar soil nutrient maps. However, as compared with those obtained by multiple linear regression model, the correlation coefficients between the measured values and the predicted values of soil organic matter and total N obtained by neural network model increased by 12. 3% and 16. 5% , respectively, suggesting that neural network model could more accurately capture the complicated relationships between soil nutrients and quantitative environmental factors. The error analyses of the prediction values of 469 validation points indicated that the mean absolute error (MAE) , mean relative error (MRE), and root mean squared error (RMSE) of RBFNN_OK were 6.9%, 7.4%, and 5. 1% (for soil organic matter), and 4.9%, 6.1% , and 4.6% (for soil total N) smaller than those of OK (P<0.01), and 2.4%, 2.6% , and 1.8% (for soil organic matter), and 2.1%, 2.8%, and 2.2% (for soil total N) smaller than those of RK, respectively (P<0.05).

  10. Artificial neural network associated to UV/Vis spectroscopy for monitoring bioreactions in biopharmaceutical processes.

    PubMed

    Takahashi, Maria Beatriz; Leme, Jaci; Caricati, Celso Pereira; Tonso, Aldo; Fernández Núñez, Eutimio Gustavo; Rocha, José Celso

    2015-06-01

    Currently, mammalian cells are the most utilized hosts for biopharmaceutical production. The culture media for these cell lines include commonly in their composition a pH indicator. Spectroscopic techniques are used for biopharmaceutical process monitoring, among them, UV-Vis spectroscopy has found scarce applications. This work aimed to define artificial neural networks architecture and fit its parameters to predict some nutrients and metabolites, as well as viable cell concentration based on UV-Vis spectral data of mammalian cell bioprocess using phenol red in culture medium. The BHK-21 cell line was used as a mammalian cell model. Off-line spectra of supernatant samples taken from batches performed at different dissolved oxygen concentrations in two bioreactor configurations and with two pH control strategies were used to define two artificial neural networks. According to absolute errors, glutamine (0.13 ± 0.14 mM), glutamate (0.02 ± 0.02 mM), glucose (1.11 ± 1.70 mM), lactate (0.84 ± 0.68 mM) and viable cell concentrations (1.89 10(5) ± 1.90 10(5) cell/mL) were suitably predicted. The prediction error averages for monitored variables were lower than those previously reported using different spectroscopic techniques in combination with partial least squares or artificial neural network. The present work allows for UV-VIS sensor development, and decreases cost related to nutrients and metabolite quantifications.

  11. Phase synchronization motion and neural coding in dynamic transmission of neural information.

    PubMed

    Wang, Rubin; Zhang, Zhikang; Qu, Jingyi; Cao, Jianting

    2011-07-01

    In order to explore the dynamic characteristics of neural coding in the transmission of neural information in the brain, a model of neural network consisting of three neuronal populations is proposed in this paper using the theory of stochastic phase dynamics. Based on the model established, the neural phase synchronization motion and neural coding under spontaneous activity and stimulation are examined, for the case of varying network structure. Our analysis shows that, under the condition of spontaneous activity, the characteristics of phase neural coding are unrelated to the number of neurons participated in neural firing within the neuronal populations. The result of numerical simulation supports the existence of sparse coding within the brain, and verifies the crucial importance of the magnitudes of the coupling coefficients in neural information processing as well as the completely different information processing capability of neural information transmission in both serial and parallel couplings. The result also testifies that under external stimulation, the bigger the number of neurons in a neuronal population, the more the stimulation influences the phase synchronization motion and neural coding evolution in other neuronal populations. We verify numerically the experimental result in neurobiology that the reduction of the coupling coefficient between neuronal populations implies the enhancement of lateral inhibition function in neural networks, with the enhancement equivalent to depressing neuronal excitability threshold. Thus, the neuronal populations tend to have a stronger reaction under the same stimulation, and more neurons get excited, leading to more neurons participating in neural coding and phase synchronization motion.

  12. Absolute flux density calibrations of radio sources: 2.3 GHz

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Freiley, A. J.; Batelaan, P. D.; Bathker, D. A.

    1977-01-01

    A detailed description of a NASA/JPL Deep Space Network program to improve S-band gain calibrations of large aperture antennas is reported. The program is considered unique in at least three ways; first, absolute gain calibrations of high quality suppressed-sidelobe dual mode horns first provide a high accuracy foundation to the foundation to the program. Second, a very careful transfer calibration technique using an artificial far-field coherent-wave source was used to accurately obtain the gain of one large (26 m) aperture. Third, using the calibrated large aperture directly, the absolute flux density of five selected galactic and extragalactic natural radio sources was determined with an absolute accuracy better than 2 percent, now quoted at the familiar 1 sigma confidence level. The follow-on considerations to apply these results to an operational network of ground antennas are discussed. It is concluded that absolute gain accuracies within + or - 0.30 to 0.40 db are possible, depending primarily on the repeatability (scatter) in the field data from Deep Space Network user stations.

  13. Assessing epistemic sophistication by considering domain-specific absolute and multiplicistic beliefs separately.

    PubMed

    Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

    2016-06-01

    Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as disagreement with absolute statements. This article suggests considering absolutism and multiplicism as separate dimensions. Following our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a cautious and reluctant endorsement of both positions, we assume evaluativism (a contextually adaptive view of knowledge as personally constructed and evidence-based) to be reflected by low agreement with both generalized absolute and generalized multiplicistic statements. Three studies with a total sample size of N = 416 psychology students were conducted. A domain-specific inventory containing both absolute and multiplicistic statements was developed. Expectations were tested by exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and correlational analyses. Results revealed a two-factor solution with an absolute and a multiplicistic factor. Criterion validity of both factors was confirmed. Cross-sectional analyses revealed that agreement to generalized multiplicistic statements decreases with study progress. Moreover, consistent with our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a reluctant attitude towards generalized epistemic statements, evidence for a negative relationship between epistemic sophistication and need for cognitive closure was found. We recommend including multiplicistic statements into epistemic belief questionnaires and considering them as a separate dimension, especially when investigating individuals in later stages of epistemic development (i.e., in higher education). © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  14. Precision analysis for standard deviation measurements of immobile single fluorescent molecule images.

    PubMed

    DeSantis, Michael C; DeCenzo, Shawn H; Li, Je-Luen; Wang, Y M

    2010-03-29

    Standard deviation measurements of intensity profiles of stationary single fluorescent molecules are useful for studying axial localization, molecular orientation, and a fluorescence imaging system's spatial resolution. Here we report on the analysis of the precision of standard deviation measurements of intensity profiles of single fluorescent molecules imaged using an EMCCD camera.We have developed an analytical expression for the standard deviation measurement error of a single image which is a function of the total number of detected photons, the background photon noise, and the camera pixel size. The theoretical results agree well with the experimental, simulation, and numerical integration results. Using this expression, we show that single-molecule standard deviation measurements offer nanometer precision for a large range of experimental parameters.

  15. Secondary flow spanwise deviation model for the stators of NASA middle compressor stages

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roberts, W. B.; Sandercock, D. M.

    1984-01-01

    A model of the spanwise variation of deviation for stator blades is presented. Deviation is defined as the difference between the passage mean flow angle and the metal angle at the outlet of a blade element of an axial compressor stage. The variation of deviation is taken as the difference above or below that predicted by blade element, (i.e., two-dimensional) theory at any spanwise location. The variation of deviation is dependent upon the blade camber, solidity and inlet boundary layer thickness at the hub or tip end-wall, and the blade channel aspect ratio. If these parameters are known or can be calculated, the model provides a reasonable approximation of the spanwise variation of deviation for most compressor middle stage stators operating at subsonic inlet Mach numbers.

  16. Optical Neural Interfaces

    PubMed Central

    Warden, Melissa R.; Cardin, Jessica A.; Deisseroth, Karl

    2014-01-01

    Genetically encoded optical actuators and indicators have changed the landscape of neuroscience, enabling targetable control and readout of specific components of intact neural circuits in behaving animals. Here, we review the development of optical neural interfaces, focusing on hardware designed for optical control of neural activity, integrated optical control and electrical readout, and optical readout of population and single-cell neural activity in freely moving mammals. PMID:25014785

  17. Coding of level of ambiguity within neural systems mediating choice.

    PubMed

    Lopez-Paniagua, Dan; Seger, Carol A

    2013-01-01

    Data from previous neuroimaging studies exploring neural activity associated with uncertainty suggest varying levels of activation associated with changing degrees of uncertainty in neural regions that mediate choice behavior. The present study used a novel task that parametrically controlled the amount of information hidden from the subject; levels of uncertainty ranged from full ambiguity (no information about probability of winning) through multiple levels of partial ambiguity, to a condition of risk only (zero ambiguity with full knowledge of the probability of winning). A parametric analysis compared a linear model in which weighting increased as a function of level of ambiguity, and an inverted-U quadratic models in which partial ambiguity conditions were weighted most heavily. Overall we found that risk and all levels of ambiguity recruited a common "fronto-parietal-striatal" network including regions within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, intraparietal sulcus, and dorsal striatum. Activation was greatest across these regions and additional anterior and superior prefrontal regions for the quadratic function which most heavily weighs trials with partial ambiguity. These results suggest that the neural regions involved in decision processes do not merely track the absolute degree ambiguity or type of uncertainty (risk vs. ambiguity). Instead, recruitment of prefrontal regions may result from greater degree of difficulty in conditions of partial ambiguity: when information regarding reward probabilities important for decision making is hidden or not easily obtained the subject must engage in a search for tractable information. Additionally, this study identified regions of activity related to the valuation of potential gains associated with stimuli or options (including the orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices and dorsal striatum) and related to winning (including orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum).

  18. Coding of level of ambiguity within neural systems mediating choice

    PubMed Central

    Lopez-Paniagua, Dan; Seger, Carol A.

    2013-01-01

    Data from previous neuroimaging studies exploring neural activity associated with uncertainty suggest varying levels of activation associated with changing degrees of uncertainty in neural regions that mediate choice behavior. The present study used a novel task that parametrically controlled the amount of information hidden from the subject; levels of uncertainty ranged from full ambiguity (no information about probability of winning) through multiple levels of partial ambiguity, to a condition of risk only (zero ambiguity with full knowledge of the probability of winning). A parametric analysis compared a linear model in which weighting increased as a function of level of ambiguity, and an inverted-U quadratic models in which partial ambiguity conditions were weighted most heavily. Overall we found that risk and all levels of ambiguity recruited a common “fronto—parietal—striatal” network including regions within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, intraparietal sulcus, and dorsal striatum. Activation was greatest across these regions and additional anterior and superior prefrontal regions for the quadratic function which most heavily weighs trials with partial ambiguity. These results suggest that the neural regions involved in decision processes do not merely track the absolute degree ambiguity or type of uncertainty (risk vs. ambiguity). Instead, recruitment of prefrontal regions may result from greater degree of difficulty in conditions of partial ambiguity: when information regarding reward probabilities important for decision making is hidden or not easily obtained the subject must engage in a search for tractable information. Additionally, this study identified regions of activity related to the valuation of potential gains associated with stimuli or options (including the orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices and dorsal striatum) and related to winning (including orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum). PMID:24367286

  19. Optical track width measurements below 100 nm using artificial neural networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, R. J.; See, C. W.; Somekh, M. G.; Yacoot, A.; Choi, E.

    2005-12-01

    This paper discusses the feasibility of using artificial neural networks (ANNs), together with a high precision scanning optical profiler, to measure very fine track widths that are considerably below the conventional diffraction limit of a conventional optical microscope. The ANN is trained using optical profiles obtained from tracks of known widths, the network is then assessed by applying it to test profiles. The optical profiler is an ultra-stable common path scanning interferometer, which provides extremely precise surface measurements. Preliminary results, obtained with a 0.3 NA objective lens and a laser wavelength of 633 nm, show that the system is capable of measuring a 50 nm track width, with a standard deviation less than 4 nm.

  20. Absolute photon-flux measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Samson, J. A. R.; Haddad, G. N.

    1974-01-01

    Absolute photon-flux measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet have extended to short wavelengths by use of rare-gas ionization chambers. The technique involves the measurement of the ion current as a function of the gas pressure in the ion chamber. The true value of the ion current, and hence the absolute photon flux, is obtained by extrapolating the ion current to zero gas pressure. Examples are given at 162 and 266 A. The short-wavelength limit is determined only by the sensitivity of the current-measuring apparatus and by present knowledge of the photoionization processes that occur in the rate gases.

  1. Stimulus Probability Effects in Absolute Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of…

  2. Absolute gravity measurements in California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zumberge, M. A.; Sasagawa, G.; Kappus, M.

    1986-08-01

    An absolute gravity meter that determines the local gravitational acceleration by timing a freely falling mass with a laser interferometer has been constructed. The instrument has made measurements at 11 sites in California, four in Nevada, and one in France. The uncertainty in the results is typically 10 microgal. Repeated measurements have been made at several of the sites; only one shows a substantial change in gravity.

  3. Linear maps preserving maximal deviation and the Jordan structure of quantum systems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hamhalter, Jan

    2012-12-15

    In the algebraic approach to quantum theory, a quantum observable is given by an element of a Jordan algebra and a state of the system is modelled by a normalized positive functional on the underlying algebra. Maximal deviation of a quantum observable is the largest statistical deviation one can obtain in a particular state of the system. The main result of the paper shows that each linear bijective transformation between JBW algebras preserving maximal deviations is formed by a Jordan isomorphism or a minus Jordan isomorphism perturbed by a linear functional multiple of an identity. It shows that only onemore » numerical statistical characteristic has the power to determine the Jordan algebraic structure completely. As a consequence, we obtain that only very special maps can preserve the diameter of the spectra of elements. Nonlinear maps preserving the pseudometric given by maximal deviation are also described. The results generalize hitherto known theorems on preservers of maximal deviation in the case of self-adjoint parts of von Neumann algebras proved by Molnar.« less

  4. Analysis of using the tongue deviation angle as a warning sign of a stroke

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The symptom of tongue deviation is observed in a stroke or transient ischemic attack. Nevertheless, there is much room for the interpretation of the tongue deviation test. The crucial factor is the lack of an effective quantification method of tongue deviation. If we can quantify the features of the tongue deviation and scientifically verify the relationship between the deviation angle and a stroke, the information provided by the tongue will be helpful in recognizing a warning of a stroke. Methods In this study, a quantification method of the tongue deviation angle was proposed for the first time to characterize stroke patients. We captured the tongue images of stroke patients (15 males and 10 females, ranging between 55 and 82 years of age); transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients (16 males and 9 females, ranging between 53 and 79 years of age); and normal subjects (14 males and 11 females, ranging between 52 and 80 years of age) to analyze whether the method is effective. In addition, we used the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for the sensitivity analysis, and determined the threshold value of the tongue deviation angle for the warning sign of a stroke. Results The means and standard deviations of the tongue deviation angles of the stroke, TIA, and normal groups were: 6.9 ± 3.1, 4.9 ± 2.1 and 1.4 ± 0.8 degrees, respectively. Analyzed by the unpaired Student’s t-test, the p-value between the stroke group and the TIA group was 0.015 (>0.01), indicating no significant difference in the tongue deviation angle. The p-values between the stroke group and the normal group, as well as between the TIA group and the normal group were both less than 0.01. These results show the significant differences in the tongue deviation angle between the patient groups (stroke and TIA patients) and the normal group. These results also imply that the tongue deviation angle can effectively identify the patient group (stroke and TIA patients

  5. Analysis of using the tongue deviation angle as a warning sign of a stroke.

    PubMed

    Wei, Ching-Chuan; Huang, Shu-Wen; Hsu, Sheng-Lin; Chen, Hsing-Chung; Chen, Jong-Shin; Liang, Hsinying

    2012-08-21

    The symptom of tongue deviation is observed in a stroke or transient ischemic attack. Nevertheless, there is much room for the interpretation of the tongue deviation test. The crucial factor is the lack of an effective quantification method of tongue deviation. If we can quantify the features of the tongue deviation and scientifically verify the relationship between the deviation angle and a stroke, the information provided by the tongue will be helpful in recognizing a warning of a stroke. In this study, a quantification method of the tongue deviation angle was proposed for the first time to characterize stroke patients. We captured the tongue images of stroke patients (15 males and 10 females, ranging between 55 and 82 years of age); transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients (16 males and 9 females, ranging between 53 and 79 years of age); and normal subjects (14 males and 11 females, ranging between 52 and 80 years of age) to analyze whether the method is effective. In addition, we used the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for the sensitivity analysis, and determined the threshold value of the tongue deviation angle for the warning sign of a stroke. The means and standard deviations of the tongue deviation angles of the stroke, TIA, and normal groups were: 6.9 ± 3.1, 4.9 ± 2.1 and 1.4 ± 0.8 degrees, respectively. Analyzed by the unpaired Student's t-test, the p-value between the stroke group and the TIA group was 0.015 (>0.01), indicating no significant difference in the tongue deviation angle. The p-values between the stroke group and the normal group, as well as between the TIA group and the normal group were both less than 0.01. These results show the significant differences in the tongue deviation angle between the patient groups (stroke and TIA patients) and the normal group. These results also imply that the tongue deviation angle can effectively identify the patient group (stroke and TIA patients) and the normal group. With

  6. Relational versus absolute representation in categorization.

    PubMed

    Edwards, Darren J; Pothos, Emmanuel M; Perlman, Amotz

    2012-01-01

    This study explores relational-like and absolute-like representations in categorization. Although there is much evidence that categorization processes can involve information about both the particular physical properties of studied instances and abstract (relational) properties, there has been little work on the factors that lead to one kind of representation as opposed to the other. We tested 370 participants in 6 experiments, in which participants had to classify new items into predefined artificial categories. In 4 experiments, we observed a predominantly relational-like mode of classification, and in 2 experiments we observed a shift toward an absolute-like mode of classification. These results suggest 3 factors that promote a relational-like mode of classification: fewer items per group, more training groups, and the presence of a time delay. Overall, we propose that less information about the distributional properties of a category or weaker memory traces for the category exemplars (induced, e.g., by having smaller categories or a time delay) can encourage relational-like categorization.

  7. Water Level Prediction of Lake Cascade Mahakam Using Adaptive Neural Network Backpropagation (ANNBP)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mislan; Gaffar, A. F. O.; Haviluddin; Puspitasari, N.

    2018-04-01

    A natural hazard information and flood events are indispensable as a form of prevention and improvement. One of the causes is flooding in the areas around the lake. Therefore, forecasting the surface of Lake water level to anticipate flooding is required. The purpose of this paper is implemented computational intelligence method namely Adaptive Neural Network Backpropagation (ANNBP) to forecasting the Lake Cascade Mahakam. Based on experiment, performance of ANNBP indicated that Lake water level prediction have been accurate by using mean square error (MSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). In other words, computational intelligence method can produce good accuracy. A hybrid and optimization of computational intelligence are focus in the future work.

  8. Neural assembly computing.

    PubMed

    Ranhel, João

    2012-06-01

    Spiking neurons can realize several computational operations when firing cooperatively. This is a prevalent notion, although the mechanisms are not yet understood. A way by which neural assemblies compute is proposed in this paper. It is shown how neural coalitions represent things (and world states), memorize them, and control their hierarchical relations in order to perform algorithms. It is described how neural groups perform statistic logic functions as they form assemblies. Neural coalitions can reverberate, becoming bistable loops. Such bistable neural assemblies become short- or long-term memories that represent the event that triggers them. In addition, assemblies can branch and dismantle other neural groups generating new events that trigger other coalitions. Hence, such capabilities and the interaction among assemblies allow neural networks to create and control hierarchical cascades of causal activities, giving rise to parallel algorithms. Computing and algorithms are used here as in a nonstandard computation approach. In this sense, neural assembly computing (NAC) can be seen as a new class of spiking neural network machines. NAC can explain the following points: 1) how neuron groups represent things and states; 2) how they retain binary states in memories that do not require any plasticity mechanism; and 3) how branching, disbanding, and interaction among assemblies may result in algorithms and behavioral responses. Simulations were carried out and the results are in agreement with the hypothesis presented. A MATLAB code is available as a supplementary material.

  9. 9 CFR 381.308 - Deviations in processing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ...) must be handled according to: (1)(i) A HACCP plan for canned product that addresses hazards associated... (d) of this section. (c) [Reserved] (d) Procedures for handling process deviations where the HACCP... accordance with the following procedures: (a) Emergency stops. (1) When retort jams or breakdowns occur...

  10. 21 CFR 211.100 - Written procedures; deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... Process Controls § 211.100 Written procedures; deviations. (a) There shall be written procedures for production and process control designed to assure that the drug products have the identity, strength, quality... approved by the appropriate organizational units and reviewed and approved by the quality control unit. (b...

  11. 21 CFR 211.100 - Written procedures; deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... Process Controls § 211.100 Written procedures; deviations. (a) There shall be written procedures for production and process control designed to assure that the drug products have the identity, strength, quality... approved by the appropriate organizational units and reviewed and approved by the quality control unit. (b...

  12. 21 CFR 211.100 - Written procedures; deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... Process Controls § 211.100 Written procedures; deviations. (a) There shall be written procedures for production and process control designed to assure that the drug products have the identity, strength, quality... approved by the appropriate organizational units and reviewed and approved by the quality control unit. (b...

  13. 21 CFR 211.100 - Written procedures; deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... Process Controls § 211.100 Written procedures; deviations. (a) There shall be written procedures for production and process control designed to assure that the drug products have the identity, strength, quality... approved by the appropriate organizational units and reviewed and approved by the quality control unit. (b...

  14. 21 CFR 211.100 - Written procedures; deviations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... Process Controls § 211.100 Written procedures; deviations. (a) There shall be written procedures for production and process control designed to assure that the drug products have the identity, strength, quality... approved by the appropriate organizational units and reviewed and approved by the quality control unit. (b...

  15. Standardization approaches in absolute quantitative proteomics with mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Calderón-Celis, Francisco; Encinar, Jorge Ruiz; Sanz-Medel, Alfredo

    2017-07-31

    Mass spectrometry-based approaches have enabled important breakthroughs in quantitative proteomics in the last decades. This development is reflected in the better quantitative assessment of protein levels as well as to understand post-translational modifications and protein complexes and networks. Nowadays, the focus of quantitative proteomics shifted from the relative determination of proteins (ie, differential expression between two or more cellular states) to absolute quantity determination, required for a more-thorough characterization of biological models and comprehension of the proteome dynamism, as well as for the search and validation of novel protein biomarkers. However, the physico-chemical environment of the analyte species affects strongly the ionization efficiency in most mass spectrometry (MS) types, which thereby require the use of specially designed standardization approaches to provide absolute quantifications. Most common of such approaches nowadays include (i) the use of stable isotope-labeled peptide standards, isotopologues to the target proteotypic peptides expected after tryptic digestion of the target protein; (ii) use of stable isotope-labeled protein standards to compensate for sample preparation, sample loss, and proteolysis steps; (iii) isobaric reagents, which after fragmentation in the MS/MS analysis provide a final detectable mass shift, can be used to tag both analyte and standard samples; (iv) label-free approaches in which the absolute quantitative data are not obtained through the use of any kind of labeling, but from computational normalization of the raw data and adequate standards; (v) elemental mass spectrometry-based workflows able to provide directly absolute quantification of peptides/proteins that contain an ICP-detectable element. A critical insight from the Analytical Chemistry perspective of the different standardization approaches and their combinations used so far for absolute quantitative MS-based (molecular and

  16. Towards absolute laser spectroscopic CO2 isotope ratio measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anyangwe Nwaboh, Javis; Werhahn, Olav; Ebert, Volker

    2017-04-01

    Knowledge of isotope composition of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is necessary to identify sources and sinks of this key greenhouse gas. In the last years, laser spectroscopic techniques such as cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) and tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) have been shown to perform accurate isotope ratio measurements for CO2 and other gases like water vapour (H2O) [1,2]. Typically, isotope ratios are reported in literature referring to reference materials provided by e.g. the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). However, there could be some benefit if field deployable absolute isotope ratio measurement methods were developed to address issues such as exhausted reference material like the Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB) standard. Absolute isotope ratio measurements would be particularly important for situations where reference materials do not even exist. Here, we present CRDS and TDLAS-based absolute isotope ratios (13C/12C ) in atmospheric CO2. We demonstrate the capabilities of the used methods by measuring CO2 isotope ratios in gas standards. We compare our results to values reported for the isotope certified gas standards. Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM) compliant uncertainty budgets on the CRDS and TDLAS absolute isotope ratio measurements are presented, and traceability is addressed. We outline the current impediments in realizing high accuracy absolute isotope ratio measurements using laser spectroscopic methods, propose solutions and the way forward. Acknowledgement Parts of this work have been carried out within the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) ENV52 project-HIGHGAS. The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union. References [1] B. Kühnreich, S. Wagner, J. C. Habig,·O. Möhler, H. Saathoff, V. Ebert, Appl. Phys. B 119:177-187 (2015). [2] E. Kerstel, L. Gianfrani, Appl. Phys. B 92, 439-449 (2008).

  17. Deviations from LTE in a stellar atmosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kalkofen, W.; Klein, R. I.; Stein, R. F.

    1979-01-01

    Deviations for LTE are investigated in an atmosphere of hydrogen atoms with one bound level, satisfying the equations of radiative, hydrostatic, and statistical equilibrium. The departure coefficient and the kinetic temperature as functions of the frequency dependence of the radiative cross section are studied analytically and numerically. Near the outer boundary of the atmosphere, the departure coefficient is smaller than unity when the radiative cross section grows with frequency faster than with the square of frequency; it exceeds unity otherwise. Far from the boundary the departure coefficient tends to exceed unity for any frequency dependence of the radiative cross section. Overpopulation always implies that the kinetic temperature in the statistical-equilibrium atmosphere is higher than the temperature in the corresponding LTE atmosphere. Upper and lower bounds on the kinetic temperature are given for an atmosphere with deviations from LTE only in the optically shallow layers when the emergent intensity can be described by a radiation temperature.

  18. Effect of Absolute From Hibiscus syriacus L. Flower on Wound Healing in Keratinocytes

    PubMed Central

    Yoon, Seok Won; Lee, Kang Pa; Kim, Do-Yoon; Hwang, Dae Il; Won, Kyung-Jong; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Hwan Myung

    2017-01-01

    Background: Proliferation and migration of keratinocytes are essential for the repair of cutaneous wounds. Hibiscus syriacus L. has been used in Asian medicine; however, research on keratinocytes is inadequate. Objective: To establish the dermatological properties of absolute from Hibiscus syriacus L. flower (HSF) and to provide fundamental research for alternative medicine. Materials and Methods: We identified the composition of HSF absolute using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. We also examined the effect of HSF absolute in HaCaT cells using the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, sprout-out growth assay, and western blotting. We conducted an in-vivo wound healing assay in rat tail-skin. Results: Ten major active compounds were identified from HSF absolute. As determined by the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, and sprout-out growth assay results, HSF absolute exhibited similar effects as that of epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and migration patterns of keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which were significantly increased after HSF absolute treatment. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk 1/2) and Akt, were also determined by western blot analysis. Conclusion: These results of our in-vitro and ex-vivo studies indicate that HSF absolute induced cell growth and migration of HaCaT cells by phosphorylating both Erk 1/2 and Akt. Moreover, we confirmed the wound-healing effect of HSF on injury of the rat tail-skin. Therefore, our results suggest that HSF absolute is promising for use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. SUMMARY Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute increases HaCaT cell migration and proliferation.Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute regulates phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt in HaCaT cell.Treatment with Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower induced sprout outgrowth.The wound in the tail-skin of rat was reduced by Hisbiscus syriacus

  19. Effect of Absolute From Hibiscus syriacus L. Flower on Wound Healing in Keratinocytes.

    PubMed

    Yoon, Seok Won; Lee, Kang Pa; Kim, Do-Yoon; Hwang, Dae Il; Won, Kyung-Jong; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Hwan Myung

    2017-01-01

    Proliferation and migration of keratinocytes are essential for the repair of cutaneous wounds. Hibiscus syriacus L. has been used in Asian medicine; however, research on keratinocytes is inadequate. To establish the dermatological properties of absolute from Hibiscus syriacus L. flower (HSF) and to provide fundamental research for alternative medicine. We identified the composition of HSF absolute using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. We also examined the effect of HSF absolute in HaCaT cells using the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, sprout-out growth assay, and western blotting. We conducted an in-vivo wound healing assay in rat tail-skin. Ten major active compounds were identified from HSF absolute. As determined by the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, and sprout-out growth assay results, HSF absolute exhibited similar effects as that of epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and migration patterns of keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which were significantly increased after HSF absolute treatment. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk 1/2) and Akt, were also determined by western blot analysis. These results of our in-vitro and ex-vivo studies indicate that HSF absolute induced cell growth and migration of HaCaT cells by phosphorylating both Erk 1/2 and Akt. Moreover, we confirmed the wound-healing effect of HSF on injury of the rat tail-skin. Therefore, our results suggest that HSF absolute is promising for use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute increases HaCaT cell migration and proliferation. Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute regulates phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt in HaCaT cell.Treatment with Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower induced sprout outgrowth.The wound in the tail-skin of rat was reduced by Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute Abbreviations used: HSF: Hibiscus syriacus L. flower

  20. Estimating extreme stream temperatures by the standard deviate method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bogan, Travis; Othmer, Jonathan; Mohseni, Omid; Stefan, Heinz

    2006-02-01

    It is now widely accepted that global climate warming is taking place on the earth. Among many other effects, a rise in air temperatures is expected to increase stream temperatures indefinitely. However, due to evaporative cooling, stream temperatures do not increase linearly with increasing air temperatures indefinitely. Within the anticipated bounds of climate warming, extreme stream temperatures may therefore not rise substantially. With this concept in mind, past extreme temperatures measured at 720 USGS stream gauging stations were analyzed by the standard deviate method. In this method the highest stream temperatures are expressed as the mean temperature of a measured partial maximum stream temperature series plus its standard deviation multiplied by a factor KE (standard deviate). Various KE-values were explored; values of KE larger than 8 were found physically unreasonable. It is concluded that the value of KE should be in the range from 7 to 8. A unit error in estimating KE translates into a typical stream temperature error of about 0.5 °C. Using a logistic model for the stream temperature/air temperature relationship, a one degree error in air temperature gives a typical error of 0.16 °C in stream temperature. With a projected error in the enveloping standard deviate dKE=1.0 (range 0.5-1.5) and an error in projected high air temperature d Ta=2 °C (range 0-4 °C), the total projected stream temperature error is estimated as d Ts=0.8 °C.