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

Covington, E; Younge, K; Chen, X

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of an automated plan check tool to improve first-time plan quality as well as standardize and document performance of physics plan checks. Methods: The Plan Checker Tool (PCT) uses the Eclipse Scripting API to check and compare data from the treatment planning system (TPS) and treatment management system (TMS). PCT was created to improve first-time plan quality, reduce patient delays, increase efficiency of our electronic workflow, and to standardize and partially automate plan checks in the TPS. A framework was developed which can be configured with different reference values and types of checks. One examplemore » is the prescribed dose check where PCT flags the user when the planned dose and the prescribed dose disagree. PCT includes a comprehensive checklist of automated and manual checks that are documented when performed by the user. A PDF report is created and automatically uploaded into the TMS. Prior to and during PCT development, errors caught during plan checks and also patient delays were tracked in order to prioritize which checks should be automated. The most common and significant errors were determined. Results: Nineteen of 33 checklist items were automated with data extracted with the PCT. These include checks for prescription, reference point and machine scheduling errors which are three of the top six causes of patient delays related to physics and dosimetry. Since the clinical roll-out, no delays have been due to errors that are automatically flagged by the PCT. Development continues to automate the remaining checks. Conclusion: With PCT, 57% of the physics plan checklist has been partially or fully automated. Treatment delays have declined since release of the PCT for clinical use. By tracking delays and errors, we have been able to measure the effectiveness of automating checks and are using this information to prioritize future development. This project was supported in part by P01CA059827.« less

Extraction and Analysis of Display Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Land, Chris; Moye, Kathryn

2008-01-01

The Display Audit Suite is an integrated package of software tools that partly automates the detection of Portable Computer System (PCS) Display errors. [PCS is a lap top computer used onboard the International Space Station (ISS).] The need for automation stems from the large quantity of PCS displays (6,000+, with 1,000,000+ lines of command and telemetry data). The Display Audit Suite includes data-extraction tools, automatic error detection tools, and database tools for generating analysis spread sheets. These spread sheets allow engineers to more easily identify many different kinds of possible errors. The Suite supports over 40 independent analyses, 16 NASA Tech Briefs, November 2008 and complements formal testing by being comprehensive (all displays can be checked) and by revealing errors that are difficult to detect via test. In addition, the Suite can be run early in the development cycle to find and correct errors in advance of testing.

Sensitivity in error detection of patient specific QA tools for IMRT plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lat, S. Z.; Suriyapee, S.; Sanghangthum, T.

2016-03-01

The high complexity of dose calculation in treatment planning and accurate delivery of IMRT plan need high precision of verification method. The purpose of this study is to investigate error detection capability of patient specific QA tools for IMRT plans. The two H&N and two prostate IMRT plans with MapCHECK2 and portal dosimetry QA tools were studied. Measurements were undertaken for original and modified plans with errors introduced. The intentional errors composed of prescribed dose (±2 to ±6%) and position shifting in X-axis and Y-axis (±1 to ±5mm). After measurement, gamma pass between original and modified plans were compared. The average gamma pass for original H&N and prostate plans were 98.3% and 100% for MapCHECK2 and 95.9% and 99.8% for portal dosimetry, respectively. In H&N plan, MapCHECK2 can detect position shift errors starting from 3mm while portal dosimetry can detect errors started from 2mm. Both devices showed similar sensitivity in detection of position shift error in prostate plan. For H&N plan, MapCHECK2 can detect dose errors starting at ±4%, whereas portal dosimetry can detect from ±2%. For prostate plan, both devices can identify dose errors starting from ±4%. Sensitivity of error detection depends on type of errors and plan complexity.

Self-checking self-repairing computer nodes using the mirror processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tamir, Yuval

1992-01-01

Circuitry added to fault-tolerant systems for concurrent error deduction usually reduces performance. Using a technique called micro rollback, it is possible to eliminate most of the performance penalty of concurrent error detection. Error detection is performed in parallel with intermodule communication, and erroneous state changes are later undone. The author reports on the design and implementation of a VLSI RISC microprocessor, called the Mirror Processor (MP), which is capable of micro rollback. In order to achieve concurrent error detection, two MP chips operate in lockstep, comparing external signals and a signature of internal signals every clock cycle. If a mismatch is detected, both processors roll back to the beginning of the cycle when the error occurred. In some cases the erroneous state is corrected by copying a value from the fault-free processor to the faulty processor. The architecture, microarchitecture, and VLSI implementation of the MP, emphasizing its error-detection, error-recovery, and self-diagnosis capabilities, are described.

Strategy optimization for mask rule check in wafer fab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chuen Huei; Lin, Shaina; Lin, Roger; Wang, Alice; Lee, Rachel; Deng, Erwin

2015-07-01

Photolithography process is getting more and more sophisticated for wafer production following Moore's law. Therefore, for wafer fab, consolidated and close cooperation with mask house is a key to achieve silicon wafer success. However, generally speaking, it is not easy to preserve such partnership because many engineering efforts and frequent communication are indispensable. The inattentive connection is obvious in mask rule check (MRC). Mask houses will do their own MRC at job deck stage, but the checking is only for identification of mask process limitation including writing, etching, inspection, metrology, etc. No further checking in terms of wafer process concerned mask data errors will be implemented after data files of whole mask are composed in mask house. There are still many potential data errors even post-OPC verification has been done for main circuits. What mentioned here are the kinds of errors which will only occur as main circuits combined with frame and dummy patterns to form whole reticle. Therefore, strategy optimization is on-going in UMC to evaluate MRC especially for wafer fab concerned errors. The prerequisite is that no impact on mask delivery cycle time even adding this extra checking. A full-mask checking based on job deck in gds or oasis format is necessary in order to secure acceptable run time. Form of the summarized error report generated by this checking is also crucial because user friendly interface will shorten engineers' judgment time to release mask for writing. This paper will survey the key factors of MRC in wafer fab.

40 CFR Appendix B to Part 75 - Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Systems 1.2.1Calibration Error Test and Linearity Check Procedures Keep a written record of the procedures used for daily calibration error tests and linearity checks (e.g., how gases are to be injected..., and when calibration adjustments should be made). Identify any calibration error test and linearity...

40 CFR Appendix B to Part 75 - Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Systems 1.2.1Calibration Error Test and Linearity Check Procedures Keep a written record of the procedures used for daily calibration error tests and linearity checks (e.g., how gases are to be injected..., and when calibration adjustments should be made). Identify any calibration error test and linearity...

A Support System for Error Correction Questions in Programming Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hachisu, Yoshinari; Yoshida, Atsushi

2014-01-01

For supporting the education of debugging skills, we propose a system for generating error correction questions of programs and checking the correctness. The system generates HTML files for answering questions and CGI programs for checking answers. Learners read and answer questions on Web browsers. For management of error injection, we have…

Effects of monetary reward and punishment on information checking behaviour.

PubMed

Li, Simon Y W; Cox, Anna L; Or, Calvin; Blandford, Ann

2016-03-01

Two experiments were conducted to examine whether checking one's own work can be motivated by monetary reward and punishment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a flat-rate payment for completing the task (Control); payment increased for error-free performance (Reward); payment decreased for error performance (Punishment). Experiment 1 (N = 90) was conducted with liberal arts students, using a general data-entry task. Experiment 2 (N = 90) replicated Experiment 1 with clinical students and a safety-critical 'cover story' for the task. In both studies, Reward and Punishment resulted in significantly fewer errors, more frequent and longer checking, than Control. No such differences were obtained between the Reward and Punishment conditions. It is concluded that error consequences in terms of monetary reward and punishment can result in more accurate task performance and more rigorous checking behaviour than errors without consequences. However, whether punishment is more effective than reward, or vice versa, remains inconclusive. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

A Swiss cheese error detection method for real-time EPID-based quality assurance and error prevention.

PubMed

Passarge, Michelle; Fix, Michael K; Manser, Peter; Stampanoni, Marco F M; Siebers, Jeffrey V

2017-04-01

To develop a robust and efficient process that detects relevant dose errors (dose errors of ≥5%) in external beam radiation therapy and directly indicates the origin of the error. The process is illustrated in the context of electronic portal imaging device (EPID)-based angle-resolved volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) quality assurance (QA), particularly as would be implemented in a real-time monitoring program. A Swiss cheese error detection (SCED) method was created as a paradigm for a cine EPID-based during-treatment QA. For VMAT, the method compares a treatment plan-based reference set of EPID images with images acquired over each 2° gantry angle interval. The process utilizes a sequence of independent consecutively executed error detection tests: an aperture check that verifies in-field radiation delivery and ensures no out-of-field radiation; output normalization checks at two different stages; global image alignment check to examine if rotation, scaling, and translation are within tolerances; pixel intensity check containing the standard gamma evaluation (3%, 3 mm) and pixel intensity deviation checks including and excluding high dose gradient regions. Tolerances for each check were determined. To test the SCED method, 12 different types of errors were selected to modify the original plan. A series of angle-resolved predicted EPID images were artificially generated for each test case, resulting in a sequence of precalculated frames for each modified treatment plan. The SCED method was applied multiple times for each test case to assess the ability to detect introduced plan variations. To compare the performance of the SCED process with that of a standard gamma analysis, both error detection methods were applied to the generated test cases with realistic noise variations. Averaged over ten test runs, 95.1% of all plan variations that resulted in relevant patient dose errors were detected within 2° and 100% within 14° (<4% of patient dose delivery). Including cases that led to slightly modified but clinically equivalent plans, 89.1% were detected by the SCED method within 2°. Based on the type of check that detected the error, determination of error sources was achieved. With noise ranging from no random noise to four times the established noise value, the averaged relevant dose error detection rate of the SCED method was between 94.0% and 95.8% and that of gamma between 82.8% and 89.8%. An EPID-frame-based error detection process for VMAT deliveries was successfully designed and tested via simulations. The SCED method was inspected for robustness with realistic noise variations, demonstrating that it has the potential to detect a large majority of relevant dose errors. Compared to a typical (3%, 3 mm) gamma analysis, the SCED method produced a higher detection rate for all introduced dose errors, identified errors in an earlier stage, displayed a higher robustness to noise variations, and indicated the error source. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Concurrent error detecting codes for arithmetic processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lim, R. S.

1979-01-01

A method of concurrent error detection for arithmetic processors is described. Low-cost residue codes with check-length l and checkbase m = 2 to the l power - 1 are described for checking arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division complement, shift, and rotate. Of the three number representations, the signed-magnitude representation is preferred for residue checking. Two methods of residue generation are described: the standard method of using modulo m adders and the method of using a self-testing residue tree. A simple single-bit parity-check code is described for checking the logical operations of XOR, OR, and AND, and also the arithmetic operations of complement, shift, and rotate. For checking complement, shift, and rotate, the single-bit parity-check code is simpler to implement than the residue codes.

Error Correction using Quantum Quasi-Cyclic Low-Density Parity-Check(LDPC) Codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jing, Lin; Brun, Todd; Quantum Research Team

Quasi-cyclic LDPC codes can approach the Shannon capacity and have efficient decoders. Manabu Hagiwara et al., 2007 presented a method to calculate parity check matrices with high girth. Two distinct, orthogonal matrices Hc and Hd are used. Using submatrices obtained from Hc and Hd by deleting rows, we can alter the code rate. The submatrix of Hc is used to correct Pauli X errors, and the submatrix of Hd to correct Pauli Z errors. We simulated this system for depolarizing noise on USC's High Performance Computing Cluster, and obtained the block error rate (BER) as a function of the error weight and code rate. From the rates of uncorrectable errors under different error weights we can extrapolate the BER to any small error probability. Our results show that this code family can perform reasonably well even at high code rates, thus considerably reducing the overhead compared to concatenated and surface codes. This makes these codes promising as storage blocks in fault-tolerant quantum computation. Error Correction using Quantum Quasi-Cyclic Low-Density Parity-Check(LDPC) Codes.

Advanced software development workstation: Effectiveness of constraint-checking. [spaceflight simulation and planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Izygon, Michel

1992-01-01

This report summarizes the findings and lessons learned from the development of an intelligent user interface for a space flight planning simulation program, in the specific area related to constraint-checking. The different functionalities of the Graphical User Interface part and of the rule-based part of the system have been identified. Their respective domain of applicability for error prevention and error checking have been specified.

Procedural error monitoring and smart checklists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palmer, Everett

1990-01-01

Human beings make and usually detect errors routinely. The same mental processes that allow humans to cope with novel problems can also lead to error. Bill Rouse has argued that errors are not inherently bad but their consequences may be. He proposes the development of error-tolerant systems that detect errors and take steps to prevent the consequences of the error from occurring. Research should be done on self and automatic detection of random and unanticipated errors. For self detection, displays should be developed that make the consequences of errors immediately apparent. For example, electronic map displays graphically show the consequences of horizontal flight plan entry errors. Vertical profile displays should be developed to make apparent vertical flight planning errors. Other concepts such as energy circles could also help the crew detect gross flight planning errors. For automatic detection, systems should be developed that can track pilot activity, infer pilot intent and inform the crew of potential errors before their consequences are realized. Systems that perform a reasonableness check on flight plan modifications by checking route length and magnitude of course changes are simple examples. Another example would be a system that checked the aircraft's planned altitude against a data base of world terrain elevations. Information is given in viewgraph form.

Checking-up of optical graduated rules by laser interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miron, Nicolae P.; Sporea, Dan G.

1996-05-01

The main aspects related to the operating principle, design, and implementation of high-productivity equipment for checking-up the graduation accuracy of optical graduated rules used as a length reference in optical measuring instruments for precision machine tools are presented. The graduation error checking-up is done with a Michelson interferometer as a length transducer. The instrument operation is managed by a computer, which controls the equipment, data acquisition, and processing. The evaluation is performed for rule lengths from 100 to 3000 mm, with a checking-up error less than 2 micrometers/m. The checking-up time is about 15 min for a 1000-mm rule, with averaging over four measurements.

SU-E-T-310: Targeting Safety Improvements Through Analysis of Near-Miss Error Detection Points in An Incident Learning Database

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

Novak, A; Nyflot, M; Sponseller, P

2014-06-01

Purpose: Radiation treatment planning involves a complex workflow that can make safety improvement efforts challenging. This study utilizes an incident reporting system to identify detection points of near-miss errors, in order to guide our departmental safety improvement efforts. Previous studies have examined where errors arise, but not where they are detected or their patterns. Methods: 1377 incidents were analyzed from a departmental nearmiss error reporting system from 3/2012–10/2013. All incidents were prospectively reviewed weekly by a multi-disciplinary team, and assigned a near-miss severity score ranging from 0–4 reflecting potential harm (no harm to critical). A 98-step consensus workflow was usedmore » to determine origination and detection points of near-miss errors, categorized into 7 major steps (patient assessment/orders, simulation, contouring/treatment planning, pre-treatment plan checks, therapist/on-treatment review, post-treatment checks, and equipment issues). Categories were compared using ANOVA. Results: In the 7-step workflow, 23% of near-miss errors were detected within the same step in the workflow, while an additional 37% were detected by the next step in the workflow, and 23% were detected two steps downstream. Errors detected further from origination were more severe (p<.001; Figure 1). The most common source of near-miss errors was treatment planning/contouring, with 476 near misses (35%). Of those 476, only 72(15%) were found before leaving treatment planning, 213(45%) were found at physics plan checks, and 191(40%) were caught at the therapist pre-treatment chart review or on portal imaging. Errors that passed through physics plan checks and were detected by therapists were more severe than other errors originating in contouring/treatment planning (1.81 vs 1.33, p<0.001). Conclusion: Errors caught by radiation treatment therapists tend to be more severe than errors caught earlier in the workflow, highlighting the importance of safety checks in dosimetry and physics. We are utilizing our findings to improve manual and automated checklists for dosimetry and physics.« less

Fault-tolerant corrector/detector chip for high-speed data processing

DOEpatents

Andaleon, David D.; Napolitano, Jr., Leonard M.; Redinbo, G. Robert; Shreeve, William O.

1994-01-01

An internally fault-tolerant data error detection and correction integrated circuit device (10) and a method of operating same. The device functions as a bidirectional data buffer between a 32-bit data processor and the remainder of a data processing system and provides a 32-bit datum is provided with a relatively short eight bits of data-protecting parity. The 32-bits of data by eight bits of parity is partitioned into eight 4-bit nibbles and two 4-bit nibbles, respectively. For data flowing towards the processor the data and parity nibbles are checked in parallel and in a single operation employing a dual orthogonal basis technique. The dual orthogonal basis increase the efficiency of the implementation. Any one of ten (eight data, two parity) nibbles are correctable if erroneous, or two different erroneous nibbles are detectable. For data flowing away from the processor the appropriate parity nibble values are calculated and transmitted to the system along with the data. The device regenerates parity values for data flowing in either direction and compares regenerated to generated parity with a totally self-checking equality checker. As such, the device is self-validating and enabled to both detect and indicate an occurrence of an internal failure. A generalization of the device to protect 64-bit data with 16-bit parity to protect against byte-wide errors is also presented.

Fault-tolerant corrector/detector chip for high-speed data processing

DOEpatents

Andaleon, D.D.; Napolitano, L.M. Jr.; Redinbo, G.R.; Shreeve, W.O.

1994-03-01

An internally fault-tolerant data error detection and correction integrated circuit device and a method of operating same is described. The device functions as a bidirectional data buffer between a 32-bit data processor and the remainder of a data processing system and provides a 32-bit datum with a relatively short eight bits of data-protecting parity. The 32-bits of data by eight bits of parity is partitioned into eight 4-bit nibbles and two 4-bit nibbles, respectively. For data flowing towards the processor the data and parity nibbles are checked in parallel and in a single operation employing a dual orthogonal basis technique. The dual orthogonal basis increase the efficiency of the implementation. Any one of ten (eight data, two parity) nibbles are correctable if erroneous, or two different erroneous nibbles are detectable. For data flowing away from the processor the appropriate parity nibble values are calculated and transmitted to the system along with the data. The device regenerates parity values for data flowing in either direction and compares regenerated to generated parity with a totally self-checking equality checker. As such, the device is self-validating and enabled to both detect and indicate an occurrence of an internal failure. A generalization of the device to protect 64-bit data with 16-bit parity to protect against byte-wide errors is also presented. 8 figures.

Improving treatment plan evaluation with automation.

PubMed

Covington, Elizabeth L; Chen, Xiaoping; Younge, Kelly C; Lee, Choonik; Matuszak, Martha M; Kessler, Marc L; Keranen, Wayne; Acosta, Eduardo; Dougherty, Ashley M; Filpansick, Stephanie E; Moran, Jean M

2016-11-08

The goal of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of Plan-Checker Tool (PCT) which was created to improve first-time plan quality, reduce patient delays, increase the efficiency of our electronic workflow, and standardize and automate the phys-ics plan review in the treatment planning system (TPS). PCT uses an application programming interface to check and compare data from the TPS and treatment management system (TMS). PCT includes a comprehensive checklist of automated and manual checks that are documented when performed by the user as part of a plan readiness check for treatment. Prior to and during PCT development, errors identified during the physics review and causes of patient treatment start delays were tracked to prioritize which checks should be automated. Nineteen of 33checklist items were automated, with data extracted with PCT. There was a 60% reduction in the number of patient delays in the six months after PCT release. PCT was suc-cessfully implemented for use on all external beam treatment plans in our clinic. While the number of errors found during the physics check did not decrease, automation of checks increased visibility of errors during the physics check, which led to decreased patient delays. The methods used here can be applied to any TMS and TPS that allows queries of the database. © 2016 The Authors.

A Possible Tool for Checking Errors in the INAA Results, Based on Neutron Data and Method Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cincu, Em.; Grigore, Ioana Manea; Barbos, D.; Cazan, I. L.; Manu, V.

2008-08-01

This work presents preliminary results of a new type of possible application in the INAA experiments of elemental analysis, useful to check errors occurred during investigation of unknown samples; it relies on the INAA method validation experiments and accuracy of the neutron data from the literature. The paper comprises 2 sections, the first one presents—in short—the steps of the experimental tests carried out for INAA method validation and for establishing the `ACTIVA-N' laboratory performance, which is-at the same time-an illustration of the laboratory evolution on the way to get performance. Section 2 presents our recent INAA results on CRMs, of which interpretation opens discussions about the usefulness of using a tool for checking possible errors, different from the usual statistical procedures. The questionable aspects and the requirements to develop a practical checking tool are discussed.

Found Poems, Member Checking and Crises of Representation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reilly, Rosemary C.

2013-01-01

In order to establish veracity, qualitative researchers frequently rely on member checks to insure credibility by giving participants opportunities to correct errors, challenge interpretations and assess results; however, member checks are not without drawbacks. This paper describes an innovative approach to conducting member checks. Six members…

Symbolic Analysis of Concurrent Programs with Polymorphism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rungta, Neha Shyam

2010-01-01

The current trend of multi-core and multi-processor computing is causing a paradigm shift from inherently sequential to highly concurrent and parallel applications. Certain thread interleavings, data input values, or combinations of both often cause errors in the system. Systematic verification techniques such as explicit state model checking and symbolic execution are extensively used to detect errors in such systems [7, 9]. Explicit state model checking enumerates possible thread schedules and input data values of a program in order to check for errors [3, 9]. To partially mitigate the state space explosion from data input values, symbolic execution techniques substitute data input values with symbolic values [5, 7, 6]. Explicit state model checking and symbolic execution techniques used in conjunction with exhaustive search techniques such as depth-first search are unable to detect errors in medium to large-sized concurrent programs because the number of behaviors caused by data and thread non-determinism is extremely large. We present an overview of abstraction-guided symbolic execution for concurrent programs that detects errors manifested by a combination of thread schedules and data values [8]. The technique generates a set of key program locations relevant in testing the reachability of the target locations. The symbolic execution is then guided along these locations in an attempt to generate a feasible execution path to the error state. This allows the execution to focus in parts of the behavior space more likely to contain an error.

Analysis of Solar Spectral Irradiance Measurements from the SBUV/2-Series and the SSBUV Instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cebula, Richard P.; DeLand, Matthew T.; Hilsenrath, Ernest

1997-01-01

During this period of performance, 1 March 1997 - 31 August 1997, the NOAA-11 SBUV/2 solar spectral irradiance data set was validated using both internal and external assessments. Initial quality checking revealed minor problems with the data (e.g. residual goniometric errors, that were manifest as differences between the two scans acquired each day). The sources of these errors were determined and the errors were corrected. Time series were constructed for selected wavelengths and the solar irradiance changes measured by the instrument were compared to a Mg II proxy-based model of short- and long-term solar irradiance variations. This analysis suggested that errors due to residual, uncorrected long-term instrument drift have been reduced to less than 1-2% over the entire 5.5 year NOAA-11 data record. Detailed statistical analysis was performed. This analysis, which will be documented in a manuscript now in preparation, conclusively demonstrates the evolution of solar rotation periodicity and strength during solar cycle 22.

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

Ford, Eric C., E-mail: eford@uw.edu; Terezakis, Stephanie; Souranis, Annette

Purpose: To quantify the error-detection effectiveness of commonly used quality control (QC) measures. Methods: We analyzed incidents from 2007-2010 logged into a voluntary in-house, electronic incident learning systems at 2 academic radiation oncology clinics. None of the incidents resulted in patient harm. Each incident was graded for potential severity using the French Nuclear Safety Authority scoring scale; high potential severity incidents (score >3) were considered, along with a subset of 30 randomly chosen low severity incidents. Each report was evaluated to identify which of 15 common QC checks could have detected it. The effectiveness was calculated, defined as the percentagemore » of incidents that each QC measure could detect, both for individual QC checks and for combinations of checks. Results: In total, 4407 incidents were reported, 292 of which had high-potential severity. High- and low-severity incidents were detectable by 4.0 {+-} 2.3 (mean {+-} SD) and 2.6 {+-} 1.4 QC checks, respectively (P<.001). All individual checks were less than 50% sensitive with the exception of pretreatment plan review by a physicist (63%). An effectiveness of 97% was achieved with 7 checks used in combination and was not further improved with more checks. The combination of checks with the highest effectiveness includes physics plan review, physician plan review, Electronic Portal Imaging Device-based in vivo portal dosimetry, radiation therapist timeout, weekly physics chart check, the use of checklists, port films, and source-to-skin distance checks. Some commonly used QC checks such as pretreatment intensity modulated radiation therapy QA do not substantially add to the ability to detect errors in these data. Conclusions: The effectiveness of QC measures in radiation oncology depends sensitively on which checks are used and in which combinations. A small percentage of errors cannot be detected by any of the standard formal QC checks currently in broad use, suggesting that further improvements are needed. These data require confirmation with a broader incident-reporting database.« less

Calibration procedure for a laser triangulation scanner with uncertainty evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Genta, Gianfranco; Minetola, Paolo; Barbato, Giulio

2016-11-01

Most of low cost 3D scanning devices that are nowadays available on the market are sold without a user calibration procedure to correct measurement errors related to changes in environmental conditions. In addition, there is no specific international standard defining a procedure to check the performance of a 3D scanner along time. This paper aims at detailing a thorough methodology to calibrate a 3D scanner and assess its measurement uncertainty. The proposed procedure is based on the use of a reference ball plate and applied to a triangulation laser scanner. Experimental results show that the metrological performance of the instrument can be greatly improved by the application of the calibration procedure that corrects systematic errors and reduces the device's measurement uncertainty.

Coil motion effects in watt balances: a theoretical check

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shisong; Schlamminger, Stephan; Haddad, Darine; Seifert, Frank; Chao, Leon; Pratt, Jon R.

2016-04-01

A watt balance is a precision apparatus for the measurement of the Planck constant that has been proposed as a primary method for realizing the unit of mass in a revised International System of Units. In contrast to an ampere balance, which was historically used to realize the unit of current in terms of the kilogram, the watt balance relates electrical and mechanical units through a virtual power measurement and has far greater precision. However, because the virtual power measurement requires the execution of a prescribed motion of a coil in a fixed magnetic field, systematic errors introduced by horizontal and rotational deviations of the coil from its prescribed path will compromise the accuracy. We model these potential errors using an analysis that accounts for the fringing field in the magnet, creating a framework for assessing the impact of this class of errors on the uncertainty of watt balance results.

Reducing Check-in Errors at Brigham Young University through Statistical Process Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spackman, N. Andrew

2005-01-01

The relationship between the library and its patrons is damaged and the library's reputation suffers when returned items are not checked in. An informal survey reveals librarians' concern for this problem and their efforts to combat it, although few libraries collect objective measurements of errors or the effects of improvement efforts. Brigham…

Improving treatment plan evaluation with automation

PubMed Central

Covington, Elizabeth L.; Chen, Xiaoping; Younge, Kelly C.; Lee, Choonik; Matuszak, Martha M.; Kessler, Marc L.; Keranen, Wayne; Acosta, Eduardo; Dougherty, Ashley M.; Filpansick, Stephanie E.

2016-01-01

The goal of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of Plan‐Checker Tool (PCT) which was created to improve first‐time plan quality, reduce patient delays, increase the efficiency of our electronic workflow, and standardize and automate the physics plan review in the treatment planning system (TPS). PCT uses an application programming interface to check and compare data from the TPS and treatment management system (TMS). PCT includes a comprehensive checklist of automated and manual checks that are documented when performed by the user as part of a plan readiness check for treatment. Prior to and during PCT development, errors identified during the physics review and causes of patient treatment start delays were tracked to prioritize which checks should be automated. Nineteen of 33 checklist items were automated, with data extracted with PCT. There was a 60% reduction in the number of patient delays in the six months after PCT release. PCT was successfully implemented for use on all external beam treatment plans in our clinic. While the number of errors found during the physics check did not decrease, automation of checks increased visibility of errors during the physics check, which led to decreased patient delays. The methods used here can be applied to any TMS and TPS that allows queries of the database. PACS number(s): 87.55.‐x, 87.55.N‐, 87.55.Qr, 87.55.tm, 89.20.Bb PMID:27929478

ITS version 5.0 : the integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes.

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

Franke, Brian Claude; Kensek, Ronald Patrick; Laub, Thomas William

ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state of the art Monte Carlo solution of linear time-independent couple electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Our goal has been to simultaneously maximize operational simplicity and physical accuracy. Through a set of preprocessor directives, the user selects one of the many ITS codes. The ease with which the makefile system is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theoristsmore » alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is provided by employing accurate cross sections, sampling distributions, and physical models for describing the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. The availability of source code permits the more sophisticated user to tailor the codes to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the codes to more complex applications. Version 5.0, the latest version of ITS, contains (1) improvements to the ITS 3.0 continuous-energy codes, (2)multigroup codes with adjoint transport capabilities, and (3) parallel implementations of all ITS codes. Moreover the general user friendliness of the software has been enhanced through increased internal error checking and improved code portability.« less

Method of Error Floor Mitigation in Low-Density Parity-Check Codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamkins, Jon (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A digital communication decoding method for low-density parity-check coded messages. The decoding method decodes the low-density parity-check coded messages within a bipartite graph having check nodes and variable nodes. Messages from check nodes are partially hard limited, so that every message which would otherwise have a magnitude at or above a certain level is re-assigned to a maximum magnitude.

Foundations of planetary quarantine.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, L. B.; Lyle, R. G.

1971-01-01

Discussion of some of the problems in microbiology and engineering involved in the implementation of planetary quarantine. It is shown that the solutions require new knowledge in both disciplines for success at low cost in terms of both monetary outlay and man's further exploration of the planets. A related problem exists in that engineers are not accustomed to the wide variation of biological data and microbiologists must learn to work and think in more exact terms. Those responsible for formulating or influencing national and international policies must walk a tightrope with delicate balance between unnecessarily stringent requirements for planetary quarantine on the one hand and prevention of contamination on the other. The success of planetary quarantine measures can be assured only by rigorous measures, each checked, rechecked, and triple-checked to make sure that no errors have been made and that no factor has been overlooked.

Normality Tests for Statistical Analysis: A Guide for Non-Statisticians

PubMed Central

Ghasemi, Asghar; Zahediasl, Saleh

2012-01-01

Statistical errors are common in scientific literature and about 50% of the published articles have at least one error. The assumption of normality needs to be checked for many statistical procedures, namely parametric tests, because their validity depends on it. The aim of this commentary is to overview checking for normality in statistical analysis using SPSS. PMID:23843808

Quality control quantification (QCQ): a tool to measure the value of quality control checks in radiation oncology.

PubMed

Ford, Eric C; Terezakis, Stephanie; Souranis, Annette; Harris, Kendra; Gay, Hiram; Mutic, Sasa

2012-11-01

To quantify the error-detection effectiveness of commonly used quality control (QC) measures. We analyzed incidents from 2007-2010 logged into a voluntary in-house, electronic incident learning systems at 2 academic radiation oncology clinics. None of the incidents resulted in patient harm. Each incident was graded for potential severity using the French Nuclear Safety Authority scoring scale; high potential severity incidents (score >3) were considered, along with a subset of 30 randomly chosen low severity incidents. Each report was evaluated to identify which of 15 common QC checks could have detected it. The effectiveness was calculated, defined as the percentage of incidents that each QC measure could detect, both for individual QC checks and for combinations of checks. In total, 4407 incidents were reported, 292 of which had high-potential severity. High- and low-severity incidents were detectable by 4.0 ± 2.3 (mean ± SD) and 2.6 ± 1.4 QC checks, respectively (P<.001). All individual checks were less than 50% sensitive with the exception of pretreatment plan review by a physicist (63%). An effectiveness of 97% was achieved with 7 checks used in combination and was not further improved with more checks. The combination of checks with the highest effectiveness includes physics plan review, physician plan review, Electronic Portal Imaging Device-based in vivo portal dosimetry, radiation therapist timeout, weekly physics chart check, the use of checklists, port films, and source-to-skin distance checks. Some commonly used QC checks such as pretreatment intensity modulated radiation therapy QA do not substantially add to the ability to detect errors in these data. The effectiveness of QC measures in radiation oncology depends sensitively on which checks are used and in which combinations. A small percentage of errors cannot be detected by any of the standard formal QC checks currently in broad use, suggesting that further improvements are needed. These data require confirmation with a broader incident-reporting database. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On-orbit observations of single event upset in Harris HM-6508 1K RAMs, reissue A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, J. B.; Mandel, R.

1987-02-01

The Harris HM-6508 1K x 1 RAMs are part of a subsystem of a satellite in a low, polar orbit. The memory module, used in the subsystem containing the RAMs, consists of three printed circuit cards, with each card containing eight 2K byte memory hybrids, for a total of 48K bytes. Each memory hybrid contains 16 HM-6508 RAM chips. On a regular basis all but 256 bytes of the 48K bytes are examined for bit errors. Two different techniques were used for detecting bit errors. The first technique, a memory check sum, was capable of automatically detecting all single bit and some double bit errors which occurred within a page of memory. A memory page consists of 256 bytes. Memory check sum tests are performed approximately every 90 minutes. To detect a multiple error or to determine the exact location of the bit error within the page the entire contents of the memory is dumped and compared to the load file. Memory dumps are normally performed once a month, or immediately after the check sum routine detects an error. Once the exact location of the error is found, the correct value is reloaded into memory. After the memory is reloaded, the contents of the memory location in question is verified in order to determine if the error was a soft error generated by an SEU or a hard error generated by a part failure or cosmic-ray induced latchup.

Outpatient Prescribing Errors and the Impact of Computerized Prescribing

PubMed Central

Gandhi, Tejal K; Weingart, Saul N; Seger, Andrew C; Borus, Joshua; Burdick, Elisabeth; Poon, Eric G; Leape, Lucian L; Bates, David W

2005-01-01

Background Medication errors are common among inpatients and many are preventable with computerized prescribing. Relatively little is known about outpatient prescribing errors or the impact of computerized prescribing in this setting. Objective To assess the rates, types, and severity of outpatient prescribing errors and understand the potential impact of computerized prescribing. Design Prospective cohort study in 4 adult primary care practices in Boston using prescription review, patient survey, and chart review to identify medication errors, potential adverse drug events (ADEs) and preventable ADEs. Participants Outpatients over age 18 who received a prescription from 24 participating physicians. Results We screened 1879 prescriptions from 1202 patients, and completed 661 surveys (response rate 55%). Of the prescriptions, 143 (7.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.4% to 8.8%) contained a prescribing error. Three errors led to preventable ADEs and 62 (43%; 3% of all prescriptions) had potential for patient injury (potential ADEs); 1 was potentially life-threatening (2%) and 15 were serious (24%). Errors in frequency (n=77, 54%) and dose (n=26, 18%) were common. The rates of medication errors and potential ADEs were not significantly different at basic computerized prescribing sites (4.3% vs 11.0%, P=.31; 2.6% vs 4.0%, P=.16) compared to handwritten sites. Advanced checks (including dose and frequency checking) could have prevented 95% of potential ADEs. Conclusions Prescribing errors occurred in 7.6% of outpatient prescriptions and many could have harmed patients. Basic computerized prescribing systems may not be adequate to reduce errors. More advanced systems with dose and frequency checking are likely needed to prevent potentially harmful errors. PMID:16117752

The effectiveness of pretreatment physics plan review for detecting errors in radiation therapy

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

Gopan, Olga; Zeng, Jing; Novak, Avrey

Purpose: The pretreatment physics plan review is a standard tool for ensuring treatment quality. Studies have shown that the majority of errors in radiation oncology originate in treatment planning, which underscores the importance of the pretreatment physics plan review. This quality assurance measure is fundamentally important and central to the safety of patients and the quality of care that they receive. However, little is known about its effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to analyze reported incidents to quantify the effectiveness of the pretreatment physics plan review with the goal of improving it. Methods: This study analyzed 522 potentiallymore » severe or critical near-miss events within an institutional incident learning system collected over a three-year period. Of these 522 events, 356 originated at a workflow point that was prior to the pretreatment physics plan review. The remaining 166 events originated after the pretreatment physics plan review and were not considered in the study. The applicable 356 events were classified into one of the three categories: (1) events detected by the pretreatment physics plan review, (2) events not detected but “potentially detectable” by the physics review, and (3) events “not detectable” by the physics review. Potentially detectable events were further classified by which specific checks performed during the pretreatment physics plan review detected or could have detected the event. For these events, the associated specific check was also evaluated as to the possibility of automating that check given current data structures. For comparison, a similar analysis was carried out on 81 events from the international SAFRON radiation oncology incident learning system. Results: Of the 356 applicable events from the institutional database, 180/356 (51%) were detected or could have been detected by the pretreatment physics plan review. Of these events, 125 actually passed through the physics review; however, only 38% (47/125) were actually detected at the review. Of the 81 events from the SAFRON database, 66/81 (81%) were potentially detectable by the pretreatment physics plan review. From the institutional database, three specific physics checks were particularly effective at detecting events (combined effectiveness of 38%): verifying the isocenter (39/180), verifying DRRs (17/180), and verifying that the plan matched the prescription (12/180). The most effective checks from the SAFRON database were verifying that the plan matched the prescription (13/66) and verifying the field parameters in the record and verify system against those in the plan (23/66). Software-based plan checking systems, if available, would have potential effectiveness of 29% and 64% at detecting events from the institutional and SAFRON databases, respectively. Conclusions: Pretreatment physics plan review is a key safety measure and can detect a high percentage of errors. However, the majority of errors that potentially could have been detected were not detected in this study, indicating the need to improve the pretreatment physics plan review performance. Suggestions for improvement include the automation of specific physics checks performed during the pretreatment physics plan review and the standardization of the review process.« less

The effectiveness of pretreatment physics plan review for detecting errors in radiation therapy.

PubMed

Gopan, Olga; Zeng, Jing; Novak, Avrey; Nyflot, Matthew; Ford, Eric

2016-09-01

The pretreatment physics plan review is a standard tool for ensuring treatment quality. Studies have shown that the majority of errors in radiation oncology originate in treatment planning, which underscores the importance of the pretreatment physics plan review. This quality assurance measure is fundamentally important and central to the safety of patients and the quality of care that they receive. However, little is known about its effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to analyze reported incidents to quantify the effectiveness of the pretreatment physics plan review with the goal of improving it. This study analyzed 522 potentially severe or critical near-miss events within an institutional incident learning system collected over a three-year period. Of these 522 events, 356 originated at a workflow point that was prior to the pretreatment physics plan review. The remaining 166 events originated after the pretreatment physics plan review and were not considered in the study. The applicable 356 events were classified into one of the three categories: (1) events detected by the pretreatment physics plan review, (2) events not detected but "potentially detectable" by the physics review, and (3) events "not detectable" by the physics review. Potentially detectable events were further classified by which specific checks performed during the pretreatment physics plan review detected or could have detected the event. For these events, the associated specific check was also evaluated as to the possibility of automating that check given current data structures. For comparison, a similar analysis was carried out on 81 events from the international SAFRON radiation oncology incident learning system. Of the 356 applicable events from the institutional database, 180/356 (51%) were detected or could have been detected by the pretreatment physics plan review. Of these events, 125 actually passed through the physics review; however, only 38% (47/125) were actually detected at the review. Of the 81 events from the SAFRON database, 66/81 (81%) were potentially detectable by the pretreatment physics plan review. From the institutional database, three specific physics checks were particularly effective at detecting events (combined effectiveness of 38%): verifying the isocenter (39/180), verifying DRRs (17/180), and verifying that the plan matched the prescription (12/180). The most effective checks from the SAFRON database were verifying that the plan matched the prescription (13/66) and verifying the field parameters in the record and verify system against those in the plan (23/66). Software-based plan checking systems, if available, would have potential effectiveness of 29% and 64% at detecting events from the institutional and SAFRON databases, respectively. Pretreatment physics plan review is a key safety measure and can detect a high percentage of errors. However, the majority of errors that potentially could have been detected were not detected in this study, indicating the need to improve the pretreatment physics plan review performance. Suggestions for improvement include the automation of specific physics checks performed during the pretreatment physics plan review and the standardization of the review process.

Finding Feasible Abstract Counter-Examples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pasareanu, Corina S.; Dwyer, Matthew B.; Visser, Willem; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A strength of model checking is its ability to automate the detection of subtle system errors and produce traces that exhibit those errors. Given the high computational cost of model checking most researchers advocate the use of aggressive property-preserving abstractions. Unfortunately, the more aggressively a system is abstracted the more infeasible behavior it will have. Thus, while abstraction enables efficient model checking it also threatens the usefulness of model checking as a defect detection tool, since it may be difficult to determine whether a counter-example is feasible and hence worth developer time to analyze. We have explored several strategies for addressing this problem by extending an explicit-state model checker, Java PathFinder (JPF), to search for and analyze counter-examples in the presence of abstractions. We demonstrate that these techniques effectively preserve the defect detection ability of model checking in the presence of aggressive abstraction by applying them to check properties of several abstracted multi-threaded Java programs. These new capabilities are not specific to JPF and can be easily adapted to other model checking frameworks; we describe how this was done for the Bandera toolset.

Improving the quality of marine geophysical track line data: Along-track analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandler, Michael T.; Wessel, Paul

2008-02-01

We have examined 4918 track line geophysics cruises archived at the U.S. National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) using comprehensive error checking methods. Each cruise was checked for observation outliers, excessive gradients, metadata consistency, and general agreement with satellite altimetry-derived gravity and predicted bathymetry grids. Thresholds for error checking were determined empirically through inspection of histograms for all geophysical values, gradients, and differences with gridded data sampled along ship tracks. Robust regression was used to detect systematic scale and offset errors found by comparing ship bathymetry and free-air anomalies to the corresponding values from global grids. We found many recurring error types in the NGDC archive, including poor navigation, inappropriately scaled or offset data, excessive gradients, and extended offsets in depth and gravity when compared to global grids. While ˜5-10% of bathymetry and free-air gravity records fail our conservative tests, residual magnetic errors may exceed twice this proportion. These errors hinder the effective use of the data and may lead to mistakes in interpretation. To enable the removal of gross errors without over-writing original cruise data, we developed an errata system that concisely reports all errors encountered in a cruise. With such errata files, scientists may share cruise corrections, thereby preventing redundant processing. We have implemented these quality control methods in the modified MGD77 supplement to the Generic Mapping Tools software suite.

Implementing parallel spreadsheet models for health policy decisions: The impact of unintentional errors on model projections

PubMed Central

Bailey, Stephanie L.; Bono, Rose S.; Nash, Denis; Kimmel, April D.

2018-01-01

Background Spreadsheet software is increasingly used to implement systems science models informing health policy decisions, both in academia and in practice where technical capacity may be limited. However, spreadsheet models are prone to unintentional errors that may not always be identified using standard error-checking techniques. Our objective was to illustrate, through a methodologic case study analysis, the impact of unintentional errors on model projections by implementing parallel model versions. Methods We leveraged a real-world need to revise an existing spreadsheet model designed to inform HIV policy. We developed three parallel versions of a previously validated spreadsheet-based model; versions differed by the spreadsheet cell-referencing approach (named single cells; column/row references; named matrices). For each version, we implemented three model revisions (re-entry into care; guideline-concordant treatment initiation; immediate treatment initiation). After standard error-checking, we identified unintentional errors by comparing model output across the three versions. Concordant model output across all versions was considered error-free. We calculated the impact of unintentional errors as the percentage difference in model projections between model versions with and without unintentional errors, using +/-5% difference to define a material error. Results We identified 58 original and 4,331 propagated unintentional errors across all model versions and revisions. Over 40% (24/58) of original unintentional errors occurred in the column/row reference model version; most (23/24) were due to incorrect cell references. Overall, >20% of model spreadsheet cells had material unintentional errors. When examining error impact along the HIV care continuum, the percentage difference between versions with and without unintentional errors ranged from +3% to +16% (named single cells), +26% to +76% (column/row reference), and 0% (named matrices). Conclusions Standard error-checking techniques may not identify all errors in spreadsheet-based models. Comparing parallel model versions can aid in identifying unintentional errors and promoting reliable model projections, particularly when resources are limited. PMID:29570737

Implementing parallel spreadsheet models for health policy decisions: The impact of unintentional errors on model projections.

PubMed

Bailey, Stephanie L; Bono, Rose S; Nash, Denis; Kimmel, April D

2018-01-01

Spreadsheet software is increasingly used to implement systems science models informing health policy decisions, both in academia and in practice where technical capacity may be limited. However, spreadsheet models are prone to unintentional errors that may not always be identified using standard error-checking techniques. Our objective was to illustrate, through a methodologic case study analysis, the impact of unintentional errors on model projections by implementing parallel model versions. We leveraged a real-world need to revise an existing spreadsheet model designed to inform HIV policy. We developed three parallel versions of a previously validated spreadsheet-based model; versions differed by the spreadsheet cell-referencing approach (named single cells; column/row references; named matrices). For each version, we implemented three model revisions (re-entry into care; guideline-concordant treatment initiation; immediate treatment initiation). After standard error-checking, we identified unintentional errors by comparing model output across the three versions. Concordant model output across all versions was considered error-free. We calculated the impact of unintentional errors as the percentage difference in model projections between model versions with and without unintentional errors, using +/-5% difference to define a material error. We identified 58 original and 4,331 propagated unintentional errors across all model versions and revisions. Over 40% (24/58) of original unintentional errors occurred in the column/row reference model version; most (23/24) were due to incorrect cell references. Overall, >20% of model spreadsheet cells had material unintentional errors. When examining error impact along the HIV care continuum, the percentage difference between versions with and without unintentional errors ranged from +3% to +16% (named single cells), +26% to +76% (column/row reference), and 0% (named matrices). Standard error-checking techniques may not identify all errors in spreadsheet-based models. Comparing parallel model versions can aid in identifying unintentional errors and promoting reliable model projections, particularly when resources are limited.

Ensuring the Quality of Data Packages in the LTER Network Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture Data Management System and Archive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Servilla, M. S.; O'Brien, M.; Costa, D.

2013-12-01

Considerable ecological research performed today occurs through the analysis of data downloaded from various repositories and archives, often resulting in derived or synthetic products generated by automated workflows. These data are only meaningful for research if they are well documented by metadata, lest semantic or data type errors may occur in interpretation or processing. The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network now screens all data packages entering its long-term archive to ensure that each package contains metadata that is complete, of high quality, and accurately describes the structure of its associated data entity and the data are structurally congruent to the metadata. Screening occurs prior to the upload of a data package into the Provenance Aware Synthesis Tracking Architecture (PASTA) data management system through a series of quality checks, thus preventing ambiguously or incorrectly documented data packages from entering the system. The quality checks within PASTA are designed to work specifically with the Ecological Metadata Language (EML), the metadata standard adopted by the LTER Network to describe data generated by their 26 research sites. Each quality check is codified in Java as part of the ecological community-supported Data Manager Library, which is a resource of the EML specification and used as a component of the PASTA software stack. Quality checks test for metadata quality, data integrity, or metadata-data congruence. Quality checks are further classified as either conditional or informational. Conditional checks issue a 'valid', 'warning' or 'error' response. Only an 'error' response blocks the data package from upload into PASTA. Informational checks only provide descriptive content pertaining to a particular facet of the data package. Quality checks are designed by a group of LTER information managers and reviewed by the LTER community before deploying into PASTA. A total of 32 quality checks have been deployed to date. Quality checks can be customized through a configurable template, which includes turning checks 'on' or 'off' and setting the severity of conditional checks. This feature is important to other potential users of the Data Manager Library who wish to configure its quality checks in accordance with the standards of their community. Executing the complete set of quality checks produces a report that describes the result of each check. The report is an XML document that is stored by PASTA for future reference.

Construction of type-II QC-LDPC codes with fast encoding based on perfect cyclic difference sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ling-xiang; Li, Hai-bing; Li, Ji-bi; Jiang, Hua

2017-09-01

In view of the problems that the encoding complexity of quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes is high and the minimum distance is not large enough which leads to the degradation of the error-correction performance, the new irregular type-II QC-LDPC codes based on perfect cyclic difference sets (CDSs) are constructed. The parity check matrices of these type-II QC-LDPC codes consist of the zero matrices with weight of 0, the circulant permutation matrices (CPMs) with weight of 1 and the circulant matrices with weight of 2 (W2CMs). The introduction of W2CMs in parity check matrices makes it possible to achieve the larger minimum distance which can improve the error- correction performance of the codes. The Tanner graphs of these codes have no girth-4, thus they have the excellent decoding convergence characteristics. In addition, because the parity check matrices have the quasi-dual diagonal structure, the fast encoding algorithm can reduce the encoding complexity effectively. Simulation results show that the new type-II QC-LDPC codes can achieve a more excellent error-correction performance and have no error floor phenomenon over the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with sum-product algorithm (SPA) iterative decoding.

Spatially coupled low-density parity-check error correction for holographic data storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishii, Norihiko; Katano, Yutaro; Muroi, Tetsuhiko; Kinoshita, Nobuhiro

2017-09-01

The spatially coupled low-density parity-check (SC-LDPC) was considered for holographic data storage. The superiority of SC-LDPC was studied by simulation. The simulations show that the performance of SC-LDPC depends on the lifting number, and when the lifting number is over 100, SC-LDPC shows better error correctability compared with irregular LDPC. SC-LDPC is applied to the 5:9 modulation code, which is one of the differential codes. The error-free point is near 2.8 dB and over 10-1 can be corrected in simulation. From these simulation results, this error correction code can be applied to actual holographic data storage test equipment. Results showed that 8 × 10-2 can be corrected, furthermore it works effectively and shows good error correctability.

A Dual Frequency Carrier Phase Error Difference Checking Algorithm for the GNSS Compass.

PubMed

Liu, Shuo; Zhang, Lei; Li, Jian

2016-11-24

The performance of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) compass is related to the quality of carrier phase measurement. How to process the carrier phase error properly is important to improve the GNSS compass accuracy. In this work, we propose a dual frequency carrier phase error difference checking algorithm for the GNSS compass. The algorithm aims at eliminating large carrier phase error in dual frequency double differenced carrier phase measurement according to the error difference between two frequencies. The advantage of the proposed algorithm is that it does not need additional environment information and has a good performance on multiple large errors compared with previous research. The core of the proposed algorithm is removing the geographical distance from the dual frequency carrier phase measurement, then the carrier phase error is separated and detectable. We generate the Double Differenced Geometry-Free (DDGF) measurement according to the characteristic that the different frequency carrier phase measurements contain the same geometrical distance. Then, we propose the DDGF detection to detect the large carrier phase error difference between two frequencies. The theoretical performance of the proposed DDGF detection is analyzed. An open sky test, a manmade multipath test and an urban vehicle test were carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The result shows that the proposed DDGF detection is able to detect large error in dual frequency carrier phase measurement by checking the error difference between two frequencies. After the DDGF detection, the accuracy of the baseline vector is improved in the GNSS compass.

Building validation tools for knowledge-based systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stachowitz, R. A.; Chang, C. L.; Stock, T. S.; Combs, J. B.

1987-01-01

The Expert Systems Validation Associate (EVA), a validation system under development at the Lockheed Artificial Intelligence Center for more than a year, provides a wide range of validation tools to check the correctness, consistency and completeness of a knowledge-based system. A declarative meta-language (higher-order language), is used to create a generic version of EVA to validate applications written in arbitrary expert system shells. The architecture and functionality of EVA are presented. The functionality includes Structure Check, Logic Check, Extended Structure Check (using semantic information), Extended Logic Check, Semantic Check, Omission Check, Rule Refinement, Control Check, Test Case Generation, Error Localization, and Behavior Verification.

LACIE performance predictor final operational capability program description, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The program EPHEMS computes the orbital parameters for up to two vehicles orbiting the earth for up to 549 days. The data represents a continuous swath about the earth, producing tables which can be used to determine when and if certain land segments will be covered. The program GRID processes NASA's climatology tape to obtain the weather indices along with associated latitudes and longitudes. The program LUMP takes substrata historical data and sample segment ID, crop window, crop window error and statistical data, checks for valid input parameters and generates the segment ID file, crop window file and the substrata historical file. Finally, the System Error Executive (SEE) Program checks YES error and truth data, CAMS error data, and signature extension data for validity and missing elements. A message is printed for each error found.

A Game-Theoretic Approach to Branching Time Abstract-Check-Refine Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Yi; Tamai, Tetsuo

2009-01-01

Since the complexity of software systems continues to grow, most engineers face two serious problems: the state space explosion problem and the problem of how to debug systems. In this paper, we propose a game-theoretic approach to full branching time model checking on three-valued semantics. The three-valued models and logics provide successful abstraction that overcomes the state space explosion problem. The game style model checking that generates counter-examples can guide refinement or identify validated formulas, which solves the system debugging problem. Furthermore, output of our game style method will give significant information to engineers in detecting where errors have occurred and what the causes of the errors are.

Sensor Authentication: Embedded Processor Code

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

Svoboda, John

2012-09-25

Described is the c code running on the embedded Microchip 32bit PIC32MX575F256H located on the INL developed noise analysis circuit board. The code performs the following functions: Controls the noise analysis circuit board preamplifier voltage gains of 1, 10, 100, 000 Initializes the analog to digital conversion hardware, input channel selection, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) function, USB communications interface, and internal memory allocations Initiates high resolution 4096 point 200 kHz data acquisition Computes complex 2048 point FFT and FFT magnitude. Services Host command set Transfers raw data to Host Transfers FFT result to host Communication error checking

SU-F-T-251: The Quality Assurance for the Heavy Patient Load Department in the Developing Country: The Primary Experience of An Entire Workflow QA Process Management in Radiotherapy

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

Xie, J; Wang, J; Peng, J

Purpose: To implement an entire workflow quality assurance (QA) process in the radiotherapy department and to reduce the error rates of radiotherapy based on the entire workflow management in the developing country. Methods: The entire workflow QA process management starts from patient registration to the end of last treatment including all steps through the entire radiotherapy process. Error rate of chartcheck is used to evaluate the the entire workflow QA process. Two to three qualified senior medical physicists checked the documents before the first treatment fraction of every patient. Random check of the treatment history during treatment was also performed.more » A total of around 6000 patients treatment data before and after implementing the entire workflow QA process were compared from May, 2014 to December, 2015. Results: A systemic checklist was established. It mainly includes patient’s registration, treatment plan QA, information exporting to OIS(Oncology Information System), documents of treatment QAand QA of the treatment history. The error rate derived from the chart check decreases from 1.7% to 0.9% after our the entire workflow QA process. All checked errors before the first treatment fraction were corrected as soon as oncologist re-confirmed them and reinforce staff training was accordingly followed to prevent those errors. Conclusion: The entire workflow QA process improved the safety, quality of radiotherapy in our department and we consider that our QA experience can be applicable for the heavily-loaded radiotherapy departments in developing country.« less

Probability of Detection of Genotyping Errors and Mutations as Inheritance Inconsistencies in Nuclear-Family Data

PubMed Central

Douglas, Julie A.; Skol, Andrew D.; Boehnke, Michael

2002-01-01

Gene-mapping studies routinely rely on checking for Mendelian transmission of marker alleles in a pedigree, as a means of screening for genotyping errors and mutations, with the implicit assumption that, if a pedigree is consistent with Mendel’s laws of inheritance, then there are no genotyping errors. However, the occurrence of inheritance inconsistencies alone is an inadequate measure of the number of genotyping errors, since the rate of occurrence depends on the number and relationships of genotyped pedigree members, the type of errors, and the distribution of marker-allele frequencies. In this article, we calculate the expected probability of detection of a genotyping error or mutation as an inheritance inconsistency in nuclear-family data, as a function of both the number of genotyped parents and offspring and the marker-allele frequency distribution. Through computer simulation, we explore the sensitivity of our analytic calculations to the underlying error model. Under a random-allele–error model, we find that detection rates are 51%–77% for multiallelic markers and 13%–75% for biallelic markers; detection rates are generally lower when the error occurs in a parent than in an offspring, unless a large number of offspring are genotyped. Errors are especially difficult to detect for biallelic markers with equally frequent alleles, even when both parents are genotyped; in this case, the maximum detection rate is 34% for four-person nuclear families. Error detection in families in which parents are not genotyped is limited, even with multiallelic markers. Given these results, we recommend that additional error checking (e.g., on the basis of multipoint analysis) be performed, beyond routine checking for Mendelian consistency. Furthermore, our results permit assessment of the plausibility of an observed number of inheritance inconsistencies for a family, allowing the detection of likely pedigree—rather than genotyping—errors in the early stages of a genome scan. Such early assessments are valuable in either the targeting of families for resampling or discontinued genotyping. PMID:11791214

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

Tan, J; Pompos, A; Jiang, S

Purpose: To put forth an innovative clinical paradigm for weekly chart checking so that treatment status is periodically checked accurately and efficiently. This study also aims to help optimize the chart checking clinical workflow in a busy radiation therapy clinic. Methods: It is mandated by the Texas Administrative code to check patient charts of radiation therapy once a week or every five fractions, however it varies drastically among institutions in terms of when and how it is done. Some do it every day, but a lot of efforts are wasted on opening ineligible charts; some do it on a fixedmore » day but the distribution of intervals between subsequent checks is not optimal. To establish an optimal chart checking procedure, a new paradigm was developed to achieve 1) charts are checked more accurately and more efficiently; 2) charts are checked on optimal days without any miss; 3) workload is evened out throughout a week when multiple physicists are involved. All active charts will be accessed by querying the R&V system. Priority is assigned to each chart based on the number of days before the next due date followed by sorting and workload distribution steps. New charts are also taken into account when distributing the workload so it is reasonably even throughout the week. Results: Our clinical workflow became more streamlined and smooth. In addition, charts get checked in a more timely fashion so that errors would get caught earlier should they occur. Conclusion: We developed a new weekly chart checking diagram. It helps physicists check charts in a timely manner, saves their time in busy clinics, and consequently reduces possible errors.« less

Algorithm design for automated transportation photo enforcement camera image and video quality diagnostic check modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raghavan, Ajay; Saha, Bhaskar

2013-03-01

Photo enforcement devices for traffic rules such as red lights, toll, stops, and speed limits are increasingly being deployed in cities and counties around the world to ensure smooth traffic flow and public safety. These are typically unattended fielded systems, and so it is important to periodically check them for potential image/video quality problems that might interfere with their intended functionality. There is interest in automating such checks to reduce the operational overhead and human error involved in manually checking large camera device fleets. Examples of problems affecting such camera devices include exposure issues, focus drifts, obstructions, misalignment, download errors, and motion blur. Furthermore, in some cases, in addition to the sub-algorithms for individual problems, one also has to carefully design the overall algorithm and logic to check for and accurately classifying these individual problems. Some of these issues can occur in tandem or have the potential to be confused for each other by automated algorithms. Examples include camera misalignment that can cause some scene elements to go out of focus for wide-area scenes or download errors that can be misinterpreted as an obstruction. Therefore, the sequence in which the sub-algorithms are utilized is also important. This paper presents an overview of these problems along with no-reference and reduced reference image and video quality solutions to detect and classify such faults.

Detection of IMRT delivery errors based on a simple constancy check of transit dose by using an EPID

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baek, Tae Seong; Chung, Eun Ji; Son, Jaeman; Yoon, Myonggeun

2015-11-01

Beam delivery errors during intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were detected based on a simple constancy check of the transit dose by using an electronic portal imaging device (EPID). Twenty-one IMRT plans were selected from various treatment sites, and the transit doses during treatment were measured by using an EPID. Transit doses were measured 11 times for each course of treatment, and the constancy check was based on gamma index (3%/3 mm) comparisons between a reference dose map (the first measured transit dose) and test dose maps (the following ten measured dose maps). In a simulation using an anthropomorphic phantom, the average passing rate of the tested transit dose was 100% for three representative treatment sites (head & neck, chest, and pelvis), indicating that IMRT was highly constant for normal beam delivery. The average passing rate of the transit dose for 1224 IMRT fields from 21 actual patients was 97.6% ± 2.5%, with the lower rate possibly being due to inaccuracies of patient positioning or anatomic changes. An EPIDbased simple constancy check may provide information about IMRT beam delivery errors during treatment.

Examining Passenger Flow Choke Points at Airports Using Discrete Event Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Jeremy R.; Madhavan, Poomima

2011-01-01

The movement of passengers through an airport quickly, safely, and efficiently is the main function of the various checkpoints (check-in, security. etc) found in airports. Human error combined with other breakdowns in the complex system of the airport can disrupt passenger flow through the airport leading to lengthy waiting times, missing luggage and missed flights. In this paper we present a model of passenger flow through an airport using discrete event simulation that will provide a closer look into the possible reasons for breakdowns and their implications for passenger flow. The simulation is based on data collected at Norfolk International Airport (ORF). The primary goal of this simulation is to present ways to optimize the work force to keep passenger flow smooth even during peak travel times and for emergency preparedness at ORF in case of adverse events. In this simulation we ran three different scenarios: real world, increased check-in stations, and multiple waiting lines. Increased check-in stations increased waiting time and instantaneous utilization. while the multiple waiting lines decreased both the waiting time and instantaneous utilization. This simulation was able to show how different changes affected the passenger flow through the airport.

Reduced circuit implementation of encoder and syndrome generator

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

Trager, Barry M; Winograd, Shmuel

An error correction method and system includes an Encoder and Syndrome-generator that operate in parallel to reduce the amount of circuitry used to compute check symbols and syndromes for error correcting codes. The system and method computes the contributions to the syndromes and check symbols 1 bit at a time instead of 1 symbol at a time. As a result, the even syndromes can be computed as powers of the odd syndromes. Further, the system assigns symbol addresses so that there are, for an example GF(2.sup.8) which has 72 symbols, three (3) blocks of addresses which differ by a cubemore » root of unity to allow the data symbols to be combined for reducing size and complexity of odd syndrome circuits. Further, the implementation circuit for generating check symbols is derived from syndrome circuit using the inverse of the part of the syndrome matrix for check locations.« less

Simultaneous message framing and error detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frey, A. H., Jr.

1968-01-01

Circuitry simultaneously inserts message framing information and detects noise errors in binary code data transmissions. Separate message groups are framed without requiring both framing bits and error-checking bits, and predetermined message sequence are separated from other message sequences without being hampered by intervening noise.

SU-E-T-210: Surviving a Visit by the Radiological Physics Center.

PubMed

Grant, W; Mcgary, J; Rosen, I; Nitsch, P; Davidson, S

2012-06-01

To demonstrate an objective approach to determining if a negative report from the Radiological Physics Center (RPC) of greater than 10% error is valid or has clinical significance. The discrepancy involved the clinical activity (mgRaEq) of Cs-137 sources, some manufactured by 3M and some by Amersham. Measurements were made in the proprietary RPC Well Counter calibrated by the MD Anderson ADCL and our Well Counter (CNMC, Model 44D) calibrated by the same laboratory as well as the University of Wisconsin ADCL. In addition, we possess an Amersham Cs-137 Check Source that had been calibrated by the UW-ADCL in 2002. All clinical sources were checked in both Well Counters on the first visit. One clinical source and the Check Source were measured in a second visit that occurred 51 days later. On the initial RPC visit, 9 of 25 sources had a minimum of an 8% discrepancy between the RPC and the Institution, with a maximum of 11%. Contributing errors included using the incorrect straw position by us, an unexplained 2.3% error in the RPC data identified 73 days post-visit, a 2% variation in Chamber Factors for our Well Counter from the two ADCL's. When we use the 2004 value of Air Kerma Strength for the Check Source to determine a Calibration Factor of the Well Counter, all sources were within 0.5% of their decayed value established in 2002. This work emphasizes the value of having simple Constancy Check systems in a Quality Assurance program as 'Accuracy' has error bars. The disagreement in calibration data between the ADCL Laboratories, which was at the 2% maximum quoted in their Calibration Reports, is a reminder that there is uncertainty in measurements. Constancy Checks allow one to sort out discrepancies and to answer challenges to the validity of your program. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Medication Errors

MedlinePlus

... at the health care provider's office, at the pharmacy, or at home. You can help prevent errors ... medicine and check to make sure that the pharmacy gave you the right medicine. Make sure that ...

Comparison of medication safety systems in critical access hospitals: Combined analysis of two studies.

PubMed

Cochran, Gary L; Barrett, Ryan S; Horn, Susan D

2016-08-01

The role of pharmacist transcription, onsite pharmacist dispensing, use of automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs), nurse-nurse double checks, or barcode-assisted medication administration (BCMA) in reducing medication error rates in critical access hospitals (CAHs) was evaluated. Investigators used the practice-based evidence methodology to identify predictors of medication errors in 12 Nebraska CAHs. Detailed information about each medication administered was recorded through direct observation. Errors were identified by comparing the observed medication administered with the physician's order. Chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact test were used to measure differences between groups of medication-dispensing procedures. Nurses observed 6497 medications being administered to 1374 patients. The overall error rate was 1.2%. The transcription error rates for orders transcribed by an onsite pharmacist were slightly lower than for orders transcribed by a telepharmacy service (0.10% and 0.33%, respectively). Fewer dispensing errors occurred when medications were dispensed by an onsite pharmacist versus any other method of medication acquisition (0.10% versus 0.44%, p = 0.0085). The rates of dispensing errors for medications that were retrieved from a single-cell ADC (0.19%), a multicell ADC (0.45%), or a drug closet or general supply (0.77%) did not differ significantly. BCMA was associated with a higher proportion of dispensing and administration errors intercepted before reaching the patient (66.7%) compared with either manual double checks (10%) or no BCMA or double check (30.4%) of the medication before administration (p = 0.0167). Onsite pharmacist dispensing and BCMA were associated with fewer medication errors and are important components of a medication safety strategy in CAHs. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

MPST Software: grl_pef_check

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Call, Jared A.; Kwok, John H.; Fisher, Forest W.

2013-01-01

This innovation is a tool used to verify and validate spacecraft sequences at the predicted events file (PEF) level for the GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, see http://www.nasa. gov/mission_pages/grail/main/index. html) mission as part of the Multi-Mission Planning and Sequencing Team (MPST) operations process to reduce the possibility for errors. This tool is used to catch any sequence related errors or issues immediately after the seqgen modeling to streamline downstream processes. This script verifies and validates the seqgen modeling for the GRAIL MPST process. A PEF is provided as input, and dozens of checks are performed on it to verify and validate the command products including command content, command ordering, flight-rule violations, modeling boundary consistency, resource limits, and ground commanding consistency. By performing as many checks as early in the process as possible, grl_pef_check streamlines the MPST task of generating GRAIL command and modeled products on an aggressive schedule. By enumerating each check being performed, and clearly stating the criteria and assumptions made at each step, grl_pef_check can be used as a manual checklist as well as an automated tool. This helper script was written with a focus on enabling the user with the information they need in order to evaluate a sequence quickly and efficiently, while still keeping them informed and active in the overall sequencing process. grl_pef_check verifies and validates the modeling and sequence content prior to investing any more effort into the build. There are dozens of various items in the modeling run that need to be checked, which is a time-consuming and errorprone task. Currently, no software exists that provides this functionality. Compared to a manual process, this script reduces human error and saves considerable man-hours by automating and streamlining the mission planning and sequencing task for the GRAIL mission.

Internal robustness: systematic search for systematic bias in SN Ia data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amendola, Luca; Marra, Valerio; Quartin, Miguel

2013-04-01

A great deal of effort is currently being devoted to understanding, estimating and removing systematic errors in cosmological data. In the particular case of Type Ia supernovae, systematics are starting to dominate the error budget. Here we propose a Bayesian tool for carrying out a systematic search for systematic contamination. This serves as an extension to the standard goodness-of-fit tests and allows not only to cross-check raw or processed data for the presence of systematics but also to pin-point the data that are most likely contaminated. We successfully test our tool with mock catalogues and conclude that the Union2.1 data do not possess a significant amount of systematics. Finally, we show that if one includes in Union2.1 the supernovae that originally failed the quality cuts, our tool signals the presence of systematics at over 3.8σ confidence level.

Protecting quantum memories using coherent parity check codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roffe, Joschka; Headley, David; Chancellor, Nicholas; Horsman, Dominic; Kendon, Viv

2018-07-01

Coherent parity check (CPC) codes are a new framework for the construction of quantum error correction codes that encode multiple qubits per logical block. CPC codes have a canonical structure involving successive rounds of bit and phase parity checks, supplemented by cross-checks to fix the code distance. In this paper, we provide a detailed introduction to CPC codes using conventional quantum circuit notation. We demonstrate the implementation of a CPC code on real hardware, by designing a [[4, 2, 2

Measuring Data Quality Through a Source Data Verification Audit in a Clinical Research Setting.

PubMed

Houston, Lauren; Probst, Yasmine; Humphries, Allison

2015-01-01

Health data has long been scrutinised in relation to data quality and integrity problems. Currently, no internationally accepted or "gold standard" method exists measuring data quality and error rates within datasets. We conducted a source data verification (SDV) audit on a prospective clinical trial dataset. An audit plan was applied to conduct 100% manual verification checks on a 10% random sample of participant files. A quality assurance rule was developed, whereby if >5% of data variables were incorrect a second 10% random sample would be extracted from the trial data set. Error was coded: correct, incorrect (valid or invalid), not recorded or not entered. Audit-1 had a total error of 33% and audit-2 36%. The physiological section was the only audit section to have <5% error. Data not recorded to case report forms had the greatest impact on error calculations. A significant association (p=0.00) was found between audit-1 and audit-2 and whether or not data was deemed correct or incorrect. Our study developed a straightforward method to perform a SDV audit. An audit rule was identified and error coding was implemented. Findings demonstrate that monitoring data quality by a SDV audit can identify data quality and integrity issues within clinical research settings allowing quality improvement to be made. The authors suggest this approach be implemented for future research.

Crosstalk eliminating and low-density parity-check codes for photochromic dual-wavelength storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Meicong; Xiong, Jianping; Jian, Jiqi; Jia, Huibo

2005-01-01

Multi-wavelength storage is an approach to increase the memory density with the problem of crosstalk to be deal with. We apply Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes as error-correcting codes in photochromic dual-wavelength optical storage based on the investigation of LDPC codes in optical data storage. A proper method is applied to reduce the crosstalk and simulation results show that this operation is useful to improve Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. At the same time we can conclude that LDPC codes outperform RS codes in crosstalk channel.

Automation bias: decision making and performance in high-tech cockpits.

PubMed

Mosier, K L; Skitka, L J; Heers, S; Burdick, M

1997-01-01

Automated aids and decision support tools are rapidly becoming indispensable tools in high-technology cockpits and are assuming increasing control of"cognitive" flight tasks, such as calculating fuel-efficient routes, navigating, or detecting and diagnosing system malfunctions and abnormalities. This study was designed to investigate automation bias, a recently documented factor in the use of automated aids and decision support systems. The term refers to omission and commission errors resulting from the use of automated cues as a heuristic replacement for vigilant information seeking and processing. Glass-cockpit pilots flew flight scenarios involving automation events or opportunities for automation-related omission and commission errors. Although experimentally manipulated accountability demands did not significantly impact performance, post hoc analyses revealed that those pilots who reported an internalized perception of "accountability" for their performance and strategies of interaction with the automation were significantly more likely to double-check automated functioning against other cues and less likely to commit errors than those who did not share this perception. Pilots were also lilkely to erroneously "remember" the presence of expected cues when describing their decision-making processes.

Review of the energy check of an electron-only linear accelerator over a 6 year period: sensitivity of the technique to energy shift.

PubMed

Biggs, Peter J

2003-04-01

The calibration and monthly QA of an electron-only linear accelerator dedicated to intra-operative radiation therapy has been reviewed. Since this machine is calibrated prior to every procedure, there was no necessity to adjust the output calibration at any time except, perhaps, when the magnetron is changed, provided the machine output is reasonably stable. This gives a unique opportunity to study the dose output of the machine per monitor unit, variation in the timer error, flatness and symmetry of the beam and the energy check as a function of time. The results show that, although the dose per monitor unit varied within +/- 2%, the timer error within +/- 0.005 MU and the asymmetry within 1-2%, none of these parameters showed any systematic change with time. On the other hand, the energy check showed a linear drift with time for 6, 9, and 12 MeV (2.1, 3.5, and 2.5%, respectively, over 5 years), while at 15 and 18 MeV, the energy check was relatively constant. It is further shown that based on annual calibrations and RPC TLD checks, the energy of each beam is constant and that therefore the energy check is an exquisitely sensitive one. The consistency of the independent checks is demonstrated.

SU-D-BRD-01: An Automated Physics Weekly Chart Checking System Supporting ARIA

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

Chang, X; Yang, D

Purpose: A software tool was developed in this study to perform automatic weekly physics chart check on the patient data in ARIA. The tool accesses the electronic patient data directly from ARIA server and checks the accuracy of treatment deliveries, and generates reports which summarize the delivery history and highlight the errors. Methods: The tool has four modules. 1) The database interface is designed to directly access treatment delivery data from the ARIA database before reorganizing the data into the patient chart tree (PCT). 2) PCT is a core data structure designed to store and organize the data in logicalmore » hierarchies, and to be passed among functions. 3) The treatment data check module analyzes the organized data in PCT and stores the checking results into PCT. 4) Report generation module generates reports containing the treatment delivery summary, chart checking results and plots of daily treatment setup parameters (couch table positions, shifts of image guidance). The errors that are found by the tool are highlighted with colors. Results: The weekly check tool has been implemented in MATLAB and clinically tested at two major cancer centers. Javascript, cascading style sheets (CSS) and dynamic HTML were employed to create the user-interactive reports. It takes 0.06 second to search the delivery records of one beam with PCT and compare the delivery records with beam plan. The reports, saved in the HTML files on shared network folder, can be accessed by web browser on computers and mobile devices. Conclusion: The presented weekly check tool is useful to check the electronic patient treatment data in Varian ARIA system. It could be more efficient and reliable than the manually check by physicists. The work was partially supported by a research grant from Varian Medical System.« less

Reduction of image-based ADI-to-AEI overlay inconsistency with improved algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yen-Liang; Lin, Shu-Hong; Chen, Kai-Hsiung; Ke, Chih-Ming; Gau, Tsai-Sheng

2013-04-01

In image-based overlay (IBO) measurement, the measurement quality of various measurement spectra can be judged by quality indicators and also the ADI-to-AEI similarity to determine the optimum light spectrum. However we found some IBO measured results showing erroneous indication of wafer expansion from the difference between the ADI and the AEI maps, even after their measurement spectra were optimized. To reduce this inconsistency, an improved image calculation algorithm is proposed in this paper. Different gray levels composed of inner- and outer-box contours are extracted to calculate their ADI overlay errors. The symmetry of intensity distribution at the thresholds dictated by a range of gray levels is used to determine the particular gray level that can minimize the ADI-to-AEI overlay inconsistency. After this improvement, the ADI is more similar to AEI with less expansion difference. The same wafer was also checked by the diffraction-based overlay (DBO) tool to verify that there is no physical wafer expansion. When there is actual wafer expansion induced by large internal stress, both the IBO and the DBO measurements indicate similar expansion results. The scanning white-light interference microscope was used to check the variation of wafer warpage during the ADI and AEI stages. It predicts a similar trend with the overlay difference map, confirming the internal stress.

Meta-Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stufflebeam, Daniel L.

2011-01-01

Good evaluation requires that evaluation efforts themselves be evaluated. Many things can and often do go wrong in evaluation work. Accordingly, it is necessary to check evaluations for problems such as bias, technical error, administrative difficulties, and misuse. Such checks are needed both to improve ongoing evaluation activities and to assess…

MOM: A meteorological data checking expert system in CLIPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Odonnell, Richard

1990-01-01

Meteorologists have long faced the problem of verifying the data they use. Experience shows that there is a sizable number of errors in the data reported by meteorological observers. This is unacceptable for computer forecast models, which depend on accurate data for accurate results. Most errors that occur in meteorological data are obvious to the meteorologist, but time constraints prevent hand-checking. For this reason, it is necessary to have a 'front end' to the computer model to ensure the accuracy of input. Various approaches to automatic data quality control have been developed by several groups. MOM is a rule-based system implemented in CLIPS and utilizing 'consistency checks' and 'range checks'. The system is generic in the sense that it knows some meteorological principles, regardless of specific station characteristics. Specific constraints kept as CLIPS facts in a separate file provide for system flexibility. Preliminary results show that the expert system has detected some inconsistencies not noticed by a local expert.

Fault isolation through no-overhead link level CRC

DOEpatents

Chen, Dong; Coteus, Paul W.; Gara, Alan G.

2007-04-24

A fault isolation technique for checking the accuracy of data packets transmitted between nodes of a parallel processor. An independent crc is kept of all data sent from one processor to another, and received from one processor to another. At the end of each checkpoint, the crcs are compared. If they do not match, there was an error. The crcs may be cleared and restarted at each checkpoint. In the preferred embodiment, the basic functionality is to calculate a CRC of all packet data that has been successfully transmitted across a given link. This CRC is done on both ends of the link, thereby allowing an independent check on all data believed to have been correctly transmitted. Preferably, all links have this CRC coverage, and the CRC used in this link level check is different from that used in the packet transfer protocol. This independent check, if successfully passed, virtually eliminates the possibility that any data errors were missed during the previous transfer period.

Performance of Compiler-Assisted Memory Safety Checking

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-01

software developer has in mind a particular object to which the pointer should point, the intended referent. A memory access error occurs when an ac...Performance of Compiler-Assisted Memory Safety Checking David Keaton Robert C. Seacord August 2014 TECHNICAL NOTE CMU/SEI-2014-TN...based memory safety checking tool and the performance that can be achieved with two such tools whose source code is freely available. The note then

TU-D-201-06: HDR Plan Prechecks Using Eclipse Scripting API

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

Palaniswaamy, G; Morrow, A; Kim, S

Purpose: Automate brachytherapy treatment plan quality check using Eclipse v13.6 scripting API based on pre-configured rules to minimize human error and maximize efficiency. Methods: The HDR Precheck system is developed based on a rules-driven approach using Eclipse scripting API. This system checks for critical plan parameters like channel length, first source position, source step size and channel mapping. The planned treatment time is verified independently based on analytical methods. For interstitial or SAVI APBI treatment plans, a Patterson-Parker system calculation is performed to verify the planned treatment time. For endobronchial treatments, an analytical formula from TG-59 is used. Acceptable tolerancesmore » were defined based on clinical experiences in our department. The system was designed to show PASS/FAIL status levels. Additional information, if necessary, is indicated appropriately in a separate comments field in the user interface. Results: The HDR Precheck system has been developed and tested to verify the treatment plan parameters that are routinely checked by the clinical physicist. The report also serves as a reminder or checklist for the planner to perform any additional critical checks such as applicator digitization or scenarios where the channel mapping was intentionally changed. It is expected to reduce the current manual plan check time from 15 minutes to <1 minute. Conclusion: Automating brachytherapy plan prechecks significantly reduces treatment plan precheck time and reduces human errors. When fully developed, this system will be able to perform TG-43 based second check of the treatment planning system’s dose calculation using random points in the target and critical structures. A histogram will be generated along with tabulated mean and standard deviation values for each structure. A knowledge database will also be developed for Brachyvision plans which will then be used for knowledge-based plan quality checks to further reduce treatment planning errors and increase confidence in the planned treatment.« less

Mask induction despite circuit obstruction: an unrecognized hazard of relying on automated machine check technology.

PubMed

Yang, Kamie K; Lewis, Ian H

2014-06-15

Various equipment malfunctions of anesthesia gas delivery systems have been previously reported. Our profession increasingly uses technology as a means to prevent these errors. We report a case of a near-total anesthesia circuit obstruction that went undetected before the induction of anesthesia despite the use of automated machine check technology. This case highlights that automated machine check modules can fail to detect severe equipment failure and demonstrates how, even in this era of expanding technology, manual checks still remain essential components of safe care.

13Check_RNA: A tool to evaluate 13C chemical shifts assignments of RNA.

PubMed

Icazatti, A A; Martin, O A; Villegas, M; Szleifer, I; Vila, J A

2018-06-19

Chemical shifts (CS) are an important source of structural information of macromolecules such as RNA. In addition to the scarce availability of CS for RNA, the observed values are prone to errors due to a wrong re-calibration or miss assignments. Different groups have dedicated their efforts to correct CS systematic errors on RNA. Despite this, there are not automated and freely available algorithms for correct assignments of RNA 13C CS before their deposition to the BMRB or re-reference already deposited CS with systematic errors. Based on an existent method we have implemented an open source python module to correct 13C CS (from here on 13Cexp) systematic errors of RNAs and then return the results in 3 formats including the nmrstar one. This software is available on GitHub at https://github.com/BIOS-IMASL/13Check_RNA under a MIT license. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Bayesian truncation errors in chiral effective field theory: model checking and accounting for correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melendez, Jordan; Wesolowski, Sarah; Furnstahl, Dick

2017-09-01

Chiral effective field theory (EFT) predictions are necessarily truncated at some order in the EFT expansion, which induces an error that must be quantified for robust statistical comparisons to experiment. A Bayesian model yields posterior probability distribution functions for these errors based on expectations of naturalness encoded in Bayesian priors and the observed order-by-order convergence pattern of the EFT. As a general example of a statistical approach to truncation errors, the model was applied to chiral EFT for neutron-proton scattering using various semi-local potentials of Epelbaum, Krebs, and Meißner (EKM). Here we discuss how our model can learn correlation information from the data and how to perform Bayesian model checking to validate that the EFT is working as advertised. Supported in part by NSF PHY-1614460 and DOE NUCLEI SciDAC DE-SC0008533.

76 FR 64785 - Airworthiness Directives; Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A. (EMBRAER) Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-19

...--Internal, of Chapter 5, Time Limits Maintenance Checks, of EMBRAER EMB145 Aircraft Maintenance Manual, Part...--Tail Cone Fairing--Internal, of Chapter 5, Time Limits Maintenance Checks, of EMBRAER EMB145 Aircraft... Maintenance Checks, of EMBRAER EMB145 Aircraft Maintenance Manual, Part II, AMM-145/1124, Revision 54, dated...

Vaccination errors in general practice: creation of a preventive checklist based on a multimodal analysis of declared errors.

PubMed

Charles, Rodolphe; Vallée, Josette; Tissot, Claire; Lucht, Frédéric; Botelho-Nevers, Elisabeth

2016-08-01

Vaccination is a common act in general practice in which, as in all procedures in medicine, errors may occur. To our best knowledge, in this area, few tools exist to prevent them. To create a checklist that could be used in general practice in order to avoid the main errors. From April to July 2013, we systematically searched for vaccination errors using three sources: a review of literature, individual interviews with 25 health care workers and supervised peer review groups meeting at the Medicine school of Saint-Etienne (France). The errors most frequently retrieved were used to create the checklist that was regularly submitted to interviewed caregivers to improve its construction and content; its stabilization has been conceived as an evidence of finalization. The checklist's draw-up included three parts allowing verification at each stage of the vaccination process: before, during and after the vaccine administration. Before the vaccination, items to be checked were mainly does my patient need and may he/she receive this vaccine in accordance with the national French vaccination guidelines? During the preparation and the administration of vaccination, items to be checked were are the patient and the practitioner comfortable? Is all the material needed correctly prepared? Is the appropriate route defined? Ultimately, after the vaccination, most items to be checked concerned traceability. This checklist seemed useful and usable by the panel of practitioners questioned. This vaccination checklist may be useful to prevent errors. Its efficacy and feasibility in clinical practice will require further testing. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Analysis of error-correction constraints in an optical disk.

PubMed

Roberts, J D; Ryley, A; Jones, D M; Burke, D

1996-07-10

The compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) is a mature storage medium with complex error control. It comprises four levels of Reed Solomon codes allied to a sequence of sophisticated interleaving strategies and 8:14 modulation coding. New storage media are being developed and introduced that place still further demands on signal processing for error correction. It is therefore appropriate to explore thoroughly the limit of existing strategies to assess future requirements. We describe a simulation of all stages of the CD-ROM coding, modulation, and decoding. The results of decoding the burst error of a prescribed number of modulation bits are discussed in detail. Measures of residual uncorrected error within a sector are displayed by C1, C2, P, and Q error counts and by the status of the final cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Where each data sector is encoded separately, it is shown that error-correction performance against burst errors depends critically on the position of the burst within a sector. The C1 error measures the burst length, whereas C2 errors reflect the burst position. The performance of Reed Solomon product codes is shown by the P and Q statistics. It is shown that synchronization loss is critical near the limits of error correction. An example is given of miscorrection that is identified by the CRC check.

Analysis of error-correction constraints in an optical disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, Jonathan D.; Ryley, Alan; Jones, David M.; Burke, David

1996-07-01

The compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) is a mature storage medium with complex error control. It comprises four levels of Reed Solomon codes allied to a sequence of sophisticated interleaving strategies and 8:14 modulation coding. New storage media are being developed and introduced that place still further demands on signal processing for error correction. It is therefore appropriate to explore thoroughly the limit of existing strategies to assess future requirements. We describe a simulation of all stages of the CD-ROM coding, modulation, and decoding. The results of decoding the burst error of a prescribed number of modulation bits are discussed in detail. Measures of residual uncorrected error within a sector are displayed by C1, C2, P, and Q error counts and by the status of the final cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Where each data sector is encoded separately, it is shown that error-correction performance against burst errors depends critically on the position of the burst within a sector. The C1 error measures the burst length, whereas C2 errors reflect the burst position. The performance of Reed Solomon product codes is shown by the P and Q statistics. It is shown that synchronization loss is critical near the limits of error correction. An example is given of miscorrection that is identified by the CRC check.

Automated point-of-care testing for ABO agglutination test: proof of concept and validation.

PubMed

El Kenz, H; Corazza, F

2015-07-01

ABO-incompatible red blood cell transfusions still represent an important hazard in transfusion medicine. Therefore, some countries have introduced a systematic bedside ABO agglutination test checking that the right blood is given to the right patient. However, this strategy requires an extremely time-consuming learning programme and relies on a subjective interpretation of ABO test cards agglutination. We developed a prototype of a fully automated device performing the bedside agglutination test that could be completed by reading of a barcoded wristband. This POCT checks the ABO compatibility between the patient and the blood bag. Proof of concept and analytical validation of the prototype has been completed on 451 blood samples: 238 donor packed red blood cells, 137 consecutive unselected patients for whom a blood group determination had been ordered and on 76 patient samples selected with pathology that could possibly interfere with or impair performances of the assay. We observed 100% concordance for ABO blood groups between the POCT and the laboratory instrument. These preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of ABO determination with a simple POCT device eliminating manipulation and subjective interpretation responsible for transfusion errors. This device should be linked to the blood bank system allowing all cross-check of the results. © 2015 International Society of Blood Transfusion.

Data quality in a DRG-based information system.

PubMed

Colin, C; Ecochard, R; Delahaye, F; Landrivon, G; Messy, P; Morgon, E; Matillon, Y

1994-09-01

The aim of this study initiated in May 1990 was to evaluate the quality of the medical data collected from the main hospital of the "Hospices Civils de Lyon", Edouard Herriot Hospital. We studied a random sample of 593 discharge abstracts from 12 wards of the hospital. Quality control was performed by checking multi-hospitalized patients' personal data, checking that each discharge abstract was exhaustive, examining the quality of abstracting, studying diagnoses and medical procedures coding, and checking data entry. Assessment of personal data showed a 4.4% error rate. It was mainly accounted for by spelling mistakes in surnames and first names, and mistakes in dates of birth. The quality of a discharge abstract was estimated according to the two purposes of the medical information system: description of hospital morbidity per patient and Diagnosis Related Group's case mix. Error rates in discharge abstracts were expressed in two ways: an overall rate for errors of concordance between Discharge Abstracts and Medical Records, and a specific rate for errors modifying classification in Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG). For abstracting medical information, these error rates were 11.5% (SE +/- 2.2) and 7.5% (SE +/- 1.9) respectively. For coding diagnoses and procedures, they were 11.4% (SE +/- 1.5) and 1.3% (SE +/- 0.5) respectively. For data entry on the computerized data base, the error rate was 2% (SE +/- 0.5) and 0.2% (SE +/- 0.05). Quality control must be performed regularly because it demonstrates the degree of participation from health care teams and the coherence of the database.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

26 CFR 301.6311-1 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 18 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Payment by check or money order. 301.6311-1... by check or money order. (a) Authority to receive—(1) In general. (i) District directors, Service... District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal...

26 CFR 301.6311-1 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 18 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Payment by check or money order. 301.6311-1... by check or money order. (a) Authority to receive—(1) In general. (i) District directors, Service... District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal...

26 CFR 301.6311-1 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 18 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Payment by check or money order. 301.6311-1... by check or money order. (a) Authority to receive—(1) In general. (i) District directors, Service... District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal...

26 CFR 301.6311-1 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 18 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Payment by check or money order. 301.6311-1... by check or money order. (a) Authority to receive—(1) In general. (i) District directors, Service... District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal...

An FPGA design of generalized low-density parity-check codes for rate-adaptive optical transport networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Ding; Djordjevic, Ivan B.

2016-02-01

Forward error correction (FEC) is as one of the key technologies enabling the next-generation high-speed fiber optical communications. In this paper, we propose a rate-adaptive scheme using a class of generalized low-density parity-check (GLDPC) codes with a Hamming code as local code. We show that with the proposed unified GLDPC decoder architecture, a variable net coding gains (NCGs) can be achieved with no error floor at BER down to 10-15, making it a viable solution in the next-generation high-speed fiber optical communications.

WE-H-BRC-09: Simulated Errors in Mock Radiotherapy Plans to Quantify the Effectiveness of the Physics Plan Review

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

Gopan, O; Kalet, A; Smith, W

2016-06-15

Purpose: A standard tool for ensuring the quality of radiation therapy treatments is the initial physics plan review. However, little is known about its performance in practice. The goal of this study is to measure the effectiveness of physics plan review by introducing simulated errors into “mock” treatment plans and measuring the performance of plan review by physicists. Methods: We generated six mock treatment plans containing multiple errors. These errors were based on incident learning system data both within the department and internationally (SAFRON). These errors were scored for severity and frequency. Those with the highest scores were included inmore » the simulations (13 errors total). Observer bias was minimized using a multiple co-correlated distractor approach. Eight physicists reviewed these plans for errors, with each physicist reviewing, on average, 3/6 plans. The confidence interval for the proportion of errors detected was computed using the Wilson score interval. Results: Simulated errors were detected in 65% of reviews [51–75%] (95% confidence interval [CI] in brackets). The following error scenarios had the highest detection rates: incorrect isocenter in DRRs/CBCT (91% [73–98%]) and a planned dose different from the prescribed dose (100% [61–100%]). Errors with low detection rates involved incorrect field parameters in record and verify system (38%, [18–61%]) and incorrect isocenter localization in planning system (29% [8–64%]). Though pre-treatment QA failure was reliably identified (100%), less than 20% of participants reported the error that caused the failure. Conclusion: This is one of the first quantitative studies of error detection. Although physics plan review is a key safety measure and can identify some errors with high fidelity, others errors are more challenging to detect. This data will guide future work on standardization and automation. Creating new checks or improving existing ones (i.e., via automation) will help in detecting those errors with low detection rates.« less

Artificial intelligence modeling of cadmium(II) biosorption using rice straw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nasr, Mahmoud; Mahmoud, Alaa El Din; Fawzy, Manal; Radwan, Ahmed

2017-05-01

The biosorption efficiency of Cd2+ using rice straw was investigated at room temperature (25 ± 4 °C), contact time (2 h) and agitation rate (5 Hz). Experiments studied the effect of three factors, biosorbent dose BD (0.1 and 0.5 g/L), pH (2 and 7) and initial Cd2+ concentration X (10 and 100 mg/L) at two levels "low" and "high". Results showed that, a variation in X from high to low revealed 31 % increase in the Cd2+ biosorption. However, a discrepancy in pH and BD from low to high achieved 28.60 and 23.61 % increase in the removal of Cd2+, respectively. From 23 factorial design, the effects of BD, pH and X achieved p value equals to 0.2248, 0.1881 and 0.1742, respectively, indicating that the influences are in the order X > pH > BD. Similarly, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system indicated that X is the most influential with training and checking errors of 10.87 and 17.94, respectively. This trend was followed by "pH" with training error (15.80) and checking error (17.39), after that BD with training error (16.09) and checking error (16.29). A feed-forward back-propagation neural network with a configuration 3-6-1 achieved correlation ( R) of 0.99 (training), 0.82 (validation) and 0.97 (testing). Thus, the proposed network is capable of predicting Cd2+ biosorption with high accuracy, while the most significant variable was X.

Using Block-local Atomicity to Detect Stale-value Concurrency Errors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Artho, Cyrille; Havelund, Klaus; Biere, Armin

2004-01-01

Data races do not cover all kinds of concurrency errors. This paper presents a data-flow-based technique to find stale-value errors, which are not found by low-level and high-level data race algorithms. Stale values denote copies of shared data where the copy is no longer synchronized. The algorithm to detect such values works as a consistency check that does not require any assumptions or annotations of the program. It has been implemented as a static analysis in JNuke. The analysis is sound and requires only a single execution trace if implemented as a run-time checking algorithm. Being based on an analysis of Java bytecode, it encompasses the full program semantics, including arbitrarily complex expressions. Related techniques are more complex and more prone to over-reporting.

Evaluation of Check in/Check out for Students with Internalizing Behavior Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Katherine K.; Chenier, Jeffrey S.; Gresham, Frank M.

2014-01-01

Internalizing behaviors are directed inward toward the child and are frequently overlooked in classrooms compared with externalizing behaviors. When internalizing behaviors are identified, cognitive-behavioral interventions (CBIs) are typically the intervention of choice; however, CBIs are time-consuming and require considerable skill and…

Geodesy and metrology with a transportable optical clock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grotti, Jacopo; Koller, Silvio; Vogt, Stefan; Häfner, Sebastian; Sterr, Uwe; Lisdat, Christian; Denker, Heiner; Voigt, Christian; Timmen, Ludger; Rolland, Antoine; Baynes, Fred N.; Margolis, Helen S.; Zampaolo, Michel; Thoumany, Pierre; Pizzocaro, Marco; Rauf, Benjamin; Bregolin, Filippo; Tampellini, Anna; Barbieri, Piero; Zucco, Massimo; Costanzo, Giovanni A.; Clivati, Cecilia; Levi, Filippo; Calonico, Davide

2018-05-01

Optical atomic clocks, due to their unprecedented stability1-3 and uncertainty3-6, are already being used to test physical theories7,8 and herald a revision of the International System of Units9,10. However, to unlock their potential for cross-disciplinary applications such as relativistic geodesy11, a major challenge remains: their transformation from highly specialized instruments restricted to national metrology laboratories into flexible devices deployable in different locations12-14. Here, we report the first field measurement campaign with a transportable 87Sr optical lattice clock12. We use it to determine the gravity potential difference between the middle of a mountain and a location 90 km away, exploiting both local and remote clock comparisons to eliminate potential clock errors. A local comparison with a 171Yb lattice clock15 also serves as an important check on the international consistency of independently developed optical clocks. This campaign demonstrates the exciting prospects for transportable optical clocks.

Model Checker for Java Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Visser, Willem

2007-01-01

Java Pathfinder (JPF) is a verification and testing environment for Java that integrates model checking, program analysis, and testing. JPF consists of a custom-made Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that interprets bytecode, combined with a search interface to allow the complete behavior of a Java program to be analyzed, including interleavings of concurrent programs. JPF is implemented in Java, and its architecture is highly modular to support rapid prototyping of new features. JPF is an explicit-state model checker, because it enumerates all visited states and, therefore, suffers from the state-explosion problem inherent in analyzing large programs. It is suited to analyzing programs less than 10kLOC, but has been successfully applied to finding errors in concurrent programs up to 100kLOC. When an error is found, a trace from the initial state to the error is produced to guide the debugging. JPF works at the bytecode level, meaning that all of Java can be model-checked. By default, the software checks for all runtime errors (uncaught exceptions), assertions violations (supports Java s assert), and deadlocks. JPF uses garbage collection and symmetry reductions of the heap during model checking to reduce state-explosion, as well as dynamic partial order reductions to lower the number of interleavings analyzed. JPF is capable of symbolic execution of Java programs, including symbolic execution of complex data such as linked lists and trees. JPF is extensible as it allows for the creation of listeners that can subscribe to events during searches. The creation of dedicated code to be executed in place of regular classes is supported and allows users to easily handle native calls and to improve the efficiency of the analysis.

A Categorization of Dynamic Analyzers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lujan, Michelle R.

1997-01-01

Program analysis techniques and tools are essential to the development process because of the support they provide in detecting errors and deficiencies at different phases of development. The types of information rendered through analysis includes the following: statistical measurements of code, type checks, dataflow analysis, consistency checks, test data,verification of code, and debugging information. Analyzers can be broken into two major categories: dynamic and static. Static analyzers examine programs with respect to syntax errors and structural properties., This includes gathering statistical information on program content, such as the number of lines of executable code, source lines. and cyclomatic complexity. In addition, static analyzers provide the ability to check for the consistency of programs with respect to variables. Dynamic analyzers in contrast are dependent on input and the execution of a program providing the ability to find errors that cannot be detected through the use of static analysis alone. Dynamic analysis provides information on the behavior of a program rather than on the syntax. Both types of analysis detect errors in a program, but dynamic analyzers accomplish this through run-time behavior. This paper focuses on the following broad classification of dynamic analyzers: 1) Metrics; 2) Models; and 3) Monitors. Metrics are those analyzers that provide measurement. The next category, models, captures those analyzers that present the state of the program to the user at specified points in time. The last category, monitors, checks specified code based on some criteria. The paper discusses each classification and the techniques that are included under them. In addition, the role of each technique in the software life cycle is discussed. Familiarization with the tools that measure, model and monitor programs provides a framework for understanding the program's dynamic behavior from different, perspectives through analysis of the input/output data.

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

DiCostanzo, D; Ayan, A; Woollard, J

Purpose: To automate the daily verification of each patient’s treatment by utilizing the trajectory log files (TLs) written by the Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator while reducing the number of false positives including jaw and gantry positioning errors, that are displayed in the Treatment History tab of Varian’s Chart QA module. Methods: Small deviations in treatment parameters are difficult to detect in weekly chart checks, but may be significant in reducing delivery errors, and would be critical if detected daily. Software was developed in house to read TLs. Multiple functions were implemented within the software that allow it to operate viamore » a GUI to analyze TLs, or as a script to run on a regular basis. In order to determine tolerance levels for the scripted analysis, 15,241 TLs from seven TrueBeams were analyzed. The maximum error of each axis for each TL was written to a CSV file and statistically analyzed to determine the tolerance for each axis accessible in the TLs to flag for manual review. The software/scripts developed were tested by varying the tolerance values to ensure veracity. After tolerances were determined, multiple weeks of manual chart checks were performed simultaneously with the automated analysis to ensure validity. Results: The tolerance values for the major axis were determined to be, 0.025 degrees for the collimator, 1.0 degree for the gantry, 0.002cm for the y-jaws, 0.01cm for the x-jaws, and 0.5MU for the MU. The automated verification of treatment parameters has been in clinical use for 4 months. During that time, no errors in machine delivery of the patient treatments were found. Conclusion: The process detailed here is a viable and effective alternative to manually checking treatment parameters during weekly chart checks.« less

Reliability and utility of citizen science reef monitoring data collected by Reef Check Australia, 2002-2015.

PubMed

Done, Terence; Roelfsema, Chris; Harvey, Andrew; Schuller, Laura; Hill, Jocelyn; Schläppy, Marie-Lise; Lea, Alexandra; Bauer-Civiello, Anne; Loder, Jennifer

2017-04-15

Reef Check Australia (RCA) has collected data on benthic composition and cover at >70 sites along >1000km of Australia's Queensland coast from 2002 to 2015. This paper quantifies the accuracy, precision and power of RCA benthic composition data, to guide its application and interpretation. A simulation study established that the inherent accuracy of the Reef Check point sampling protocol is high (<±7% error absolute), in the range of estimates of benthic cover from 1% to 50%. A field study at three reef sites indicated that, despite minor observer- and deployment-related biases, the protocol does reliably document moderate ecological changes in coral communities. The error analyses were then used to guide the interpretation of inter-annual variability and long term trends at three study sites in RCA's major 2002-2015 data series for the Queensland coast. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating mixed samples as a source of error in non-invasive genetic studies using microsatellites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roon, David A.; Thomas, M.E.; Kendall, K.C.; Waits, L.P.

2005-01-01

The use of noninvasive genetic sampling (NGS) for surveying wild populations is increasing rapidly. Currently, only a limited number of studies have evaluated potential biases associated with NGS. This paper evaluates the potential errors associated with analysing mixed samples drawn from multiple animals. Most NGS studies assume that mixed samples will be identified and removed during the genotyping process. We evaluated this assumption by creating 128 mixed samples of extracted DNA from brown bear (Ursus arctos) hair samples. These mixed samples were genotyped and screened for errors at six microsatellite loci according to protocols consistent with those used in other NGS studies. Five mixed samples produced acceptable genotypes after the first screening. However, all mixed samples produced multiple alleles at one or more loci, amplified as only one of the source samples, or yielded inconsistent electropherograms by the final stage of the error-checking process. These processes could potentially reduce the number of individuals observed in NGS studies, but errors should be conservative within demographic estimates. Researchers should be aware of the potential for mixed samples and carefully design gel analysis criteria and error checking protocols to detect mixed samples.

The development of a sub-daily gridded rainfall product to improve hydrological predictions in Great Britain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, Niall; Freer, Jim; Coxon, Gemma; O'Loughlin, Fiachra; Woods, Ross; Liguori, Sara

2015-04-01

In Great Britain and many other regions of the world, flooding resulting from short duration, high intensity rainfall events can lead to significant economic losses and fatalities. At present, such extreme events are often poorly evaluated using hydrological models due, in part, to their rarity and relatively short duration and a lack of appropriate data. Such storm characteristics are not well represented by daily rainfall records currently available using volumetric gauges and/or derived gridded products. This research aims to address this important data gap by developing a sub-daily gridded precipitation product for Great Britain. Our focus is to better understand these storm events and some of the challenges and uncertainties in quantifying such data across catchment scales. Our goal is to both improve such rainfall characterisation and derive an input to drive hydrological model simulations. Our methodology involves the collation, error checking, and spatial interpolation of approximately 2000 rain gauges located across Great Britain, provided by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Environment Agency (EA). Error checking was conducted over the entirety of the TBR data available, utilising a two stage approach. First, rain gauge data at each site were examined independently, with data exceeding reasonable thresholds marked as suspect. Second, potentially erroneous data were marked using a neighbourhood analysis approach whereby measurements at a given gauge were deemed suspect if they did not fall within defined bounds of measurements at neighbouring gauges. A total of eight error checks were conducted. To provide the user with the greatest flexibility possible, the error markers associated with each check have been recorded at every site. This approach aims to enable the user to choose which checks they deem most suitable for a particular application. The quality assured TBR dataset was then spatially interpolated to produce a national scale gridded rainfall product. Finally, radar rainfall data provided by the UK Met Office was assimilated, where available, to provide an optimal hourly estimate of rainfall, given the error variance associated with both datasets. This research introduces a sub-daily rainfall product that will be of particular value to hydrological modellers requiring rainfall inputs at higher temporal resolutions than those currently available nationally. Further research will aim to quantify the uncertainties in the rainfall product in order to improve our ability to diagnose and identify structural errors in hydrological modelling of extreme events. Here we present our initial findings.

Short-Block Protograph-Based LDPC Codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Divsalar, Dariush; Dolinar, Samuel; Jones, Christopher

2010-01-01

Short-block low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes of a special type are intended to be especially well suited for potential applications that include transmission of command and control data, cellular telephony, data communications in wireless local area networks, and satellite data communications. [In general, LDPC codes belong to a class of error-correcting codes suitable for use in a variety of wireless data-communication systems that include noisy channels.] The codes of the present special type exhibit low error floors, low bit and frame error rates, and low latency (in comparison with related prior codes). These codes also achieve low maximum rate of undetected errors over all signal-to-noise ratios, without requiring the use of cyclic redundancy checks, which would significantly increase the overhead for short blocks. These codes have protograph representations; this is advantageous in that, for reasons that exceed the scope of this article, the applicability of protograph representations makes it possible to design highspeed iterative decoders that utilize belief- propagation algorithms.

[Errors in laboratory daily practice].

PubMed

Larrose, C; Le Carrer, D

2007-01-01

Legislation set by GBEA (Guide de bonne exécution des analyses) requires that, before performing analysis, the laboratory directors have to check both the nature of the samples and the patients identity. The data processing of requisition forms, which identifies key errors, was established in 2000 and in 2002 by the specialized biochemistry laboratory, also with the contribution of the reception centre for biological samples. The laboratories follow a strict criteria of defining acceptability as a starting point for the reception to then check requisition forms and biological samples. All errors are logged into the laboratory database and analysis report are sent to the care unit specifying the problems and the consequences they have on the analysis. The data is then assessed by the laboratory directors to produce monthly or annual statistical reports. This indicates the number of errors, which are then indexed to patient files to reveal the specific problem areas, therefore allowing the laboratory directors to teach the nurses and enable corrective action.

The rate of cis-trans conformation errors is increasing in low-resolution crystal structures.

PubMed

Croll, Tristan Ian

2015-03-01

Cis-peptide bonds (with the exception of X-Pro) are exceedingly rare in native protein structures, yet a check for these is not currently included in the standard workflow for some common crystallography packages nor in the automated quality checks that are applied during submission to the Protein Data Bank. This appears to be leading to a growing rate of inclusion of spurious cis-peptide bonds in low-resolution structures both in absolute terms and as a fraction of solved residues. Most concerningly, it is possible for structures to contain very large numbers (>1%) of spurious cis-peptide bonds while still achieving excellent quality reports from MolProbity, leading to concerns that ignoring such errors is allowing software to overfit maps without producing telltale errors in, for example, the Ramachandran plot.

Performance of Low-Density Parity-Check Coded Modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamkins, J.

2011-02-01

This article presents the simulated performance of a family of nine AR4JA low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes when used with each of five modulations. In each case, the decoder inputs are codebit log-likelihood ratios computed from the received (noisy) modulation symbols using a general formula which applies to arbitrary modulations. Suboptimal soft-decision and hard-decision demodulators are also explored. Bit-interleaving and various mappings of bits to modulation symbols are considered. A number of subtle decoder algorithm details are shown to affect performance, especially in the error floor region. Among these are quantization dynamic range and step size, clipping degree-one variable nodes, "Jones clipping" of variable nodes, approximations of the min* function, and partial hard-limiting messages from check nodes. Using these decoder optimizations, all coded modulations simulated here are free of error floors down to codeword error rates below 10^{-6}. The purpose of generating this performance data is to aid system engineers in determining an appropriate code and modulation to use under specific power and bandwidth constraints, and to provide information needed to design a variable/adaptive coded modulation (VCM/ACM) system using the AR4JA codes. IPNPR Volume 42-185 Tagged File.txt

TH-AB-201-12: Using Machine Log-Files for Treatment Planning and Delivery QA

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

Stanhope, C; Liang, J; Drake, D

2016-06-15

Purpose: To determine the segment reduction and dose resolution necessary for machine log-files to effectively replace current phantom-based patient-specific quality assurance, while minimizing computational cost. Methods: Elekta’s Log File Convertor R3.2 records linac delivery parameters (dose rate, gantry angle, leaf position) every 40ms. Five VMAT plans [4 H&N, 1 Pulsed Brain] comprised of 2 arcs each were delivered on the ArcCHECK phantom. Log-files were reconstructed in Pinnacle on the phantom geometry using 1/2/3/4° control point spacing and 2/3/4mm dose grid resolution. Reconstruction effectiveness was quantified by comparing 2%/2mm gamma passing rates of the original and log-file plans. Modulation complexity scoresmore » (MCS) were calculated for each beam to correlate reconstruction accuracy and beam modulation. Percent error in absolute dose for each plan-pair combination (log-file vs. ArcCHECK, original vs. ArcCHECK, log-file vs. original) was calculated for each arc and every diode greater than 10% of the maximum measured dose (per beam). Comparing standard deviations of the three plan-pair distributions, relative noise of the ArcCHECK and log-file systems was elucidated. Results: The original plans exhibit a mean passing rate of 95.1±1.3%. The eight more modulated H&N arcs [MCS=0.088±0.014] and two less modulated brain arcs [MCS=0.291±0.004] yielded log-file pass rates most similar to the original plan when using 1°/2mm [0.05%±1.3% lower] and 2°/3mm [0.35±0.64% higher] log-file reconstructions respectively. Log-file and original plans displayed percent diode dose errors 4.29±6.27% and 3.61±6.57% higher than measurement. Excluding the phantom eliminates diode miscalibration and setup errors; log-file dose errors were 0.72±3.06% higher than the original plans – significantly less noisy. Conclusion: For log-file reconstructed VMAT arcs, 1° control point spacing and 2mm dose resolution is recommended, however, less modulated arcs may allow less stringent reconstructions. Following the aforementioned reconstruction recommendations, the log-file technique is capable of detecting delivery errors with equivalent accuracy and less noise than ArcCHECK QA. I am funded by an Elekta Research Grant.« less

Chemotherapy Order Entry by a Clinical Support Pharmacy Technician in an Outpatient Medical Day Unit

PubMed Central

Neville, Heather; Broadfield, Larry; Harding, Claudia; Heukshorst, Shelley; Sweetapple, Jennifer; Rolle, Megan

2016-01-01

Background: Pharmacy technicians are expanding their scope of practice, often in partnership with pharmacists. In oncology, such a shift in responsibilities may lead to workflow efficiencies, but may also cause concerns about patient risk and medication errors. Objectives: The primary objective was to compare the time spent on order entry and order-entry checking before and after training of a clinical support pharmacy technician (CSPT) to perform chemotherapy order entry. The secondary objectives were to document workflow interruptions and to assess medication errors. Methods: This before-and-after observational study investigated chemotherapy order entry for ambulatory oncology patients. Order entry was performed by pharmacists before the process change (phase 1) and by 1 CSPT after the change (phase 2); order-entry checking was performed by a pharmacist during both phases. The tasks were timed by an independent observer using a personal digital assistant. A convenience sample of 125 orders was targeted for each phase. Data were exported to Microsoft Excel software, and timing differences for each task were tested with an unpaired t test. Results: Totals of 143 and 128 individual orders were timed for order entry during phase 1 (pharmacist) and phase 2 (CSPT), respectively. The mean total time to perform order entry was greater during phase 1 (1:37 min versus 1:20 min; p = 0.044). Totals of 144 and 122 individual orders were timed for order-entry checking (by a pharmacist) in phases 1 and 2, respectively, and there was no difference in mean total time for order-entry checking (1:21 min versus 1:20 min; p = 0.69). There were 33 interruptions not related to order entry (totalling 39:38 min) during phase 1 and 25 interruptions (totalling 30:08 min) during phase 2. Three errors were observed during order entry in phase 1 and one error during order-entry checking in phase 2; the errors were rated as having no effect on patient care. Conclusions: Chemotherapy order entry by a trained CSPT appeared to be just as safe and efficient as order entry by a pharmacist. Changes in pharmacy technicians’ scope of practice could increase the amount of time available for pharmacists to provide direct patient care in the oncology setting. PMID:27402999

Chemotherapy Order Entry by a Clinical Support Pharmacy Technician in an Outpatient Medical Day Unit.

PubMed

Neville, Heather; Broadfield, Larry; Harding, Claudia; Heukshorst, Shelley; Sweetapple, Jennifer; Rolle, Megan

2016-01-01

Pharmacy technicians are expanding their scope of practice, often in partnership with pharmacists. In oncology, such a shift in responsibilities may lead to workflow efficiencies, but may also cause concerns about patient risk and medication errors. The primary objective was to compare the time spent on order entry and order-entry checking before and after training of a clinical support pharmacy technician (CSPT) to perform chemotherapy order entry. The secondary objectives were to document workflow interruptions and to assess medication errors. This before-and-after observational study investigated chemotherapy order entry for ambulatory oncology patients. Order entry was performed by pharmacists before the process change (phase 1) and by 1 CSPT after the change (phase 2); order-entry checking was performed by a pharmacist during both phases. The tasks were timed by an independent observer using a personal digital assistant. A convenience sample of 125 orders was targeted for each phase. Data were exported to Microsoft Excel software, and timing differences for each task were tested with an unpaired t test. Totals of 143 and 128 individual orders were timed for order entry during phase 1 (pharmacist) and phase 2 (CSPT), respectively. The mean total time to perform order entry was greater during phase 1 (1:37 min versus 1:20 min; p = 0.044). Totals of 144 and 122 individual orders were timed for order-entry checking (by a pharmacist) in phases 1 and 2, respectively, and there was no difference in mean total time for order-entry checking (1:21 min versus 1:20 min; p = 0.69). There were 33 interruptions not related to order entry (totalling 39:38 min) during phase 1 and 25 interruptions (totalling 30:08 min) during phase 2. Three errors were observed during order entry in phase 1 and one error during order-entry checking in phase 2; the errors were rated as having no effect on patient care. Chemotherapy order entry by a trained CSPT appeared to be just as safe and efficient as order entry by a pharmacist. Changes in pharmacy technicians' scope of practice could increase the amount of time available for pharmacists to provide direct patient care in the oncology setting.

Reliability of chemotherapy preparation processes: Evaluating independent double-checking and computer-assisted gravimetric control.

PubMed

Carrez, Laurent; Bouchoud, Lucie; Fleury-Souverain, Sandrine; Combescure, Christophe; Falaschi, Ludivine; Sadeghipour, Farshid; Bonnabry, Pascal

2017-03-01

Background and objectives Centralized chemotherapy preparation units have established systematic strategies to avoid errors. Our work aimed to evaluate the accuracy of manual preparations associated with different control methods. Method A simulation study in an operational setting used phenylephrine and lidocaine as markers. Each operator prepared syringes that were controlled using a different method during each of three sessions (no control, visual double-checking, and gravimetric control). Eight reconstitutions and dilutions were prepared in each session, with variable doses and volumes, using different concentrations of stock solutions. Results were analyzed according to qualitative (choice of stock solution) and quantitative criteria (accurate, <5% deviation from the target concentration; weakly accurate, 5%-10%; inaccurate, 10%-30%; wrong, >30% deviation). Results Eleven operators carried out 19 sessions. No final preparation (n = 438) contained a wrong drug. The protocol involving no control failed to detect 1 of 3 dose errors made and double-checking failed to detect 3 of 7 dose errors. The gravimetric control method detected all 5 out of 5 dose errors. The accuracy of the doses measured was equivalent across the control methods ( p = 0.63 Kruskal-Wallis). The final preparations ranged from 58% to 60% accurate, 25% to 27% weakly accurate, 14% to 17% inaccurate and 0.9% wrong. A high variability was observed between operators. Discussion Gravimetric control was the only method able to detect all dose errors, but it did not improve dose accuracy. A dose accuracy with <5% deviation cannot always be guaranteed using manual production. Automation should be considered in the future.

On the Validity and Sensitivity of the Phonics Screening Check: Erratum and Further Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilchrist, James M.; Snowling, Margaret J.

2018-01-01

Duff, Mengoni, Bailey and Snowling ("Journal of Research in Reading," 38: 109-123; 2015) evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the phonics screening check against two reference standards. This report aims to correct a minor data error in the original article and to present further analysis of the data. The methods used are…

NHEXAS PHASE I MARYLAND STUDY--STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS AND SUMMARY STATISTICS (D05)

EPA Science Inventory

This SOP describes the methods and procedures for two types of QA procedures: spot checks of hand entered data, and QA procedures for co-located and split samples. The spot checks were used to determine whether the error rate goal for the input of hand entered data was being att...

Local concurrent error detection and correction in data structures using virtual backpointers

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

Li, C.C.J.; Chen, P.P.; Fuchs, W.K.

1989-11-01

A new technique, based on virtual backpointers, is presented in this paper for local concurrent error detection and correction in linked data structures. Two new data structures utilizing virtual backpointers, the Virtual Double-Linked List and the B-Tree and Virtual Backpointers, are described. For these structures, double errors within a fixed-size checking window can be detected in constant time and single errors detected during forward moves can be corrected in constant time.

Quotation accuracy in medical journal articles-a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Jergas, Hannah; Baethge, Christopher

2015-01-01

Background. Quotations and references are an indispensable element of scientific communication. They should support what authors claim or provide important background information for readers. Studies indicate, however, that quotations not serving their purpose-quotation errors-may be prevalent. Methods. We carried out a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of quotation errors, taking account of differences between studies in error ascertainment. Results. Out of 559 studies screened we included 28 in the main analysis, and estimated major, minor and total quotation error rates of 11,9%, 95% CI [8.4, 16.6] 11.5% [8.3, 15.7], and 25.4% [19.5, 32.4]. While heterogeneity was substantial, even the lowest estimate of total quotation errors was considerable (6.7%). Indirect references accounted for less than one sixth of all quotation problems. The findings remained robust in a number of sensitivity and subgroup analyses (including risk of bias analysis) and in meta-regression. There was no indication of publication bias. Conclusions. Readers of medical journal articles should be aware of the fact that quotation errors are common. Measures against quotation errors include spot checks by editors and reviewers, correct placement of citations in the text, and declarations by authors that they have checked cited material. Future research should elucidate if and to what degree quotation errors are detrimental to scientific progress.

77 FR 38714 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the TE/GE Compliance Check Questionnaires

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-28

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75 FR 47895 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Form 13818-The Limited Payability Claim Against the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-09

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Error-Based Design Space Windowing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Papila, Melih; Papila, Nilay U.; Shyy, Wei; Haftka, Raphael T.; Fitz-Coy, Norman

2002-01-01

Windowing of design space is considered in order to reduce the bias errors due to low-order polynomial response surfaces (RS). Standard design space windowing (DSW) uses a region of interest by setting a requirement on response level and checks it by a global RS predictions over the design space. This approach, however, is vulnerable since RS modeling errors may lead to the wrong region to zoom on. The approach is modified by introducing an eigenvalue error measure based on point-to-point mean squared error criterion. Two examples are presented to demonstrate the benefit of the error-based DSW.

78 FR 63565 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the TE/GE Compliance Check Questionnaires

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-24

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SU-F-T-558: ArcCheck for Patient Specific QA in Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy

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

Ramachandran, P; RMIT University, Bundoora; Tajaldeen, A

2016-06-15

Purpose: Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) is one of the most preferred treatment techniques for early stage lung cancer. This technique has been extended to other treatment sites like Spine, Liver, Scapula, Sternum etc., This has resulted in increased physics QA time on machine. In this study, we’ve tested the feasibility of using ArcCheck as an alternative method to replace film dosimetry. Methods: Twelve patients with varied diagnosis of Lung, Liver, scapula, sternum and Spine undergoing SABR were selected for this study. Pre-treatment QA was performed for all the patients which include ionization chamber and film dosimetry. The required gamma criteriamore » for each SABR plan to pass QA and proceed to treatment is 95% (3%,1mm). In addition to this routine process, the treatment plans were exported on to an ArcCheck phantom. The planned and measured dose from the ArcCheck device were compared using four different gamma criteria: 2%,2 mm, 3%,2 mm, 3%,1 mm and 3%, 3 mm. In addition to this, we’ve also introduced errors to gantry, collimator and couch angle to assess sensitivity of the ArcCheck with potential delivery errors. Results: The ArcCheck mean passing rates for all twelve cases were 76.1%±9.7% for gamma criteria 3%,1 mm, 89.5%±5.3% for 2%,2 mm, 92.6%±4.2% for 3%,2 mm, and 97.6%±2.4% for 3%,3 mm gamma criteria. When SABR spine cases are excluded, we observe ArcCheck passing rates higher than 95% for all the studied cases with 3%, 3mm, and ArcCheck results in acceptable agreement with the film gamma results. Conclusion: Our ArcCheck results at 3%, 3 mm were found to correlate well with our non-SABR spine routine patient specific QA results (3%,1 mm). We observed significant reduction in QA time on using ArcCheck for SABR QA. This study shows that ArcCheck could replace film dosimetry for all sites except SABR spine.« less

Quality Measures in Pre-Analytical Phase of Tissue Processing: Understanding Its Value in Histopathology.

PubMed

Rao, Shalinee; Masilamani, Suresh; Sundaram, Sandhya; Duvuru, Prathiba; Swaminathan, Rajendiran

2016-01-01

Quality monitoring in histopathology unit is categorized into three phases, pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical, to cover various steps in the entire test cycle. Review of literature on quality evaluation studies pertaining to histopathology revealed that earlier reports were mainly focused on analytical aspects with limited studies on assessment of pre-analytical phase. Pre-analytical phase encompasses several processing steps and handling of specimen/sample by multiple individuals, thus allowing enough scope for errors. Due to its critical nature and limited studies in the past to assess quality in pre-analytical phase, it deserves more attention. This study was undertaken to analyse and assess the quality parameters in pre-analytical phase in a histopathology laboratory. This was a retrospective study done on pre-analytical parameters in histopathology laboratory of a tertiary care centre on 18,626 tissue specimens received in 34 months. Registers and records were checked for efficiency and errors for pre-analytical quality variables: specimen identification, specimen in appropriate fixatives, lost specimens, daily internal quality control performance on staining, performance in inter-laboratory quality assessment program {External quality assurance program (EQAS)} and evaluation of internal non-conformities (NC) for other errors. The study revealed incorrect specimen labelling in 0.04%, 0.01% and 0.01% in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. About 0.04%, 0.07% and 0.18% specimens were not sent in fixatives in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. There was no incidence of specimen lost. A total of 113 non-conformities were identified out of which 92.9% belonged to the pre-analytical phase. The predominant NC (any deviation from normal standard which may generate an error and result in compromising with quality standards) identified was wrong labelling of slides. Performance in EQAS for pre-analytical phase was satisfactory in 6 of 9 cycles. A low incidence of errors in pre-analytical phase implies that a satisfactory level of quality standards was being practiced with still scope for improvement.

Hardware-efficient bosonic quantum error-correcting codes based on symmetry operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Murphy Yuezhen; Chuang, Isaac L.; Shapiro, Jeffrey H.

2018-03-01

We establish a symmetry-operator framework for designing quantum error-correcting (QEC) codes based on fundamental properties of the underlying system dynamics. Based on this framework, we propose three hardware-efficient bosonic QEC codes that are suitable for χ(2 )-interaction based quantum computation in multimode Fock bases: the χ(2 ) parity-check code, the χ(2 ) embedded error-correcting code, and the χ(2 ) binomial code. All of these QEC codes detect photon-loss or photon-gain errors by means of photon-number parity measurements, and then correct them via χ(2 ) Hamiltonian evolutions and linear-optics transformations. Our symmetry-operator framework provides a systematic procedure for finding QEC codes that are not stabilizer codes, and it enables convenient extension of a given encoding to higher-dimensional qudit bases. The χ(2 ) binomial code is of special interest because, with m ≤N identified from channel monitoring, it can correct m -photon-loss errors, or m -photon-gain errors, or (m -1 )th -order dephasing errors using logical qudits that are encoded in O (N ) photons. In comparison, other bosonic QEC codes require O (N2) photons to correct the same degree of bosonic errors. Such improved photon efficiency underscores the additional error-correction power that can be provided by channel monitoring. We develop quantum Hamming bounds for photon-loss errors in the code subspaces associated with the χ(2 ) parity-check code and the χ(2 ) embedded error-correcting code, and we prove that these codes saturate their respective bounds. Our χ(2 ) QEC codes exhibit hardware efficiency in that they address the principal error mechanisms and exploit the available physical interactions of the underlying hardware, thus reducing the physical resources required for implementing their encoding, decoding, and error-correction operations, and their universal encoded-basis gate sets.

Nearly two decades using the check-type to prevent ABO incompatible transfusions: one institution's experience.

PubMed

Figueroa, Priscila I; Ziman, Alyssa; Wheeler, Christine; Gornbein, Jeffrey; Monson, Michael; Calhoun, Loni

2006-09-01

To detect miscollected (wrong blood in tube [WBIT]) samples, our institution requires a second independently drawn sample (check-type [CT]) on previously untyped, non-group O patients who are likely to require transfusion. During the 17-year period addressed by this report, 94 WBIT errors were detected: 57% by comparison with a historic blood type, 7% by the CT, and 35% by other means. The CT averted 5 potential ABO-incompatible transfusions. Our corrected WBIT error rate is 1 in 3,713 for verified samples tested between 2000 and 2003, the period for which actual number of CTs performed was available. The estimated rate of WBIT for the 17-year period is 1 in 2,262 samples. ABO-incompatible transfusions due to WBIT-type errors are avoided by comparison of current blood type results with a historic type, and the CT is an effective way to create a historic type.

Virtex-5QV Self Scrubber

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

Wojahn, Christopher K.

2015-10-20

This HDL code (hereafter referred to as "software") implements circuitry in Xilinx Virtex-5QV Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) hardware. This software allows the device to self-check the consistency of its own configuration memory for radiation-induced errors. The software then provides the capability to correct any single-bit errors detected in the memory using the device's inherent circuitry, or reload corrupted memory frames when larger errors occur that cannot be corrected with the device's built-in error correction and detection scheme.

Accounting for apparent deviations between calorimetric and van't Hoff enthalpies.

PubMed

Kantonen, Samuel A; Henriksen, Niel M; Gilson, Michael K

2018-03-01

In theory, binding enthalpies directly obtained from calorimetry (such as ITC) and the temperature dependence of the binding free energy (van't Hoff method) should agree. However, previous studies have often found them to be discrepant. Experimental binding enthalpies (both calorimetric and van't Hoff) are obtained for two host-guest pairs using ITC, and the discrepancy between the two enthalpies is examined. Modeling of artificial ITC data is also used to examine how different sources of error propagate to both types of binding enthalpies. For the host-guest pairs examined here, good agreement, to within about 0.4kcal/mol, is obtained between the two enthalpies. Additionally, using artificial data, we find that different sources of error propagate to either enthalpy uniquely, with concentration error and heat error propagating primarily to calorimetric and van't Hoff enthalpies, respectively. With modern calorimeters, good agreement between van't Hoff and calorimetric enthalpies should be achievable, barring issues due to non-ideality or unanticipated measurement pathologies. Indeed, disagreement between the two can serve as a flag for error-prone datasets. A review of the underlying theory supports the expectation that these two quantities should be in agreement. We address and arguably resolve long-standing questions regarding the relationship between calorimetric and van't Hoff enthalpies. In addition, we show that comparison of these two quantities can be used as an internal consistency check of a calorimetry study. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Checking Questionable Entry of Personally Identifiable Information Encrypted by One-Way Hash Transformation

PubMed Central

Chen, Xianlai; Fann, Yang C; McAuliffe, Matthew; Vismer, David

2017-01-01

Background As one of the several effective solutions for personal privacy protection, a global unique identifier (GUID) is linked with hash codes that are generated from combinations of personally identifiable information (PII) by a one-way hash algorithm. On the GUID server, no PII is permitted to be stored, and only GUID and hash codes are allowed. The quality of PII entry is critical to the GUID system. Objective The goal of our study was to explore a method of checking questionable entry of PII in this context without using or sending any portion of PII while registering a subject. Methods According to the principle of GUID system, all possible combination patterns of PII fields were analyzed and used to generate hash codes, which were stored on the GUID server. Based on the matching rules of the GUID system, an error-checking algorithm was developed using set theory to check PII entry errors. We selected 200,000 simulated individuals with randomly-planted errors to evaluate the proposed algorithm. These errors were placed in the required PII fields or optional PII fields. The performance of the proposed algorithm was also tested in the registering system of study subjects. Results There are 127,700 error-planted subjects, of which 114,464 (89.64%) can still be identified as the previous one and remaining 13,236 (10.36%, 13,236/127,700) are discriminated as new subjects. As expected, 100% of nonidentified subjects had errors within the required PII fields. The possibility that a subject is identified is related to the count and the type of incorrect PII field. For all identified subjects, their errors can be found by the proposed algorithm. The scope of questionable PII fields is also associated with the count and the type of the incorrect PII field. The best situation is to precisely find the exact incorrect PII fields, and the worst situation is to shrink the questionable scope only to a set of 13 PII fields. In the application, the proposed algorithm can give a hint of questionable PII entry and perform as an effective tool. Conclusions The GUID system has high error tolerance and may correctly identify and associate a subject even with few PII field errors. Correct data entry, especially required PII fields, is critical to avoiding false splits. In the context of one-way hash transformation, the questionable input of PII may be identified by applying set theory operators based on the hash codes. The count and the type of incorrect PII fields play an important role in identifying a subject and locating questionable PII fields. PMID:28213343

Checking Questionable Entry of Personally Identifiable Information Encrypted by One-Way Hash Transformation.

PubMed

Chen, Xianlai; Fann, Yang C; McAuliffe, Matthew; Vismer, David; Yang, Rong

2017-02-17

As one of the several effective solutions for personal privacy protection, a global unique identifier (GUID) is linked with hash codes that are generated from combinations of personally identifiable information (PII) by a one-way hash algorithm. On the GUID server, no PII is permitted to be stored, and only GUID and hash codes are allowed. The quality of PII entry is critical to the GUID system. The goal of our study was to explore a method of checking questionable entry of PII in this context without using or sending any portion of PII while registering a subject. According to the principle of GUID system, all possible combination patterns of PII fields were analyzed and used to generate hash codes, which were stored on the GUID server. Based on the matching rules of the GUID system, an error-checking algorithm was developed using set theory to check PII entry errors. We selected 200,000 simulated individuals with randomly-planted errors to evaluate the proposed algorithm. These errors were placed in the required PII fields or optional PII fields. The performance of the proposed algorithm was also tested in the registering system of study subjects. There are 127,700 error-planted subjects, of which 114,464 (89.64%) can still be identified as the previous one and remaining 13,236 (10.36%, 13,236/127,700) are discriminated as new subjects. As expected, 100% of nonidentified subjects had errors within the required PII fields. The possibility that a subject is identified is related to the count and the type of incorrect PII field. For all identified subjects, their errors can be found by the proposed algorithm. The scope of questionable PII fields is also associated with the count and the type of the incorrect PII field. The best situation is to precisely find the exact incorrect PII fields, and the worst situation is to shrink the questionable scope only to a set of 13 PII fields. In the application, the proposed algorithm can give a hint of questionable PII entry and perform as an effective tool. The GUID system has high error tolerance and may correctly identify and associate a subject even with few PII field errors. Correct data entry, especially required PII fields, is critical to avoiding false splits. In the context of one-way hash transformation, the questionable input of PII may be identified by applying set theory operators based on the hash codes. The count and the type of incorrect PII fields play an important role in identifying a subject and locating questionable PII fields. ©Xianlai Chen, Yang C Fann, Matthew McAuliffe, David Vismer, Rong Yang. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 17.02.2017.

Using snowball sampling method with nurses to understand medication administration errors.

PubMed

Sheu, Shuh-Jen; Wei, Ien-Lan; Chen, Ching-Huey; Yu, Shu; Tang, Fu-In

2009-02-01

We aimed to encourage nurses to release information about drug administration errors to increase understanding of error-related circumstances and to identify high-alert situations. Drug administration errors represent the majority of medication errors, but errors are underreported. Effective ways are lacking to encourage nurses to actively report errors. Snowball sampling was conducted to recruit participants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to record types of error, hospital and nurse backgrounds, patient consequences, error discovery mechanisms and reporting rates. Eighty-five nurses participated, reporting 328 administration errors (259 actual, 69 near misses). Most errors occurred in medical surgical wards of teaching hospitals, during day shifts, committed by nurses working fewer than two years. Leading errors were wrong drugs and doses, each accounting for about one-third of total errors. Among 259 actual errors, 83.8% resulted in no adverse effects; among remaining 16.2%, 6.6% had mild consequences and 9.6% had serious consequences (severe reaction, coma, death). Actual errors and near misses were discovered mainly through double-check procedures by colleagues and nurses responsible for errors; reporting rates were 62.5% (162/259) vs. 50.7% (35/69) and only 3.5% (9/259) vs. 0% (0/69) were disclosed to patients and families. High-alert situations included administration of 15% KCl, insulin and Pitocin; using intravenous pumps; and implementation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Snowball sampling proved to be an effective way to encourage nurses to release details concerning medication errors. Using empirical data, we identified high-alert situations. Strategies for reducing drug administration errors by nurses are suggested. Survey results suggest that nurses should double check medication administration in known high-alert situations. Nursing management can use snowball sampling to gather error details from nurses in a non-reprimanding atmosphere, helping to establish standard operational procedures for known high-alert situations.

Minimizing treatment planning errors in proton therapy using failure mode and effects analysis

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

Zheng, Yuanshui, E-mail: yuanshui.zheng@okc.procure.com; Johnson, Randall; Larson, Gary

Purpose: Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a widely used tool to evaluate safety or reliability in conventional photon radiation therapy. However, reports about FMEA application in proton therapy are scarce. The purpose of this study is to apply FMEA in safety improvement of proton treatment planning at their center. Methods: The authors performed an FMEA analysis of their proton therapy treatment planning process using uniform scanning proton beams. The authors identified possible failure modes in various planning processes, including image fusion, contouring, beam arrangement, dose calculation, plan export, documents, billing, and so on. For each error, the authorsmore » estimated the frequency of occurrence, the likelihood of being undetected, and the severity of the error if it went undetected and calculated the risk priority number (RPN). The FMEA results were used to design their quality management program. In addition, the authors created a database to track the identified dosimetric errors. Periodically, the authors reevaluated the risk of errors by reviewing the internal error database and improved their quality assurance program as needed. Results: In total, the authors identified over 36 possible treatment planning related failure modes and estimated the associated occurrence, detectability, and severity to calculate the overall risk priority number. Based on the FMEA, the authors implemented various safety improvement procedures into their practice, such as education, peer review, and automatic check tools. The ongoing error tracking database provided realistic data on the frequency of occurrence with which to reevaluate the RPNs for various failure modes. Conclusions: The FMEA technique provides a systematic method for identifying and evaluating potential errors in proton treatment planning before they result in an error in patient dose delivery. The application of FMEA framework and the implementation of an ongoing error tracking system at their clinic have proven to be useful in error reduction in proton treatment planning, thus improving the effectiveness and safety of proton therapy.« less

Minimizing treatment planning errors in proton therapy using failure mode and effects analysis.

PubMed

Zheng, Yuanshui; Johnson, Randall; Larson, Gary

2016-06-01

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a widely used tool to evaluate safety or reliability in conventional photon radiation therapy. However, reports about FMEA application in proton therapy are scarce. The purpose of this study is to apply FMEA in safety improvement of proton treatment planning at their center. The authors performed an FMEA analysis of their proton therapy treatment planning process using uniform scanning proton beams. The authors identified possible failure modes in various planning processes, including image fusion, contouring, beam arrangement, dose calculation, plan export, documents, billing, and so on. For each error, the authors estimated the frequency of occurrence, the likelihood of being undetected, and the severity of the error if it went undetected and calculated the risk priority number (RPN). The FMEA results were used to design their quality management program. In addition, the authors created a database to track the identified dosimetric errors. Periodically, the authors reevaluated the risk of errors by reviewing the internal error database and improved their quality assurance program as needed. In total, the authors identified over 36 possible treatment planning related failure modes and estimated the associated occurrence, detectability, and severity to calculate the overall risk priority number. Based on the FMEA, the authors implemented various safety improvement procedures into their practice, such as education, peer review, and automatic check tools. The ongoing error tracking database provided realistic data on the frequency of occurrence with which to reevaluate the RPNs for various failure modes. The FMEA technique provides a systematic method for identifying and evaluating potential errors in proton treatment planning before they result in an error in patient dose delivery. The application of FMEA framework and the implementation of an ongoing error tracking system at their clinic have proven to be useful in error reduction in proton treatment planning, thus improving the effectiveness and safety of proton therapy.

75 FR 40033 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) Tax Check Waiver

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-13

... Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) Tax Check Waiver AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION... comments concerning Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) Tax Check Waiver. DATES: Written comments should [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) Tax Check Waiver. OMB...

Amelogenin test: From forensics to quality control in clinical and biochemical genomics.

PubMed

Francès, F; Portolés, O; González, J I; Coltell, O; Verdú, F; Castelló, A; Corella, D

2007-01-01

The increasing number of samples from the biomedical genetic studies and the number of centers participating in the same involves increasing risk of mistakes in the different sample handling stages. We have evaluated the usefulness of the amelogenin test for quality control in sample identification. Amelogenin test (frequently used in forensics) was undertaken on 1224 individuals participating in a biomedical study. Concordance between referred sex in the database and amelogenin test was estimated. Additional sex-error genetic detecting systems were developed. The overall concordance rate was 99.84% (1222/1224). Two samples showed a female amelogenin test outcome, being codified as males in the database. The first, after checking sex-specific biochemical and clinical profile data was found to be due to a codification error in the database. In the second, after checking the database, no apparent error was discovered because a correct male profile was found. False negatives in amelogenin male sex determination were discarded by additional tests, and feminine sex was confirmed. A sample labeling error was revealed after a new DNA extraction. The amelogenin test is a useful quality control tool for detecting sex-identification errors in large genomic studies, and can contribute to increase its validity.

Effects of monetary reward and punishment on information checking behaviour: An eye-tracking study.

PubMed

Li, Simon Y W; Cox, Anna L; Or, Calvin; Blandford, Ann

2018-07-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of error consequence, as reward or punishment, on individuals' checking behaviour following data entry. This study comprised two eye-tracking experiments that replicate and extend the investigation of Li et al. (2016) into the effect of monetary reward and punishment on data-entry performance. The first experiment adopted the same experimental setup as Li et al. (2016) but additionally used an eye tracker. The experiment validated Li et al. (2016) finding that, when compared to no error consequence, both reward and punishment led to improved data-entry performance in terms of reducing errors, and that no performance difference was found between reward and punishment. The second experiment extended the earlier study by associating error consequence to each individual trial by providing immediate performance feedback to participants. It was found that gradual increment (i.e. reward feedback) also led to significantly more accurate performance than no error consequence. It is unclear whether gradual increment is more effective than gradual decrement because of the small sample size tested. However, this study reasserts the effectiveness of reward on data-entry performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Tan, J; Yan, Y; Hager, F

Purpose: Radiation therapy has evolved to become not only more precise and potent, but also more complicated to monitor and deliver. More rigorous and comprehensive quality assurance is needed to safeguard ever advancing radiation therapy. ICRU standards dictate that an ever growing set of treatment parameters are manually checked weekly by medical physicists. This “weekly chart check” procedure is laborious and subject to human errors or other factors. A computer-assisted chart checking process will enable more complete and accurate human review of critical parameters, reduce the risk of medical errors, and improve the efficiency. Methods: We developed a web-based softwaremore » system that enables a thorough weekly quality assurance checks. In the backend, the software retrieves all machine parameters from a Treatment Management System (TMS) and compares them against the corresponding ones from the treatment planning system. They are also checked for validity against preset rules. The results are displayed as a web page in the front-end for physicists to review. Then a summary report is generated and uploaded automatically to the TMS as a record for weekly chart checking. Results: The software system has been deployed on a web server in our department’s intranet, and has been tested thoroughly by our clinical physicists. A plan parameter would be highlighted when it is off the preset limit. The developed system has changed the way of checking charts with significantly improved accuracy, efficiency, and completeness. It has been shown to be robust, fast, and easy to use. Conclusion: A computer-assisted system has been developed for efficient, accurate, and comprehensive weekly chart checking. The system has been extensively validated and is being implemented for routine clinical use.« less

CMM Interim Check Design of Experiments (U)

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

Montano, Joshua Daniel

2015-07-29

Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM) are widely used in industry, throughout the Nuclear Weapons Complex and at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to verify part conformance to design definition. Calibration cycles for CMMs at LANL are predominantly one year in length and include a weekly interim check to reduce risk. The CMM interim check makes use of Renishaw’s Machine Checking Gauge which is an off-the-shelf product simulates a large sphere within a CMM’s measurement volume and allows for error estimation. As verification on the interim check process a design of experiments investigation was proposed to test a couple of key factorsmore » (location and inspector). The results from the two-factor factorial experiment proved that location influenced results more than the inspector or interaction.« less

A simulation test of the effectiveness of several methods for error-checking non-invasive genetic data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roon, David A.; Waits, L.P.; Kendall, K.C.

2005-01-01

Non-invasive genetic sampling (NGS) is becoming a popular tool for population estimation. However, multiple NGS studies have demonstrated that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genotyping errors can bias demographic estimates. These errors can be detected by comprehensive data filters such as the multiple-tubes approach, but this approach is expensive and time consuming as it requires three to eight PCR replicates per locus. Thus, researchers have attempted to correct PCR errors in NGS datasets using non-comprehensive error checking methods, but these approaches have not been evaluated for reliability. We simulated NGS studies with and without PCR error and 'filtered' datasets using non-comprehensive approaches derived from published studies and calculated mark-recapture estimates using CAPTURE. In the absence of data-filtering, simulated error resulted in serious inflations in CAPTURE estimates; some estimates exceeded N by ??? 200%. When data filters were used, CAPTURE estimate reliability varied with per-locus error (E??). At E?? = 0.01, CAPTURE estimates from filtered data displayed < 5% deviance from error-free estimates. When E?? was 0.05 or 0.09, some CAPTURE estimates from filtered data displayed biases in excess of 10%. Biases were positive at high sampling intensities; negative biases were observed at low sampling intensities. We caution researchers against using non-comprehensive data filters in NGS studies, unless they can achieve baseline per-locus error rates below 0.05 and, ideally, near 0.01. However, we suggest that data filters can be combined with careful technique and thoughtful NGS study design to yield accurate demographic information. ?? 2005 The Zoological Society of London.

Medication-related clinical decision support in computerized provider order entry systems: a review.

PubMed

Kuperman, Gilad J; Bobb, Anne; Payne, Thomas H; Avery, Anthony J; Gandhi, Tejal K; Burns, Gerard; Classen, David C; Bates, David W

2007-01-01

While medications can improve patients' health, the process of prescribing them is complex and error prone, and medication errors cause many preventable injuries. Computer provider order entry (CPOE) with clinical decision support (CDS), can improve patient safety and lower medication-related costs. To realize the medication-related benefits of CDS within CPOE, one must overcome significant challenges. Healthcare organizations implementing CPOE must understand what classes of CDS their CPOE systems can support, assure that clinical knowledge underlying their CDS systems is reasonable, and appropriately represent electronic patient data. These issues often influence to what extent an institution will succeed with its CPOE implementation and achieve its desired goals. Medication-related decision support is probably best introduced into healthcare organizations in two stages, basic and advanced. Basic decision support includes drug-allergy checking, basic dosing guidance, formulary decision support, duplicate therapy checking, and drug-drug interaction checking. Advanced decision support includes dosing support for renal insufficiency and geriatric patients, guidance for medication-related laboratory testing, drug-pregnancy checking, and drug-disease contraindication checking. In this paper, the authors outline some of the challenges associated with both basic and advanced decision support and discuss how those challenges might be addressed. The authors conclude with summary recommendations for delivering effective medication-related clinical decision support addressed to healthcare organizations, application and knowledge base vendors, policy makers, and researchers.

Quotation accuracy in medical journal articles—a systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Jergas, Hannah

2015-01-01

Background. Quotations and references are an indispensable element of scientific communication. They should support what authors claim or provide important background information for readers. Studies indicate, however, that quotations not serving their purpose—quotation errors—may be prevalent. Methods. We carried out a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of quotation errors, taking account of differences between studies in error ascertainment. Results. Out of 559 studies screened we included 28 in the main analysis, and estimated major, minor and total quotation error rates of 11,9%, 95% CI [8.4, 16.6] 11.5% [8.3, 15.7], and 25.4% [19.5, 32.4]. While heterogeneity was substantial, even the lowest estimate of total quotation errors was considerable (6.7%). Indirect references accounted for less than one sixth of all quotation problems. The findings remained robust in a number of sensitivity and subgroup analyses (including risk of bias analysis) and in meta-regression. There was no indication of publication bias. Conclusions. Readers of medical journal articles should be aware of the fact that quotation errors are common. Measures against quotation errors include spot checks by editors and reviewers, correct placement of citations in the text, and declarations by authors that they have checked cited material. Future research should elucidate if and to what degree quotation errors are detrimental to scientific progress. PMID:26528420

Property Differencing for Incremental Checking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, Guowei; Khurshid, Sarfraz; Person, Suzette; Rungta, Neha

2014-01-01

This paper introduces iProperty, a novel approach that facilitates incremental checking of programs based on a property di erencing technique. Speci cally, iProperty aims to reduce the cost of checking properties as they are initially developed and as they co-evolve with the program. The key novelty of iProperty is to compute the di erences between the new and old versions of expected properties to reduce the number and size of the properties that need to be checked during the initial development of the properties. Furthermore, property di erencing is used in synergy with program behavior di erencing techniques to optimize common regression scenarios, such as detecting regression errors or checking feature additions for conformance to new expected properties. Experimental results in the context of symbolic execution of Java programs annotated with properties written as assertions show the e ectiveness of iProperty in utilizing change information to enable more ecient checking.

PSEUDO-CODEWORD LANDSCAPE

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

CHERTKOV, MICHAEL; STEPANOV, MIKHAIL

2007-01-10

The authors discuss performance of Low-Density-Parity-Check (LDPC) codes decoded by Linear Programming (LP) decoding at moderate and large Signal-to-Noise-Ratios (SNR). Frame-Error-Rate (FER) dependence on SNR and the noise space landscape of the coding/decoding scheme are analyzed by a combination of the previously introduced instanton/pseudo-codeword-search method and a new 'dendro' trick. To reduce complexity of the LP decoding for a code with high-degree checks, {ge} 5, they introduce its dendro-LDPC counterpart, that is the code performing identifically to the original one under Maximum-A-Posteriori (MAP) decoding but having reduced (down to three) check connectivity degree. Analyzing number of popular LDPC codes andmore » their dendro versions performing over the Additive-White-Gaussian-Noise (AWGN) channel, they observed two qualitatively different regimes: (i) error-floor sets early, at relatively low SNR, and (ii) FER decays with SNR increase faster at moderate SNR than at the largest SNR. They explain these regimes in terms of the pseudo-codeword spectra of the codes.« less

Program Model Checking as a New Trend

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Havelund, Klaus; Visser, Willem; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper introduces a special section of STTT (International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer) containing a selection of papers that were presented at the 7th International SPIN workshop, Stanford, August 30 - September 1, 2000. The workshop was named SPIN Model Checking and Software Verification, with an emphasis on model checking of programs. The paper outlines the motivation for stressing software verification, rather than only design and model verification, by presenting the work done in the Automated Software Engineering group at NASA Ames Research Center within the last 5 years. This includes work in software model checking, testing like technologies and static analysis.

Technical note: patient-specific quality assurance methods for TomoDirect(TM) whole breast treatment delivery.

PubMed

Catuzzo, P; Zenone, F; Aimonetto, S; Peruzzo, A; Casanova Borca, V; Pasquino, M; Franco, P; La Porta, M R; Ricardi, U; Tofani, S

2012-07-01

To investigate the feasibility of implementing a novel approach for patient-specific QA of TomoDirect(TM) whole breast treatment. The most currently used TomoTherapy DQA method, consisting in the verification of the 2D dose distribution in a coronal or sagittal plane of the Cheese Phantom by means of gafchromic films, was compared with an alternative approach based on the use of two commercially available diode arrays, MapCHECK2(TM) and ArcCHECK(TM). The TomoDirect(TM) plans of twenty patients with a primary unilateral breast cancer were applied to a CT scan of the Cheese Phantom and a MVCT dataset of the diode arrays. Then measurements of 2D dose distribution were performed and compared with the calculated ones using the gamma analysis method with different sets of DTA and DD criteria (3%-3 mm, 3%-2 mm). The sensitivity of the diode arrays to detect delivery and setup errors was also investigated. The measured dose distributions showed excellent agreement with the TPS calculations for each detector, with averaged fractions of passed Γ values greater than 95%. The percentage of points satisfying the constraint Γ < 1 was significantly higher for MapCHECK2(TM) than for ArcCHECK(TM) and gafchromic films using both the 3%-3 mm and 3%-2 mm gamma criteria. Both the diode arrays show a good sensitivity to delivery and setup errors using a 3%-2 mm gamma criteria. MapCHECK2™ and ArcCHECK(TM) may fulfill the demands of an adequate system for TomoDirect(TM) patient-specific QA.

TU-G-BRD-01: Quantifying the Effectiveness of the Physics Pre-Treatment Plan Review for Detecting Errors in Radiation Therapy

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

Gopan, O; Novak, A; Zeng, J

Purpose: Physics pre-treatment plan review is crucial to safe radiation oncology treatments. Studies show that most errors originate in treatment planning, which underscores the importance of physics plan review. As a QA measure the physics review is of fundamental importance and is central to the profession of medical physics. However, little is known about its effectiveness. More hard data are needed. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effectiveness of physics review with the goal of improving it. Methods: This study analyzed 315 “potentially serious” near-miss incidents within an institutional incident learning system collected over a two-year period.more » 139 of these originated prior to physics review and were found at the review or after. Incidents were classified as events that: 1)were detected by physics review, 2)could have been detected (but were not), and 3)could not have been detected. Category 1 and 2 events were classified by which specific check (within physics review) detected or could have detected the event. Results: Of the 139 analyzed events, 73/139 (53%) were detected or could have been detected by the physics review; although, 42/73 (58%) were not actually detected. 45/73 (62%) errors originated in treatment planning, making physics review the first step in the workflow that could detect the error. Two specific physics checks were particularly effective (combined effectiveness of >20%): verifying DRRs (8/73) and verifying isocenter (7/73). Software-based plan checking systems were evaluated and found to have potential effectiveness of 40%. Given current data structures, software implementations of some tests such as isocenter verification check would be challenging. Conclusion: Physics plan review is a key safety measure and can detect majority of reported events. However, a majority of events that potentially could have been detected were NOT detected in this study, indicating the need to improve the performance of physics review.« less

Reducing patient identification errors related to glucose point-of-care testing.

PubMed

Alreja, Gaurav; Setia, Namrata; Nichols, James; Pantanowitz, Liron

2011-01-01

Patient identification (ID) errors in point-of-care testing (POCT) can cause test results to be transferred to the wrong patient's chart or prevent results from being transmitted and reported. Despite the implementation of patient barcoding and ongoing operator training at our institution, patient ID errors still occur with glucose POCT. The aim of this study was to develop a solution to reduce identification errors with POCT. Glucose POCT was performed by approximately 2,400 clinical operators throughout our health system. Patients are identified by scanning in wristband barcodes or by manual data entry using portable glucose meters. Meters are docked to upload data to a database server which then transmits data to any medical record matching the financial number of the test result. With a new model, meters connect to an interface manager where the patient ID (a nine-digit account number) is checked against patient registration data from admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) feeds and only matched results are transferred to the patient's electronic medical record. With the new process, the patient ID is checked prior to testing, and testing is prevented until ID errors are resolved. When averaged over a period of a month, ID errors were reduced to 3 errors/month (0.015%) in comparison with 61.5 errors/month (0.319%) before implementing the new meters. Patient ID errors may occur with glucose POCT despite patient barcoding. The verification of patient identification should ideally take place at the bedside before testing occurs so that the errors can be addressed in real time. The introduction of an ADT feed directly to glucose meters reduced patient ID errors in POCT.

Reducing patient identification errors related to glucose point-of-care testing

PubMed Central

Alreja, Gaurav; Setia, Namrata; Nichols, James; Pantanowitz, Liron

2011-01-01

Background: Patient identification (ID) errors in point-of-care testing (POCT) can cause test results to be transferred to the wrong patient's chart or prevent results from being transmitted and reported. Despite the implementation of patient barcoding and ongoing operator training at our institution, patient ID errors still occur with glucose POCT. The aim of this study was to develop a solution to reduce identification errors with POCT. Materials and Methods: Glucose POCT was performed by approximately 2,400 clinical operators throughout our health system. Patients are identified by scanning in wristband barcodes or by manual data entry using portable glucose meters. Meters are docked to upload data to a database server which then transmits data to any medical record matching the financial number of the test result. With a new model, meters connect to an interface manager where the patient ID (a nine-digit account number) is checked against patient registration data from admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) feeds and only matched results are transferred to the patient's electronic medical record. With the new process, the patient ID is checked prior to testing, and testing is prevented until ID errors are resolved. Results: When averaged over a period of a month, ID errors were reduced to 3 errors/month (0.015%) in comparison with 61.5 errors/month (0.319%) before implementing the new meters. Conclusion: Patient ID errors may occur with glucose POCT despite patient barcoding. The verification of patient identification should ideally take place at the bedside before testing occurs so that the errors can be addressed in real time. The introduction of an ADT feed directly to glucose meters reduced patient ID errors in POCT. PMID:21633490

Error floor behavior study of LDPC codes for concatenated codes design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weigang; Yin, Liuguo; Lu, Jianhua

2007-11-01

Error floor behavior of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes using quantized decoding algorithms is statistically studied with experimental results on a hardware evaluation platform. The results present the distribution of the residual errors after decoding failure and reveal that the number of residual error bits in a codeword is usually very small using quantized sum-product (SP) algorithm. Therefore, LDPC code may serve as the inner code in a concatenated coding system with a high code rate outer code and thus an ultra low error floor can be achieved. This conclusion is also verified by the experimental results.

DataPlus™ - a revolutionary applications generator for DOS hand-held computers

Treesearch

David Dean; Linda Dean

2000-01-01

DataPlus allows the user to easily design data collection templates for DOS-based hand-held computers that mimic clipboard data sheets. The user designs and tests the application on the desktop PC and then transfers it to a DOS field computer. Other features include: error checking, missing data checks, and sensor input from RS-232 devices such as bar code wands,...

Modeling of a bubble-memory organization with self-checking translators to achieve high reliability.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bouricius, W. G.; Carter, W. C.; Hsieh, E. P.; Wadia, A. B.; Jessep, D. C., Jr.

1973-01-01

Study of the design and modeling of a highly reliable bubble-memory system that has the capabilities of: (1) correcting a single 16-adjacent bit-group error resulting from failures in a single basic storage module (BSM), and (2) detecting with a probability greater than 0.99 any double errors resulting from failures in BSM's. The results of the study justify the design philosophy adopted of employing memory data encoding and a translator to correct single group errors and detect double group errors to enhance the overall system reliability.

Evaluation of platinum resistance thermometers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daryabeigi, Kamran; Dillon-Townes, Lawrence A.

1988-01-01

An evaluation procedure for the characterization of industrial platinum resistance thermometers (PRTs) for use in the temperature range -120 to 160 C was investigated. This evaluation procedure consisted of calibration, thermal stability and hysteresis testing of four surface measuring PRTs. Five different calibration schemes were investigated for these sensors. The IPTS-68 formulation produced the most accurate result, yielding average sensor systematic error of 0.02 C and random error of 0.1 C. The sensors were checked for thermal stability by successive and thermal cycling between room temperature, 160 C, and boiling point of nitrogen. All the PRTs suffered from instability and hysteresis. The applicability of the self-heating technique as an in situ method for checking the calibration of PRTs located inside wind tunnels was investigated.

Low Density Parity Check Codes: Bandwidth Efficient Channel Coding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fong, Wai; Lin, Shu; Maki, Gary; Yeh, Pen-Shu

2003-01-01

Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) Codes provide near-Shannon Capacity performance for NASA Missions. These codes have high coding rates R=0.82 and 0.875 with moderate code lengths, n=4096 and 8176. Their decoders have inherently parallel structures which allows for high-speed implementation. Two codes based on Euclidean Geometry (EG) were selected for flight ASIC implementation. These codes are cyclic and quasi-cyclic in nature and therefore have a simple encoder structure. This results in power and size benefits. These codes also have a large minimum distance as much as d,,, = 65 giving them powerful error correcting capabilities and error floors less than lo- BER. This paper will present development of the LDPC flight encoder and decoder, its applications and status.

Monitoring in Language Perception: Mild and Strong Conflicts Elicit Different ERP Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van de Meerendonk, Nan; Kolk, Herman H. J.; Vissers, Constance Th. W. M.; Chwilla, Dorothee J.

2010-01-01

In the language domain, most studies of error monitoring have been devoted to language production. However, in language perception, errors are made as well and we are able to detect them. According to the monitoring theory of language perception, a strong conflict between what is expected and what is observed triggers reanalysis to check for…

LDPC Codes--Structural Analysis and Decoding Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Xiaojie

2012-01-01

Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes have been the focus of much research over the past decade thanks to their near Shannon limit performance and to their efficient message-passing (MP) decoding algorithms. However, the error floor phenomenon observed in MP decoding, which manifests itself as an abrupt change in the slope of the error-rate curve,…

Quality assurance of dynamic parameters in volumetric modulated arc therapy.

PubMed

Manikandan, A; Sarkar, B; Holla, R; Vivek, T R; Sujatha, N

2012-07-01

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate quality assurance checks for accuracy of gantry speed and position, dose rate and multileaf collimator (MLC) speed and position for a volumetric modulated arc treatment (VMAT) modality (Synergy S; Elekta, Stockholm, Sweden), and to check that all the necessary variables and parameters were synchronous. Three tests (for gantry position-dose delivery synchronisation, gantry speed-dose delivery synchronisation and MLC leaf speed and positions) were performed. The average error in gantry position was 0.5° and the average difference was 3 MU for a linear and a parabolic relationship between gantry position and delivered dose. In the third part of this test (sawtooth variation), the maximum difference was 9.3 MU, with a gantry position difference of 1.2°. In the sweeping field method test, a linear relationship was observed between recorded doses and distance from the central axis, as expected. In the open field method, errors were encountered at the beginning and at the end of the delivery arc, termed the "beginning" and "end" errors. For MLC position verification, the maximum error was -2.46 mm and the mean error was 0.0153 ±0.4668 mm, and 3.4% of leaves analysed showed errors of >±1 mm. This experiment demonstrates that the variables and parameters of the Synergy S are synchronous and that the system is suitable for delivering VMAT using a dynamic MLC.

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

Katsuta, Y; Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendal, Miyagi; Kadoya, N

Purpose: In this study, we developed a system to calculate three dimensional (3D) dose that reflects dosimetric error caused by leaf miscalibration for head and neck and prostate volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) without additional treatment planning system calculation on real time. Methods: An original system called clarkson dose calculation based dosimetric error calculation to calculate dosimetric error caused by leaf miscalibration was developed by MATLAB (Math Works, Natick, MA). Our program, first, calculates point doses at isocenter for baseline and modified VMAT plan, which generated by inducing MLC errors that enlarged aperture size of 1.0 mm with clarkson dosemore » calculation. Second, error incuced 3D dose was generated with transforming TPS baseline 3D dose using calculated point doses. Results: Mean computing time was less than 5 seconds. For seven head and neck and prostate plans, between our method and TPS calculated error incuced 3D dose, the 3D gamma passing rates (0.5%/2 mm, global) are 97.6±0.6% and 98.0±0.4%. The dose percentage change with dose volume histogram parameter of mean dose on target volume were 0.1±0.5% and 0.4±0.3%, and with generalized equivalent uniform dose on target volume were −0.2±0.5% and 0.2±0.3%. Conclusion: The erroneous 3D dose calculated by our method is useful to check dosimetric error caused by leaf miscalibration before pre treatment patient QA dosimetry checks.« less

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Face-on disk galaxies photometry. I. (de Jong+, 1994)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jong, R. S.; van der Kruit, P. C.

1995-07-01

We present accurate surface photometry in the B, V, R, I, H and K passbands of 86 spiral galaxies. The galaxies in this statistically complete sample of undisturbed spirals were selected from the UGC to have minimum diameters of 2' and minor over major axis ratios larger than 0.625. This sample has been selected in such a way that it can be used to represent a volume limited sample. The observation and reduction techniques are described in detail, especially the not often used driftscan technique for CCDs and the relatively new techniques using near-infrared (near-IR) arrays. For each galaxy we present radial profiles of surface brightness. Using these profiles we calculated the integrated magnitudes of the galaxies in the different passbands. We performed internal and external consistency checks for the magnitudes as well as the luminosity profiles. The internal consistency is well within the estimated errors. Comparisons with other authors indicate that measurements from photographic plates can show large deviations in the zero-point magnitude. Our surface brightness profiles agree within the errors with other CCD measurements. The comparison of integrated magnitudes shows a large scatter, but a consistent zero-point. These measurements will be used in a series of forthcoming papers to discuss central surface brightnesses, scalelengths, colors and color gradients of disks of spiral galaxies. (9 data files).

Verification of a national water data base using a geographic information system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harrison, H.E.

1994-01-01

The National Water Data Exchange (NAWDEX) was developed to assist users of water-resource data in the identification, location, and acquisition of data. The Master Water Data Index (MWDI) of NAWDEX currently indexes the data collected by 423 organizations from nearly 500,000 sites throughout the United Stales. The utilization of new computer technologies permit the distribution of the MWDI to the public on compact disc. In addition, geographic information systems (GIS) are now available that can store and analyze these data in a spatial format. These recent innovations could increase access and add new capabilities to the MWDI. Before either of these technologies could be employed, however, a quality-assurance check of the MWDI needed to be performed. The MWDI resides on a mainframe computer in a tabular format. It was copied onto a workstation and converted to a GIS format. The GIS was used to identify errors in the MWDI and produce reports that summarized these errors. The summary reports were sent to the responsible contributing agencies along with instructions for submitting their corrections to the NAWDEX Program Office. The MWDI administrator received reports that summarized all of the errors identified. Of the 494,997 sites checked, 93,440 sites had at least one error (18.9 percent error rate).

The Sizing and Optimization Language, (SOL): Computer language for design problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lucas, Stephen H.; Scotti, Stephen J.

1988-01-01

The Sizing and Optimization Language, (SOL), a new high level, special purpose computer language was developed to expedite application of numerical optimization to design problems and to make the process less error prone. SOL utilizes the ADS optimization software and provides a clear, concise syntax for describing an optimization problem, the OPTIMIZE description, which closely parallels the mathematical description of the problem. SOL offers language statements which can be used to model a design mathematically, with subroutines or code logic, and with existing FORTRAN routines. In addition, SOL provides error checking and clear output of the optimization results. Because of these language features, SOL is best suited to model and optimize a design concept when the model consits of mathematical expressions written in SOL. For such cases, SOL's unique syntax and error checking can be fully utilized. SOL is presently available for DEC VAX/VMS systems. A SOL package is available which includes the SOL compiler, runtime library routines, and a SOL reference manual.

Space Tug Avionics Definition Study. Volume 5: Cost and Programmatics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The baseline avionics system features a central digital computer that integrates the functions of all the space tug subsystems by means of a redundant digital data bus. The central computer consists of dual central processor units, dual input/output processors, and a fault tolerant memory, utilizing internal redundancy and error checking. Three electronically steerable phased arrays provide downlink transmission from any tug attitude directly to ground or via TDRS. Six laser gyros and six accelerometers in a dodecahedron configuration make up the inertial measurement unit. Both a scanning laser radar and a TV system, employing strobe lamps, are required as acquisition and docking sensors. Primary dc power at a nominal 28 volts is supplied from dual lightweight, thermally integrated fuel cells which operate from propellant grade reactants out of the main tanks.

Decoding and optimized implementation of SECDED codes over GF(q)

DOEpatents

Ward, H. Lee; Ganti, Anand; Resnick, David R

2013-10-22

A plurality of columns for a check matrix that implements a distance d linear error correcting code are populated by providing a set of vectors from which to populate the columns, and applying to the set of vectors a filter operation that reduces the set by eliminating therefrom all vectors that would, if used to populate the columns, prevent the check matrix from satisfying a column-wise linear independence requirement associated with check matrices of distance d linear codes. One of the vectors from the reduced set may then be selected to populate one of the columns. The filtering and selecting repeats iteratively until either all of the columns are populated or the number of currently unpopulated columns exceeds the number of vectors in the reduced set. Columns for the check matrix may be processed to reduce the amount of logic needed to implement the check matrix in circuit logic.

Design, decoding and optimized implementation of SECDED codes over GF(q)

DOEpatents

Ward, H Lee; Ganti, Anand; Resnick, David R

2014-06-17

A plurality of columns for a check matrix that implements a distance d linear error correcting code are populated by providing a set of vectors from which to populate the columns, and applying to the set of vectors a filter operation that reduces the set by eliminating therefrom all vectors that would, if used to populate the columns, prevent the check matrix from satisfying a column-wise linear independence requirement associated with check matrices of distance d linear codes. One of the vectors from the reduced set may then be selected to populate one of the columns. The filtering and selecting repeats iteratively until either all of the columns are populated or the number of currently unpopulated columns exceeds the number of vectors in the reduced set. Columns for the check matrix may be processed to reduce the amount of logic needed to implement the check matrix in circuit logic.

Decoding and optimized implementation of SECDED codes over GF(q)

DOEpatents

Ward, H Lee; Ganti, Anand; Resnick, David R

2014-11-18

A plurality of columns for a check matrix that implements a distance d linear error correcting code are populated by providing a set of vectors from which to populate the columns, and applying to the set of vectors a filter operation that reduces the set by eliminating therefrom all vectors that would, if used to populate the columns, prevent the check matrix from satisfying a column-wise linear independence requirement associated with check matrices of distance d linear codes. One of the vectors from the reduced set may then be selected to populate one of the columns. The filtering and selecting repeats iteratively until either all of the columns are populated or the number of currently unpopulated columns exceeds the number of vectors in the reduced set. Columns for the check matrix may be processed to reduce the amount of logic needed to implement the check matrix in circuit logic.

PIM-Check: development of an international prescription-screening checklist designed by a Delphi method for internal medicine patients.

PubMed

Desnoyer, Aude; Blanc, Anne-Laure; Pourcher, Valérie; Besson, Marie; Fonzo-Christe, Caroline; Desmeules, Jules; Perrier, Arnaud; Bonnabry, Pascal; Samer, Caroline; Guignard, Bertrand

2017-07-31

Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) occurs frequently and is a well-known risk factor for adverse drug events, but its incidence is underestimated in internal medicine. The objective of this study was to develop an electronic prescription-screening checklist to assist residents and young healthcare professionals in PIM detection. Five-step study involving selection of medical domains, literature review and 17 semistructured interviews, a two-round Delphi survey, a forward/back-translation process and an electronic tool development. 22 University and general hospitals from Canada, Belgium, France and Switzerland. 40 physicians and 25 clinical pharmacists were involved in the study.Agreement with the checklist statements and their usefulness for healthcare professional training were evaluated using two 6-point Likert scales (ranging from 0 to 5). Agreement and usefulness ratings were defined as: >65% of the experts giving the statement a rating of 4 or 5, during the first Delphi-round and >75% during the second. 166 statements were generated during the first two steps. Mean agreement and usefulness ratings were 4.32/5 (95% CI 4.28 to 4.36) and 4.11/5 (4.07 to 4.15), respectively, during the first Delphi-round and 4.53/5 (4.51 to 4.56) and 4.36/5 (4.33 to 4.39) during the second (p<0.001). The final checklist includes 160 statements in 17 medical domains and 56 pathologies. An algorithm of approximately 31 000 lines was developed including comorbidities and medications variables to create the electronic tool. PIM-Check is the first electronic prescription-screening checklist designed to detect PIM in internal medicine. It is intended to help young healthcare professionals in their clinical practice to detect PIM, to reduce medication errors and to improve patient safety. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

PIM-Check: development of an international prescription-screening checklist designed by a Delphi method for internal medicine patients

PubMed Central

Desnoyer, Aude; Blanc, Anne-Laure; Pourcher, Valérie; Besson, Marie; Fonzo-Christe, Caroline; Desmeules, Jules; Perrier, Arnaud; Bonnabry, Pascal; Samer, Caroline; Guignard, Bertrand

2017-01-01

Objectives Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) occurs frequently and is a well-known risk factor for adverse drug events, but its incidence is underestimated in internal medicine. The objective of this study was to develop an electronic prescription-screening checklist to assist residents and young healthcare professionals in PIM detection. Design Five-step study involving selection of medical domains, literature review and 17 semistructured interviews, a two-round Delphi survey, a forward/back-translation process and an electronic tool development. Setting 22 University and general hospitals from Canada, Belgium, France and Switzerland. Participants 40 physicians and 25 clinical pharmacists were involved in the study. Agreement with the checklist statements and their usefulness for healthcare professional training were evaluated using two 6-point Likert scales (ranging from 0 to 5). Primary and secondary outcome measures Agreement and usefulness ratings were defined as: >65% of the experts giving the statement a rating of 4 or 5, during the first Delphi-round and >75% during the second. Results 166 statements were generated during the first two steps. Mean agreement and usefulness ratings were 4.32/5 (95% CI 4.28 to 4.36) and 4.11/5 (4.07 to 4.15), respectively, during the first Delphi-round and 4.53/5 (4.51 to 4.56) and 4.36/5 (4.33 to 4.39) during the second (p<0.001). The final checklist includes 160 statements in 17 medical domains and 56 pathologies. An algorithm of approximately 31 000 lines was developed including comorbidities and medications variables to create the electronic tool. Conclusion PIM-Check is the first electronic prescription-screening checklist designed to detect PIM in internal medicine. It is intended to help young healthcare professionals in their clinical practice to detect PIM, to reduce medication errors and to improve patient safety. PMID:28760793

SSC Geopositional Assessment of the Advanced Wide Field Sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Kenton

2006-01-01

The geopositional accuracy of the standard geocorrected product from the Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) was evaluated using digital orthophoto quarter quadrangles and other reference sources of similar accuracy. Images were analyzed from summer 2004 through spring 2005. Forty to fifty check points were collected manually per scene and analyzed to determine overall circular error, estimates of horizontal bias, and other systematic errors. Measured errors were somewhat higher than the specifications for the data, but they were consistent with the analysis of the distributing vendor.

Chemical and Thermodynamic Properties at High Temperatures: A Symposium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Raymond F.

1961-01-01

This book contains the program and all available abstracts of the 90' invited and contributed papers to be presented at the TUPAC Symposium on Chemical and Thermodynamic Properties at High Temperatures. The Symposium will be held in conjunction with the XVIIIth IUPAC Congress, Montreal, August 6 - 12, 1961. It has been organized, by the Subcommissions on Condensed States and on Gaseous States of the Commission on High Temperatures and Refractories and by the Subcommission on Experimental Thermodynamics of the Commission on Chemical Thermodynamics, acting in conjunction with the Organizing Committee of the IUPAC Congress. All inquiries concerning participation In the Symposium should be directed to: Secretary, XVIIIth International Congress of Pure and Applied Chemistry, National Research Council, Ottawa, 'Canada. Owing to the limited time and facilities available for the preparation and printing of the book, it has not been possible to refer the proofs of the abstracts to the authors for checking. Furthermore, it has not been possible to subject the manuscripts to a very thorough editorial examination. Some obvious errors in the manuscripts have been corrected; other errors undoubtedly have been introduced. Figures have been redrawn only when such a step was essential for reproduction purposes. Sincere apologies are offered to authors and readers for any errors which remain; however, in the circumstances neither the IUPAC Commissions who organized the Symposium, nor the U. S. Government Agencies who assisted in the preparation of this book can accept responsibility for the errors.

40 CFR Appendix B to Part 75 - Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... in section 2.3 of this appendix and the Hg emission tests described in §§ 75.81(c) and 75.81(d)(4). 1.2Specific Requirements for Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems 1.2.1Calibration Error Test and Linearity Check Procedures Keep a written record of the procedures used for daily calibration error tests and...

Fault-Tolerant Computing: An Overview

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-01

Addison Wesley:, Reading, MA) 1984. [8] J. Wakerly , Error Detecting Codes, Self-Checking Circuits and Applications , (Elsevier North Holland, Inc.- New York... applicable to bit-sliced organi- zations of hardware. In the first time step, the normal computation is performed on the operands and the results...for error detection and fault tolerance in parallel processor systems while perform- ing specific computation-intensive applications [111. Contrary to

Analysis of an all-digital maximum likelihood carrier phase and clock timing synchronizer for eight phase-shift keying modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Degaudenzi, Riccardo; Vanghi, Vieri

1994-02-01

In all-digital Trellis-Coded 8PSK (TC-8PSK) demodulator well suited for VLSI implementation, including maximum likelihood estimation decision-directed (MLE-DD) carrier phase and clock timing recovery, is introduced and analyzed. By simply removing the trellis decoder the demodulator can efficiently cope with uncoded 8PSK signals. The proposed MLE-DD synchronization algorithm requires one sample for the phase and two samples per symbol for the timing loop. The joint phase and timing discriminator characteristics are analytically derived and numerical results checked by means of computer simulations. An approximated expression for steady-state carrier phase and clock timing mean square error has been derived and successfully checked with simulation findings. Synchronizer deviation from the Cramer Rao bound is also discussed. Mean acquisition time for the digital synchronizer has also been computed and checked, using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. Finally, TC-8PSK digital demodulator performance in terms of bit error rate and mean time to lose lock, including digital interpolators and synchronization loops, is presented.

Internal consistency tests for evaluation of measurements of anthropogenic hydrocarbons in the troposphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parrish, D. D.; Trainer, M.; Young, V.; Goldan, P. D.; Kuster, W. C.; Jobson, B. T.; Fehsenfeld, F. C.; Lonneman, W. A.; Zika, R. D.; Farmer, C. T.; Riemer, D. D.; Rodgers, M. O.

1998-09-01

Measurements of tropospheric nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) made in continental North America should exhibit a common pattern determined by photochemical removal and dilution acting upon the typical North American urban emissions. We analyze 11 data sets collected in the United States in the context of this hypothesis, in most cases by analyzing the geometric mean and standard deviations of ratios of selected NMHCs. In the analysis we attribute deviations from the common pattern to plausible systematic and random experimental errors. In some cases the errors have been independently verified and the specific causes identified. Thus this common pattern provides a check for internal consistency in NMHC data sets. Specific tests are presented which should provide useful diagnostics for all data sets of anthropogenic NMHC measurements collected in the United States. Similar tests, based upon the perhaps different emission patterns of other regions, presumably could be developed. The specific tests include (1) a lower limit for ethane concentrations, (2) specific NMHCs that should be detected if any are, (3) the relatively constant mean ratios of the longer-lived NMHCs with similar atmospheric lifetimes, (4) the constant relative patterns of families of NMHCs, and (5) limits on the ambient variability of the NMHC ratios. Many experimental problems are identified in the literature and the Southern Oxidant Study data sets. The most important conclusion of this paper is that a rigorous field intercomparison of simultaneous measurements of ambient NMHCs by different techniques and researchers is of crucial importance to the field of atmospheric chemistry. The tests presented here are suggestive of errors but are not definitive; only a field intercomparison can resolve the uncertainties.

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

Passarge, M; Fix, M K; Manser, P

Purpose: To create and test an accurate EPID-frame-based VMAT QA metric to detect gross dose errors in real-time and to provide information about the source of error. Methods: A Swiss cheese model was created for an EPID-based real-time QA process. The system compares a treatmentplan- based reference set of EPID images with images acquired over each 2° gantry angle interval. The metric utilizes a sequence of independent consecutively executed error detection Methods: a masking technique that verifies infield radiation delivery and ensures no out-of-field radiation; output normalization checks at two different stages; global image alignment to quantify rotation, scaling andmore » translation; standard gamma evaluation (3%, 3 mm) and pixel intensity deviation checks including and excluding high dose gradient regions. Tolerances for each test were determined. For algorithm testing, twelve different types of errors were selected to modify the original plan. Corresponding predictions for each test case were generated, which included measurement-based noise. Each test case was run multiple times (with different noise per run) to assess the ability to detect introduced errors. Results: Averaged over five test runs, 99.1% of all plan variations that resulted in patient dose errors were detected within 2° and 100% within 4° (∼1% of patient dose delivery). Including cases that led to slightly modified but clinically equivalent plans, 91.5% were detected by the system within 2°. Based on the type of method that detected the error, determination of error sources was achieved. Conclusion: An EPID-based during-treatment error detection system for VMAT deliveries was successfully designed and tested. The system utilizes a sequence of methods to identify and prevent gross treatment delivery errors. The system was inspected for robustness with realistic noise variations, demonstrating that it has the potential to detect a large majority of errors in real-time and indicate the error source. J. V. Siebers receives funding support from Varian Medical Systems.« less

Resource Public Key Infrastructure Extension

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

tests for checking compliance with the RFC 3779 extensions that are used in the RPKI. These tests also were used to identify an error in the OPENSSL ...rsync, OpenSSL , Cryptlib, and MySQL/ODBC. We assume that the adversaries can exploit any publicly known vulnerability in this software. • Server...NULL, set FLAG_NOCHAIN in Ctemp, defer verification. T = P Use OpenSSL to verify certificate chain S using trust anchor T, checking signature and

Applying Jlint to Space Exploration Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Artho, Cyrille; Havelund, Klaus

2004-01-01

Java is a very successful programming language which is also becoming widespread in embedded systems, where software correctness is critical. Jlint is a simple but highly efficient static analyzer that checks a Java program for several common errors, such as null pointer exceptions, and overflow errors. It also includes checks for multi-threading problems, such as deadlocks and data races. The case study described here shows the effectiveness of Jlint in find-false positives in the multi-threading warnings gives an insight into design patterns commonly used in multi-threaded code. The results show that a few analysis techniques are sufficient to avoid almost all false positives. These techniques include investigating all possible callers and a few code idioms. Verifying the correct application of these patterns is still crucial, because their correct usage is not trivial.

A novel method for routine quality assurance of volumetric-modulated arc therapy.

PubMed

Wang, Qingxin; Dai, Jianrong; Zhang, Ke

2013-10-01

Volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is delivered through synchronized variation of gantry angle, dose rate, and multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf positions. The delivery dynamic nature challenges the parameter setting accuracy of linac control system. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel method for routine quality assurance (QA) of VMAT linacs. ArcCheck is a detector array with diodes distributing in spiral pattern on cylindrical surface. Utilizing its features, a QA plan was designed to strictly test all varying parameters during VMAT delivery on an Elekta Synergy linac. In this plan, there are 24 control points. The gantry rotates clockwise from 181° to 179°. The dose rate, gantry speed, and MLC positions cover their ranges commonly used in clinic. The two borders of MLC-shaped field seat over two columns of diodes of ArcCheck when the gantry rotates to the angle specified by each control point. The ratio of dose rate between each of these diodes and the diode closest to the field center is a certain value and sensitive to the MLC positioning error of the leaf crossing the diode. Consequently, the positioning error can be determined by the ratio with the help of a relationship curve. The time when the gantry reaches the angle specified by each control point can be acquired from the virtual inclinometer that is a feature of ArcCheck. The gantry speed between two consecutive control points is then calculated. The aforementioned dose rate is calculated from an acm file that is generated during ArcCheck measurements. This file stores the data measured by each detector in 50 ms updates with each update in a separate row. A computer program was written in MATLAB language to process the data. The program output included MLC positioning errors and the dose rate at each control point as well as the gantry speed between control points. To evaluate this method, this plan was delivered for four consecutive weeks. The actual dose rate and gantry speed were compared with the QA plan specified. Additionally, leaf positioning errors were intentionally introduced to investigate the sensitivity of this method. The relationship curves were established for detecting MLC positioning errors during VMAT delivery. For four consecutive weeks measured, 98.4%, 94.9%, 89.2%, and 91.0% of the leaf positioning errors were within ± 0.5 mm, respectively. For the intentionally introduced leaf positioning systematic errors of -0.5 and +1 mm, the detected leaf positioning errors of 20 Y1 leaf were -0.48 ± 0.14 and 1.02 ± 0.26 mm, respectively. The actual gantry speed and dose rate closely followed the values specified in the VMAT QA plan. This method can assess the accuracy of MLC positions and the dose rate at each control point as well as the gantry speed between control points at the same time. It is efficient and suitable for routine quality assurance of VMAT.

SU-C-BRD-02: A Team Focused Clinical Implementation and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis of HDR Skin Brachytherapy Using Valencia and Leipzig Surface Applicators

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

Sayler, E; Harrison, A; Eldredge-Hindy, H

Purpose: and Leipzig applicators (VLAs) are single-channel brachytherapy surface applicators used to treat skin lesions up to 2cm diameter. Source dwell times can be calculated and entered manually after clinical set-up or ultrasound. This procedure differs dramatically from CT-based planning; the novelty and unfamiliarity could lead to severe errors. To build layers of safety and ensure quality, a multidisciplinary team created a protocol and applied Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to the clinical procedure for HDR VLA skin treatments. Methods: team including physicists, physicians, nurses, therapists, residents, and administration developed a clinical procedure for VLA treatment. The procedure wasmore » evaluated using FMEA. Failure modes were identified and scored by severity, occurrence, and detection. The clinical procedure was revised to address high-scoring process nodes. Results: Several key components were added to the clinical procedure to minimize risk probability numbers (RPN): -Treatments are reviewed at weekly QA rounds, where physicians discuss diagnosis, prescription, applicator selection, and set-up. Peer review reduces the likelihood of an inappropriate treatment regime. -A template for HDR skin treatments was established in the clinical EMR system to standardize treatment instructions. This reduces the chances of miscommunication between the physician and planning physicist, and increases the detectability of an error during the physics second check. -A screen check was implemented during the second check to increase detectability of an error. -To reduce error probability, the treatment plan worksheet was designed to display plan parameters in a format visually similar to the treatment console display. This facilitates data entry and verification. -VLAs are color-coded and labeled to match the EMR prescriptions, which simplifies in-room selection and verification. Conclusion: Multidisciplinary planning and FMEA increased delectability and reduced error probability during VLA HDR Brachytherapy. This clinical model may be useful to institutions implementing similar procedures.« less

Reduction in chemotherapy order errors with computerised physician order entry and clinical decision support systems.

PubMed

Aziz, Muhammad Tahir; Ur-Rehman, Tofeeq; Qureshi, Sadia; Bukhari, Nadeem Irfan

Medication errors in chemotherapy are frequent and lead to patient morbidity and mortality, as well as increased rates of re-admission and length of stay, and considerable extra costs. Objective: This study investigated the proposition that computerised chemotherapy ordering reduces the incidence and severity of chemotherapy protocol errors. A computerised physician order entry of chemotherapy order (C-CO) with clinical decision support system was developed in-house, including standardised chemotherapy protocol definitions, automation of pharmacy distribution, clinical checks, labeling and invoicing. A prospective study was then conducted in a C-CO versus paper based chemotherapy order (P-CO) in a 30-bed chemotherapy bay of a tertiary hospital. Both C-CO and P-CO orders, including pharmacoeconomic analysis and the severity of medication errors, were checked and validated by a clinical pharmacist. A group analysis and field trial were also conducted to assess clarity, feasibility and decision making. The C-CO was very usable in terms of its clarity and feasibility. The incidence of medication errors was significantly lower in the C-CO compared with the P-CO (10/3765 [0.26%] versus 134/5514 [2.4%]). There was also a reduction in dispensing time of chemotherapy protocols in the C-CO. The chemotherapy computerisation with clinical decision support system resulted in a significant decrease in the occurrence and severity of medication errors, improvements in chemotherapy dispensing and administration times, and reduction of chemotherapy cost.

Quality assurance of dynamic parameters in volumetric modulated arc therapy

PubMed Central

Manikandan, A; Sarkar, B; Holla, R; Vivek, T R; Sujatha, N

2012-01-01

Objectives The purpose of this study was to demonstrate quality assurance checks for accuracy of gantry speed and position, dose rate and multileaf collimator (MLC) speed and position for a volumetric modulated arc treatment (VMAT) modality (Synergy® S; Elekta, Stockholm, Sweden), and to check that all the necessary variables and parameters were synchronous. Methods Three tests (for gantry position–dose delivery synchronisation, gantry speed–dose delivery synchronisation and MLC leaf speed and positions) were performed. Results The average error in gantry position was 0.5° and the average difference was 3 MU for a linear and a parabolic relationship between gantry position and delivered dose. In the third part of this test (sawtooth variation), the maximum difference was 9.3 MU, with a gantry position difference of 1.2°. In the sweeping field method test, a linear relationship was observed between recorded doses and distance from the central axis, as expected. In the open field method, errors were encountered at the beginning and at the end of the delivery arc, termed the “beginning” and “end” errors. For MLC position verification, the maximum error was −2.46 mm and the mean error was 0.0153 ±0.4668 mm, and 3.4% of leaves analysed showed errors of >±1 mm. Conclusion This experiment demonstrates that the variables and parameters of the Synergy® S are synchronous and that the system is suitable for delivering VMAT using a dynamic MLC. PMID:22745206

SU-F-T-308: Mobius FX Evaluation and Comparison Against a Commercial 4D Detector Array for VMAT Plan QA

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

Vazquez Quino, L; Huerta Hernandez, C; Morrow, A

2016-06-15

Purpose: To evaluate the use of MobiusFX as a pre-treatment verification IMRT QA tool and compare it with a commercial 4D detector array for VMAT plan QA. Methods: 15 VMAT plan QA of different treatment sites were delivered and measured by traditional means with the 4D detector array ArcCheck (Sun Nuclear corporation) and at the same time measurement in linac treatment logs (Varian Dynalogs files) were analyzed from the same delivery with MobiusFX software (Mobius Medical Systems). VMAT plan QAs created in Eclipse treatment planning system (Varian) in a TrueBeam linac machine (Varian) were delivered and analyzed with the gammamore » analysis routine from SNPA software (Sun Nuclear corporation). Results: Comparable results in terms of the gamma analysis with 99.06% average gamma passing with 3%,3mm passing rate is observed in the comparison among MobiusFX, ArcCheck measurements, and the Treatment Planning System dose calculated. When going to a stricter criterion (1%,1mm) larger discrepancies are observed in different regions of the measurements with an average gamma of 66.24% between MobiusFX and ArcCheck. Conclusion: This work indicates the potential for using MobiusFX as a routine pre-treatment patient specific IMRT method for quality assurance purposes and its advantages as a phantom-less method which reduce the time for IMRT QA measurement. MobiusFX is capable of produce similar results of those by traditional methods used for patient specific pre-treatment verification VMAT QA. Even the gamma results comparing to the TPS are similar the analysis of both methods show that the errors being identified by each method are found in different regions. Traditional methods like ArcCheck are sensitive to setup errors and dose difference errors coming from the linac output. On the other hand linac log files analysis record different errors in the VMAT QA associated with the MLCs and gantry motion that by traditional methods cannot be detected.« less

TU-FG-201-03: Automatic Pre-Delivery Verification Using Statistical Analysis of Consistencies in Treatment Plan Parameters by the Treatment Site and Modality

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

Liu, S; Wu, Y; Chang, X

Purpose: A novel computer software system, namely APDV (Automatic Pre-Delivery Verification), has been developed for verifying patient treatment plan parameters right prior to treatment deliveries in order to automatically detect and prevent catastrophic errors. Methods: APDV is designed to continuously monitor new DICOM plan files on the TMS computer at the treatment console. When new plans to be delivered are detected, APDV checks the consistencies of plan parameters and high-level plan statistics using underlying rules and statistical properties based on given treatment site, technique and modality. These rules were quantitatively derived by retrospectively analyzing all the EBRT treatment plans ofmore » the past 8 years at authors’ institution. Therapists and physicists will be notified with a warning message displayed on the TMS computer if any critical errors are detected, and check results, confirmation, together with dismissal actions will be saved into database for further review. Results: APDV was implemented as a stand-alone program using C# to ensure required real time performance. Mean values and standard deviations were quantitatively derived for various plan parameters including MLC usage, MU/cGy radio, beam SSD, beam weighting, and the beam gantry angles (only for lateral targets) per treatment site, technique and modality. 2D-based rules of combined MU/cGy ratio and averaged SSD values were also derived using joint probabilities of confidence error ellipses. The statistics of these major treatment plan parameters quantitatively evaluate the consistency of any treatment plans which facilitates automatic APDV checking procedures. Conclusion: APDV could be useful in detecting and preventing catastrophic errors immediately before treatment deliveries. Future plan including automatic patient identify and patient setup checks after patient daily images are acquired by the machine and become available on the TMS computer. This project is supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) under award 1R01HS0222888. The senior author received research grants from ViewRay Inc. and Varian Medical System.« less

27 CFR 70.61 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true Payment by check or money... Collection of Excise and Special (Occupational) Tax Receipt of Payment § 70.61 Payment by check or money... State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal revenue...

27 CFR 70.61 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Payment by check or money... Collection of Excise and Special (Occupational) Tax Receipt of Payment § 70.61 Payment by check or money... State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal revenue...

27 CFR 70.61 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Payment by check or money... Collection of Excise and Special (Occupational) Tax Receipt of Payment § 70.61 Payment by check or money... State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal revenue...

27 CFR 70.61 - Payment by check or money order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Payment by check or money... Collection of Excise and Special (Occupational) Tax Receipt of Payment § 70.61 Payment by check or money... State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or money orders in payment for internal revenue...

25 CFR 542.14 - What are the minimum internal control standards for the cage?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., collecting and recording checks returned to the gaming operation after deposit, re-deposit, and write-off... person approving the counter check transaction. (4) When traveler's checks or other guaranteed drafts... identity, including photo identification. (8) A file for customers shall be prepared prior to acceptance of...

Levels at streamflow gaging stations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kennedy, E.J.

1988-01-01

This manual establishes the surveying procedures for setting gages at a streamflow gaging station to datum and for checking them periodically for errors caused by vertical movement of the gage-supporting structures. The surveying terms and concepts used are explained; and the details of testing, adjusting, and operating the instruments are outlined. Notekeeping, adjusting level circuits, checking gages, summarizing results, locating the nearest National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 bench mark, and relating the gage datum to the national datum are described.

Quality Control of Meteorological Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, William; Dee, Dick; Rukhovets, Leonid

1999-01-01

For the first time, a problem of the meteorological observation quality control (QC) was formulated by L.S. Gandin at the Main Geophysical Observatory in the 70's. Later in 1988 L.S. Gandin began adapting his ideas in complex quality control (CQC) to the operational environment at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The CQC was first applied by L.S.Gandin and his colleagues to detection and correction of errors in rawinsonde heights and temperatures using a complex of hydrostatic residuals.Later, a full complex of residuals, vertical and horizontal optimal interpolations and baseline checks were added for the checking and correction of a wide range of meteorological variables. some other of Gandin's ideas were applied and substantially developed at other meteorological centers. A new statistical QC was recently implemented in the Goddard Data Assimilation System. The central component of any quality control is a buddy check which is a test of individual suspect observations against available nearby non-suspect observations. A novel feature of this test is that the error variances which are used for QC decision are re-estimated on-line. As a result, the allowed tolerances for suspect observations can depend on local atmospheric conditions. The system is then better able to accept extreme values observed in deep cyclones, jet streams and so on. The basic statements of this adaptive buddy check are described. Some results of the on-line QC including moisture QC are presented.

Full-chip level MEEF analysis using model based lithography verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Juhwan; Wang, Lantian; Zhang, Daniel; Tang, Zongwu

2005-11-01

MEEF (Mask Error Enhancement Factor) has become a critical factor in CD uniformity control since optical lithography process moved to sub-resolution era. A lot of studies have been done by quantifying the impact of the mask CD (Critical Dimension) errors on the wafer CD errors1-2. However, the benefits from those studies were restricted only to small pattern areas of the full-chip data due to long simulation time. As fast turn around time can be achieved for the complicated verifications on very large data by linearly scalable distributed processing technology, model-based lithography verification becomes feasible for various types of applications such as post mask synthesis data sign off for mask tape out in production and lithography process development with full-chip data3,4,5. In this study, we introduced two useful methodologies for the full-chip level verification of mask error impact on wafer lithography patterning process. One methodology is to check MEEF distribution in addition to CD distribution through process window, which can be used for RET/OPC optimization at R&D stage. The other is to check mask error sensitivity on potential pinch and bridge hotspots through lithography process variation, where the outputs can be passed on to Mask CD metrology to add CD measurements on those hotspot locations. Two different OPC data were compared using the two methodologies in this study.

Application of human reliability analysis to nursing errors in hospitals.

PubMed

Inoue, Kayoko; Koizumi, Akio

2004-12-01

Adverse events in hospitals, such as in surgery, anesthesia, radiology, intensive care, internal medicine, and pharmacy, are of worldwide concern and it is important, therefore, to learn from such incidents. There are currently no appropriate tools based on state-of-the art models available for the analysis of large bodies of medical incident reports. In this study, a new model was developed to facilitate medical error analysis in combination with quantitative risk assessment. This model enables detection of the organizational factors that underlie medical errors, and the expedition of decision making in terms of necessary action. Furthermore, it determines medical tasks as module practices and uses a unique coding system to describe incidents. This coding system has seven vectors for error classification: patient category, working shift, module practice, linkage chain (error type, direct threat, and indirect threat), medication, severity, and potential hazard. Such mathematical formulation permitted us to derive two parameters: error rates for module practices and weights for the aforementioned seven elements. The error rate of each module practice was calculated by dividing the annual number of incident reports of each module practice by the annual number of the corresponding module practice. The weight of a given element was calculated by the summation of incident report error rates for an element of interest. This model was applied specifically to nursing practices in six hospitals over a year; 5,339 incident reports with a total of 63,294,144 module practices conducted were analyzed. Quality assurance (QA) of our model was introduced by checking the records of quantities of practices and reproducibility of analysis of medical incident reports. For both items, QA guaranteed legitimacy of our model. Error rates for all module practices were approximately of the order 10(-4) in all hospitals. Three major organizational factors were found to underlie medical errors: "violation of rules" with a weight of 826 x 10(-4), "failure of labor management" with a weight of 661 x 10(-4), and "defects in the standardization of nursing practices" with a weight of 495 x 10(-4).

A Low-Complexity Euclidean Orthogonal LDPC Architecture for Low Power Applications.

PubMed

Revathy, M; Saravanan, R

2015-01-01

Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes have been implemented in latest digital video broadcasting, broadband wireless access (WiMax), and fourth generation of wireless standards. In this paper, we have proposed a high efficient low-density parity-check code (LDPC) decoder architecture for low power applications. This study also considers the design and analysis of check node and variable node units and Euclidean orthogonal generator in LDPC decoder architecture. The Euclidean orthogonal generator is used to reduce the error rate of the proposed LDPC architecture, which can be incorporated between check and variable node architecture. This proposed decoder design is synthesized on Xilinx 9.2i platform and simulated using Modelsim, which is targeted to 45 nm devices. Synthesis report proves that the proposed architecture greatly reduces the power consumption and hardware utilizations on comparing with different conventional architectures.

SimCheck: An Expressive Type System for Simulink

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roy, Pritam; Shankar, Natarajan

2010-01-01

MATLAB Simulink is a member of a class of visual languages that are used for modeling and simulating physical and cyber-physical systems. A Simulink model consists of blocks with input and output ports connected using links that carry signals. We extend the type system of Simulink with annotations and dimensions/units associated with ports and links. These types can capture invariants on signals as well as relations between signals. We define a type-checker that checks the wellformedness of Simulink blocks with respect to these type annotations. The type checker generates proof obligations that are solved by SRI's Yices solver for satisfiability modulo theories (SMT). This translation can be used to detect type errors, demonstrate counterexamples, generate test cases, or prove the absence of type errors. Our work is an initial step toward the symbolic analysis of MATLAB Simulink models.

Subdaily alias and draconitic errors in the IGS orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffiths, J.; Ray, J.

2011-12-01

Harmonic signals with a fundamental period near the GPS draconitic year (351.2 d) and overtones up to the 8th multiple have been observed in the power spectra of nearly all products of the International GNSS Service (IGS), including station position time series [Ray et al., 2008; Collilieux et al., 2007; Santamaría-Gómez et al., 2011], apparent geocenter motions [Hugentobler et al., 2008], and orbit jumps between successive days and midnight discontinuities in Earth orientation parameter (EOP) rates [Ray and Griffiths, 2009]. Ray et al. [2008] suggested two mechanisms for the harmonics: mismodeling of orbit dynamics and aliasing of near-sidereal local station multipath effects. King and Watson [2010] have studied the propagation of local multipath errors into draconitic position variations, but orbit-related processes have been less well examined. Here we elaborate our earlier analysis of GPS orbit jumps [Griffiths and Ray, 2009; Gendt et al., 2010] where we observed some draconitic features as well as prominent spectral bands near 29, 14, 9, and 7 d periods. Finer structures within the sub-seasonal bands fall close to the expected alias frequencies of subdaily EOP tide lines but do not coincide precisely. While once-per-rev empirical orbit parameters should strongly absorb any subdaily EOP tide errors due to near-resonance of their respective periods, the observed differences require explanation. This has been done by simulating known EOP tidal errors and checking their impact on a long series of daily GPS orbits. Indeed, simulated tidal aliases are found to be very similar to the observed orbital features in the sub-seasonal bands. Moreover and unexpectedly, some low draconitic harmonics were also stimulated, potentially a source for the widespread errors in most IGS products.

Low delay and area efficient soft error correction in arbitration logic

DOEpatents

Sugawara, Yutaka

2013-09-10

There is provided an arbitration logic device for controlling an access to a shared resource. The arbitration logic device comprises at least one storage element, a winner selection logic device, and an error detection logic device. The storage element stores a plurality of requestors' information. The winner selection logic device selects a winner requestor among the requestors based on the requestors' information received from a plurality of requestors. The winner selection logic device selects the winner requestor without checking whether there is the soft error in the winner requestor's information.

Product code optimization for determinate state LDPC decoding in robust image transmission.

PubMed

Thomos, Nikolaos; Boulgouris, Nikolaos V; Strintzis, Michael G

2006-08-01

We propose a novel scheme for error-resilient image transmission. The proposed scheme employs a product coder consisting of low-density parity check (LDPC) codes and Reed-Solomon codes in order to deal effectively with bit errors. The efficiency of the proposed scheme is based on the exploitation of determinate symbols in Tanner graph decoding of LDPC codes and a novel product code optimization technique based on error estimation. Experimental evaluation demonstrates the superiority of the proposed system in comparison to recent state-of-the-art techniques for image transmission.

Parallel pulse processing and data acquisition for high speed, low error flow cytometry

DOEpatents

van den Engh, Gerrit J.; Stokdijk, Willem

1992-01-01

A digitally synchronized parallel pulse processing and data acquisition system for a flow cytometer has multiple parallel input channels with independent pulse digitization and FIFO storage buffer. A trigger circuit controls the pulse digitization on all channels. After an event has been stored in each FIFO, a bus controller moves the oldest entry from each FIFO buffer onto a common data bus. The trigger circuit generates an ID number for each FIFO entry, which is checked by an error detection circuit. The system has high speed and low error rate.

Error Prevention Aid

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

In a complex computer environment there is ample opportunity for error, a mistake by a programmer, or a software-induced undesirable side effect. In insurance, errors can cost a company heavily, so protection against inadvertent change is a must for the efficient firm. The data processing center at Transport Life Insurance Company has taken a step to guard against accidental changes by adopting a software package called EQNINT (Equations Interpreter Program). EQNINT cross checks the basic formulas in a program against the formulas that make up the major production system. EQNINT assures that formulas are coded correctly and helps catch errors before they affect the customer service or its profitability.

The application of Aronson's taxonomy to medication errors in nursing.

PubMed

Johnson, Maree; Young, Helen

2011-01-01

Medication administration is a frequent nursing activity that is prone to error. In this study of 318 self-reported medication incidents (including near misses), very few resulted in patient harm-7% required intervention or prolonged hospitalization or caused temporary harm. Aronson's classification system provided an excellent framework for analysis of the incidents with a close connection between the type of error and the change strategy to minimize medication incidents. Taking a behavioral approach to medication error classification has provided helpful strategies for nurses such as nurse-call cards on patient lockers when patients are absent and checking of medication sign-off by outgoing and incoming staff at handover.

Texas International Airlines LOFT program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sommerville, J.

1981-01-01

A line-oriented flight training program which allows the crew to work as a team to solve all problems, abnormal or emergency, within the crew concept. A line-oriented check ride takes place every six months for the pilot as a proficiency check. There are advantages and disadvantages to this program. One disadvantage is that since it is designed as a check-ride, the scenarios must be structured so that the average pilot will complete the check-ride without complication. This system is different from a proficiency check which can be stopped at a problem area so training to proficiency can take place before proceeding with the check.

Second generation experiments in fault tolerant software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knight, J. C.

1987-01-01

The purpose of the Multi-Version Software (MVS) experiment is to obtain empirical measurements of the performance of multi-version systems. Twenty version of a program were prepared under reasonably realistic development conditions from the same specifications. The overall structure of the testing environment for the MVS experiment and its status are described. A preliminary version of the control system is described that was implemented for the MVS experiment to allow the experimenter to have control over the details of the testing. The results of an empirical study of error detection using self checks are also presented. The analysis of the checks revealed that there are great differences in the ability of individual programmers to design effective checks.

Regression assumptions in clinical psychology research practice-a systematic review of common misconceptions.

PubMed

Ernst, Anja F; Albers, Casper J

2017-01-01

Misconceptions about the assumptions behind the standard linear regression model are widespread and dangerous. These lead to using linear regression when inappropriate, and to employing alternative procedures with less statistical power when unnecessary. Our systematic literature review investigated employment and reporting of assumption checks in twelve clinical psychology journals. Findings indicate that normality of the variables themselves, rather than of the errors, was wrongfully held for a necessary assumption in 4% of papers that use regression. Furthermore, 92% of all papers using linear regression were unclear about their assumption checks, violating APA-recommendations. This paper appeals for a heightened awareness for and increased transparency in the reporting of statistical assumption checking.

Regression assumptions in clinical psychology research practice—a systematic review of common misconceptions

PubMed Central

Ernst, Anja F.

2017-01-01

Misconceptions about the assumptions behind the standard linear regression model are widespread and dangerous. These lead to using linear regression when inappropriate, and to employing alternative procedures with less statistical power when unnecessary. Our systematic literature review investigated employment and reporting of assumption checks in twelve clinical psychology journals. Findings indicate that normality of the variables themselves, rather than of the errors, was wrongfully held for a necessary assumption in 4% of papers that use regression. Furthermore, 92% of all papers using linear regression were unclear about their assumption checks, violating APA-recommendations. This paper appeals for a heightened awareness for and increased transparency in the reporting of statistical assumption checking. PMID:28533971

Development of a TLD mailed system for remote dosimetry audit for (192)Ir HDR and PDR sources.

PubMed

Roué, Amélie; Venselaar, Jack L M; Ferreira, Ivaldo H; Bridier, André; Van Dam, Jan

2007-04-01

In the framework of an ESTRO ESQUIRE project, the BRAPHYQS Physics Network and the EQUAL-ESTRO laboratory have developed a procedure for checking the absorbed dose to water in the vicinity of HDR or PDR sources using a mailed TLD system. The methodology and the materials used in the procedure are based on the existing EQUAL-ESTRO external radiotherapy dose checks. A phantom for TLD postal dose assurance service, adapted to accept catheters from different HDR afterloaders, has been developed. The phantom consists of three PMMA tubes supporting catheters placed at 120 degrees around a central TLD holder. A study on the use of LiF powder type DTL 937 (Philitech) has been performed in order to establish the TLD calibration in dose-to-water at a given distance from (192)Ir source, as well as to determine all correction factors to convert the TLD reading into absorbed dose to water. The dosimetric audit is based on the comparison between the dose to water measured with the TL dosimeter and the dose calculated by the clinical TPS. Results of the audits are classified in four different levels depending on the ratio of the measured dose to the stated dose. The total uncertainty budget in the measurement of the absorbed dose to water using TLD near an (192)Ir HDR source, including TLD reading, correction factors and TLD calibration coefficient, is determined as 3.27% (1s). To validate the procedures, the external audit was first tested among the members of the BRAPHYQS Network. Since November 2004, the test has been made available for use by all European brachytherapy centres. To date, 11 centres have participated in the checks and the results obtained are very encouraging. Nevertheless, one error detected has shown the usefulness of this audit. A method of absorbed dose to water determination in the vicinity of an (192)Ir brachytherapy source was developed for the purpose of a mailed TL dosimetry system. The accuracy of the procedure was determined. This method allows a check of the whole dosimetry chain for this type of brachytherapy afterloading system and can easily be performed by mail to any institution in the European area and elsewhere. Such an external audit can be an efficient QC method complementary to internal quality control as it can reveal some errors which are not observable by other means.

Concrete Model Checking with Abstract Matching and Refinement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pasareanu Corina S.; Peianek Radek; Visser, Willem

2005-01-01

We propose an abstraction-based model checking method which relies on refinement of an under-approximation of the feasible behaviors of the system under analysis. The method preserves errors to safety properties, since all analyzed behaviors are feasible by definition. The method does not require an abstract transition relation to he generated, but instead executes the concrete transitions while storing abstract versions of the concrete states, as specified by a set of abstraction predicates. For each explored transition. the method checks, with the help of a theorem prover, whether there is any loss of precision introduced by abstraction. The results of these checks are used to decide termination or to refine the abstraction, by generating new abstraction predicates. If the (possibly infinite) concrete system under analysis has a finite bisimulation quotient, then the method is guaranteed to eventually explore an equivalent finite bisimilar structure. We illustrate the application of the approach for checking concurrent programs. We also show how a lightweight variant can be used for efficient software testing.

Photonic entanglement-assisted quantum low-density parity-check encoders and decoders.

PubMed

Djordjevic, Ivan B

2010-05-01

I propose encoder and decoder architectures for entanglement-assisted (EA) quantum low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes suitable for all-optical implementation. I show that two basic gates needed for EA quantum error correction, namely, controlled-NOT (CNOT) and Hadamard gates can be implemented based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In addition, I show that EA quantum LDPC codes from balanced incomplete block designs of unitary index require only one entanglement qubit to be shared between source and destination.

Levels at streamflow gaging stations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kennedy, E.J.

1990-01-01

This manual establishes the surveying procedures for (1) setting gages at a streamflow gaging station to datum and (2) checking the gages periodically for errors caused by vertical movement of the structures that support them. Surveying terms and concepts are explained, and procedures for testing, adjusting, and operating the instruments are described in detail. Notekeeping, adjusting level circuits, checking gages, summarizing results, locating the nearest National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 bench mark, and relating the gage datum to the national datum are also described.

Case report of a near medical event in stereotactic radiotherapy due to improper units of measure from a treatment planning system

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

Gladstone, D. J.; Li, S.; Jarvis, L. A.

2011-07-15

Purpose: The authors hereby notify the Radiation Oncology community of a potentially lethal error due to improper implementation of linear units of measure in a treatment planning system. The authors report an incident in which a patient was nearly mistreated during a stereotactic radiotherapy procedure due to inappropriate reporting of stereotactic coordinates by the radiation therapy treatment planning system in units of centimeter rather than in millimeter. The authors suggest a method to detect such errors during treatment planning so they are caught and corrected prior to the patient positioning for treatment on the treatment machine. Methods: Using pretreatment imaging,more » the authors found that stereotactic coordinates are reported with improper linear units by a treatment planning system. The authors have implemented a redundant, independent method of stereotactic coordinate calculation. Results: Implementation of a double check of stereotactic coordinates via redundant, independent calculation is simple and accurate. Use of this technique will avoid any future error in stereotactic treatment coordinates due to improper linear units, transcription, or other similar errors. Conclusions: The authors recommend an independent double check of stereotactic treatment coordinates during the treatment planning process in order to avoid potential mistreatment of patients.« less

Documenting Models for Interoperability and Reusability ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Many modeling frameworks compartmentalize science via individual models that link sets of small components to create larger modeling workflows. Developing integrated watershed models increasingly requires coupling multidisciplinary, independent models, as well as collaboration between scientific communities, since component-based modeling can integrate models from different disciplines. Integrated Environmental Modeling (IEM) systems focus on transferring information between components by capturing a conceptual site model; establishing local metadata standards for input/output of models and databases; managing data flow between models and throughout the system; facilitating quality control of data exchanges (e.g., checking units, unit conversions, transfers between software languages); warning and error handling; and coordinating sensitivity/uncertainty analyses. Although many computational software systems facilitate communication between, and execution of, components, there are no common approaches, protocols, or standards for turn-key linkages between software systems and models, especially if modifying components is not the intent. Using a standard ontology, this paper reviews how models can be described for discovery, understanding, evaluation, access, and implementation to facilitate interoperability and reusability. In the proceedings of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs), 8th International Congress on Environmental Mod

Comprehensive Anti-error Study on Power Grid Dispatching Based on Regional Regulation and Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yunju; Chen, Zhongyi; Guo, Ming; Lin, Shunsheng; Yan, Yinyang

2018-01-01

With the large capacity of the power system, the development trend of the large unit and the high voltage, the scheduling operation is becoming more frequent and complicated, and the probability of operation error increases. This paper aims at the problem of the lack of anti-error function, single scheduling function and low working efficiency for technical support system in regional regulation and integration, the integrated construction of the error prevention of the integrated architecture of the system of dispatching anti - error of dispatching anti - error of power network based on cloud computing has been proposed. Integrated system of error prevention of Energy Management System, EMS, and Operation Management System, OMS have been constructed either. The system architecture has good scalability and adaptability, which can improve the computational efficiency, reduce the cost of system operation and maintenance, enhance the ability of regional regulation and anti-error checking with broad development prospects.

Statistical Quality Control of Moisture Data in GEOS DAS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dee, D. P.; Rukhovets, L.; Todling, R.

1999-01-01

A new statistical quality control algorithm was recently implemented in the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS DAS). The final step in the algorithm consists of an adaptive buddy check that either accepts or rejects outlier observations based on a local statistical analysis of nearby data. A basic assumption in any such test is that the observed field is spatially coherent, in the sense that nearby data can be expected to confirm each other. However, the buddy check resulted in excessive rejection of moisture data, especially during the Northern Hemisphere summer. The analysis moisture variable in GEOS DAS is water vapor mixing ratio. Observational evidence shows that the distribution of mixing ratio errors is far from normal. Furthermore, spatial correlations among mixing ratio errors are highly anisotropic and difficult to identify. Both factors contribute to the poor performance of the statistical quality control algorithm. To alleviate the problem, we applied the buddy check to relative humidity data instead. This variable explicitly depends on temperature and therefore exhibits a much greater spatial coherence. As a result, reject rates of moisture data are much more reasonable and homogeneous in time and space.

Performance analysis of LDPC codes on OOK terahertz wireless channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chun, Liu; Chang, Wang; Jun-Cheng, Cao

2016-02-01

Atmospheric absorption, scattering, and scintillation are the major causes to deteriorate the transmission quality of terahertz (THz) wireless communications. An error control coding scheme based on low density parity check (LDPC) codes with soft decision decoding algorithm is proposed to improve the bit-error-rate (BER) performance of an on-off keying (OOK) modulated THz signal through atmospheric channel. The THz wave propagation characteristics and channel model in atmosphere is set up. Numerical simulations validate the great performance of LDPC codes against the atmospheric fading and demonstrate the huge potential in future ultra-high speed beyond Gbps THz communications. Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2014CB339803), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2011AA010205), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61131006, 61321492, and 61204135), the Major National Development Project of Scientific Instrument and Equipment (Grant No. 2011YQ150021), the National Science and Technology Major Project (Grant No. 2011ZX02707), the International Collaboration and Innovation Program on High Mobility Materials Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology (Grant No. 14530711300).

Wf/pc Cycle 2 Calibration: Rapid Internal Monitor - Part 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacKenty, John

1991-07-01

This test is to take repeated internal flats to test for contamination buildup on the optical surfaces or the reappearance of QEH. Part 1: INTFLATS in F555W are obtained every 4 days in both WFC and PC to check for measles or daisies and to monitor scattered light. Part 2: Sequential INTFLATS in F439W with PC are obtained every 7 days to check for QEH.

Wf/pc Cycle 1 Calibration: Rapid Internal Monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacKenty, John

1990-12-01

This test is to take repeated internal flats to test for contamination buildup on the optical surfaces or the reappearance of QEH. Part 1: INTFLATS in F555W are obtained every 4 days in both WFC and PC to check for measles or daisies and to monitor scattered light. Part 2: Sequential INTFLATS in F439W with PC are obtained every 7 days to check for QEH.

Wf/pc Cycle 3 Calibration: Rapid Internal Monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacKenty, John

1992-06-01

This test is to take repeated internal flats to test for contamination buildup on the optical surfaces or the reappearance of QEH. Part 1: INTFLATS in F555W are obtained every 4 days in both WFC and PC to check for measles or daisies and to monitor scattered light. Part 2: Sequential INTFLATS in F439W with PC are obtained every 7 days to check for QEH.

Wf/pc Cycle 2 Calibration: Rapid Internal Monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacKenty, John

1991-07-01

This test is to take repeated internal flats to test for contamination buildup on the optical surfaces or the reappearance of QEH. Part 1: INTFLATS in F555W are obtained every 4 days in both WFC and PC to check for measles or daisies and to monitor scattered light. Part 2: Sequential INTFLATS in F439W with PC are obtained every 7 days to check for QEH.

Wf/pc Cycle 3 Calibration: Rapid Internal Monitor - Part 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacKenty, John

1992-06-01

This test is to take repeated internal flats to test for contamination buildup on the optical surfaces or the reappearance of QEH. Part 1: INTFLATS in F555W are obtained every 4 days in both WFC and PC to check for measles or daisies and to monitor scattered light. Part 2: Sequential INTFLATS in F439W with PC are obtained every 7 days to check for QEH.

[The quality of medication orders--can it be improved?].

PubMed

Vaknin, Ofra; Wingart-Emerel, Efrat; Stern, Zvi

2003-07-01

Medication errors are a common cause of morbidity and mortality among patients. Medication administration in hospitals is a complicated procedure with the possibility of error at each step. Errors are most commonly found at the prescription and transcription stages, although it is known that most errors can easily be avoided through strict adherence to standardized procedure guidelines. In examination of medication errors reported in the hospital in the year 2000, we found that 38% reported to have resulted from transcription errors. In the year 2001, the hospital initiated a program designed to identify faulty process of orders in an effort to improve the quality and effectiveness of the medication administration process. As part of this program, it was decided to check and evaluate the quality of the written doctor's orders and the transcription of those orders to the nursing cadre, in various hospital units. The study was conducted using a questionnaire which checked compliance to hospital standards with regard to the medication administration process, as applied to 6 units over the course of 8 weeks. Results of the survey showed poor compliance to guidelines on the part of doctors and nurses. Only 18% of doctors' orders in the study and 37% of the nurses' transcriptions were written according to standards. The Emergency Department showed an even lower compliance with only 3% of doctors' orders and 25% of nurses' transcriptions complying to standards. As a result of this study, it was decided to initiate an intensive in-service teaching course to refresh the staff's knowledge of medication administration guidelines. In the future it is recommended that hand-written orders be replaced by computerized orders in an effort to limit the chance of error.

Robust Linear Models for Cis-eQTL Analysis.

PubMed

Rantalainen, Mattias; Lindgren, Cecilia M; Holmes, Christopher C

2015-01-01

Expression Quantitative Trait Loci (eQTL) analysis enables characterisation of functional genetic variation influencing expression levels of individual genes. In outbread populations, including humans, eQTLs are commonly analysed using the conventional linear model, adjusting for relevant covariates, assuming an allelic dosage model and a Gaussian error term. However, gene expression data generally have noise that induces heavy-tailed errors relative to the Gaussian distribution and often include atypical observations, or outliers. Such departures from modelling assumptions can lead to an increased rate of type II errors (false negatives), and to some extent also type I errors (false positives). Careful model checking can reduce the risk of type-I errors but often not type II errors, since it is generally too time-consuming to carefully check all models with a non-significant effect in large-scale and genome-wide studies. Here we propose the application of a robust linear model for eQTL analysis to reduce adverse effects of deviations from the assumption of Gaussian residuals. We present results from a simulation study as well as results from the analysis of real eQTL data sets. Our findings suggest that in many situations robust models have the potential to provide more reliable eQTL results compared to conventional linear models, particularly in respect to reducing type II errors due to non-Gaussian noise. Post-genomic data, such as that generated in genome-wide eQTL studies, are often noisy and frequently contain atypical observations. Robust statistical models have the potential to provide more reliable results and increased statistical power under non-Gaussian conditions. The results presented here suggest that robust models should be considered routinely alongside other commonly used methodologies for eQTL analysis.

Cycle time reduction by Html report in mask checking flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jian-Cheng; Lu, Min-Ying; Fang, Xiang; Shen, Ming-Feng; Ma, Shou-Yuan; Yang, Chuen-Huei; Tsai, Joe; Lee, Rachel; Deng, Erwin; Lin, Ling-Chieh; Liao, Hung-Yueh; Tsai, Jenny; Bowhill, Amanda; Vu, Hien; Russell, Gordon

2017-07-01

The Mask Data Correctness Check (MDCC) is a reticle-level, multi-layer DRC-like check evolved from mask rule check (MRC). The MDCC uses extended job deck (EJB) to achieve mask composition and to perform a detailed check for positioning and integrity of each component of the reticle. Different design patterns on the mask will be mapped to different layers. Therefore, users may be able to review the whole reticle and check the interactions between different designs before the final mask pattern file is available. However, many types of MDCC check results, such as errors from overlapping patterns usually have very large and complex-shaped highlighted areas covering the boundary of the design. Users have to load the result OASIS file and overlap it to the original database that was assembled in MDCC process on a layout viewer, then search for the details of the check results. We introduce a quick result-reviewing method based on an html format report generated by Calibre® RVE. In the report generation process, we analyze and extract the essential part of result OASIS file to a result database (RDB) file by standard verification rule format (SVRF) commands. Calibre® RVE automatically loads the assembled reticle pattern and generates screen shots of these check results. All the processes are automatically triggered just after the MDCC process finishes. Users just have to open the html report to get the information they need: for example, check summary, captured images of results and their coordinates.

Goldmann tonometer calibration: a national survey.

PubMed

Kumar, N; Hillier, R J

2009-02-01

Recent studies suggest that Goldmann tonometers can rapidly develop calibration errors (CEs) in clinical use and routine checks are necessary to ensure accuracy. To determine current practice regarding CE checks in the United Kingdom and assess the views of senior nursing staff in charge of running ophthalmology outpatient clinics as to whom they feel to be responsible for CE checks. Every ophthalmology unit with training recognition in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales was contacted. Senior nurses responded to a structured telephone questionnaire regarding local tonometer calibration practice and their views regarding who is responsible for CE checks. A total of 155 eye units were identified and contacted. The response rate was 100%. CEs were checked for daily in 8 units (5.2%), weekly in 20 units (12.9%), fortnightly in 1 unit (0.6%), monthly in 12 units (7.7%), trimonthly in 5 units (3.2%), biannually in 27 units (17.4%), and annually in 21 units (13.5%). CEs were either never checked or checked in a very random manner (no identifiable pattern) in 61 units (39.4%). Sixty-three (40.6%) of the respondents felt CE checks were a departmental responsibility, 48 (31.0%) felt it to be the doctor's responsibility, and 44 (28.4%) felt CE checks should be performed by the nursing staff. Our national survey suggests that very few units check their tonometers for CEs at intervals which ensure their accuracy. Our previous survey of doctors suggests that they believe nurses should check for CE, whereas the nursing staff believe CE checks are not their responsibility. This lack of communication between health-care professionals may lead to inaccurate tonometers being used in clinical practice. We suggest that every eye unit should have a protocol, which clearly identifies individuals responsible for checking for CEs at least on a monthly basis.

SU-E-J-15: Automatically Detect Patient Treatment Position and Orientation in KV Portal Images

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

Qiu, J; Yang, D

2015-06-15

Purpose: In the course of radiation therapy, the complex information processing workflow will Result in potential errors, such as incorrect or inaccurate patient setups. With automatic image check and patient identification, such errors could be effectively reduced. For this purpose, we developed a simple and rapid image processing method, to automatically detect the patient position and orientation in 2D portal images, so to allow automatic check of positions and orientations for patient daily RT treatments. Methods: Based on the principle of portal image formation, a set of whole body DRR images were reconstructed from multiple whole body CT volume datasets,more » and fused together to be used as the matching template. To identify the patient setup position and orientation shown in a 2D portal image, the 2D portal image was preprocessed (contrast enhancement, down-sampling and couch table detection), then matched to the template image so to identify the laterality (left or right), position, orientation and treatment site. Results: Five day’s clinical qualified portal images were gathered randomly, then were processed by the automatic detection and matching method without any additional information. The detection results were visually checked by physicists. 182 images were correct detection in a total of 200kV portal images. The correct rate was 91%. Conclusion: The proposed method can detect patient setup and orientation quickly and automatically. It only requires the image intensity information in KV portal images. This method can be useful in the framework of Electronic Chart Check (ECCK) to reduce the potential errors in workflow of radiation therapy and so to improve patient safety. In addition, the auto-detection results, as the patient treatment site position and patient orientation, could be useful to guide the sequential image processing procedures, e.g. verification of patient daily setup accuracy. This work was partially supported by research grant from Varian Medical System.« less

CMM Interim Check (U)

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

Montano, Joshua Daniel

2015-03-23

Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM) are widely used in industry, throughout the Nuclear Weapons Complex and at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to verify part conformance to design definition. Calibration cycles for CMMs at LANL are predominantly one year in length. Unfortunately, several nonconformance reports have been generated to document the discovery of a certified machine found out of tolerance during a calibration closeout. In an effort to reduce risk to product quality two solutions were proposed – shorten the calibration cycle which could be costly, or perform an interim check to monitor the machine’s performance between cycles. The CMM interimmore » check discussed makes use of Renishaw’s Machine Checking Gauge. This off-the-shelf product simulates a large sphere within a CMM’s measurement volume and allows for error estimation. Data was gathered, analyzed, and simulated from seven machines in seventeen different configurations to create statistical process control run charts for on-the-floor monitoring.« less

A Low-Complexity Euclidean Orthogonal LDPC Architecture for Low Power Applications

PubMed Central

Revathy, M.; Saravanan, R.

2015-01-01

Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes have been implemented in latest digital video broadcasting, broadband wireless access (WiMax), and fourth generation of wireless standards. In this paper, we have proposed a high efficient low-density parity-check code (LDPC) decoder architecture for low power applications. This study also considers the design and analysis of check node and variable node units and Euclidean orthogonal generator in LDPC decoder architecture. The Euclidean orthogonal generator is used to reduce the error rate of the proposed LDPC architecture, which can be incorporated between check and variable node architecture. This proposed decoder design is synthesized on Xilinx 9.2i platform and simulated using Modelsim, which is targeted to 45 nm devices. Synthesis report proves that the proposed architecture greatly reduces the power consumption and hardware utilizations on comparing with different conventional architectures. PMID:26065017

Error coding simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noble, Viveca K.

1993-01-01

There are various elements such as radio frequency interference (RFI) which may induce errors in data being transmitted via a satellite communication link. When a transmission is affected by interference or other error-causing elements, the transmitted data becomes indecipherable. It becomes necessary to implement techniques to recover from these disturbances. The objective of this research is to develop software which simulates error control circuits and evaluate the performance of these modules in various bit error rate environments. The results of the evaluation provide the engineer with information which helps determine the optimal error control scheme. The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) recommends the use of Reed-Solomon (RS) and convolutional encoders and Viterbi and RS decoders for error correction. The use of forward error correction techniques greatly reduces the received signal to noise needed for a certain desired bit error rate. The use of concatenated coding, e.g. inner convolutional code and outer RS code, provides even greater coding gain. The 16-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code is recommended by CCSDS for error detection.

Development of a new calibration procedure and its experimental validation applied to a human motion capture system.

PubMed

Royo Sánchez, Ana Cristina; Aguilar Martín, Juan José; Santolaria Mazo, Jorge

2014-12-01

Motion capture systems are often used for checking and analyzing human motion in biomechanical applications. It is important, in this context, that the systems provide the best possible accuracy. Among existing capture systems, optical systems are those with the highest accuracy. In this paper, the development of a new calibration procedure for optical human motion capture systems is presented. The performance and effectiveness of that new calibration procedure are also checked by experimental validation. The new calibration procedure consists of two stages. In the first stage, initial estimators of intrinsic and extrinsic parameters are sought. The camera calibration method used in this stage is the one proposed by Tsai. These parameters are determined from the camera characteristics, the spatial position of the camera, and the center of the capture volume. In the second stage, a simultaneous nonlinear optimization of all parameters is performed to identify the optimal values, which minimize the objective function. The objective function, in this case, minimizes two errors. The first error is the distance error between two markers placed in a wand. The second error is the error of position and orientation of the retroreflective markers of a static calibration object. The real co-ordinates of the two objects are calibrated in a co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM). The OrthoBio system is used to validate the new calibration procedure. Results are 90% lower than those from the previous calibration software and broadly comparable with results from a similarly configured Vicon system.

Low Density Parity Check Codes Based on Finite Geometries: A Rediscovery and More

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kou, Yu; Lin, Shu; Fossorier, Marc

1999-01-01

Low density parity check (LDPC) codes with iterative decoding based on belief propagation achieve astonishing error performance close to Shannon limit. No algebraic or geometric method for constructing these codes has been reported and they are largely generated by computer search. As a result, encoding of long LDPC codes is in general very complex. This paper presents two classes of high rate LDPC codes whose constructions are based on finite Euclidean and projective geometries, respectively. These classes of codes a.re cyclic and have good constraint parameters and minimum distances. Cyclic structure adows the use of linear feedback shift registers for encoding. These finite geometry LDPC codes achieve very good error performance with either soft-decision iterative decoding based on belief propagation or Gallager's hard-decision bit flipping algorithm. These codes can be punctured or extended to obtain other good LDPC codes. A generalization of these codes is also presented.

Low-density parity-check codes for volume holographic memory systems.

PubMed

Pishro-Nik, Hossein; Rahnavard, Nazanin; Ha, Jeongseok; Fekri, Faramarz; Adibi, Ali

2003-02-10

We investigate the application of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes in volume holographic memory (VHM) systems. We show that a carefully designed irregular LDPC code has a very good performance in VHM systems. We optimize high-rate LDPC codes for the nonuniform error pattern in holographic memories to reduce the bit error rate extensively. The prior knowledge of noise distribution is used for designing as well as decoding the LDPC codes. We show that these codes have a superior performance to that of Reed-Solomon (RS) codes and regular LDPC counterparts. Our simulation shows that we can increase the maximum storage capacity of holographic memories by more than 50 percent if we use irregular LDPC codes with soft-decision decoding instead of conventionally employed RS codes with hard-decision decoding. The performance of these LDPC codes is close to the information theoretic capacity.

Spacecraft command verification: The AI solution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fesq, Lorraine M.; Stephan, Amy; Smith, Brian K.

1990-01-01

Recently, a knowledge-based approach was used to develop a system called the Command Constraint Checker (CCC) for TRW. CCC was created to automate the process of verifying spacecraft command sequences. To check command files by hand for timing and sequencing errors is a time-consuming and error-prone task. Conventional software solutions were rejected when it was estimated that it would require 36 man-months to build an automated tool to check constraints by conventional methods. Using rule-based representation to model the various timing and sequencing constraints of the spacecraft, CCC was developed and tested in only three months. By applying artificial intelligence techniques, CCC designers were able to demonstrate the viability of AI as a tool to transform difficult problems into easily managed tasks. The design considerations used in developing CCC are discussed and the potential impact of this system on future satellite programs is examined.

Kuipers during Glovebox Health Check in Columbus

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-05-18

ISS031-E-140314 (18 May 2012) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 31 flight engineer, supports a ground-conducted health check on ESA’s Biolab Glovebox in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station.

Kuipers during Glovebox Health Check in Columbus

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-05-18

ISS031-E-140311 (18 May 2012) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 31 flight engineer, supports a ground-conducted health check on ESA’s Biolab Glovebox in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station.

Kuipers during Glovebox Health Check in Columbus

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-05-18

ISS031-E-140316 (18 May 2012) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 31 flight engineer, supports a ground-conducted health check on ESA’s Biolab Glovebox in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station.

Error-correcting codes on scale-free networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jung-Hoon; Ko, Young-Jo

2004-06-01

We investigate the potential of scale-free networks as error-correcting codes. We find that irregular low-density parity-check codes with the highest performance known to date have degree distributions well fitted by a power-law function p (k) ˜ k-γ with γ close to 2, which suggests that codes built on scale-free networks with appropriate power exponents can be good error-correcting codes, with a performance possibly approaching the Shannon limit. We demonstrate for an erasure channel that codes with a power-law degree distribution of the form p (k) = C (k+α)-γ , with k⩾2 and suitable selection of the parameters α and γ , indeed have very good error-correction capabilities.

Incremental checking of Master Data Management model based on contextual graphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamolle, Myriam; Menet, Ludovic; Le Duc, Chan

2015-10-01

The validation of models is a crucial step in distributed heterogeneous systems. In this paper, an incremental validation method is proposed in the scope of a Model Driven Engineering (MDE) approach, which is used to develop a Master Data Management (MDM) field represented by XML Schema models. The MDE approach presented in this paper is based on the definition of an abstraction layer using UML class diagrams. The validation method aims to minimise the model errors and to optimisethe process of model checking. Therefore, the notion of validation contexts is introduced allowing the verification of data model views. Description logics specify constraints that the models have to check. An experimentation of the approach is presented through an application developed in ArgoUML IDE.

Automated Sequence Processor: Something Old, Something New

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streiffert, Barbara; Schrock, Mitchell; Fisher, Forest; Himes, Terry

2012-01-01

High productivity required for operations teams to meet schedules Risk must be minimized. Scripting used to automate processes. Scripts perform essential operations functions. Automated Sequence Processor (ASP) was a grass-roots task built to automate the command uplink process System engineering task for ASP revitalization organized. ASP is a set of approximately 200 scripts written in Perl, C Shell, AWK and other scripting languages.. ASP processes/checks/packages non-interactive commands automatically.. Non-interactive commands are guaranteed to be safe and have been checked by hardware or software simulators.. ASP checks that commands are non-interactive.. ASP processes the commands through a command. simulator and then packages them if there are no errors.. ASP must be active 24 hours/day, 7 days/week..

Parallel pulse processing and data acquisition for high speed, low error flow cytometry

DOEpatents

Engh, G.J. van den; Stokdijk, W.

1992-09-22

A digitally synchronized parallel pulse processing and data acquisition system for a flow cytometer has multiple parallel input channels with independent pulse digitization and FIFO storage buffer. A trigger circuit controls the pulse digitization on all channels. After an event has been stored in each FIFO, a bus controller moves the oldest entry from each FIFO buffer onto a common data bus. The trigger circuit generates an ID number for each FIFO entry, which is checked by an error detection circuit. The system has high speed and low error rate. 17 figs.

Evidence for aversive withdrawal response to own errors.

PubMed

Hochman, Eldad Yitzhak; Milman, Valery; Tal, Liron

2017-10-01

Recent model suggests that error detection gives rise to defensive motivation prompting protective behavior. Models of active avoidance behavior predict it should grow larger with threat imminence and avoidance. We hypothesized that in a task requiring left or right key strikes, error detection would drive an avoidance reflex manifested by rapid withdrawal of an erring finger growing larger with threat imminence and avoidance. In experiment 1, three groups differing by error-related threat imminence and avoidance performed a flanker task requiring left or right force sensitive-key strikes. As predicted, errors were followed by rapid force release growing faster with threat imminence and opportunity to evade threat. In experiment 2, we established a link between error key release time (KRT) and the subjective sense of inner-threat. In a simultaneous, multiple regression analysis of three error-related compensatory mechanisms (error KRT, flanker effect, error correction RT), only error KRT was significantly associated with increased compulsive checking tendencies. We propose that error response withdrawal reflects an error-withdrawal reflex. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improvement on post-OPC verification efficiency for contact/via coverage check by final CD biasing of metal lines and considering their location on the metal layout

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Youngmi; Choi, Jae-Young; Choi, Kwangseon; Choi, Jung-Hoe; Lee, Sooryong

2011-04-01

As IC design complexity keeps increasing, it is more and more difficult to ensure the pattern transfer after optical proximity correction (OPC) due to the continuous reduction of layout dimensions and lithographic limitation by k1 factor. To guarantee the imaging fidelity, resolution enhancement technologies (RET) such as off-axis illumination (OAI), different types of phase shift masks and OPC technique have been developed. In case of model-based OPC, to cross-confirm the contour image versus target layout, post-OPC verification solutions continuously keep developed - contour generation method and matching it to target structure, method for filtering and sorting the patterns to eliminate false errors and duplicate patterns. The way to detect only real errors by excluding false errors is the most important thing for accurate and fast verification process - to save not only reviewing time and engineer resource, but also whole wafer process time and so on. In general case of post-OPC verification for metal-contact/via coverage (CC) check, verification solution outputs huge of errors due to borderless design, so it is too difficult to review and correct all points of them. It should make OPC engineer to miss the real defect, and may it cause the delay time to market, at least. In this paper, we studied method for increasing efficiency of post-OPC verification, especially for the case of CC check. For metal layers, final CD after etch process shows various CD bias, which depends on distance with neighbor patterns, so it is more reasonable that consider final metal shape to confirm the contact/via coverage. Through the optimization of biasing rule for different pitches and shapes of metal lines, we could get more accurate and efficient verification results and decrease the time for review to find real errors. In this paper, the suggestion in order to increase efficiency of OPC verification process by using simple biasing rule to metal layout instead of etch model application is presented.

AmeriFlux Data Processing: Integrating automated and manual data management across software technologies and an international network to generate timely data products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christianson, D. S.; Beekwilder, N.; Chan, S.; Cheah, Y. W.; Chu, H.; Dengel, S.; O'Brien, F.; Pastorello, G.; Sandesh, M.; Torn, M. S.; Agarwal, D.

2017-12-01

AmeriFlux is a network of scientists who independently collect eddy covariance and related environmental observations at over 250 locations across the Americas. As part of the AmeriFlux Management Project, the AmeriFlux Data Team manages standardization, collection, quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC), and distribution of data submitted by network members. To generate data products that are timely, QA/QC'd, and repeatable, and have traceable provenance, we developed a semi-automated data processing pipeline. The new pipeline consists of semi-automated format and data QA/QC checks. Results are communicated via on-line reports as well as an issue-tracking system. Data processing time has been reduced from 2-3 days to a few hours of manual review time, resulting in faster data availability from the time of data submission. The pipeline is scalable to the network level and has the following key features. (1) On-line results of the format QA/QC checks are available immediately for data provider review. This enables data providers to correct and resubmit data quickly. (2) The format QA/QC assessment includes an automated attempt to fix minor format errors. Data submissions that are formatted in the new AmeriFlux FP-In standard can be queued for the data QA/QC assessment, often with minimal delay. (3) Automated data QA/QC checks identify and communicate potentially erroneous data via online, graphical quick views that highlight observations with unexpected values, incorrect units, time drifts, invalid multivariate correlations, and/or radiation shadows. (4) Progress through the pipeline is integrated with an issue-tracking system that facilitates communications between data providers and the data processing team in an organized and searchable fashion. Through development of these and other features of the pipeline, we present solutions to challenges that include optimizing automated with manual processing, bridging legacy data management infrastructure with various software tools, and working across interdisciplinary and international science cultures. Additionally, we discuss results from community member feedback that helped refine QA/QC communications for efficient data submission and revision.

Birth/death process model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solloway, C. B.; Wakeland, W.

1976-01-01

First-order Markov model developed on digital computer for population with specific characteristics. System is user interactive, self-documenting, and does not require user to have complete understanding of underlying model details. Contains thorough error-checking algorithms on input and default capabilities.

Indicator Expansion with Analysis Pipeline

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-13

INTERNAL FILTER trackInfectedHosts FILTER badTraffic SIP infectedHosts 1 DAY END INTERNAL FILTER 11 Step 3 watch where infected hosts go FILTER...nonWhiteListPostInfected SIP IN LIST infectedHosts DIP NOT IN LIST safePopularIPs.set END FILTER 12 Step 4 & 5: Count Hosts Per IP and Alert EVALUATION...CHECK THRESHOLD DISTINCT SIP > 50 TIME WINDOW 36 HOURS END CHECK END EVALUATION 13 Step 6: Report Expanded Indicators LIST CONFIGURATION secondLevelIPs

SU-F-T-310: Does a Head-Mounted Ionization Chamber Detect IMRT Errors?

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

Wegener, S; Herzog, B; Sauer, O

2016-06-15

Purpose: The conventional plan verification strategy is delivering a plan to a QA-phantom before the first treatment. Monitoring each fraction of the patient treatment in real-time would improve patient safety. We evaluated how well a new detector, the IQM (iRT Systems, Germany), is capable of detecting errors we induced into IMRT plans of three different treatment regions. Results were compared to an established phantom. Methods: Clinical plans of a brain, prostate and head-and-neck patient were modified in the Pinnacle planning system, such that they resulted in either several percent lower prescribed doses to the target volume or several percent highermore » doses to relevant organs at risk. Unaltered plans were measured on three days, modified plans once, each with the IQM at an Elekta Synergy with an Agility MLC. All plans were also measured with the ArcCHECK with the cavity plug and a PTW semiflex 31010 ionization chamber inserted. Measurements were evaluated with SNC patient software. Results: Repeated IQM measurements of the original plans were reproducible, such that a 1% deviation from the mean as warning and 3% as action level as suggested by the manufacturer seemed reasonable. The IQM detected most of the simulated errors including wrong energy, a faulty leaf, wrong trial exported and a 2 mm shift of one leaf bank. Detection limits were reached for two plans - a 2 mm field position error and a leaf bank offset combined with an MU change. ArcCHECK evaluation according to our current standards also left undetected errors. Ionization chamber evaluation alone would leave most errors undetected. Conclusion: The IQM detected most errors and performed as well as currently established phantoms with the advantage that it can be used throughout the whole treatment. Drawback is that it does not indicate the source of the error.« less

CORRELATED ERRORS IN EARTH POINTING MISSIONS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bilanow, Steve; Patt, Frederick S.

2005-01-01

Two different Earth-pointing missions dealing with attitude control and dynamics changes illustrate concerns with correlated error sources and coupled effects that can occur. On the OrbView-2 (OV-2) spacecraft, the assumption of a nearly-inertially-fixed momentum axis was called into question when a residual dipole bias apparently changed magnitude. The possibility that alignment adjustments and/or sensor calibration errors may compensate for actual motions of the spacecraft is discussed, and uncertainties in the dynamics are considered. Particular consideration is given to basic orbit frequency and twice orbit frequency effects and their high correlation over the short science observation data span. On the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft, the switch to a contingency Kalman filter control mode created changes in the pointing error patterns. Results from independent checks on the TRMM attitude using science instrument data are reported, and bias shifts and error correlations are discussed. Various orbit frequency effects are common with the flight geometry for Earth pointing instruments. In both dual-spin momentum stabilized spacecraft (like OV-2) and three axis stabilized spacecraft with gyros (like TRMM under Kalman filter control), changes in the initial attitude state propagate into orbit frequency variations in attitude and some sensor measurements. At the same time, orbit frequency measurement effects can arise from dynamics assumptions, environment variations, attitude sensor calibrations, or ephemeris errors. Also, constant environment torques for dual spin spacecraft have similar effects to gyro biases on three axis stabilized spacecraft, effectively shifting the one-revolution-per-orbit (1-RPO) body rotation axis. Highly correlated effects can create a risk for estimation errors particularly when a mission switches an operating mode or changes its normal flight environment. Some error effects will not be obvious from attitude sensor measurement residuals, so some independent checks using imaging sensors are essential and derived science instrument attitude measurements can prove quite valuable in assessing the attitude accuracy.

Korzun checks the Rasteniya-2 plant growth experiment in the SM during Expedition Five

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-11-08

ISS005-E-20302 (8 November 2002) --- Cosmonaut Valery G. Korzun, Expedition Five mission commander, checks a plant growth experiment in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station (ISS). Korzun represents Rosaviakosmos.

FRONT DETAIL OF RIGHT ENGINE AND WING. MECHANICS CHECK METAL ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

FRONT DETAIL OF RIGHT ENGINE AND WING. MECHANICS CHECK METAL CHIP DETECTOR ON RIGHT ENGINE. THE LEADING EDGE FLAPS ON THE RIGHT WING ARE DOWN PRIOR TO LUBRICATION. - Greater Buffalo International Airport, Maintenance Hangar, Buffalo, Erie County, NY

Malenchenko checks Lada Greenhouse in SM

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-03-06

ISS016-E-031242 (6 March 2008) --- Cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko, Expedition 16 flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, checks the progress of pea plants growing in the Russian Lada greenhouse in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station.

Plasma Crystal-3 Plus experiment Chamber Leak Check

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-07-01

ISS024-E-007144 (1 July 2010) --- Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, Expedition 24 commander, performs chamber leak checks on the new Plasma Crystal-3 Plus experiment in the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM2) of the International Space Station.

Assessment of the performance of automated focimeters in the measurement of single vision spectacle lenses.

PubMed

Chu, Byoung-Sun; Ngo, Thao P T; Cheng, Brian B; Dain, Stephen J

2014-07-01

The accuracy and precision of any instrument should not be taken for granted. While there is an international standard for checking focimeters, there is no report of any study on their performance. A sample set of 51 focimeters (11 brands), were used to measure the spherical power of a set of lenses and the prismatic power of two lenses complying with ISO 9342-1:2005 and other calibrated prismatic lenses and the spherical power of some grey filters. The mean measured spherical power corresponded very closely with the calibrated values; however, the spread of results was substantial and 10 focimeters did not comply with ISO 8598:1996. The measurement of prism was much more accurate and precise and all the focimeters complied easily. With the grey filters, about one-third of the focimeters either showed erratic reading or an error with the equivalent of category 4 sunglasses. On the other hand, nine focimeters had stable and accurate reading on a filter with a luminous transmittance of 0.5 per cent. These results confirm that, in common with all other measurement instruments, there is a need to ensure that a focimeter is reading accurately and precisely over the range of refractive powers and luminous transmittances. The accurate and precise performance of an automated focimeter over its working life cannot be assumed. Checking before purchase with a set of calibrated lenses and some dark sunglass tints will indicate the suitability of a focimeter. Routine checking with the calibrated lenses will inform the users if a focimeter continues to indicate accurately. © 2014 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Optometry © 2014 Optometrists Association Australia.

Net Weight Issue LLNL DOE-STD-3013 Containers

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

Wilk, P

2008-01-16

The following position paper will describe DOE-STD-3013 container sets No.L000072 and No.L000076, and how they are compliant with DOE-STD-3013-2004. All masses of accountable nuclear materials are measured on LLNL certified balances maintained under an MC&A Program approved by DOE/NNSA LSO. All accountability balances are recalibrated annually and checked to be within calibration on each day that the balance is used for accountability purposes. A statistical analysis of the historical calibration checks from the last seven years indicates that the full-range Limit of Error (LoE, 95% confidence level) for the balance used to measure the mass of the contents of themore » above indicated 3013 containers is 0.185 g. If this error envelope, at the 95% confidence level, were to be used to generate an upper-limit to the measured weight of the containers No.L000072 and No.L000076, the error-envelope would extend beyond the 5.0 kg 3013-standard limit on the package contents by less than 0.3 g. However, this is still well within the intended safety bounds of DOE-STD-3013-2004.« less

Adherence to balance tolerance limits at the Upper Mississippi Science Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Myers, C.T.; Kennedy, D.M.

1998-01-01

Verification of balance accuracy entails applying a series of standard masses to a balance prior to use and recording the measured values. The recorded values for each standard should have lower and upper weight limits or tolerances that are accepted as verification of balance accuracy under normal operating conditions. Balance logbooks for seven analytical balances at the Upper Mississippi Science Center were checked over a 3.5-year period to determine if the recorded weights were within the established tolerance limits. A total of 9435 measurements were checked. There were 14 instances in which the balance malfunctioned and operators recorded a rationale in the balance logbook. Sixty-three recording errors were found. Twenty-eight operators were responsible for two types of recording errors: Measurements of weights were recorded outside of the tolerance limit but not acknowledged as an error by the operator (n = 40); and measurements were recorded with the wrong number of decimal places (n = 23). The adherence rate for following tolerance limits was 99.3%. To ensure the continued adherence to tolerance limits, the quality-assurance unit revised standard operating procedures to require more frequent review of balance logbooks.

Methods developed to elucidate nursing related adverse events in Japan.

PubMed

Yamagishi, Manaho; Kanda, Katsuya; Takemura, Yukie

2003-05-01

Financial resources for quality assurance in Japanese hospitals are limited and few hospitals have quality monitoring systems of nursing service systems. However, recently its necessity has been recognized. This study has cost effectively used adverse event occurrence rates as indicators of the quality of nursing service, and audited methods of collecting data on adverse events to elucidate their approximate true numbers. Data collection was conducted in July, August and November 2000 at a hospital in Tokyo that administered both primary and secondary health care services (281 beds, six wards, average length of stay 23 days). We collected adverse events through incident reports, logs, check-lists, nurse interviews, medication error questionnaires, urine leucocyte tests, patient interviews and medical records. Adverse events included the unplanned removals of invasive lines, medication errors, falls, pressure sores, skin deficiencies, physical restraints, and nosocomial infections. After evaluating the time and useful outcomes of each source, it soon became clear that we could elucidate adverse events most consistently and cost-effectively through incident reports, check lists, nurse interviews, urine leucocyte tests and medication error questionnaires. This study suggests that many hospitals in Japan could monitor the quality of the nursing service using these sources.

Optimum Cyclic Redundancy Codes for Noisy Channels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Posner, E. C.; Merkey, P.

1986-01-01

Capabilities and limitations of cyclic redundancy codes (CRC's) for detecting transmission errors in data sent over relatively noisy channels (e.g., voice-grade telephone lines or very-high-density storage media) discussed in 16-page report. Due to prevalent use of bytes in multiples of 8 bits data transmission, report primarily concerned with cases in which both block length and number of redundant bits (check bits for use in error detection) included in each block are multiples of 8 bits.

Fast and Flexible Successive-Cancellation List Decoders for Polar Codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashemi, Seyyed Ali; Condo, Carlo; Gross, Warren J.

2017-11-01

Polar codes have gained significant amount of attention during the past few years and have been selected as a coding scheme for the next generation of mobile broadband standard. Among decoding schemes, successive-cancellation list (SCL) decoding provides a reasonable trade-off between the error-correction performance and hardware implementation complexity when used to decode polar codes, at the cost of limited throughput. The simplified SCL (SSCL) and its extension SSCL-SPC increase the speed of decoding by removing redundant calculations when encountering particular information and frozen bit patterns (rate one and single parity check codes), while keeping the error-correction performance unaltered. In this paper, we improve SSCL and SSCL-SPC by proving that the list size imposes a specific number of bit estimations required to decode rate one and single parity check codes. Thus, the number of estimations can be limited while guaranteeing exactly the same error-correction performance as if all bits of the code were estimated. We call the new decoding algorithms Fast-SSCL and Fast-SSCL-SPC. Moreover, we show that the number of bit estimations in a practical application can be tuned to achieve desirable speed, while keeping the error-correction performance almost unchanged. Hardware architectures implementing both algorithms are then described and implemented: it is shown that our design can achieve 1.86 Gb/s throughput, higher than the best state-of-the-art decoders.

[Validation of a German-language Version of the Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ) in Adolescents with Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa].

PubMed

Steinfeld, Beate; Bauer, Anika; Waldorf, Manuel; Engel, Nicole; Braks, Karsten; Huber, Thomas J; Vocks, Silja

2017-01-01

Body-related checking behavior, as a behavioral manifestation of a disturbed body image, fosters the development and maintenance of eating disorders. The Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ) is the most commonly used questionnaire for measuring body-related checking behavior internationally. To date, validation studies are only available for adult populations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to statistically test the German-language version of the BCQ in adolescents. A total of N=129 female adolescents were examined, comprising n=57 with Anorexia Nervosa, n=24 with Bulimia Nervosa, and n=48 healthy female adolescents. A confirmatory factor analysis supports the subdivision of the BCQ into a general factor and the subfactors "overall appearance", "specific body parts" and "idiosyncratic checking", which was also found in the original version. The internal consistencies are good (α≥0.81), and the BCQ is able to differentiate well between adolescents with and without eating disorders. Significant correlations between the BCQ and other body image questionnaires point to a good convergent validity. The German-language BCQ thus constitutes a valid and reliable instrument for measuring body-related checking behavior among adolescents in clinical research and practice. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Mobility Research for Future Vehicles: A Methodology to Create a Unified Trade-Off Environment for Advanced Aerospace Vehicle

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-01-31

Language for SeBBAS ............................................................... 23 2.4.3 Running SeBBAS Algorithm in MATLAB...Input File Error Checking ................................................................................................... 76 4.4.3 Running ...99 6.2 5- Blade Rotor System Investigation

Experimental investigations of the effect the electrical conductivity of medium has on the performance of pH meters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodionov, A. K.; Karashchuk, S. A.

2013-07-01

Results from tests of pH meters carried out in ammonia media having low electric conductivity (less than 5.0 μS/cm) are presented. The check media for the tests were prepared in a special manner the use of which makes it possible to reproduce the pH value of solution with an error not exceeding ˜0.04pH in the range of electrical conductivities above 0.1 μS/cm. The instrument measurement error was determined at different electrical conductivities of medium. Different electrodes were tested, the majority of which were domestically produced ones intended for general industrial applications. Some results were also obtained for one dedicated electrode from a foreign manufacturer. The test results show that the instrument gives a biased pH value for such media. The bias has a random value, which nonetheless is stable in the majority of cases, depends on the electrical conductivity of medium being monitored, and may be quite essential for small electrical conductivities (0.5pH or more). A conclusion is drawn about the need to calibrate the instruments with respect to standard media having electrical conductivity close to that of the medium being monitored. Analytic relations characterizing the check media used fort tests (check solutions) are presented.

Mass Spectral Library Quality Assurance by Inter-Library Comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, William E.; Ji, Weihua; Tchekhovskoi, Dmitrii V.; Phinney, Karen W.; Stein, Stephen E.

2017-04-01

A method to discover and correct errors in mass spectral libraries is described. Comparing across a set of highly curated reference libraries compounds that have the same chemical structure quickly identifies entries that are outliers. In cases where three or more entries for the same compound are compared, the outlier as determined by visual inspection was almost always found to contain the error. These errors were either in the spectrum itself or in the chemical descriptors that accompanied it. The method is demonstrated on finding errors in compounds of forensic interest in the NIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral Library. The target list of compounds checked was the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG) mass spectral library. Some examples of errors found are described. A checklist of errors that curators should look for when performing inter-library comparisons is provided.

Mass Spectral Library Quality Assurance by Inter-Library Comparison

PubMed Central

Wallace, W.E.; Ji, W.; Tchekhovskoi, D.V.; Phinney, K.W.; Stein, S.E.

2017-01-01

A method to discover and correct errors in mass spectral libraries is described. Comparing across a set of highly curated reference libraries compounds that have the same chemical structure quickly identifies entries that are outliers. In cases where three or more entries for the same compound are compared the outlier as determined by visual inspection was almost always found to contain the error. These errors were either in the spectrum itself or in the chemical descriptors that accompanied it. The method is demonstrated on finding errors in compounds of forensic interest in the NIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral Library. The target list of compounds checked was the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG) mass spectral library. Some examples of errors found are described. A checklist of errors that curators should look for when performing inter-library comparisons is provided. PMID:28127680

Reasoning Based Quality Assurance of Medical Ontologies: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Horridge, Matthew; Parsia, Bijan; Noy, Natalya F.; Musenm, Mark A.

2014-01-01

The World Health Organisation is using OWL as a key technology to develop ICD-11 – the next version of the well-known International Classification of Diseases. Besides providing better opportunities for data integration and linkages to other well-known ontologies such as SNOMED-CT, one of the main promises of using OWL is that it will enable various forms of automated error checking. In this paper we investigate how automated OWL reasoning, along with a Justification Finding Service can be used as a Quality Assurance technique for the development of large and complex ontologies such as ICD-11. Using the International Classification of Traditional Medicine (ICTM) – Chapter 24 of ICD-11 – as a case study, and an expert panel of knowledge engineers, we reveal the kinds of problems that can occur, how they can be detected, and how they can be fixed. Specifically, we found that a logically inconsistent version of the ICTM ontology could be repaired using justifications (minimal entailing subsets of an ontology). Although over 600 justifications for the inconsistency were initially computed, we found that there were three main manageable patterns or categories of justifications involving TBox and ABox axioms. These categories represented meaningful domain errors to an expert panel of ICTM project knowledge engineers, who were able to use them to successfully determine the axioms that needed to be revised in order to fix the problem. All members of the expert panel agreed that the approach was useful for debugging and ensuring the quality of ICTM. PMID:25954373

How accurate are quotations and references in medical journals?

PubMed

de Lacey, G; Record, C; Wade, J

1985-09-28

The accuracy of quotations and references in six medical journals published during January 1984 was assessed. The original author was misquoted in 15% of all references, and most of the errors would have misled readers. Errors in citation of references occurred in 24%, of which 8% were major errors--that is, they prevented immediate identification of the source of the reference. Inaccurate quotations and citations are displeasing for the original author, misleading for the reader, and mean that untruths become "accepted fact." Some suggestions for reducing these high levels of inaccuracy are that papers scheduled for publication with errors of citation should be returned to the author and checked completely and a permanent column specifically for misquotations could be inserted into the journal.

How accurate are quotations and references in medical journals?

PubMed Central

de Lacey, G; Record, C; Wade, J

1985-01-01

The accuracy of quotations and references in six medical journals published during January 1984 was assessed. The original author was misquoted in 15% of all references, and most of the errors would have misled readers. Errors in citation of references occurred in 24%, of which 8% were major errors--that is, they prevented immediate identification of the source of the reference. Inaccurate quotations and citations are displeasing for the original author, misleading for the reader, and mean that untruths become "accepted fact." Some suggestions for reducing these high levels of inaccuracy are that papers scheduled for publication with errors of citation should be returned to the author and checked completely and a permanent column specifically for misquotations could be inserted into the journal. PMID:3931753

Software fault-tolerance by design diversity DEDIX: A tool for experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Avizienis, A.; Gunningberg, P.; Kelly, J. P. J.; Lyu, R. T.; Strigini, L.; Traverse, P. J.; Tso, K. S.; Voges, U.

1986-01-01

The use of multiple versions of a computer program, independently designed from a common specification, to reduce the effects of an error is discussed. If these versions are designed by independent programming teams, it is expected that a fault in one version will not have the same behavior as any fault in the other versions. Since the errors in the output of the versions are different and uncorrelated, it is possible to run the versions concurrently, cross-check their results at prespecified points, and mask errors. A DEsign DIversity eXperiments (DEDIX) testbed was implemented to study the influence of common mode errors which can result in a failure of the entire system. The layered design of DEDIX and its decision algorithm are described.

Asynchronous error-correcting secure communication scheme based on fractional-order shifting chaotic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chao, Luo

2015-11-01

In this paper, a novel digital secure communication scheme is firstly proposed. Different from the usual secure communication schemes based on chaotic synchronization, the proposed scheme employs asynchronous communication which avoids the weakness of synchronous systems and is susceptible to environmental interference. Moreover, as to the transmission errors and data loss in the process of communication, the proposed scheme has the ability to be error-checking and error-correcting in real time. In order to guarantee security, the fractional-order complex chaotic system with the shifting of order is utilized to modulate the transmitted signal, which has high nonlinearity and complexity in both frequency and time domains. The corresponding numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the scheme.

Probabilistic evaluation of on-line checks in fault-tolerant multiprocessor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nair, V. S. S.; Hoskote, Yatin V.; Abraham, Jacob A.

1992-01-01

The analysis of fault-tolerant multiprocessor systems that use concurrent error detection (CED) schemes is much more difficult than the analysis of conventional fault-tolerant architectures. Various analytical techniques have been proposed to evaluate CED schemes deterministically. However, these approaches are based on worst-case assumptions related to the failure of system components. Often, the evaluation results do not reflect the actual fault tolerance capabilities of the system. A probabilistic approach to evaluate the fault detecting and locating capabilities of on-line checks in a system is developed. The various probabilities associated with the checking schemes are identified and used in the framework of the matrix-based model. Based on these probabilistic matrices, estimates for the fault tolerance capabilities of various systems are derived analytically.

The Development and Deployment of a Maintenance Operations Safety Survey.

PubMed

Langer, Marie; Braithwaite, Graham R

2016-11-01

Based on the line operations safety audit (LOSA), two studies were conducted to develop and deploy an equivalent tool for aircraft maintenance: the maintenance operations safety survey (MOSS). Safety in aircraft maintenance is currently measured reactively, based on the number of audit findings, reportable events, incidents, or accidents. Proactive safety tools designed for monitoring routine operations, such as flight data monitoring and LOSA, have been developed predominantly for flight operations. In Study 1, development of MOSS, 12 test peer-to-peer observations were collected to investigate the practicalities of this approach. In Study 2, deployment of MOSS, seven expert observers collected 56 peer-to-peer observations of line maintenance checks at four stations. Narrative data were coded and analyzed according to the threat and error management (TEM) framework. In Study 1, a line check was identified as a suitable unit of observation. Communication and third-party data management were the key factors in gaining maintainer trust. Study 2 identified that on average, maintainers experienced 7.8 threats (operational complexities) and committed 2.5 errors per observation. The majority of threats and errors were inconsequential. Links between specific threats and errors leading to 36 undesired states were established. This research demonstrates that observations of routine maintenance operations are feasible. TEM-based results highlight successful management strategies that maintainers employ on a day-to-day basis. MOSS is a novel approach for safety data collection and analysis. It helps practitioners understand the nature of maintenance errors, promote an informed culture, and support safety management systems in the maintenance domain. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Cognitive Abilities, Monitoring Confidence, and Control Thresholds Explain Individual Differences in Heuristics and Biases

PubMed Central

Jackson, Simon A.; Kleitman, Sabina; Howie, Pauline; Stankov, Lazar

2016-01-01

In this paper, we investigate whether individual differences in performance on heuristic and biases tasks can be explained by cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds. Current theories explain individual differences in these tasks by the ability to detect errors and override automatic but biased judgments, and deliberative cognitive abilities that help to construct the correct response. Here we retain cognitive abilities but disentangle error detection, proposing that lower monitoring confidence and higher control thresholds promote error checking. Participants (N = 250) completed tasks assessing their fluid reasoning abilities, stable monitoring confidence levels, and the control threshold they impose on their decisions. They also completed seven typical heuristic and biases tasks such as the cognitive reflection test and Resistance to Framing. Using structural equation modeling, we found that individuals with higher reasoning abilities, lower monitoring confidence, and higher control threshold performed significantly and, at times, substantially better on the heuristic and biases tasks. Individuals with higher control thresholds also showed lower preferences for risky alternatives in a gambling task. Furthermore, residual correlations among the heuristic and biases tasks were reduced to null, indicating that cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds accounted for their shared variance. Implications include the proposal that the capacity to detect errors does not differ between individuals. Rather, individuals might adopt varied strategies that promote error checking to different degrees, regardless of whether they have made a mistake or not. The results support growing evidence that decision-making involves cognitive abilities that construct actions and monitoring and control processes that manage their initiation. PMID:27790170

Cognitive Abilities, Monitoring Confidence, and Control Thresholds Explain Individual Differences in Heuristics and Biases.

PubMed

Jackson, Simon A; Kleitman, Sabina; Howie, Pauline; Stankov, Lazar

2016-01-01

In this paper, we investigate whether individual differences in performance on heuristic and biases tasks can be explained by cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds. Current theories explain individual differences in these tasks by the ability to detect errors and override automatic but biased judgments, and deliberative cognitive abilities that help to construct the correct response. Here we retain cognitive abilities but disentangle error detection, proposing that lower monitoring confidence and higher control thresholds promote error checking. Participants ( N = 250) completed tasks assessing their fluid reasoning abilities, stable monitoring confidence levels, and the control threshold they impose on their decisions. They also completed seven typical heuristic and biases tasks such as the cognitive reflection test and Resistance to Framing. Using structural equation modeling, we found that individuals with higher reasoning abilities, lower monitoring confidence, and higher control threshold performed significantly and, at times, substantially better on the heuristic and biases tasks. Individuals with higher control thresholds also showed lower preferences for risky alternatives in a gambling task. Furthermore, residual correlations among the heuristic and biases tasks were reduced to null, indicating that cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, and control thresholds accounted for their shared variance. Implications include the proposal that the capacity to detect errors does not differ between individuals. Rather, individuals might adopt varied strategies that promote error checking to different degrees, regardless of whether they have made a mistake or not. The results support growing evidence that decision-making involves cognitive abilities that construct actions and monitoring and control processes that manage their initiation.

The Development and Deployment of a Maintenance Operations Safety Survey

PubMed Central

Langer, Marie; Braithwaite, Graham R.

2016-01-01

Objective: Based on the line operations safety audit (LOSA), two studies were conducted to develop and deploy an equivalent tool for aircraft maintenance: the maintenance operations safety survey (MOSS). Background: Safety in aircraft maintenance is currently measured reactively, based on the number of audit findings, reportable events, incidents, or accidents. Proactive safety tools designed for monitoring routine operations, such as flight data monitoring and LOSA, have been developed predominantly for flight operations. Method: In Study 1, development of MOSS, 12 test peer-to-peer observations were collected to investigate the practicalities of this approach. In Study 2, deployment of MOSS, seven expert observers collected 56 peer-to-peer observations of line maintenance checks at four stations. Narrative data were coded and analyzed according to the threat and error management (TEM) framework. Results: In Study 1, a line check was identified as a suitable unit of observation. Communication and third-party data management were the key factors in gaining maintainer trust. Study 2 identified that on average, maintainers experienced 7.8 threats (operational complexities) and committed 2.5 errors per observation. The majority of threats and errors were inconsequential. Links between specific threats and errors leading to 36 undesired states were established. Conclusion: This research demonstrates that observations of routine maintenance operations are feasible. TEM-based results highlight successful management strategies that maintainers employ on a day-to-day basis. Application: MOSS is a novel approach for safety data collection and analysis. It helps practitioners understand the nature of maintenance errors, promote an informed culture, and support safety management systems in the maintenance domain. PMID:27411354

WEST ELEVATION OF USAIR MAINTENANCE HANGAR AT GREATER BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

WEST ELEVATION OF USAIR MAINTENANCE HANGAR AT GREATER BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. A BOEING 737-200 HAS BEEN TOWED IN FOR AN OVERNIGHT (BALANCE) CHECK. THE TAIL DOCK STANDS ARE IN POSITION AT THE REAR OF THE AIRCRAFT TO FACILITATE INSPECTION. MAINTENANCE CREWS PERFORM NIGHTLY SERVICE ON UP TO 6 AIRCRAFT. THE NORMAL SEQUENCE OF 12 ROUTINE CHECKS COVERS SEVEN BASIC AREAS: INTERIOR, EXTERIOR, WINGS, LANDING GEAR, TAIL, AUXILIARY POWER UNIT (APU), AND ENGINES. THE WORK FORCE CONSISTS OF 5 INSPECTORS, 3 LEAD MECHANICS, AND 24 MECHANICS; NIGHTLY SCHEDULES ARE COORDINATED BY A PLANNER. - Greater Buffalo International Airport, Maintenance Hangar, Buffalo, Erie County, NY

Underestimation of length by subjects in motion.

PubMed

Harte, D B

1975-10-01

To check a prior observation, in the present experiment, subjects made estimates of the lengths of both the guidelines and the spaces between guidelines on automotive highways so the magnitude of the illusion could be more accurately determined. Ten males and ten females were individually tested at 0 and 60 mph. At 60 mph, spaces were estimated with an error of 85%; lines were estimated with an error of 72%. Combining data for both stimuli, an error of 78% results, which corresponds to underestimation by a factor of 4.67. This illusory effect is considerably greater than that of the moon illusion, considered by many the most powerful of the classical illusions.

Kazbek Fit Check in the Soyuz TMA-11M

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-03-14

ISS39-E-001422 (14 March 2014) --- Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is photographed during a fit check of the Kazbek couches in the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft, which is docked to the International Space Station.

78 FR 45052 - Critical Parts for Airplane Propellers; Correction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-26

..., early warning devices, maintenance checks, and other similar equipment or procedures. If items of the..., and maintenance processes for propeller critical parts. An unintentional error was introduced in Sec... transportation, Aircraft, Aviation safety, Safety. The Correcting Amendment In consideration of the foregoing...

An experimental evaluation of the REE SIFT environment for spaceborne applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whistnant, K.; Iyer, R. K.; Jones, P.; Some, R.; Rennels, D.

2002-01-01

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a software-implemented fault tolerance environment built around a set of self-checking ARMOR proceses running on different machines that provide error detection and recovery services to themselves and to spaceborne scientific applications.

Lightweight Specifications for Parallel Correctness

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-05

Galenson, Benjamin Hindman, Thibaud Hottelier, Pallavi Joshi, Ben- jamin Lipshitz, Leo Meyerovich, Mayur Naik, Chang-Seo Park, and Philip Reames — many...violating executions. We discuss some of these errors in detail in the CHAPTER 5. SPECIFYING AND CHECKING SEMANTIC ATOMICITY 84 Benchmark Approx. LoC

Request to monitor the CV SDSS161033 (1605-00) for HST observations AND TU Cas comparison stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, Aaron

2005-06-01

AAVSO Alert Notice 319 contains two topics. First: Dr. Paula Szkody (University of Washington) has requested AAVSO assistance in monitoring the suspected UGWZ dwarf nova SDSS J161033 [V386 Ser] for upcoming HST observations. This campaign is similar to the one recently run on SDSS J2205 and SDSS J013132 (AAVSO Alert Notice 318). HST mission planners need to be absolutely sure that SDSS J161033 is not in outburst immediately prior to the scheduled observation; AAVSO observations will be crucial to carrying out the HST program. Nightly V observations are requested June 24-July 1 UT. We are making an unusual request in that we are asking for the FITS images themselves to be uploaded to the AAVSO's FTP site. Second: AAVSO Alert Notice 318 did not specify which stars on the TU Cas PEP chart should be used as comparison and check stars. Also, there was an error on the chart regarding the location of the "83" comparison star [the chart that is available online reflects a corrected location]. Please use the "89" and the "74" stars as your comparison and check stars, respectively. Finder charts with sequence may be created using the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter (https://www.aavso.org/vsp). Observations should be submitted to the AAVSO International Database. See full Alert Notice for more details.

Enhanced dynamic wedge and independent monitor unit verification.

PubMed

Howlett, S J

2005-03-01

Some serious radiation accidents have occurred around the world during the delivery of radiotherapy treatment. The regrettable incident in Panama clearly indicated the need for independent monitor unit (MU) verification. Indeed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after investigating the incident, made specific recommendations for radiotherapy centres which included an independent monitor unit check for all treatments. Independent monitor unit verification is practiced in many radiotherapy centres in developed countries around the world. It is mandatory in USA but not yet in Australia. This paper describes development of an independent MU program, concentrating on the implementation of the Enhanced Dynamic Wedge (EDW) component. The difficult case of non centre of field (COF) calculation points under the EDW was studied in some detail. Results of a survey of Australasian centres regarding the use of independent MU check systems is also presented. The system was developed with reference to MU calculations made by Pinnacle 3D Radiotherapy Treatment Planning (RTP) system (ADAC - Philips) for 4MV, 6MV and 18MV X-ray beams used at the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital (NMMH) in the clinical environment. A small systematic error was detected in the equation used for the EDW calculations. Results indicate that COF equations may be used in the non COF situation with similar accuracy to that achieved with profile corrected methods. Further collaborative work with other centres is planned to extend these findings.

Design of a Syntax Validation Tool for Requirements Analysis Using Structured Analysis and Design Technique (SADT)

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

analysis phase of the software life cycle (16:1-1). While editing a SADT diagram, the tool should be able to check whether or not structured analysis...diag-ams are valid for the SADT’s syntax, produce error messages, do error recovery, and perform editing suggestions. Thus, this tool must have the...directed editors are editors which use the syn- tax of the programming language while editing a program. While text editors treat programs as text, syntax

An Adaptive Buddy Check for Observational Quality Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dee, Dick P.; Rukhovets, Leonid; Todling, Ricardo; DaSilva, Arlindo M.; Larson, Jay W.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

An adaptive buddy check algorithm is presented that adjusts tolerances for outlier observations based on the variability of surrounding data. The algorithm derives from a statistical hypothesis test combined with maximum-likelihood covariance estimation. Its stability is shown to depend on the initial identification of outliers by a simple background check. The adaptive feature ensures that the final quality control decisions are not very sensitive to prescribed statistics of first-guess and observation errors, nor on other approximations introduced into the algorithm. The implementation of the algorithm in a global atmospheric data assimilation is described. Its performance is contrasted with that of a non-adaptive buddy check, for the surface analysis of an extreme storm that took place in Europe on 27 December 1999. The adaptive algorithm allowed the inclusion of many important observations that differed greatly from the first guess and that would have been excluded on the basis of prescribed statistics. The analysis of the storm development was much improved as a result of these additional observations.

Discussion on the installation checking method of precast composite floor slab with lattice girders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Li; Jin, Xing; Wang, Yahui; Zhou, Hele; Gu, Jianing

2018-03-01

Based on the installation checking requirements of China’s current standards and the international norms for prefabricated structural precast components, it proposed an installation checking method for precast composite floor slab with lattice girders. By taking an equivalent composite beam consisted of a single lattice girder and the precast concrete slab as the checking object, compression instability stress of upper chords and yield stress of slab distribution reinforcement at the maximum positive moment, tensile yield stress of upper chords, slab normal section normal compression stress and shear instability stress of diagonal bars at the maximum negative moment were checked. And the bending stress and deflection of support beams, strength and compression stability bearing capacity of the vertical support, shear bearing capacity of the bolt and compression bearing capacity of steel tube wall at the bolt were checked at the same time. Every different checking object was given a specific load value and load combination. Application of installation checking method was given and testified by example.

Standard Errors and Confidence Intervals of Norm Statistics for Educational and Psychological Tests.

PubMed

Oosterhuis, Hannah E M; van der Ark, L Andries; Sijtsma, Klaas

2016-11-14

Norm statistics allow for the interpretation of scores on psychological and educational tests, by relating the test score of an individual test taker to the test scores of individuals belonging to the same gender, age, or education groups, et cetera. Given the uncertainty due to sampling error, one would expect researchers to report standard errors for norm statistics. In practice, standard errors are seldom reported; they are either unavailable or derived under strong distributional assumptions that may not be realistic for test scores. We derived standard errors for four norm statistics (standard deviation, percentile ranks, stanine boundaries and Z-scores) under the mild assumption that the test scores are multinomially distributed. A simulation study showed that the standard errors were unbiased and that corresponding Wald-based confidence intervals had good coverage. Finally, we discuss the possibilities for applying the standard errors in practical test use in education and psychology. The procedure is provided via the R function check.norms, which is available in the mokken package.

The impact of a closed-loop electronic prescribing and administration system on prescribing errors, administration errors and staff time: a before-and-after study.

PubMed

Franklin, Bryony Dean; O'Grady, Kara; Donyai, Parastou; Jacklin, Ann; Barber, Nick

2007-08-01

To assess the impact of a closed-loop electronic prescribing, automated dispensing, barcode patient identification and electronic medication administration record (EMAR) system on prescribing and administration errors, confirmation of patient identity before administration, and staff time. Before-and-after study in a surgical ward of a teaching hospital, involving patients and staff of that ward. Closed-loop electronic prescribing, automated dispensing, barcode patient identification and EMAR system. Percentage of new medication orders with a prescribing error, percentage of doses with medication administration errors (MAEs) and percentage given without checking patient identity. Time spent prescribing and providing a ward pharmacy service. Nursing time on medication tasks. Prescribing errors were identified in 3.8% of 2450 medication orders pre-intervention and 2.0% of 2353 orders afterwards (p<0.001; chi(2) test). MAEs occurred in 7.0% of 1473 non-intravenous doses pre-intervention and 4.3% of 1139 afterwards (p = 0.005; chi(2) test). Patient identity was not checked for 82.6% of 1344 doses pre-intervention and 18.9% of 1291 afterwards (p<0.001; chi(2) test). Medical staff required 15 s to prescribe a regular inpatient drug pre-intervention and 39 s afterwards (p = 0.03; t test). Time spent providing a ward pharmacy service increased from 68 min to 98 min each weekday (p = 0.001; t test); 22% of drug charts were unavailable pre-intervention. Time per drug administration round decreased from 50 min to 40 min (p = 0.006; t test); nursing time on medication tasks outside of drug rounds increased from 21.1% to 28.7% (p = 0.006; chi(2) test). A closed-loop electronic prescribing, dispensing and barcode patient identification system reduced prescribing errors and MAEs, and increased confirmation of patient identity before administration. Time spent on medication-related tasks increased.

Accuracy of the Heidelberg Spectralis in the alignment between near-infrared image and tomographic scan in a model eye: a multicenter study.

PubMed

Barteselli, Giulio; Bartsch, Dirk-Uwe; Viola, Francesco; Mojana, Francesca; Pellegrini, Marco; Hartmann, Kathrin I; Benatti, Eleonora; Leicht, Simon; Ratiglia, Roberto; Staurenghi, Giovanni; Weinreb, Robert N; Freeman, William R

2013-09-01

To evaluate temporal changes and predictors of accuracy in the alignment between simultaneous near-infrared image and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan on the Heidelberg Spectralis using a model eye. Laboratory investigation. After calibrating the device, 6 sites performed weekly testing of the alignment for 12 weeks using a model eye. The maximum error was compared with multiple variables to evaluate predictors of inaccurate alignment. Variables included the number of weekly scanned patients, total number of OCT scans and B-scans performed, room temperature and its variation, and working time of the scanning laser. A 4-week extension study was subsequently performed to analyze short-term changes in the alignment. The average maximum error in the alignment was 15 ± 6 μm; the greatest error was 35 μm. The error increased significantly at week 1 (P = .01), specifically after the second imaging study (P < .05); reached a maximum after the eighth patient (P < .001); and then varied randomly over time. Predictors for inaccurate alignment were temperature variation and scans per patient (P < .001). For each 1 unit of increase in temperature variation, the estimated increase in maximum error was 1.26 μm. For the average number of scans per patient, each increase of 1 unit increased the error by 0.34 μm. Overall, the accuracy of the Heidelberg Spectralis was excellent. The greatest error happened in the first week after calibration, and specifically after the second imaging study. To improve the accuracy, room temperature should be kept stable and unnecessary scans should be avoided. The alignment of the device does not need to be checked on a regular basis in the clinical setting, but it should be checked after every other patient for more precise research purposes. Published by Elsevier Inc.

SU-F-T-288: Impact of Trajectory Log Files for Clarkson-Based Independent Dose Verification of IMRT and VMAT

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

Takahashi, R; Kamima, T; Tachibana, H

2016-06-15

Purpose: To investigate the effect of the trajectory files from linear accelerator for Clarkson-based independent dose verification in IMRT and VMAT plans. Methods: A CT-based independent dose verification software (Simple MU Analysis: SMU, Triangle Products, Japan) with a Clarksonbased algorithm was modified to calculate dose using the trajectory log files. Eclipse with the three techniques of step and shoot (SS), sliding window (SW) and Rapid Arc (RA) was used as treatment planning system (TPS). In this study, clinically approved IMRT and VMAT plans for prostate and head and neck (HN) at two institutions were retrospectively analyzed to assess the dosemore » deviation between DICOM-RT plan (PL) and trajectory log file (TJ). An additional analysis was performed to evaluate MLC error detection capability of SMU when the trajectory log files was modified by adding systematic errors (0.2, 0.5, 1.0 mm) and random errors (5, 10, 30 mm) to actual MLC position. Results: The dose deviations for prostate and HN in the two sites were 0.0% and 0.0% in SS, 0.1±0.0%, 0.1±0.1% in SW and 0.6±0.5%, 0.7±0.9% in RA, respectively. The MLC error detection capability shows the plans for HN IMRT were the most sensitive and 0.2 mm of systematic error affected 0.7% dose deviation on average. Effect of the MLC random error did not affect dose error. Conclusion: The use of trajectory log files including actual information of MLC location, gantry angle, etc should be more effective for an independent verification. The tolerance level for the secondary check using the trajectory file may be similar to that of the verification using DICOM-RT plan file. From the view of the resolution of MLC positional error detection, the secondary check could detect the MLC position error corresponding to the treatment sites and techniques. This research is partially supported by Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)« less

Report: EPA's Fiscal Year 2015 Purchase Card and Convenience Check Program Assessed as Low Risk

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report #16-P-0124, March 29, 2016. We determined the EPA's purchase card and convenience check program for FY 2015 to be at a low risk for illegal, improper or erroneous purchases and payments due to strengthened internal controls.

Making a structured psychiatric diagnostic interview faithful to the nomenclature.

PubMed

Robins, Lee N; Cottler, Linda B

2004-10-15

Psychiatric diagnostic interviews to be used in epidemiologic studies by lay interviewers have, since the 1970s, attempted to operationalize existing psychiatric nomenclatures. How to maximize the chances that they do so successfully has not previously been spelled out. In this article, the authors discuss strategies for each of the seven steps involved in writing, updating, or modifying a diagnostic interview and its supporting materials: 1) writing questions that match the nomenclature's criteria, 2) checking that respondents will be willing and able to answer the questions, 3) choosing a format acceptable to interviewers that maximizes accurate answering and recording of answers, 4) constructing a data entry and cleaning program that highlights errors to be corrected, 5) creating a diagnostic scoring program that matches the nomenclature's algorithms, 6) developing an interviewer training program that maximizes reliability, and 7) computerizing the interview. For each step, the authors discuss how to identify errors, correct them, and validate the revisions. Although operationalization will never be perfect because of ambiguities in the nomenclature, specifying methods for minimizing divergence from the nomenclature is timely as users modify existing interviews and look forward to updating interviews based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, and the International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision.

Design and implementation of the next generation Landsat satellite communications system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mah, Grant R.; O'Brien, Michael; Garon, Howard; Mott, Claire; Ames, Alan; Dearth, Ken

2012-01-01

The next generation Landsat satellite, Landsat 8 (L8), also known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), uses a highly spectrally efficient modulation and data formatting approach to provide large amounts of downlink (D/L) bandwidth in a limited X-Band spectrum allocation. In addition to purely data throughput and bandwidth considerations, there were a number of additional constraints based on operational considerations for prevention of interference with the NASA Deep-Space Network (DSN) band just above the L8 D/L band, minimization of jitter contributions to prevent impacts to instrument performance, and the need to provide an interface to the Landsat International Cooperator (IC) community. A series of trade studies were conducted to consider either X- or Ka-Band, modulation type, and antenna coverage type, prior to the release of the request for proposal (RFP) for the spacecraft. Through use of the spectrally efficient rate-7/8 Low-Density Parity-Check error-correction coding and novel filtering, an XBand frequency plan was developed that balances all the constraints and considerations, while providing world-class link performance, fitting 384 Mbits/sec of data into the 375 MHz X-Band allocation with bit-error rates better than 10-12 using an earth-coverage antenna.

Seven Novel Probe Systems for Real-Time PCR Provide Absolute Single-Base Discrimination, Higher Signaling, and Generic Components

PubMed Central

Murray, James L.; Hu, Peixu; Shafer, David A.

2015-01-01

We have developed novel probe systems for real-time PCR that provide higher specificity, greater sensitivity, and lower cost relative to dual-labeled probes. The seven DNA Detection Switch (DDS)-probe systems reported here employ two interacting polynucleotide components: a fluorescently labeled probe and a quencher antiprobe. High-fidelity detection is achieved with three DDS designs: two internal probes (internal DDS and Flip probes) and a primer probe (ZIPR probe), wherein each probe is combined with a carefully engineered, slightly mismatched, error-checking antiprobe. The antiprobe blocks off-target detection over a wide range of temperatures and facilitates multiplexing. Other designs (Universal probe, Half-Universal probe, and MacMan probe) use generic components that enable low-cost detection. Finally, single-molecule G-Force probes employ guanine-mediated fluorescent quenching by forming a hairpin between adjacent C-rich and G-rich sequences. Examples provided show how these probe technologies discriminate drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutants, Escherichia coli O157:H7, oncogenic EGFR deletion mutations, hepatitis B virus, influenza A/B strains, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the human VKORC1 gene. PMID:25307756

A comparison of two tools to screen potentially inappropriate medication in internal medicine patients.

PubMed

Blanc, A-L; Spasojevic, S; Leszek, A; Théodoloz, M; Bonnabry, P; Fumeaux, T; Schaad, N

2018-04-01

Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) is an important issue for inpatient management; it has been associated with safety problems, such as increases in adverse drugs events, and with longer hospital stays and higher healthcare costs. To compare two PIM-screening tools-STOPP/START and PIM-Check-applied to internal medicine patients. A second objective was to compare the use of PIMs in readmitted and non-readmitted patients. A retrospective observational study, in the general internal medicine ward of a Swiss non-university hospital. We analysed a random sample of 50 patients, hospitalized in 2013, whose readmission within 30 days of discharge had been potentially preventable, and compared them to a sample of 50 sex- and age-matched patients who were not readmitted. PIMs were screened using the STOPP/START tool, developed for geriatric patients, and the PIM-Check tool, developed for internal medicine patients. The time needed to perform each patient's analysis was measured. A clinical pharmacist counted and evaluated each PIM detected, based on its clinical relevance to the individual patient's case. The rates of screened and validated PIMs involving readmitted and non-readmitted patients were compared. Across the whole population, PIM-Check and STOPP/START detected 1348 and 537 PIMs, respectively, representing 13.5 and 5.4 PIMs/patient. Screening time was substantially shorter with PIM-Check than with STOPP/START (4 vs 10 minutes, respectively). The clinical pharmacist judged that 45% and 42% of the PIMs detected using PIM-Check and STOPP/START, respectively, were clinically relevant to individual patients' cases. No significant differences in the rates of detected and clinically relevant PIM were found between readmitted and non-readmitted patients. Internal medicine patients are frequently prescribed PIMs. PIM-Check's PIM detection rate was three times higher than STOPP/START's, and its screening time was shorter thanks to its electronic interface. Nearly half of the PIMs detected were judged to be non-clinically relevant, however, potentially overalerting the prescriber. These tools can, nevertheless, be considered useful in daily practice. Furthermore, the relevance of any PIM detected by these tools should always be carefully evaluated within the clinical context surrounding the individual patient. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Curves showing column strength of steel and duralumin tubing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, Orrin E

1929-01-01

Given here are a set of column strength curves that are intended to simplify the method of determining the size of struts in an airplane structure when the load in the member is known. The curves will also simplify the checking of the strength of a strut if the size and length are known. With these curves, no computations are necessary, as in the case of the old-fashioned method of strut design. The process is so simple that draftsmen or others who are not entirely familiar with mechanics can check the strength of a strut without much danger of error.

Impact of dose calibrators quality control programme in Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furnari, J. C.; de Cabrejas, M. L.; del C. Rotta, M.; Iglicki, F. A.; Milá, M. I.; Magnavacca, C.; Dima, J. C.; Rodríguez Pasqués, R. H.

1992-02-01

The national Quality Control (QC) programme for radionuclide calibrators started 12 years ago. Accuracy and the implementation of a QC programme were evaluated over all these years at 95 nuclear medicine laboratories where dose calibrators were in use. During all that time, the Metrology Group of CNEA has distributed 137Cs sealed sources to check stability and has been performing periodic "checking rounds" and postal surveys using unknown samples (external quality control). An account of the results of both methods is presented. At present, more of 65% of the dose calibrators measure activities with an error less than 10%.

Pedigree reconstruction with genome-wide markers in potato

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Reliable pedigree information facilitates a scientific approach to breeding, but errors can be introduced in many stages of a breeding program. Our objective was to use single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to check the pedigree records of elite North American potato germplasm. A population of 635 ...

Systematics for checking geometric errors in CNC lathes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Araújo, R. P.; Rolim, T. L.

2015-10-01

Non-idealities presented in machine tools compromise directly both the geometry and the dimensions of machined parts, generating distortions in the project. Given the competitive scenario among different companies, it is necessary to have knowledge of the geometric behavior of these machines in order to be able to establish their processing capability, avoiding waste of time and materials as well as satisfying customer requirements. But despite the fact that geometric tests are important and necessary to clarify the use of the machine correctly, therefore preventing future damage, most users do not apply such tests on their machines for lack of knowledge or lack of proper motivation, basically due to two factors: long period of time and high costs of testing. This work proposes a systematics for checking straightness and perpendicularity errors in CNC lathes demanding little time and cost with high metrological reliability, to be used on factory floors of small and medium-size businesses to ensure the quality of its products and make them competitive.

Online machining error estimation method of numerical control gear grinding machine tool based on data analysis of internal sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Fei; Zhang, Chi; Yang, Guilin; Chen, Chinyin

2016-12-01

This paper presents an online estimation method of cutting error by analyzing of internal sensor readings. The internal sensors of numerical control (NC) machine tool are selected to avoid installation problem. The estimation mathematic model of cutting error was proposed to compute the relative position of cutting point and tool center point (TCP) from internal sensor readings based on cutting theory of gear. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model, it was simulated and experimented in gear generating grinding process. The cutting error of gear was estimated and the factors which induce cutting error were analyzed. The simulation and experiments verify that the proposed approach is an efficient way to estimate the cutting error of work-piece during machining process.

Monitoring Java Programs with Java PathExplorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Havelund, Klaus; Rosu, Grigore; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We present recent work on the development Java PathExplorer (JPAX), a tool for monitoring the execution of Java programs. JPAX can be used during program testing to gain increased information about program executions, and can potentially furthermore be applied during operation to survey safety critical systems. The tool facilitates automated instrumentation of a program's late code which will then omit events to an observer during its execution. The observer checks the events against user provided high level requirement specifications, for example temporal logic formulae, and against lower level error detection procedures, for example concurrency related such as deadlock and data race algorithms. High level requirement specifications together with their underlying logics are defined in the Maude rewriting logic, and then can either be directly checked using the Maude rewriting engine, or be first translated to efficient data structures and then checked in Java.

48 CFR 819.7112 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Internal controls. 819... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7112 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU... Program objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the...

48 CFR 819.7112 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Internal controls. 819... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7112 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU... Program objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the...

48 CFR 819.7112 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Internal controls. 819... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7112 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU... Program objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the...

48 CFR 819.7112 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Internal controls. 819... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7112 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU... Program objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the...

Expedition 18 Suit Pressure Check

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-10-11

Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke has his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked prior to launching in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft with Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three crew members are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 18 Suit Pressure Check

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-10-11

American Spaceflight Participant Richard Garriott has his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked prior to launching in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft with Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury V. Lonchakov, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three crew members are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24, 2008 with two of the Expedition 17 crewmembers currently on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The (mis)reporting of statistical results in psychology journals.

PubMed

Bakker, Marjan; Wicherts, Jelte M

2011-09-01

In order to study the prevalence, nature (direction), and causes of reporting errors in psychology, we checked the consistency of reported test statistics, degrees of freedom, and p values in a random sample of high- and low-impact psychology journals. In a second study, we established the generality of reporting errors in a random sample of recent psychological articles. Our results, on the basis of 281 articles, indicate that around 18% of statistical results in the psychological literature are incorrectly reported. Inconsistencies were more common in low-impact journals than in high-impact journals. Moreover, around 15% of the articles contained at least one statistical conclusion that proved, upon recalculation, to be incorrect; that is, recalculation rendered the previously significant result insignificant, or vice versa. These errors were often in line with researchers' expectations. We classified the most common errors and contacted authors to shed light on the origins of the errors.

[New possibilities screening of refractive errors among children].

PubMed

Ondrejková, M; Kyselová, P

2013-06-01

To establish early detection of refractive errors among children in Slovakia. Different screening methods have been evaluated and compared in this work. we have been working on a prospective study. Pre-school children in kindergardens in Central Slovakia were checked up between years 2009-2011. Effectiveness of various screening methods was compared within 2 groups, using test-type and Plusoptix Vision Screener. Parentęs of children positive to refractive errors were recommended to consult a paediatrician ophthalmologist. 3982 children were examined. As a result, 13-14.1% of children who have not been examinated by the specialist, were positive. 53.3% of them went to see the doctor afterwards. establishment of early refractive errors screening is an important method how to prevent strabismus and amblyopia. It is very important to improve parentęs knowledge about the risk of refractive errors and also to improve screening methods with collaboration with kindergarten teachers.

A STUDY ON REASONS OF ERRORS OF OLD SURVEY MAPS IN CADASTRAL SYSTEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanase, Norihiko

This paper explicates sources on survey map errors which were made in 19th century. The present cadastral system stands on registers and survey maps which were compiled to change the land taxation system in the Meiji era. Many Japanese may recognize the reasons why poor survey technique by farmers, too long measure to avoid heavy tax, careless official check and other deception made such errors of acreage from several to more than ten percent of area in survey maps. The author would like to maintain that such errors, called nawa-nobi, were lawful in accordance with the then survey regulation because of results to analyze old survey regulations, history of making maps and studies of cadastral system. In addition to, a kind of survey maps' errors should be pointed out a reason why the easy subdivision system which could approve without real survey and disposal of state property with inadequate survey.

Reduction in specimen labeling errors after implementation of a positive patient identification system in phlebotomy.

PubMed

Morrison, Aileen P; Tanasijevic, Milenko J; Goonan, Ellen M; Lobo, Margaret M; Bates, Michael M; Lipsitz, Stuart R; Bates, David W; Melanson, Stacy E F

2010-06-01

Ensuring accurate patient identification is central to preventing medical errors, but it can be challenging. We implemented a bar code-based positive patient identification system for use in inpatient phlebotomy. A before-after design was used to evaluate the impact of the identification system on the frequency of mislabeled and unlabeled samples reported in our laboratory. Labeling errors fell from 5.45 in 10,000 before implementation to 3.2 in 10,000 afterward (P = .0013). An estimated 108 mislabeling events were prevented by the identification system in 1 year. Furthermore, a workflow step requiring manual preprinting of labels, which was accompanied by potential labeling errors in about one quarter of blood "draws," was removed as a result of the new system. After implementation, a higher percentage of patients reported having their wristband checked before phlebotomy. Bar code technology significantly reduced the rate of specimen identification errors.

Sum of the Magnitude for Hard Decision Decoding Algorithm Based on Loop Update Detection.

PubMed

Meng, Jiahui; Zhao, Danfeng; Tian, Hai; Zhang, Liang

2018-01-15

In order to improve the performance of non-binary low-density parity check codes (LDPC) hard decision decoding algorithm and to reduce the complexity of decoding, a sum of the magnitude for hard decision decoding algorithm based on loop update detection is proposed. This will also ensure the reliability, stability and high transmission rate of 5G mobile communication. The algorithm is based on the hard decision decoding algorithm (HDA) and uses the soft information from the channel to calculate the reliability, while the sum of the variable nodes' (VN) magnitude is excluded for computing the reliability of the parity checks. At the same time, the reliability information of the variable node is considered and the loop update detection algorithm is introduced. The bit corresponding to the error code word is flipped multiple times, before this is searched in the order of most likely error probability to finally find the correct code word. Simulation results show that the performance of one of the improved schemes is better than the weighted symbol flipping (WSF) algorithm under different hexadecimal numbers by about 2.2 dB and 2.35 dB at the bit error rate (BER) of 10 -5 over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, respectively. Furthermore, the average number of decoding iterations is significantly reduced.

Quick-low-density parity check and dynamic threshold voltage optimization in 1X nm triple-level cell NAND flash memory with comprehensive analysis of endurance, retention-time, and temperature variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doi, Masafumi; Tokutomi, Tsukasa; Hachiya, Shogo; Kobayashi, Atsuro; Tanakamaru, Shuhei; Ning, Sheyang; Ogura Iwasaki, Tomoko; Takeuchi, Ken

2016-08-01

NAND flash memory’s reliability degrades with increasing endurance, retention-time and/or temperature. After a comprehensive evaluation of 1X nm triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash, two highly reliable techniques are proposed. The first proposal, quick low-density parity check (Quick-LDPC), requires only one cell read in order to accurately estimate a bit-error rate (BER) that includes the effects of temperature, write and erase (W/E) cycles and retention-time. As a result, 83% read latency reduction is achieved compared to conventional AEP-LDPC. Also, W/E cycling is extended by 100% compared with conventional Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) error-correcting code (ECC). The second proposal, dynamic threshold voltage optimization (DVO) has two parts, adaptive V Ref shift (AVS) and V TH space control (VSC). AVS reduces read error and latency by adaptively optimizing the reference voltage (V Ref) based on temperature, W/E cycles and retention-time. AVS stores the optimal V Ref’s in a table in order to enable one cell read. VSC further improves AVS by optimizing the voltage margins between V TH states. DVO reduces BER by 80%.

The Units Tell You What to Do

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Simon

2009-01-01

Many students have some difficulty with calculations. Simple dimensional analysis provides a systematic means of checking for errors and inconsistencies and for developing both new insight and new relationships between variables. Teaching dimensional analysis at even the most basic level strengthens the insight and confidence of students, and…

Developing Telecommunication Linkages for Microcomputer-Aided Instruction. TDC Research Report No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blinn, Charles R.; And Others

A project undertaken at the University of Minnesota evaluated two microcomputer teletraining systems (audiographic conferencing) to determine the effectiveness of this technology for point-to-point and multipoint distance education. System design requirements included broadcast keystrokes, error checking, master-slave linkages, simultaneous voice…

Lost in Translation: the Case for Integrated Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Aaron

2017-01-01

The building of a spacecraft is complex and often involves multiple suppliers and companies that have their own designs and processes. Standards have been developed across the industries to reduce the chances for critical flight errors at the system level, but the spacecraft is still vulnerable to the introduction of critical errors during integration of these systems. Critical errors can occur at any time during the process and in many cases, human reliability analysis (HRA) identifies human error as a risk driver. Most programs have a test plan in place that is intended to catch these errors, but it is not uncommon for schedule and cost stress to result in less testing than initially planned. Therefore, integrated testing, or "testing as you fly," is essential as a final check on the design and assembly to catch any errors prior to the mission. This presentation will outline the unique benefits of integrated testing by catching critical flight errors that can otherwise go undetected, discuss HRA methods that are used to identify opportunities for human error, lessons learned and challenges over ownership of testing will be discussed.

Verifying patient identity and site of surgery: improving compliance with protocol by audit and feedback.

PubMed

Garnerin, P; Arès, M; Huchet, A; Clergue, F

2008-12-01

The potential severity of wrong patient/procedure/site of surgery and the view that these events are avoidable, make the prevention of such errors a priority. An intervention was set up to develop a verification protocol for checking patient identity and the site of surgery with periodic audits to measure compliance while providing feedback. A nurse auditor performed the compliance audits in inpatients and outpatients during three consecutive 3-month periods and three 1-month follow-up periods; 11 audit criteria were recorded, as well as reasons for not performing a check. The nurse auditor provided feedback to the health professionals, including discussion of inadequate checks. 1,000 interactions between patients and their anaesthetist or nurse anaesthetist were observed. Between the first and second audit periods compliance with all audit criteria except "surgical site marked" noticeably improved, such as the proportion of patients whose identities were checked (62.6% to 81.4%); full compliance with protocol in patient identity checks (9.7% to 38.1%); proportion of site of surgery checks carried out (77.1% to 92.6%); and full compliance with protocol in site of surgery checks (32.2% to 52.0%). Thereafter, compliance was stable for most criteria. The reason for failure to perform checks of patient identity or site of surgery was mostly that the anaesthetist in charge had seen the patient at the preanaesthetic consultation. By combining the implementation of a verification protocol with periodic audits with feedback, the intervention changed practice and increased compliance with patient identity and site of surgery checks. The impact of the intervention was limited by communication problems between patients and professionals, and lack of collaboration with surgical services.

Clinical implementation and failure mode and effects analysis of HDR skin brachytherapy using Valencia and Leipzig surface applicators.

PubMed

Sayler, Elaine; Eldredge-Hindy, Harriet; Dinome, Jessie; Lockamy, Virginia; Harrison, Amy S

2015-01-01

The planning procedure for Valencia and Leipzig surface applicators (VLSAs) (Nucletron, Veenendaal, The Netherlands) differs substantially from CT-based planning; the unfamiliarity could lead to significant errors. This study applies failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) to high-dose-rate (HDR) skin brachytherapy using VLSAs to ensure safety and quality. A multidisciplinary team created a protocol for HDR VLSA skin treatments and applied FMEA. Failure modes were identified and scored by severity, occurrence, and detectability. The clinical procedure was then revised to address high-scoring process nodes. Several key components were added to the protocol to minimize risk probability numbers. (1) Diagnosis, prescription, applicator selection, and setup are reviewed at weekly quality assurance rounds. Peer review reduces the likelihood of an inappropriate treatment regime. (2) A template for HDR skin treatments was established in the clinic's electronic medical record system to standardize treatment instructions. This reduces the chances of miscommunication between the physician and planner as well as increases the detectability of an error. (3) A screen check was implemented during the second check to increase detectability of an error. (4) To reduce error probability, the treatment plan worksheet was designed to display plan parameters in a format visually similar to the treatment console display, facilitating data entry and verification. (5) VLSAs are color coded and labeled to match the electronic medical record prescriptions, simplifying in-room selection and verification. Multidisciplinary planning and FMEA increased detectability and reduced error probability during VLSA HDR brachytherapy. This clinical model may be useful to institutions implementing similar procedures. Copyright © 2015 American Brachytherapy Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increased instrument intelligence--can it reduce laboratory error?

PubMed

Jekelis, Albert W

2005-01-01

Recent literature has focused on the reduction of laboratory errors and the potential impact on patient management. This study assessed the intelligent, automated preanalytical process-control abilities in newer generation analyzers as compared with older analyzers and the impact on error reduction. Three generations of immuno-chemistry analyzers were challenged with pooled human serum samples for a 3-week period. One of the three analyzers had an intelligent process of fluidics checks, including bubble detection. Bubbles can cause erroneous results due to incomplete sample aspiration. This variable was chosen because it is the most easily controlled sample defect that can be introduced. Traditionally, lab technicians have had to visually inspect each sample for the presence of bubbles. This is time consuming and introduces the possibility of human error. Instruments with bubble detection may be able to eliminate the human factor and reduce errors associated with the presence of bubbles. Specific samples were vortexed daily to introduce a visible quantity of bubbles, then immediately placed in the daily run. Errors were defined as a reported result greater than three standard deviations below the mean and associated with incomplete sample aspiration of the analyte of the individual analyzer Three standard deviations represented the target limits of proficiency testing. The results of the assays were examined for accuracy and precision. Efficiency, measured as process throughput, was also measured to associate a cost factor and potential impact of the error detection on the overall process. The analyzer performance stratified according to their level of internal process control The older analyzers without bubble detection reported 23 erred results. The newest analyzer with bubble detection reported one specimen incorrectly. The precision and accuracy of the nonvortexed specimens were excellent and acceptable for all three analyzers. No errors were found in the nonvortexed specimens. There were no significant differences in overall process time for any of the analyzers when tests were arranged in an optimal configuration. The analyzer with advanced fluidic intelligence demostrated the greatest ability to appropriately deal with an incomplete aspiration by not processing and reporting a result for the sample. This study suggests that preanalytical process-control capabilities could reduce errors. By association, it implies that similar intelligent process controls could favorably impact the error rate and, in the case of this instrument, do it without negatively impacting process throughput. Other improvements may be realized as a result of having an intelligent error-detection process including further reduction in misreported results, fewer repeats, less operator intervention, and less reagent waste.

What Information is Stored in DNA: Does it Contain Digital Error Correcting Codes?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liebovitch, Larry

1998-03-01

The longest term correlations in living systems are the information stored in DNA which reflects the evolutionary history of an organism. The 4 bases (A,T,G,C) encode sequences of amino acids as well as locations of binding sites for proteins that regulate DNA. The fidelity of this important information is maintained by ANALOG error check mechanisms. When a single strand of DNA is replicated the complementary base is inserted in the new strand. Sometimes the wrong base is inserted that sticks out disrupting the phosphate backbone. The new base is not yet methylated, so repair enzymes, that slide along the DNA, can tear out the wrong base and replace it with the right one. The bases in DNA form a sequence of 4 different symbols and so the information is encoded in a DIGITAL form. All the digital codes in our society (ISBN book numbers, UPC product codes, bank account numbers, airline ticket numbers) use error checking code, where some digits are functions of other digits to maintain the fidelity of transmitted informaiton. Does DNA also utitlize a DIGITAL error chekcing code to maintain the fidelity of its information and increase the accuracy of replication? That is, are some bases in DNA functions of other bases upstream or downstream? This raises the interesting mathematical problem: How does one determine whether some symbols in a sequence of symbols are a function of other symbols. It also bears on the issue of determining algorithmic complexity: What is the function that generates the shortest algorithm for reproducing the symbol sequence. The error checking codes most used in our technology are linear block codes. We developed an efficient method to test for the presence of such codes in DNA. We coded the 4 bases as (0,1,2,3) and used Gaussian elimination, modified for modulus 4, to test if some bases are linear combinations of other bases. We used this method to analyze the base sequence in the genes from the lac operon and cytochrome C. We did not find evidence for such error correcting codes in these genes. However, we analyzed only a small amount of DNA and if digitial error correcting schemes are present in DNA, they may be more subtle than such simple linear block codes. The basic issue we raise here, is how information is stored in DNA and an appreciation that digital symbol sequences, such as DNA, admit of interesting schemes to store and protect the fidelity of their information content. Liebovitch, Tao, Todorov, Levine. 1996. Biophys. J. 71:1539-1544. Supported by NIH grant EY6234.

[Yes, we should keep ABO agglutination test within bedside transfusion checks].

PubMed

Daurat, G

2008-11-01

ABO incompatible transfusions are still a frequent cause of serious adverse transfusion reactions. Bedside check is intended to detect patient errors and prevent ABO mismatch. France is one of the few countries that includes ABO agglutination test for red blood cells in bedside checks. Evaluation of this ABO agglutination test, performed with a special card, shows that, on the field, despite frequent users' mishandling, it can detect up to 93% of ABO incompatibilities. This is not enough to rely on this sole test for bedside checks. But, linking it with an another test, currently, checks that the right blood is given to the right patient, rises the sensitivity of the whole bedside procedure up to an estimated 99.65%, for detection of ABO incompatibilities. This linkage has been introduced in the French regulation in 2003. Since then, the incidence of ABO incompatible transfusions has decreased dramatically and faster than in any other country, so France has now, probably, the lowest rate of ABO incompatible transfusions. The investigation of the few ABO accidents that still occur, shows that professionals have always bypassed this linkage. On the other hand, introducing bedside recipient and blood products barcode or radio-chip checks in all the 1500 French hospitals, though technically possible, would provide very little enhancement and lead to major difficulties and expenses. Linkage of ABO agglutination test to patient and blood checks within the bedside procedure has proved to be efficient and should be kept.

Refractive Errors Affect the Vividness of Visual Mental Images

PubMed Central

Palermo, Liana; Nori, Raffaella; Piccardi, Laura; Zeri, Fabrizio; Babino, Antonio; Giusberti, Fiorella; Guariglia, Cecilia

2013-01-01

The hypothesis that visual perception and mental imagery are equivalent has never been explored in individuals with vision defects not preventing the visual perception of the world, such as refractive errors. Refractive error (i.e., myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism) is a condition where the refracting system of the eye fails to focus objects sharply on the retina. As a consequence refractive errors cause blurred vision. We subdivided 84 individuals according to their spherical equivalent refraction into Emmetropes (control individuals without refractive errors) and Ametropes (individuals with refractive errors). Participants performed a vividness task and completed a questionnaire that explored their cognitive style of thinking before their vision was checked by an ophthalmologist. Although results showed that Ametropes had less vivid mental images than Emmetropes this did not affect the development of their cognitive style of thinking; in fact, Ametropes were able to use both verbal and visual strategies to acquire and retrieve information. Present data are consistent with the hypothesis of equivalence between imagery and perception. PMID:23755186

Refractive errors affect the vividness of visual mental images.

PubMed

Palermo, Liana; Nori, Raffaella; Piccardi, Laura; Zeri, Fabrizio; Babino, Antonio; Giusberti, Fiorella; Guariglia, Cecilia

2013-01-01

The hypothesis that visual perception and mental imagery are equivalent has never been explored in individuals with vision defects not preventing the visual perception of the world, such as refractive errors. Refractive error (i.e., myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism) is a condition where the refracting system of the eye fails to focus objects sharply on the retina. As a consequence refractive errors cause blurred vision. We subdivided 84 individuals according to their spherical equivalent refraction into Emmetropes (control individuals without refractive errors) and Ametropes (individuals with refractive errors). Participants performed a vividness task and completed a questionnaire that explored their cognitive style of thinking before their vision was checked by an ophthalmologist. Although results showed that Ametropes had less vivid mental images than Emmetropes this did not affect the development of their cognitive style of thinking; in fact, Ametropes were able to use both verbal and visual strategies to acquire and retrieve information. Present data are consistent with the hypothesis of equivalence between imagery and perception.

Hospital prescribing errors: epidemiological assessment of predictors

PubMed Central

Fijn, R; Van den Bemt, P M L A; Chow, M; De Blaey, C J; De Jong-Van den Berg, L T W; Brouwers, J R B J

2002-01-01

Aims To demonstrate an epidemiological method to assess predictors of prescribing errors. Methods A retrospective case-control study, comparing prescriptions with and without errors. Results Only prescriber and drug characteristics were associated with errors. Prescriber characteristics were medical specialty (e.g. orthopaedics: OR: 3.4, 95% CI 2.1, 5.4) and prescriber status (e.g. verbal orders transcribed by nursing staff: OR: 2.5, 95% CI 1.8, 3.6). Drug characteristics were dosage form (e.g. inhalation devices: OR: 4.1, 95% CI 2.6, 6.6), therapeutic area (e.g. gastrointestinal tract: OR: 1.7, 95% CI 1.2, 2.4) and continuation of preadmission treatment (Yes: OR: 1.7, 95% CI 1.3, 2.3). Conclusions Other hospitals could use our epidemiological framework to identify their own error predictors. Our findings suggest a focus on specific prescribers, dosage forms and therapeutic areas. We also found that prescriptions originating from general practitioners involved errors and therefore, these should be checked when patients are hospitalized. PMID:11874397

Coleman performs VO2 Max PFS Software Calibrations and Instrument Check

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-24

ISS026-E-029180 (24 Feb. 2011) --- NASA astronaut Catherine (Cady) Coleman, Expedition 26 flight engineer, performs VO2max portable Pulmonary Function System (PFS) software calibrations and instrument check while using the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System (CEVIS) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

Beyond Member-Checking: A Dialogic Approach to the Research Interview

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Lou

2015-01-01

This article presents a dialogic qualitative interview design for a narrative study of six international UK university students' motivation for learning English. Based on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, this design was developed in order to address the limitations of member-checking [Lincoln, Y. S., and E. G. Guba. 1985. "Naturalistic…

Reiter conducts a fit check of the Kazbek couches in the Soyuz TMA-8/12S

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-07-26

ISS013-E-60768 (26 July 2006) --- Attired in a Russian Sokol launch and entry suit, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter, Expedition 13 flight engineer, participates in a Kazbek couch fit check in the TMA-8 Soyuz spacecraft docked to the International Space Station.

Stromgren photometry of A-stars - A test of physical parameter determination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torra, J.; Figueras, F.; Jordi, C.; Rossello, G.

1990-08-01

By use of known published values for Teff, log g, and Mv, a check on a procedure (Figueras et al, 1990) for determining the physical parameters of A v-type stars from Stromgren photometry has been performed. External errors for the calculated physical parameters have been obtained.

On the Estimation of Standard Errors in Cognitive Diagnosis Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Philipp, Michel; Strobl, Carolin; de la Torre, Jimmy; Zeileis, Achim

2018-01-01

Cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) are an increasingly popular method to assess mastery or nonmastery of a set of fine-grained abilities in educational or psychological assessments. Several inference techniques are available to quantify the uncertainty of model parameter estimates, to compare different versions of CDMs, or to check model…

Teaching Statistics with Minitab II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, T. A., Jr.; And Others

Minitab is a statistical computing system which uses simple language, produces clear output, and keeps track of bookkeeping automatically. Error checking with English diagnostics and inclusion of several default options help to facilitate use of the system by students. Minitab II is an improved and expanded version of the original Minitab which…

Resolving Ethical Disputes Through Arbitration: An Alternative to Code Penalties.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barwis, Gail Lund

Arbitration cases involving journalism ethics can be grouped into three major categories: outside activities that lead to conflicts of interest, acceptance of gifts that compromise journalistic objectivity, and writing false or misleading information or failing to check facts or correct errors. In most instances, failure to adhere to ethical…

Junior High Student Responsibilities for Basic Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Charles C.

This paper advances the thesis that students should be trained to recognize acceptable and unacceptable performances in basic skill areas and should assume responsibility for attaining proficiency in these areas. Among the topics discussed are the value of having junior high school students check their own assignments, discover their errors, and…

Wavefront error sensing for LDR

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tubbs, Eldred F.; Glavich, T. A.

1988-01-01

Wavefront sensing is a significant aspect of the LDR control problem and requires attention at an early stage of the control system definition and design. A combination of a Hartmann test for wavefront slope measurement and an interference test for piston errors of the segments was examined and is presented as a point of departure for further discussion. The assumption is made that the wavefront sensor will be used for initial alignment and periodic alignment checks but that it will not be used during scientific observations. The Hartmann test and the interferometric test are briefly examined.

48 CFR 719.273-10 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Internal controls. 719.273...égé Program 719.273-10 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU will oversee the Program and will work in... objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the Program. These...

48 CFR 719.273-10 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Internal controls. 719.273...égé Program 719.273-10 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU will oversee the Program and will work in... objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the Program. These...

48 CFR 719.273-10 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Internal controls. 719.273...égé Program 719.273-10 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU will oversee the Program and will work in... objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the Program. These...

48 CFR 719.273-10 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Internal controls. 719.273...égé Program 719.273-10 Internal controls. (a) OSDBU will oversee the Program and will work in... objectives. OSDBU will establish internal controls as checks and balances applicable to the Program. These...

User Performance Evaluation of Four Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems Applying ISO 15197:2013 Accuracy Criteria and Calculation of Insulin Dosing Errors.

PubMed

Freckmann, Guido; Jendrike, Nina; Baumstark, Annette; Pleus, Stefan; Liebing, Christina; Haug, Cornelia

2018-04-01

The international standard ISO 15197:2013 requires a user performance evaluation to assess if intended users are able to obtain accurate blood glucose measurement results with a self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) system. In this study, user performance was evaluated for four SMBG systems on the basis of ISO 15197:2013, and possibly related insulin dosing errors were calculated. Additionally, accuracy was assessed in the hands of study personnel. Accu-Chek ® Performa Connect (A), Contour ® plus ONE (B), FreeStyle Optium Neo (C), and OneTouch Select ® Plus (D) were evaluated with one test strip lot. After familiarization with the systems, subjects collected a capillary blood sample and performed an SMBG measurement. Study personnel observed the subjects' measurement technique. Then, study personnel performed SMBG measurements and comparison measurements. Number and percentage of SMBG measurements within ± 15 mg/dl and ± 15% of the comparison measurements at glucose concentrations < 100 and ≥ 100 mg/dl, respectively, were calculated. In addition, insulin dosing errors were modelled. In the hands of lay-users three systems fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria with the investigated test strip lot showing 96% (A), 100% (B), and 98% (C) of results within the defined limits. All systems fulfilled minimum accuracy criteria in the hands of study personnel [99% (A), 100% (B), 99.5% (C), 96% (D)]. Measurements with all four systems were within zones of the consensus error grid and surveillance error grid associated with no or minimal risk. Regarding calculated insulin dosing errors, all 99% ranges were between dosing errors of - 2.7 and + 1.4 units for measurements in the hands of lay-users and between - 2.5 and + 1.4 units for study personnel. Frequent lay-user errors were not checking the test strips' expiry date and applying blood incorrectly. Data obtained in this study show that not all available SMBG systems complied with ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria when measurements were performed by lay-users. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02916576). Ascensia Diabetes Care Deutschland GmbH.

Valid internal standard technique for arson detection based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Salgueiro, Pedro A S; Borges, Carlos M F; Bettencourt da Silva, Ricardo J N

2012-09-28

The most popular procedures for the detection of residues of accelerants in fire debris are the ones published by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM E1412-07 and E1618-10). The most critical stages of these tests are the conservation of fire debris from the sampling to the laboratory, the extraction of residues of accelerants from the debris to the activated charcoal strips (ACS) and from those to the final solvent, as well as the analysis of sample extract by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the interpretation of the instrumental signal. This work proposes a strategy for checking the quality of the sample conservation, the accelerant residues transference to final solvent and GC-MS analysis, using internal standard additions. It is used internal standards ranging from a highly volatile compound for checking debris conservation to low volatile compound for checking GC-MS repeatability. The developed quality control (QC) parameters are not affected by GC-MS sensitivity variation and, specifically, the GC-MS performance control is not affected by ACS adsorption saturation that may mask test performance deviations. The proposed QC procedure proved to be adequate to check GC-MS repeatability, ACS extraction and sample conservation since: (1) standard additions are affected by negligible uncertainty and (2) observed dispersion of QC parameters are fit for its intended use. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Program Listings for EOSAEL 80-B and Ancillary Codes AGAUS and FLASH. Volume II. User’s Manual Supplement.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-01

FORMAT(1X,39NINVALID INPUTS TO CWIC. IERR-1 RETURNED) CWC01450 IERR=1 CWCO01460 RETURN CWC6OI470 20 TInE=RV 1) CWCOI4SO XO=RV( 2) CJC 01490 H3=RV( 3...ERROR CHECKS AGXO1910 IF (IT.LE.0) IT=I AGXO192o IF (IT.GT.JDIMCK(1)) CALL DIMER( ) AGX01930 IF(JDIMCKcI).LT.65) WRITE(IOUT, 1295 AGX0940 C CHECK FOR...Office System Planning Corporation ATTN: DACS -BMT (Colonel Harry F. Ennis) ATTN: COL Hank Shelton 5001 Eisenhower Avenue 1500 Wilson Boulevard

A Low-Complexity and High-Performance 2D Look-Up Table for LDPC Hardware Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jung-Chieh; Yang, Po-Hui; Lain, Jenn-Kaie; Chung, Tzu-Wen

In this paper, we propose a low-complexity, high-efficiency two-dimensional look-up table (2D LUT) for carrying out the sum-product algorithm in the decoding of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Instead of employing adders for the core operation when updating check node messages, in the proposed scheme, the main term and correction factor of the core operation are successfully merged into a compact 2D LUT. Simulation results indicate that the proposed 2D LUT not only attains close-to-optimal bit error rate performance but also enjoys a low complexity advantage that is suitable for hardware implementation.

Quantum Kronecker sum-product low-density parity-check codes with finite rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalev, Alexey A.; Pryadko, Leonid P.

2013-07-01

We introduce an ansatz for quantum codes which gives the hypergraph-product (generalized toric) codes by Tillich and Zémor and generalized bicycle codes by MacKay as limiting cases. The construction allows for both the lower and the upper bounds on the minimum distance; they scale as a square root of the block length. Many thus defined codes have a finite rate and limited-weight stabilizer generators, an analog of classical low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Compared to the hypergraph-product codes, hyperbicycle codes generally have a wider range of parameters; in particular, they can have a higher rate while preserving the estimated error threshold.

Fault tolerance in an inner-outer solver: A GVR-enabled case study

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Ziming; Chien, Andrew A.; Teranishi, Keita

2015-04-18

Resilience is a major challenge for large-scale systems. It is particularly important for iterative linear solvers, since they take much of the time of many scientific applications. We show that single bit flip errors in the Flexible GMRES iterative linear solver can lead to high computational overhead or even failure to converge to the right answer. Informed by these results, we design and evaluate several strategies for fault tolerance in both inner and outer solvers appropriate across a range of error rates. We implement them, extending Trilinos’ solver library with the Global View Resilience (GVR) programming model, which provides multi-streammore » snapshots, multi-version data structures with portable and rich error checking/recovery. Lastly, experimental results validate correct execution with low performance overhead under varied error conditions.« less

Computational technique for stepwise quantitative assessment of equation correctness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Othman, Nuru'l Izzah; Bakar, Zainab Abu

2017-04-01

Many of the computer-aided mathematics assessment systems that are available today possess the capability to implement stepwise correctness checking of a working scheme for solving equations. The computational technique for assessing the correctness of each response in the scheme mainly involves checking the mathematical equivalence and providing qualitative feedback. This paper presents a technique, known as the Stepwise Correctness Checking and Scoring (SCCS) technique that checks the correctness of each equation in terms of structural equivalence and provides quantitative feedback. The technique, which is based on the Multiset framework, adapts certain techniques from textual information retrieval involving tokenization, document modelling and similarity evaluation. The performance of the SCCS technique was tested using worked solutions on solving linear algebraic equations in one variable. 350 working schemes comprising of 1385 responses were collected using a marking engine prototype, which has been developed based on the technique. The results show that both the automated analytical scores and the automated overall scores generated by the marking engine exhibit high percent agreement, high correlation and high degree of agreement with manual scores with small average absolute and mixed errors.

Sanity check for NN bound states in lattice QCD with Lüscher's finite volume formula - Disclosing Symptoms of Fake Plateaux -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoki, Sinya; Doi, Takumi; Iritani, Takumi

2018-03-01

The sanity check is to rule out certain classes of obviously false results, not to catch every possible error. After reviewing such a sanity check for NN bound states with the Lüscher's finite volume formula [1-3], we give further evidences for the operator dependence of plateaux, a symptom of the fake plateau problem, against the claim [4]. We then present our critical comments on [5] by NPLQCD: (i) Operator dependences of plateaux in NPL2013 [6, 7] exist with the P value of 4-5%. (ii) The volume independence of plateaux in NPL2013 does not prove their correctness. (iii) Effective range expansions (EREs) in NPL2013 violate the physical pole condition. (iv) Their comment is partly based on new data and analysis different from the original ones. (v) Their new ERE does not satisfy the Lüscher's finite volume formula.

Error image aware content restoration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Sungwoo; Lee, Moonsik; Jung, Byunghee

2015-12-01

As the resolution of TV significantly increased, content consumers have become increasingly sensitive to the subtlest defect in TV contents. This rising standard in quality demanded by consumers has posed a new challenge in today's context where the tape-based process has transitioned to the file-based process: the transition necessitated digitalizing old archives, a process which inevitably produces errors such as disordered pixel blocks, scattered white noise, or totally missing pixels. Unsurprisingly, detecting and fixing such errors require a substantial amount of time and human labor to meet the standard demanded by today's consumers. In this paper, we introduce a novel, automated error restoration algorithm which can be applied to different types of classic errors by utilizing adjacent images while preserving the undamaged parts of an error image as much as possible. We tested our method to error images detected from our quality check system in KBS(Korean Broadcasting System) video archive. We are also implementing the algorithm as a plugin of well-known NLE(Non-linear editing system), which is a familiar tool for quality control agent.

45 CFR 265.7 - How will we determine if the State is meeting the quarterly reporting requirements?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... computational errors and are internally consistent (e.g., items that should add to totals do so); (3) The State... from computational errors and are internally consistent (e.g., items that should add to totals do so... from computational errors and are internally consistent (e.g., items that should add to totals do so...

Expedition 18 Suit Pressure Check

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-10-11

Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke waves hello to his family as he and Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott have their Russian Sokol suits pressure checked prior to launching in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three crew members are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 18 Suit Pressure Check

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-10-11

Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, foreground, has his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked prior to launching in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft with American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott and Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov, right, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three crew members are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

KSC-04PD-1682

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Orbiter Processing Facility, workers check the fit of the nose cap (right) after installation on the orbiter Atlantis. The nose cap was removed from the vehicle in May and sent back to the vendor for thorough Non- Destructive Engineering evaluation and recoating. Thermography was also performed to check for internal flaws. This procedure uses high intensity light to heat areas that are immediately scanned with an infrared camera. White Thermal Protection System blankets were reinstalled on the nose cap before installation. Processing continues on Atlantis for its future mission to the International Space Station.

Enhancement of the Automated Quality Control Procedures for the International Soil Moisture Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heer, Elsa; Xaver, Angelika; Dorigo, Wouter; Messner, Romina

2017-04-01

In-situ soil moisture observations are still trusted to be the most reliable data to validate remotely sensed soil moisture products. Thus, the quality of in-situ soil moisture observations is of high importance. The International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN; http://ismn.geo.tuwien.ac.at/) provides in-situ soil moisture data from all around the world. The data is collected from individual networks and data providers, measured by different sensors in various depths. The data sets which are delivered in different units, time zones and data formats are then transformed into homogeneous data sets. An erroneous behavior of soil moisture data is very difficult to detect, due to annual and daily changes and most significantly the high influence of precipitation and snow melting processes. Only few of the network providers have a quality assessment for their data sets. Therefore, advanced quality control procedures have been developed for the ISMN (Dorigo et al. 2013). Three categories of quality checks were introduced: exceeding boundary values, geophysical consistency checks and a spectrum based approach. The spectrum based quality control algorithms aim to detect erroneous measurements which occur within plausible geophysical ranges, e.g. a sudden drop in soil moisture caused by a sensor malfunction. By defining several conditions which have to be met by the original soil moisture time series and their first and second derivative, such error types can be detected. Since the development of these sophisticated methods many more data providers shared their data with the ISMN and new types of erroneous measurements were identified. Thus, an enhancement of the automated quality control procedures became necessary. In the present work, we introduce enhancements of the existing quality control algorithms. Additionally, six completely new quality checks have been developed, e.g. detection of suspicious values before or after NAN-values, constant values and values that lie in a spectrum where a high majority of values before and after is flagged and therefore a sensor malfunction is certain. For the evaluation of the enhanced automated quality control system many test data sets were chosen, and manually validated to be compared to the existing quality control procedures and the new algorithms. Improvements will be shown that assure an appropriate assessment of the ISMN data sets, which are used for validations of soil moisture data retrieved by satellite data and are the foundation many other scientific publications.

The Internal Audit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhn, Robert H.

1981-01-01

Internal control comprises the plan of organization and all the coordinate methods and measures adopted within a school system to safeguard its assets, check the reliability of its accounting data, promote operational efficiency, and encourage adherence to prescribed policies. (Author)

Evaluating the accuracy of technicians and pharmacists in checking unit dose medication cassettes.

PubMed

Ambrose, Peter J; Saya, Frank G; Lovett, Larry T; Tan, Sandy; Adams, Dale W; Shane, Rita

2002-06-15

The accuracy rates of board-registered pharmacy technicians and pharmacists in checking unit dose medication cassettes in the inpatient setting at two separate institutions were examined. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, both in Los Angeles county, petitioned the California State Board of Pharmacy to approve a waiver of the California Code of Regulations to conduct an experimental program to compare the accuracy of unit dose medication cassettes checked by pharmacists with that of cassettes checked by trained, certified pharmacy technicians. The study consisted of three parts: assessing pharmacist baseline checking accuracy (Phase I), developing a technician-training program and certifying technicians who completed the didactic and practical training (Phase II), and evaluating the accuracy of certified technicians checking unit dose medication cassettes as a daily function (Phase III). Twenty-nine pharmacists and 41 technicians (3 of whom were pharmacy interns) participated in the study. Of the technicians, all 41 successfully completed the didactic and practical training, 39 successfully completed the audits and became certified checkers, and 2 (including 1 of the interns) did not complete the certification audits because they were reassigned to another work area or had resigned. In Phase II, the observed accuracy rate and its lower confidence limit exceeded the predetermined minimum requirement of 99.8% for a certified checker. The mean accuracy rates for technicians were identical at the two institutions (p = 1.0). The difference in mean accuracy rates between pharmacists (99.52%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 99.44-99.58%) and technicians, (99.89%; 95% CI 99.87-99.90%) was significant (p < 0.0001). Inpatient technicians who had been trained and certified in a closely supervised program that incorporated quality assurance mechanisms could safely and accurately check unit dose medication cassettes filled by other technicians.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: LAMOST DR2 catalogs (Luo+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, A.-L.; Zhao, Y.-H.; Zhao, G.; Deng, L.-C.; Liu, X.-W.; Jing, Y.-P.; Wang, G.; Zhang, H.-T.; Shi, J.-R.; Cui, X.-Q.; Chu, Y.-Q.; Li, G.-P.; Bai, Z.-R.; Wu, Y.; Cai, Y.; Cao, S.-Y.; Cao, Z.-H.; Carlin, J. L.; Chen, H.-Y.; Chen, J.-J.; Chen, K.-X.; Chen, L.; Chen, X.-L.; Chen, X.-Y.; Chen, Y.; Christlieb, N.; Chu, J.-R.; Cui, C.-Z.; Dong, Y.-Q.; Du, B.; Fan, D.-W.; Feng, L.; Fu, J.-N.; Gao, P.; Gong, X.-F.; Gu, B.-Z.; Guo, Y.-X.; Han, Z.-W.; He, B.-L.; Hou, J.-L.; Hou, Y.-H.; Hou, W.; Hu, H.-Z.; Hu, N.-S.; Hu, Z.-W.; Huo, Z.-Y.; Jia, L.; Jiang, F.-H.; Jiang, X.; Jiang, Z.-B.; Jin, G.; Kong, X.; Kong, X.; Lei, Y.-J.; Li, A.-H.; Li, C.-H.; Li, G.-W.; Li, H.-N.; Li, J.; Li, Q.; Li, S.; Li, S.-S.; Li, X.-N.; Li, Y.; Li, Y.-B.; Li, Y.-P.; Liang, Y.; Lin, C.-C.; Liu, C.; Liu, G.-R.; Liu, G.-Q.; Liu, Z.-G.; Lu, W.-Z.; Luo, Y.; Mao, Y.-D.; Newberg, H.; Ni, J.-J.; Qi, Z.-X.; Qi, Y.-J.; Shen, S.-Y.; Shi, H.-M.; Song, J.; Song, Y.-H.; Su, D.-Q.; Su, H.-J.; Tang, Z.-H.; Tao, Q.-S.; Tian, Y.; Wang, D.; Wang, D.-Q.; Wang, F.-F.; Wang, G.-M.; Wang, H.; Wang, H.-C.; Wang, J.; Wang, J.-N.; Wang, J.-L.; Wang, J.-P.; Wang, J.-X.; Wang, L.; Wang, M.-X.; Wang, S.-G.; Wang, S.-Q.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.-N.; Wang, Y.; Wang, Y.-F.; Wang, Y.-F.; Wei, P.; Wei, M.-Z.; Wu, H.; Wu, K.-F.; Wu, X.-B.; Wu, Y.-Z.; Xing, X.-Z.; Xu, L.-Z.; Xu, X.-Q.; Xu, Y.; Yan, T.-S.; Yang, D.-H.; Yang, H.-F.; Yang, H.-Q.; Yang, M.; Yao, Z.-Q.; Yu, Y.; Yuan, H.; Yuan, H.-B.; Yuan, H.-L.; Yuan, W.-M.; Zhai, C.; Zhang, E.-P.; Zhang, H.-W.; Zhang, J.-N.; Zhang, L.-P.; Zhang, W.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y.-X.; Zhang, Z.-C.; Zhao, M.; Zhou, F.; Zhou, X.; Zhu, J.; Zhu, Y.-T.; Zou, S.-C.; Zuo, F.

2016-11-01

There are a couple of corrections been made in this releasing: Recalculated all the errors of Teff, Logg, Fe/H and rv in the AFGK catalog. Refer to the DR2 paper (in preparation) for details. Compare to the previous internal releasing, some extra spectra has been added into this version of releasing: STAR from 3,779,597 to 3,843,597, increased 63,923; GALAXY from 37,665 to 47,036, increased 9,371; QSO from 8,633 to 13,262, increased 4,629. The major contribution to this increasing is that we applied a new method to reduce the data which previously was abandoned due to lack of standard stars with high enough S/N. Refer to the paper 'LAMOST Spectrograph Response Curves: Stability and Application to flux calibration' (in preparation) for details. There are also a small amount of increasing is due to the correction of fiber flag, and to the eye check work, etc. (5 data files).

STS-97 Mission Specialist Tanner during pre-pack and fit check

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

STS-97 Mission Specialist Joseph Tanner gets help with his boots from suit technician Erin Canlon during check pre-pack and fit check. Mission STS-97 is the sixth construction flight to the International Space Station. Its payload includes the P6 Integrated Truss Structure and a photovoltaic (PV) module, with giant solar arrays that will provide power to the Station. The mission includes two spacewalks to complete the solar array connections. STS-97 is scheduled to launch Nov. 30 at about 10:06 p.m. EST.

Unbiased analysis of geomagnetic data sets and comparison of historical data with paleomagnetic and archeomagnetic records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arneitz, Patrick; Egli, Ramon; Leonhardt, Roman

2017-03-01

Reconstructions of the past geomagnetic field provide fundamental constraints for understanding the dynamics of the Earth's interior, as well as serving as basis for magnetostratigraphic and archeomagnetic dating tools. Such reconstructions, when extending over epochs that precede the advent of instrumental measurements, rely exclusively on magnetic records from archeological artifacts, and, further in the past, from rocks and sediments. The most critical component of such indirect records is field intensity because of possible biases introduced by material properties and by laboratory protocols, which do not reproduce exactly the original field recording conditions. Large biases are usually avoided by the use of appropriate checking procedures; however, smaller ones can remain undetected in individual studies and might significantly affect field reconstructions. We introduce a new general approach for analyzing geomagnetic databases in order to investigate the reliability of indirect records. This approach is based on the comparison of historical records with archeomagnetic and volcanic data, considering temporal and spatial mismatches with adequate weighting functions and error estimation. A good overall agreement is found between indirect records and historical measurements, while for several subsets systematic bias is detected (e.g., inclination shallowing of lava records). We also demonstrate that simple approaches to analyzing highly inhomogeneous and internally correlated paleomagnetic data sets can lead to incorrect conclusions about the efficiency of quality checks and corrections. Consistent criteria for selecting and weighting data are presented in this review and can be used to improve current geomagnetic field modeling techniques.

Testing for ontological errors in probabilistic forecasting models of natural systems

PubMed Central

Marzocchi, Warner; Jordan, Thomas H.

2014-01-01

Probabilistic forecasting models describe the aleatory variability of natural systems as well as our epistemic uncertainty about how the systems work. Testing a model against observations exposes ontological errors in the representation of a system and its uncertainties. We clarify several conceptual issues regarding the testing of probabilistic forecasting models for ontological errors: the ambiguity of the aleatory/epistemic dichotomy, the quantification of uncertainties as degrees of belief, the interplay between Bayesian and frequentist methods, and the scientific pathway for capturing predictability. We show that testability of the ontological null hypothesis derives from an experimental concept, external to the model, that identifies collections of data, observed and not yet observed, that are judged to be exchangeable when conditioned on a set of explanatory variables. These conditional exchangeability judgments specify observations with well-defined frequencies. Any model predicting these behaviors can thus be tested for ontological error by frequentist methods; e.g., using P values. In the forecasting problem, prior predictive model checking, rather than posterior predictive checking, is desirable because it provides more severe tests. We illustrate experimental concepts using examples from probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. Severe testing of a model under an appropriate set of experimental concepts is the key to model validation, in which we seek to know whether a model replicates the data-generating process well enough to be sufficiently reliable for some useful purpose, such as long-term seismic forecasting. Pessimistic views of system predictability fail to recognize the power of this methodology in separating predictable behaviors from those that are not. PMID:25097265

Medical error and related factors during internship and residency.

PubMed

Ahmadipour, Habibeh; Nahid, Mortazavi

2015-01-01

It is difficult to determine the real incidence of medical errors due to the lack of a precise definition of errors, as well as the failure to report them under certain circumstances. We carried out a cross- sectional study in Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran in 2013. The participants were selected through the census method. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, which consisted of questions on the participants' demographic data and questions on the medical errors committed. The data were analysed by SPSS 19. It was found that 270 participants had committed medical errors. There was no significant difference in the frequency of errors committed by interns and residents. In the case of residents, the most common error was misdiagnosis and in that of interns, errors related to history-taking and physical examination. Considering that medical errors are common in the clinical setting, the education system should train interns and residents to prevent the occurrence of errors. In addition, the system should develop a positive attitude among them so that they can deal better with medical errors.

Comparison between laser interferometric and calibrated artifacts for the geometric test of machine tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, Andre R.; Schneider, Carlos A.

2001-09-01

A touch probe is used on a 3-axis vertical machine center to check against a hole plate, calibrated on a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). By comparing the results obtained from the machine tool and CMM, the main machine tool error components are measured, attesting the machine accuracy. The error values can b used also t update the error compensation table at the CNC, enhancing the machine accuracy. The method is easy to us, has a lower cost than classical test techniques, and preliminary results have shown that its uncertainty is comparable to well established techniques. In this paper the method is compared with the laser interferometric system, regarding reliability, cost and time efficiency.

Analytic barrage attack model. Final report, January 1986-January 1989

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

St Ledger, J.W.; Naegeli, R.E.; Dowden, N.A.

An analytic model is developed for a nuclear barrage attack, assuming weapons with no aiming error and a cookie-cutter damage function. The model is then extended with approximations for the effects of aiming error and distance damage sigma. The final result is a fast running model which calculates probability of damage for a barrage attack. The probability of damage is accurate to within seven percent or better, for weapon reliabilities of 50 to 100 percent, distance damage sigmas of 0.5 or less, and zero to very large circular error probabilities. FORTRAN 77 coding is included in the report for themore » analytic model and for a numerical model used to check the analytic results.« less

Evaluating segmentation error without ground truth.

PubMed

Kohlberger, Timo; Singh, Vivek; Alvino, Chris; Bahlmann, Claus; Grady, Leo

2012-01-01

The automatic delineation of the boundaries of organs and other anatomical structures is a key component of many medical image processing systems. In this paper we present a generic learning approach based on a novel space of segmentation features, which can be trained to predict the overlap error and Dice coefficient of an arbitrary organ segmentation without knowing the ground truth delineation. We show the regressor to be much stronger a predictor of these error metrics than the responses of probabilistic boosting classifiers trained on the segmentation boundary. The presented approach not only allows us to build reliable confidence measures and fidelity checks, but also to rank several segmentation hypotheses against each other during online usage of the segmentation algorithm in clinical practice.

Checking the Grammar Checker: Integrating Grammar Instruction with Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAlexander, Patricia J.

2000-01-01

Notes Rei Noguchi's recommendation of integrating grammar instruction with writing instruction and teaching only the most vital terms and the most frequently made errors. Presents a project that provides a review of the grammar lessons, applies many grammar rules specifically to the students' writing, and teaches students the effective use of the…

40 CFR 75.59 - Certification, quality assurance, and quality control record provisions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... and the run average); (B) The raw data and results for all required pre-test, post-test, pre-run and...-day calibration error tests, all daily system integrity checks (Hg monitors, only), and all off-line calibration demonstrations, including any follow-up tests after corrective action: (i) Component-system...

Improving NAVFAC's total quality management of construction drawings with CLIPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Antelman, Albert

1991-01-01

A diagnostic expert system to improve the quality of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) construction drawings and specification is described. C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) and computer aided design layering standards are used in an expert system to check and coordinate construction drawings and specifications to eliminate errors and omissions.

Checked Out: Ohioans' Views on Education 2009

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 2009

2009-01-01

In collaboration with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Catalyst Ohio, the FDR Group conducted a telephone survey of 1,002 randomly selected Ohio residents between April 1 and April 9, 2009 (margin of error +/- 3 percentage points). The survey--the third in a series--reports Ohioans' views on critical education issues, including school funding,…

The Relationship Between Repetition Priming and Skill Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-01-01

hours of cognitive testing. Given that most measures were of response latency, it neemed unacceptable to include subjects with high error rates indicative...U Leaf Crude Oil Paper Bug Spray Hair Sea Water Plastic Shampoo Rock Blood Cement Ink IF the word is Food, THEN check if its Solid or Liquid LF its

33 CFR 154.2181 - Alternative testing program-Test requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... CE test must check the calibrated range of each analyzer using a lower (zero) and upper (span... instrument, R = reference value of zero or high-level calibration gas introduced into the monitoring system... Difference Zero Span 1-Zero 1-Span 2-Zero 2-Span 3-Zero 3-Span Mean Difference = Calibration Error = % % (3...

Getting it right [Editorial

Treesearch

William M. Block

2007-01-01

Manuscripts contain a vast amount of information. Some of this information summarizes the state-of-knowledge and sets the stage for the paper. Other information presents data and summarizes analysis. Lastly, results are interpreted in the form of a discussion and management implications. Although a number of checks in the review and editorial processes catch errors...

Optimization of the bank's operating portfolio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borodachev, S. M.; Medvedev, M. A.

2016-06-01

The theory of efficient portfolios developed by Markowitz is used to optimize the structure of the types of financial operations of a bank (bank portfolio) in order to increase the profit and reduce the risk. The focus of this paper is to check the stability of the model to errors in the original data.

The impact of a closed‐loop electronic prescribing and administration system on prescribing errors, administration errors and staff time: a before‐and‐after study

PubMed Central

Franklin, Bryony Dean; O'Grady, Kara; Donyai, Parastou; Jacklin, Ann; Barber, Nick

2007-01-01

Objectives To assess the impact of a closed‐loop electronic prescribing, automated dispensing, barcode patient identification and electronic medication administration record (EMAR) system on prescribing and administration errors, confirmation of patient identity before administration, and staff time. Design, setting and participants Before‐and‐after study in a surgical ward of a teaching hospital, involving patients and staff of that ward. Intervention Closed‐loop electronic prescribing, automated dispensing, barcode patient identification and EMAR system. Main outcome measures Percentage of new medication orders with a prescribing error, percentage of doses with medication administration errors (MAEs) and percentage given without checking patient identity. Time spent prescribing and providing a ward pharmacy service. Nursing time on medication tasks. Results Prescribing errors were identified in 3.8% of 2450 medication orders pre‐intervention and 2.0% of 2353 orders afterwards (p<0.001; χ2 test). MAEs occurred in 7.0% of 1473 non‐intravenous doses pre‐intervention and 4.3% of 1139 afterwards (p = 0.005; χ2 test). Patient identity was not checked for 82.6% of 1344 doses pre‐intervention and 18.9% of 1291 afterwards (p<0.001; χ2 test). Medical staff required 15 s to prescribe a regular inpatient drug pre‐intervention and 39 s afterwards (p = 0.03; t test). Time spent providing a ward pharmacy service increased from 68 min to 98 min each weekday (p = 0.001; t test); 22% of drug charts were unavailable pre‐intervention. Time per drug administration round decreased from 50 min to 40 min (p = 0.006; t test); nursing time on medication tasks outside of drug rounds increased from 21.1% to 28.7% (p = 0.006; χ2 test). Conclusions A closed‐loop electronic prescribing, dispensing and barcode patient identification system reduced prescribing errors and MAEs, and increased confirmation of patient identity before administration. Time spent on medication‐related tasks increased. PMID:17693676

Multi-bits error detection and fast recovery in RISC cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jing, Wang; Xing, Yang; Yuanfu, Zhao; Weigong, Zhang; Jiao, Shen; Keni, Qiu

2015-11-01

The particles-induced soft errors are a major threat to the reliability of microprocessors. Even worse, multi-bits upsets (MBUs) are ever-increased due to the rapidly shrinking feature size of the IC on a chip. Several architecture-level mechanisms have been proposed to protect microprocessors from soft errors, such as dual and triple modular redundancies (DMR and TMR). However, most of them are inefficient to combat the growing multi-bits errors or cannot well balance the critical paths delay, area and power penalty. This paper proposes a novel architecture, self-recovery dual-pipeline (SRDP), to effectively provide soft error detection and recovery with low cost for general RISC structures. We focus on the following three aspects. First, an advanced DMR pipeline is devised to detect soft error, especially MBU. Second, SEU/MBU errors can be located by enhancing self-checking logic into pipelines stage registers. Third, a recovery scheme is proposed with a recovery cost of 1 or 5 clock cycles. Our evaluation of a prototype implementation exhibits that the SRDP can successfully detect particle-induced soft errors up to 100% and recovery is nearly 95%, the other 5% will inter a specific trap.

Ensuring long-term reliability of the data storage on optical disc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ken; Pan, Longfa; Xu, Bin; Liu, Wei

2008-12-01

"Quality requirements and handling regulation of archival optical disc for electronic records filing" is released by The State Archives Administration of the People's Republic of China (SAAC) on its network in March 2007. This document established a complete operative managing process for optical disc data storage in archives departments. The quality requirements of the optical disc used in archives departments are stipulated. Quality check of the recorded disc before filing is considered to be necessary and the threshold of the parameter of the qualified filing disc is set down. The handling regulations for the staffs in the archives departments are described. Recommended environment conditions of the disc preservation, recording, accessing and testing are presented. The block error rate of the disc is selected as main monitoring parameter of the lifetime of the filing disc and three classes pre-alarm lines are created for marking of different quality check intervals. The strategy of monitoring the variation of the error rate curve of the filing discs and moving the data to a new disc or a new media when the error rate of the disc reaches the third class pre-alarm line will effectively guarantee the data migration before permanent loss. Only when every step of the procedure is strictly implemented, it is believed that long-term reliability of the data storage on optical disc for archives departments can be effectively ensured.

Sum of the Magnitude for Hard Decision Decoding Algorithm Based on Loop Update Detection

PubMed Central

Meng, Jiahui; Zhao, Danfeng; Tian, Hai; Zhang, Liang

2018-01-01

In order to improve the performance of non-binary low-density parity check codes (LDPC) hard decision decoding algorithm and to reduce the complexity of decoding, a sum of the magnitude for hard decision decoding algorithm based on loop update detection is proposed. This will also ensure the reliability, stability and high transmission rate of 5G mobile communication. The algorithm is based on the hard decision decoding algorithm (HDA) and uses the soft information from the channel to calculate the reliability, while the sum of the variable nodes’ (VN) magnitude is excluded for computing the reliability of the parity checks. At the same time, the reliability information of the variable node is considered and the loop update detection algorithm is introduced. The bit corresponding to the error code word is flipped multiple times, before this is searched in the order of most likely error probability to finally find the correct code word. Simulation results show that the performance of one of the improved schemes is better than the weighted symbol flipping (WSF) algorithm under different hexadecimal numbers by about 2.2 dB and 2.35 dB at the bit error rate (BER) of 10−5 over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, respectively. Furthermore, the average number of decoding iterations is significantly reduced. PMID:29342963

The computation of equating errors in international surveys in education.

PubMed

Monseur, Christian; Berezner, Alla

2007-01-01

Since the IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study, one of the major objectives of international surveys in education has been to report trends in achievement. The names of the two current IEA surveys reflect this growing interest: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). Similarly a central concern of the OECD's PISA is with trends in outcomes over time. To facilitate trend analyses these studies link their tests using common item equating in conjunction with item response modelling methods. IEA and PISA policies differ in terms of reporting the error associated with trends. In IEA surveys, the standard errors of the trend estimates do not include the uncertainty associated with the linking step while PISA does include a linking error component in the standard errors of trend estimates. In other words, PISA implicitly acknowledges that trend estimates partly depend on the selected common items, while the IEA's surveys do not recognise this source of error. Failing to recognise the linking error leads to an underestimation of the standard errors and thus increases the Type I error rate, thereby resulting in reporting of significant changes in achievement when in fact these are not significant. The growing interest of policy makers in trend indicators and the impact of the evaluation of educational reforms appear to be incompatible with such underestimation. However, the procedure implemented by PISA raises a few issues about the underlying assumptions for the computation of the equating error. After a brief introduction, this paper will describe the procedure PISA implemented to compute the linking error. The underlying assumptions of this procedure will then be discussed. Finally an alternative method based on replication techniques will be presented, based on a simulation study and then applied to the PISA 2000 data.

Gazetteer of planetary nomenclature 1994

USGS Publications Warehouse

Batson, Raymond M.; Russell, Joel F.

1995-01-01

Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is used to uniquely identify a feature on the surface of a planet or satellite so that the feature can be easily located, described, and discussed. This volume contains detailed information about all names of topographic and albedo features on planets and satellites (and some planetary ring and ring-gap systems) that the International Astronomical Union has named and approved from its founding in 1919 through its triennial meeting in 1994.This edition of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature supersedes an earlier informal volume distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1986 as Open-File Report 84-692 (Masursky and others, 1986). Named features are depicted on maps of the Moon published first by the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency or the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center and more recently by the U.S. Geological Survey; on maps of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus published by the U.S. Geological Survey; and on maps of the Moon, Venus, and Mars produced by the U.S.S.R.Although we have attempted to check the accuracy of all data in this volume, we realize that some errors will remain in a work of this size. Readers noting errors or omissions are urged to communicate them to the U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Astrogeology, Rm. 409, 2255 N. Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001.

Modeling the Arden Syntax for medical decisions in XML.

PubMed

Kim, Sukil; Haug, Peter J; Rocha, Roberto A; Choi, Inyoung

2008-10-01

A new model expressing Arden Syntax with the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) was developed to increase its portability. Every example was manually parsed and reviewed until the schema and the style sheet were considered to be optimized. When the first schema was finished, several MLMs in Arden Syntax Markup Language (ArdenML) were validated against the schema. They were then transformed to HTML formats with the style sheet, during which they were compared to the original text version of their own MLM. When faults were found in the transformed MLM, the schema and/or style sheet was fixed. This cycle continued until all the examples were encoded into XML documents. The original MLMs were encoded in XML according to the proposed XML schema and reverse-parsed MLMs in ArdenML were checked using a public domain Arden Syntax checker. Two hundred seventy seven examples of MLMs were successfully transformed into XML documents using the model, and the reverse-parse yielded the original text version of MLMs. Two hundred sixty five of the 277 MLMs showed the same error patterns before and after transformation, and all 11 errors related to statement structure were resolved in XML version. The model uses two syntax checking mechanisms, first an XML validation process, and second, a syntax check using an XSL style sheet. Now that we have a schema for ArdenML, we can also begin the development of style sheets for transformation ArdenML into other languages.

Cooperative MIMO communication at wireless sensor network: an error correcting code approach.

PubMed

Islam, Mohammad Rakibul; Han, Young Shin

2011-01-01

Cooperative communication in wireless sensor network (WSN) explores the energy efficient wireless communication schemes between multiple sensors and data gathering node (DGN) by exploiting multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and multiple input single output (MISO) configurations. In this paper, an energy efficient cooperative MIMO (C-MIMO) technique is proposed where low density parity check (LDPC) code is used as an error correcting code. The rate of LDPC code is varied by varying the length of message and parity bits. Simulation results show that the cooperative communication scheme outperforms SISO scheme in the presence of LDPC code. LDPC codes with different code rates are compared using bit error rate (BER) analysis. BER is also analyzed under different Nakagami fading scenario. Energy efficiencies are compared for different targeted probability of bit error p(b). It is observed that C-MIMO performs more efficiently when the targeted p(b) is smaller. Also the lower encoding rate for LDPC code offers better error characteristics.

[Pharmaceutical care strategies to prevent medication errors].

PubMed

Ucha-Samartín, Marisol; Martínez-López de Castro, Noemí; Troncoso-Mariño, Amelia; Campelo-Sánchez, Eva; Vázquez-López, Cristina; Inaraja-Bobo, María Teresa

2009-08-01

To evaluate the impact of implementing new programs to improve the quality of the pharmaceutical care and unit-dose distribution system for in-patients. An observational and prospective study was carried out in a general hospital during two different six-monthly period. Transcription and dispensation errors were evaluated in twelve wards during the first six months. Then, two new measures were introduced: the first- reference ward-pharmacist and the second-a new protocol for checking medication on the ward. Results were evaluated by SPSS v. 14 program. In the transcription evaluation, units without a ward pharmacist did not improve. Transcription errors significantly decreased in three units: gynaecology-urology (3.24% vs. 0.52%), orthopaedic (2% vs. 1.69%) and neurology-pneumology (2.81% vs. 2.02%). In dispensing, only units with the new protocol decreased their medication errors (1.77% vs. 1.24%). The participation of pharmacists in multidisciplinary teams and exhaustive protocols for dispensing medication were effective in detecting and decreasing medication errors in patients.

Cooperative MIMO Communication at Wireless Sensor Network: An Error Correcting Code Approach

PubMed Central

Islam, Mohammad Rakibul; Han, Young Shin

2011-01-01

Cooperative communication in wireless sensor network (WSN) explores the energy efficient wireless communication schemes between multiple sensors and data gathering node (DGN) by exploiting multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and multiple input single output (MISO) configurations. In this paper, an energy efficient cooperative MIMO (C-MIMO) technique is proposed where low density parity check (LDPC) code is used as an error correcting code. The rate of LDPC code is varied by varying the length of message and parity bits. Simulation results show that the cooperative communication scheme outperforms SISO scheme in the presence of LDPC code. LDPC codes with different code rates are compared using bit error rate (BER) analysis. BER is also analyzed under different Nakagami fading scenario. Energy efficiencies are compared for different targeted probability of bit error pb. It is observed that C-MIMO performs more efficiently when the targeted pb is smaller. Also the lower encoding rate for LDPC code offers better error characteristics. PMID:22163732

Seven novel probe systems for real-time PCR provide absolute single-base discrimination, higher signaling, and generic components.

PubMed

Murray, James L; Hu, Peixu; Shafer, David A

2014-11-01

We have developed novel probe systems for real-time PCR that provide higher specificity, greater sensitivity, and lower cost relative to dual-labeled probes. The seven DNA Detection Switch (DDS)-probe systems reported here employ two interacting polynucleotide components: a fluorescently labeled probe and a quencher antiprobe. High-fidelity detection is achieved with three DDS designs: two internal probes (internal DDS and Flip probes) and a primer probe (ZIPR probe), wherein each probe is combined with a carefully engineered, slightly mismatched, error-checking antiprobe. The antiprobe blocks off-target detection over a wide range of temperatures and facilitates multiplexing. Other designs (Universal probe, Half-Universal probe, and MacMan probe) use generic components that enable low-cost detection. Finally, single-molecule G-Force probes employ guanine-mediated fluorescent quenching by forming a hairpin between adjacent C-rich and G-rich sequences. Examples provided show how these probe technologies discriminate drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutants, Escherichia coli O157:H7, oncogenic EGFR deletion mutations, hepatitis B virus, influenza A/B strains, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the human VKORC1 gene. Copyright © 2014 American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Association for Molecular Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Correcting for particle counting bias error in turbulent flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edwards, R. V.; Baratuci, W.

1985-01-01

An ideal seeding device is proposed generating particles that exactly follow the flow out are still a major source of error, i.e., with a particle counting bias wherein the probability of measuring velocity is a function of velocity. The error in the measured mean can be as much as 25%. Many schemes have been put forward to correct for this error, but there is not universal agreement as to the acceptability of any one method. In particular it is sometimes difficult to know if the assumptions required in the analysis are fulfilled by any particular flow measurement system. To check various correction mechanisms in an ideal way and to gain some insight into how to correct with the fewest initial assumptions, a computer simulation is constructed to simulate laser anemometer measurements in a turbulent flow. That simulator and the results of its use are discussed.

Error correcting code with chip kill capability and power saving enhancement

DOEpatents

Gara, Alan G [Mount Kisco, NY; Chen, Dong [Croton On Husdon, NY; Coteus, Paul W [Yorktown Heights, NY; Flynn, William T [Rochester, MN; Marcella, James A [Rochester, MN; Takken, Todd [Brewster, NY; Trager, Barry M [Yorktown Heights, NY; Winograd, Shmuel [Scarsdale, NY

2011-08-30

A method and system are disclosed for detecting memory chip failure in a computer memory system. The method comprises the steps of accessing user data from a set of user data chips, and testing the user data for errors using data from a set of system data chips. This testing is done by generating a sequence of check symbols from the user data, grouping the user data into a sequence of data symbols, and computing a specified sequence of syndromes. If all the syndromes are zero, the user data has no errors. If one of the syndromes is non-zero, then a set of discriminator expressions are computed, and used to determine whether a single or double symbol error has occurred. In the preferred embodiment, less than two full system data chips are used for testing and correcting the user data.

Numerical ‘health check’ for scientific codes: the CADNA approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, N. S.; Jézéquel, F.; Denis, C.; Chesneaux, J.-M.

2007-04-01

Scientific computation has unavoidable approximations built into its very fabric. One important source of error that is difficult to detect and control is round-off error propagation which originates from the use of finite precision arithmetic. We propose that there is a need to perform regular numerical 'health checks' on scientific codes in order to detect the cancerous effect of round-off error propagation. This is particularly important in scientific codes that are built on legacy software. We advocate the use of the CADNA library as a suitable numerical screening tool. We present a case study to illustrate the practical use of CADNA in scientific codes that are of interest to the Computer Physics Communications readership. In doing so we hope to stimulate a greater awareness of round-off error propagation and present a practical means by which it can be analyzed and managed.

Markov chain algorithms: a template for building future robust low-power systems

PubMed Central

Deka, Biplab; Birklykke, Alex A.; Duwe, Henry; Mansinghka, Vikash K.; Kumar, Rakesh

2014-01-01

Although computational systems are looking towards post CMOS devices in the pursuit of lower power, the expected inherent unreliability of such devices makes it difficult to design robust systems without additional power overheads for guaranteeing robustness. As such, algorithmic structures with inherent ability to tolerate computational errors are of significant interest. We propose to cast applications as stochastic algorithms based on Markov chains (MCs) as such algorithms are both sufficiently general and tolerant to transition errors. We show with four example applications—Boolean satisfiability, sorting, low-density parity-check decoding and clustering—how applications can be cast as MC algorithms. Using algorithmic fault injection techniques, we demonstrate the robustness of these implementations to transition errors with high error rates. Based on these results, we make a case for using MCs as an algorithmic template for future robust low-power systems. PMID:24842030

Analytic score distributions for a spatially continuous tridirectional Monte Carol transport problem

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

Booth, T.E.

1996-01-01

The interpretation of the statistical error estimates produced by Monte Carlo transport codes is still somewhat of an art. Empirically, there are variance reduction techniques whose error estimates are almost always reliable, and there are variance reduction techniques whose error estimates are often unreliable. Unreliable error estimates usually result from inadequate large-score sampling from the score distribution`s tail. Statisticians believe that more accurate confidence interval statements are possible if the general nature of the score distribution can be characterized. Here, the analytic score distribution for the exponential transform applied to a simple, spatially continuous Monte Carlo transport problem is provided.more » Anisotropic scattering and implicit capture are included in the theory. In large part, the analytic score distributions that are derived provide the basis for the ten new statistical quality checks in MCNP.« less

Error-Trellis Construction for Convolutional Codes Using Shifted Error/Syndrome-Subsequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajima, Masato; Okino, Koji; Miyagoshi, Takashi

In this paper, we extend the conventional error-trellis construction for convolutional codes to the case where a given check matrix H(D) has a factor Dl in some column (row). In the first case, there is a possibility that the size of the state space can be reduced using shifted error-subsequences, whereas in the second case, the size of the state space can be reduced using shifted syndrome-subsequences. The construction presented in this paper is based on the adjoint-obvious realization of the corresponding syndrome former HT(D). In the case where all the columns and rows of H(D) are delay free, the proposed construction is reduced to the conventional one of Schalkwijk et al. We also show that the proposed construction can equally realize the state-space reduction shown by Ariel et al. Moreover, we clarify the difference between their construction and that of ours using examples.

The application of LDPC code in MIMO-OFDM system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ruian; Zeng, Beibei; Chen, Tingting; Liu, Nan; Yin, Ninghao

2018-03-01

The combination of MIMO and OFDM technology has become one of the key technologies of the fourth generation mobile communication., which can overcome the frequency selective fading of wireless channel, increase the system capacity and improve the frequency utilization. Error correcting coding introduced into the system can further improve its performance. LDPC (low density parity check) code is a kind of error correcting code which can improve system reliability and anti-interference ability, and the decoding is simple and easy to operate. This paper mainly discusses the application of LDPC code in MIMO-OFDM system.

Numerical and analytical bounds on threshold error rates for hypergraph-product codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalev, Alexey A.; Prabhakar, Sanjay; Dumer, Ilya; Pryadko, Leonid P.

2018-06-01

We study analytically and numerically decoding properties of finite-rate hypergraph-product quantum low density parity-check codes obtained from random (3,4)-regular Gallager codes, with a simple model of independent X and Z errors. Several nontrivial lower and upper bounds for the decodable region are constructed analytically by analyzing the properties of the homological difference, equal minus the logarithm of the maximum-likelihood decoding probability for a given syndrome. Numerical results include an upper bound for the decodable region from specific heat calculations in associated Ising models and a minimum-weight decoding threshold of approximately 7 % .

A modified non-binary LDPC scheme based on watermark symbols in high speed optical transmission systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Liming; Qiao, Yaojun; Yu, Qian; Zhang, Wenbo

2016-04-01

We introduce a watermark non-binary low-density parity check code (NB-LDPC) scheme, which can estimate the time-varying noise variance by using prior information of watermark symbols, to improve the performance of NB-LDPC codes. And compared with the prior-art counterpart, the watermark scheme can bring about 0.25 dB improvement in net coding gain (NCG) at bit error rate (BER) of 1e-6 and 36.8-81% reduction of the iteration numbers. Obviously, the proposed scheme shows great potential in terms of error correction performance and decoding efficiency.

Compatibility check of measured aircraft responses using kinematic equations and extended Kalman filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klein, V.; Schiess, J. R.

1977-01-01

An extended Kalman filter smoother and a fixed point smoother were used for estimation of the state variables in the six degree of freedom kinematic equations relating measured aircraft responses and for estimation of unknown constant bias and scale factor errors in measured data. The computing algorithm includes an analysis of residuals which can improve the filter performance and provide estimates of measurement noise characteristics for some aircraft output variables. The technique developed was demonstrated using simulated and real flight test data. Improved accuracy of measured data was obtained when the data were corrected for estimated bias errors.

A combined intervention to reduce interruptions during medication preparation and double-checking: a pilot-study evaluating the impact of staff training and safety vests.

PubMed

Huckels-Baumgart, Saskia; Niederberger, Milena; Manser, Tanja; Meier, Christoph R; Meyer-Massetti, Carla

2017-10-01

The aim was to evaluate the impact of staff training and wearing safety vests as a combined intervention on interruptions during medication preparation and double-checking. Interruptions and errors during the medication process are common and an important issue for patient safety in the hospital setting. We performed a pre- and post-intervention pilot-study using direct structured observation of 26 nurses preparing and double-checking 431 medication doses (225 pre-intervention and 206 post-intervention) for 36 patients (21 pre-intervention and 15 post-intervention). With staff training and the introduction of safety vests, the interruption rate during medication preparation was reduced from 36.8 to 28.3 interruptions per hour and during double-checking from 27.5 to 15 interruptions per hour. This pilot-study showed that the frequency of interruptions decreased during the critical tasks of medication preparation and double-checking after the introduction of staff training and wearing safety vests as part of a quality improvement process. Nursing management should acknowledge interruptions as an important factor potentially influencing medication safety. Unnecessary interruptions can be successfully reduced by considering human and system factors and increasing both staff and nursing managers' awareness of 'interruptive communication practices' and implementing physical barriers. This is the first pilot-study specifically evaluating the impact of staff training and wearing safety vests on the reduction of interruptions during medication preparation and double-checking. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

User's manual for computer program BASEPLOT

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sanders, Curtis L.

2002-01-01

The checking and reviewing of daily records of streamflow within the U.S. Geological Survey is traditionally accomplished by hand-plotting and mentally collating tables of data. The process is time consuming, difficult to standardize, and subject to errors in computation, data entry, and logic. In addition, the presentation of flow data on the internet requires more timely and accurate computation of daily flow records. BASEPLOT was developed for checking and review of primary streamflow records within the U.S. Geological Survey. Use of BASEPLOT enables users to (1) provide efficiencies during the record checking and review process, (2) improve quality control, (3) achieve uniformity of checking and review techniques of simple stage-discharge relations, and (4) provide a tool for teaching streamflow computation techniques. The BASEPLOT program produces tables of quality control checks and produces plots of rating curves and discharge measurements; variable shift (V-shift) diagrams; and V-shifts converted to stage-discharge plots, using data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey Automatic Data Processing System database. In addition, the program plots unit-value hydrographs that show unit-value stages, shifts, and datum corrections; input shifts, datum corrections, and effective dates; discharge measurements; effective dates for rating tables; and numeric quality control checks. Checklist/tutorial forms are provided for reviewers to ensure completeness of review and standardize the review process. The program was written for the U.S. Geological Survey SUN computer using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software produced by SAS Institute, Incorporated.

Center for Advanced Modeling and Simulation Intern

ScienceCinema

Gertman, Vanessa

2017-12-13

Some interns just copy papers and seal envelopes. Not at INL! Check out how Vanessa Gertman, an INL intern working at the Center for Advanced Modeling and Simulation, spent her summer working with some intense visualization software. Lots more content like this is available at INL's facebook page http://www.facebook.com/idahonationallaboratory.

Center for Advanced Modeling and Simulation Intern

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

Gertman, Vanessa

Some interns just copy papers and seal envelopes. Not at INL! Check out how Vanessa Gertman, an INL intern working at the Center for Advanced Modeling and Simulation, spent her summer working with some intense visualization software. Lots more content like this is available at INL's facebook page http://www.facebook.com/idahonationallaboratory.

Compact disk error measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howe, D.; Harriman, K.; Tehranchi, B.

1993-01-01

The objectives of this project are as follows: provide hardware and software that will perform simple, real-time, high resolution (single-byte) measurement of the error burst and good data gap statistics seen by a photoCD player read channel when recorded CD write-once discs of variable quality (i.e., condition) are being read; extend the above system to enable measurement of the hard decision (i.e., 1-bit error flags) and soft decision (i.e., 2-bit error flags) decoding information that is produced/used by the Cross Interleaved - Reed - Solomon - Code (CIRC) block decoder employed in the photoCD player read channel; construct a model that uses data obtained via the systems described above to produce meaningful estimates of output error rates (due to both uncorrected ECC words and misdecoded ECC words) when a CD disc having specific (measured) error statistics is read (completion date to be determined); and check the hypothesis that current adaptive CIRC block decoders are optimized for pressed (DAD/ROM) CD discs. If warranted, do a conceptual design of an adaptive CIRC decoder that is optimized for write-once CD discs.

A Practical Methodology for Quantifying Random and Systematic Components of Unexplained Variance in a Wind Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deloach, Richard; Obara, Clifford J.; Goodman, Wesley L.

2012-01-01

This paper documents a check standard wind tunnel test conducted in the Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel (0.3M TCT) that was designed and analyzed using the Modern Design of Experiments (MDOE). The test designed to partition the unexplained variance of typical wind tunnel data samples into two constituent components, one attributable to ordinary random error, and one attributable to systematic error induced by covariate effects. Covariate effects in wind tunnel testing are discussed, with examples. The impact of systematic (non-random) unexplained variance on the statistical independence of sequential measurements is reviewed. The corresponding correlation among experimental errors is discussed, as is the impact of such correlation on experimental results generally. The specific experiment documented herein was organized as a formal test for the presence of unexplained variance in representative samples of wind tunnel data, in order to quantify the frequency with which such systematic error was detected, and its magnitude relative to ordinary random error. Levels of systematic and random error reported here are representative of those quantified in other facilities, as cited in the references.

Verification and Validation of Autonomy Software at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pecheur, Charles

2000-01-01

Autonomous software holds the promise of new operation possibilities, easier design and development and lower operating costs. However, as those system close control loops and arbitrate resources on board with specialized reasoning, the range of possible situations becomes very large and uncontrollable from the outside, making conventional scenario-based testing very inefficient. Analytic verification and validation (V&V) techniques, and model checking in particular, can provide significant help for designing autonomous systems in a more efficient and reliable manner, by providing a better coverage and allowing early error detection. This article discusses the general issue of V&V of autonomy software, with an emphasis towards model-based autonomy, model-checking techniques and concrete experiments at NASA.

Verification and Validation of Autonomy Software at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pecheur, Charles

2000-01-01

Autonomous software holds the promise of new operation possibilities, easier design and development, and lower operating costs. However, as those system close control loops and arbitrate resources on-board with specialized reasoning, the range of possible situations becomes very large and uncontrollable from the outside, making conventional scenario-based testing very inefficient. Analytic verification and validation (V&V) techniques, and model checking in particular, can provide significant help for designing autonomous systems in a more efficient and reliable manner, by providing a better coverage and allowing early error detection. This article discusses the general issue of V&V of autonomy software, with an emphasis towards model-based autonomy, model-checking techniques, and concrete experiments at NASA.

International Test Comparisons: Reviewing Translation Error in Different Source Language-Target Language Combinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Xueyu; Solano-Flores, Guillermo; Qian, Ming

2018-01-01

This article addresses test translation review in international test comparisons. We investigated the applicability of the theory of test translation error--a theory of the multidimensionality and inevitability of test translation error--across source language-target language combinations in the translation of PISA (Programme of International…

Light meson form factors at high Q2 from lattice QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koponen, Jonna; Zimermmane-Santos, André; Davies, Christine; Lepage, G. Peter; Lytle, Andrew

2018-03-01

Measurements and theoretical calculations of meson form factors are essential for our understanding of internal hadron structure and QCD, the dynamics that bind the quarks in hadrons. The pion electromagnetic form factor has been measured at small space-like momentum transfer |q2| < 0.3 GeV2 by pion scattering from atomic electrons and at values up to 2.5 GeV2 by scattering electrons from the pion cloud around a proton. On the other hand, in the limit of very large (or infinite) Q2 = -q2, perturbation theory is applicable. This leaves a gap in the intermediate Q2 where the form factors are not known. As a part of their 12 GeV upgrade Jefferson Lab will measure pion and kaon form factors in this intermediate region, up to Q2 of 6 GeV2. This is then an ideal opportunity for lattice QCD to make an accurate prediction ahead of the experimental results. Lattice QCD provides a from-first-principles approach to calculate form factors, and the challenge here is to control the statistical and systematic uncertainties as errors grow when going to higher Q2 values. Here we report on a calculation that tests the method using an ηs meson, a 'heavy pion' made of strange quarks, and also present preliminary results for kaon and pion form factors. We use the nf = 2 + 1 + 1 ensembles made by the MILC collaboration and Highly Improved Staggered Quarks, which allows us to obtain high statistics. The HISQ action is also designed to have small dicretisation errors. Using several light quark masses and lattice spacings allows us to control the chiral and continuum extrapolation and keep systematic errors in check. Warning, no authors found for 2018EPJWC.17506016.

40 CFR Appendix F to Part 60 - Quality Assurance Procedures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... plus the 2.5 percent error confidence coefficient of a series of tests divided by the mean of the RM...-level) CD or the daily high-level CD exceeds two times the limits of the applicable PS's in appendix B... result exceeds four times the applicable drift specification in appendix B during any CD check, the CEMS...

40 CFR Appendix F to Part 60 - Quality Assurance Procedures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... plus the 2.5 percent error confidence coefficient of a series of tests divided by the mean of the RM...-level) CD or the daily high-level CD exceeds two times the limits of the applicable PS's in appendix B... result exceeds four times the applicable drift specification in appendix B during any CD check, the CEMS...

40 CFR Appendix F to Part 60 - Quality Assurance Procedures

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... plus the 2.5 percent error confidence coefficient of a series of tests divided by the mean of the RM...-level) CD or the daily high-level CD exceeds two times the limits of the applicable PS's in appendix B... result exceeds four times the applicable drift specification in appendix B during any CD check, the CEMS...

Correcting Erroneous N+N Structures in the Productions of French Users of English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garnier, Marie

2012-01-01

This article presents the preliminary steps to the implementation of detection and correction strategies for the erroneous use of N+N structures in the written productions of French-speaking advanced users of English. This research is carried out as part of the grammar checking project "CorrecTools", in which errors are detected and corrected…

Parallel Subspace Subcodes of Reed-Solomon Codes for Magnetic Recording Channels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Han

2010-01-01

Read channel architectures based on a single low-density parity-check (LDPC) code are being considered for the next generation of hard disk drives. However, LDPC-only solutions suffer from the error floor problem, which may compromise reliability, if not handled properly. Concatenated architectures using an LDPC code plus a Reed-Solomon (RS) code…

Accuracy assessment in the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houston, A. G.; Pitts, D. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Badhwar, G.; Ferguson, M.; Hsu, E.; Potter, J.; Chhikara, R.; Rader, M.; Ahlers, C.

1979-01-01

The Accuracy Assessment System (AAS) of the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) was responsible for determining the accuracy and reliability of LACIE estimates of wheat production, area, and yield, made at regular intervals throughout the crop season, and for investigating the various LACIE error sources, quantifying these errors, and relating them to their causes. Some results of using the AAS during the three years of LACIE are reviewed. As the program culminated, AAS was able not only to meet the goal of obtaining accurate statistical estimates of sampling and classification accuracy, but also the goal of evaluating component labeling errors. Furthermore, the ground-truth data processing matured from collecting data for one crop (small grains) to collecting, quality-checking, and archiving data for all crops in a LACIE small segment.

Factors that influence the generation of autobiographical memory conjunction errors

PubMed Central

Devitt, Aleea L.; Monk-Fromont, Edwin; Schacter, Daniel L.; Addis, Donna Rose

2015-01-01

The constructive nature of memory is generally adaptive, allowing us to efficiently store, process and learn from life events, and simulate future scenarios to prepare ourselves for what may come. However, the cost of a flexibly constructive memory system is the occasional conjunction error, whereby the components of an event are authentic, but the combination of those components is false. Using a novel recombination paradigm, it was demonstrated that details from one autobiographical memory may be incorrectly incorporated into another, forming autobiographical memory conjunction errors that elude typical reality monitoring checks. The factors that contribute to the creation of these conjunction errors were examined across two experiments. Conjunction errors were more likely to occur when the corresponding details were partially rather than fully recombined, likely due to increased plausibility and ease of simulation of partially recombined scenarios. Brief periods of imagination increased conjunction error rates, in line with the imagination inflation effect. Subjective ratings suggest that this inflation is due to similarity of phenomenological experience between conjunction and authentic memories, consistent with a source monitoring perspective. Moreover, objective scoring of memory content indicates that increased perceptual detail may be particularly important for the formation of autobiographical memory conjunction errors. PMID:25611492

Factors that influence the generation of autobiographical memory conjunction errors.

PubMed

Devitt, Aleea L; Monk-Fromont, Edwin; Schacter, Daniel L; Addis, Donna Rose

2016-01-01

The constructive nature of memory is generally adaptive, allowing us to efficiently store, process and learn from life events, and simulate future scenarios to prepare ourselves for what may come. However, the cost of a flexibly constructive memory system is the occasional conjunction error, whereby the components of an event are authentic, but the combination of those components is false. Using a novel recombination paradigm, it was demonstrated that details from one autobiographical memory (AM) may be incorrectly incorporated into another, forming AM conjunction errors that elude typical reality monitoring checks. The factors that contribute to the creation of these conjunction errors were examined across two experiments. Conjunction errors were more likely to occur when the corresponding details were partially rather than fully recombined, likely due to increased plausibility and ease of simulation of partially recombined scenarios. Brief periods of imagination increased conjunction error rates, in line with the imagination inflation effect. Subjective ratings suggest that this inflation is due to similarity of phenomenological experience between conjunction and authentic memories, consistent with a source monitoring perspective. Moreover, objective scoring of memory content indicates that increased perceptual detail may be particularly important for the formation of AM conjunction errors.

Full-Authority Fault-Tolerant Electronic Engine Control System for Variable Cycle Engines.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-04-01

single internally self-checked VLSI micro - processor . The selected configuration is an externally checked pair of com- mercially available...Electronic Engine Control FPMH Failures per Million Hours FTMP Fault Tolerant Multi- Processor FTSC Fault Tolerant Spaceborn Computer GRAMP Generalized...Removal * MTBR Mean Time Between Repair MTTF Mean Time to Failure xiii List of Abbreviations (continued) - NH High Pressure Rotor Speed O&S Operating

Nespoli during Kazbek Fit Check in the Soyuz TMA-20/25S

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-04-13

ISS027-E-013433 (13 April 2011) --- European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, Expedition 27 flight engineer, attired in a Russian Sokol launch and entry suit, is pictured in the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft currently docked to the Rassvet Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM1) of the International Space Station. Nespoli was conducting a fit check of his Kazbek couch in the Soyuz.

Progress on the Journey to Total Quality Management: Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Adjective Check List in Management Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mani, Bonnie G.

1995-01-01

In an Internal Revenue Service office using total quality management (TQM), the management development program uses Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Adjective Check List for manager self-assessment. Because management commitment is essential to TQM, the process is a way of enhancing leadership skills and demonstrating appreciation of diversity. (SK)

Soft-Decision-Data Reshuffle to Mitigate Pulsed Radio Frequency Interference Impact on Low-Density-Parity-Check Code Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ni, Jianjun David

2011-01-01

This presentation briefly discusses a research effort on mitigation techniques of pulsed radio frequency interference (RFI) on a Low-Density-Parity-Check (LDPC) code. This problem is of considerable interest in the context of providing reliable communications to the space vehicle which might suffer severe degradation due to pulsed RFI sources such as large radars. The LDPC code is one of modern forward-error-correction (FEC) codes which have the decoding performance to approach the Shannon Limit. The LDPC code studied here is the AR4JA (2048, 1024) code recommended by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) and it has been chosen for some spacecraft design. Even though this code is designed as a powerful FEC code in the additive white Gaussian noise channel, simulation data and test results show that the performance of this LDPC decoder is severely degraded when exposed to the pulsed RFI specified in the spacecraft s transponder specifications. An analysis work (through modeling and simulation) has been conducted to evaluate the impact of the pulsed RFI and a few implemental techniques have been investigated to mitigate the pulsed RFI impact by reshuffling the soft-decision-data available at the input of the LDPC decoder. The simulation results show that the LDPC decoding performance of codeword error rate (CWER) under pulsed RFI can be improved up to four orders of magnitude through a simple soft-decision-data reshuffle scheme. This study reveals that an error floor of LDPC decoding performance appears around CWER=1E-4 when the proposed technique is applied to mitigate the pulsed RFI impact. The mechanism causing this error floor remains unknown, further investigation is necessary.

Standard Errors for National Trends in International Large-Scale Assessments in the Case of Cross-National Differential Item Functioning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sachse, Karoline A.; Haag, Nicole

2017-01-01

Standard errors computed according to the operational practices of international large-scale assessment studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment's (PISA) or the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) may be biased when cross-national differential item functioning (DIF) and item parameter drift are…

SU-E-T-257: Output Constancy: Reducing Measurement Variations in a Large Practice Group

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

Hedrick, K; Fitzgerald, T; Miller, R

2014-06-01

Purpose: To standardize output constancy check procedures in a large medical physics practice group covering multiple sites, in order to identify and reduce small systematic errors caused by differences in equipment and the procedures of multiple physicists. Methods: A standardized machine output constancy check for both photons and electrons was instituted within the practice group in 2010. After conducting annual TG-51 measurements in water and adjusting the linac to deliver 1.00 cGy/MU at Dmax, an acrylic phantom (comparable at all sites) and PTW farmer ion chamber are used to obtain monthly output constancy reference readings. From the collected charge reading,more » measurements of air pressure and temperature, and chamber Ndw and Pelec, a value we call the Kacrylic factor is determined, relating the chamber reading in acrylic to the dose in water with standard set-up conditions. This procedure easily allows for multiple equipment combinations to be used at any site. The Kacrylic factors and output results from all sites and machines are logged monthly in a central database and used to monitor trends in calibration and output. Results: The practice group consists of 19 sites, currently with 34 Varian and 8 Elekta linacs (24 Varian and 5 Elekta linacs in 2010). Over the past three years, the standard deviation of Kacrylic factors measured on all machines decreased by 20% for photons and high energy electrons as systematic errors were found and reduced. Low energy electrons showed very little change in the distribution of Kacrylic values. Small errors in linac beam data were found by investigating outlier Kacrylic values. Conclusion: While the use of acrylic phantoms introduces an additional source of error through small differences in depth and effective depth, the new standardized procedure eliminates potential sources of error from using many different phantoms and results in more consistent output constancy measurements.« less

Can child restraint product information developed using consumer testing sustain correct use 6 months after child restraint purchase? Study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Brown, Julie; Elkington, Jane; Hall, Alexandra; Keay, Lisa; Charlton, Judith L; Hunter, Kate; Koppel, Sjaan; Hayen, Andrew; Bilston, Lynne E

2018-03-07

With long-standing and widespread high rates of errors in child restraint use, there is a need to identify effective methods to address this problem. Information supplied with products at the point of sale may be a potentially efficient delivery point for such a countermeasure. The aim of this study is to establish whether product materials developed using a consumer-driven approach reduce errors in restraint use among purchasers of new child restraint systems. A cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) will be conducted. Retail stores (n=22) in the greater Sydney area will be randomised into intervention sites (n=11) and control sites (n=11), stratified by geographical and socioeconomic indicators. Participants (n=836) will enter the study on purchase of a restraint. Outcome measures are errors in installation of the restraint as observed by a trained researcher during a 6-month follow-up home assessment, and adjustment checks made by the parent when the child is placed into the restraint (observed using naturalistic methods). Process evaluation measures will also be collected during the home visit. An intention-to-treat approach will be used for all analyses. Correct use and adjustment checks made by the parent will be compared between control and intervention groups using a logistic regression model. The number of installation errors between groups will be compared using Poisson regression. This cRCT will determine the effectiveness of targeted, consumer-driven information on actual error rates in use of restraints. More broadly, it may provide a best practice model for developing safety product information. ACTRN12617001252303p; Pre-results. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

MO-F-CAMPUS-T-04: Implementation of a Standardized Monthly Quality Check for Linac Output Management in a Large Multi-Site Clinic

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

Xu, H; Yi, B; Prado, K

2015-06-15

Purpose: This work is to investigate the feasibility of a standardized monthly quality check (QC) of LINAC output determination in a multi-site, multi-LINAC institution. The QC was developed to determine individual LINAC output using the same optimized measurement setup and a constant calibration factor for all machines across the institution. Methods: The QA data over 4 years of 7 Varian machines over four sites, were analyzed. The monthly output constancy checks were performed using a fixed source-to-chamber-distance (SCD), with no couch position adjustment throughout the measurement cycle for all the photon energies: 6 and 18MV, and electron energies: 6, 9,more » 12, 16 and 20 MeV. The constant monthly output calibration factor (Nconst) was determined by averaging the machines’ output data, acquired with the same monthly ion chamber. If a different monthly ion chamber was used, Nconst was then re-normalized to consider its different NDW,Co-60. Here, the possible changes of Nconst over 4 years have been tracked, and the precision of output results based on this standardized monthly QA program relative to the TG-51 calibration for each machine was calculated. Any outlier of the group was investigated. Results: The possible changes of Nconst varied between 0–0.9% over 4 years. The normalization of absorbed-dose-to-water calibration factors corrects for up to 3.3% variations of different monthly QA chambers. The LINAC output precision based on this standardized monthly QC relative to the TG-51 output calibration is within 1% for 6MV photon energy and 2% for 18MV and all the electron energies. A human error in one TG-51 report was found through a close scrutiny of outlier data. Conclusion: This standardized QC allows for a reasonably simplified, precise and robust monthly LINAC output constancy check, with the increased sensitivity needed to detect possible human errors and machine problems.« less

Graduate International Students' Social Experiences Examined through Their Transient Lives: A Phenomenological Study at a Private Research University in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kashyap, Nishmin

2010-01-01

This is a phenomenological study of ten graduate international students at Chardin University (pseudonym). Through 30 in-depth interviews, multiple social contacts, and group and member checking sessions, stories emerged that highlight the social experiences of these graduate international students through their transient lives. Theoretical…

Impact of Internally Developed Electronic Prescription on Prescribing Errors at Discharge from the Emergency Department

PubMed Central

Hitti, Eveline; Tamim, Hani; Bakhti, Rinad; Zebian, Dina; Mufarrij, Afif

2017-01-01

Introduction Medication errors are common, with studies reporting at least one error per patient encounter. At hospital discharge, medication errors vary from 15%–38%. However, studies assessing the effect of an internally developed electronic (E)-prescription system at discharge from an emergency department (ED) are comparatively minimal. Additionally, commercially available electronic solutions are cost-prohibitive in many resource-limited settings. We assessed the impact of introducing an internally developed, low-cost E-prescription system, with a list of commonly prescribed medications, on prescription error rates at discharge from the ED, compared to handwritten prescriptions. Methods We conducted a pre- and post-intervention study comparing error rates in a randomly selected sample of discharge prescriptions (handwritten versus electronic) five months pre and four months post the introduction of the E-prescription. The internally developed, E-prescription system included a list of 166 commonly prescribed medications with the generic name, strength, dose, frequency and duration. We included a total of 2,883 prescriptions in this study: 1,475 in the pre-intervention phase were handwritten (HW) and 1,408 in the post-intervention phase were electronic. We calculated rates of 14 different errors and compared them between the pre- and post-intervention period. Results Overall, E-prescriptions included fewer prescription errors as compared to HW-prescriptions. Specifically, E-prescriptions reduced missing dose (11.3% to 4.3%, p <0.0001), missing frequency (3.5% to 2.2%, p=0.04), missing strength errors (32.4% to 10.2%, p <0.0001) and legibility (0.7% to 0.2%, p=0.005). E-prescriptions, however, were associated with a significant increase in duplication errors, specifically with home medication (1.7% to 3%, p=0.02). Conclusion A basic, internally developed E-prescription system, featuring commonly used medications, effectively reduced medication errors in a low-resource setting where the costs of sophisticated commercial electronic solutions are prohibitive. PMID:28874948

Impact of Internally Developed Electronic Prescription on Prescribing Errors at Discharge from the Emergency Department.

PubMed

Hitti, Eveline; Tamim, Hani; Bakhti, Rinad; Zebian, Dina; Mufarrij, Afif

2017-08-01

Medication errors are common, with studies reporting at least one error per patient encounter. At hospital discharge, medication errors vary from 15%-38%. However, studies assessing the effect of an internally developed electronic (E)-prescription system at discharge from an emergency department (ED) are comparatively minimal. Additionally, commercially available electronic solutions are cost-prohibitive in many resource-limited settings. We assessed the impact of introducing an internally developed, low-cost E-prescription system, with a list of commonly prescribed medications, on prescription error rates at discharge from the ED, compared to handwritten prescriptions. We conducted a pre- and post-intervention study comparing error rates in a randomly selected sample of discharge prescriptions (handwritten versus electronic) five months pre and four months post the introduction of the E-prescription. The internally developed, E-prescription system included a list of 166 commonly prescribed medications with the generic name, strength, dose, frequency and duration. We included a total of 2,883 prescriptions in this study: 1,475 in the pre-intervention phase were handwritten (HW) and 1,408 in the post-intervention phase were electronic. We calculated rates of 14 different errors and compared them between the pre- and post-intervention period. Overall, E-prescriptions included fewer prescription errors as compared to HW-prescriptions. Specifically, E-prescriptions reduced missing dose (11.3% to 4.3%, p <0.0001), missing frequency (3.5% to 2.2%, p=0.04), missing strength errors (32.4% to 10.2%, p <0.0001) and legibility (0.7% to 0.2%, p=0.005). E-prescriptions, however, were associated with a significant increase in duplication errors, specifically with home medication (1.7% to 3%, p=0.02). A basic, internally developed E-prescription system, featuring commonly used medications, effectively reduced medication errors in a low-resource setting where the costs of sophisticated commercial electronic solutions are prohibitive.

Form Overrides Meaning When Bilinguals Monitor for Errors

PubMed Central

Ivanova, Iva; Ferreira, Victor S.; Gollan, Tamar H.

2016-01-01

Bilinguals rarely produce unintended language switches, which may in part be because switches are detected and corrected by an internal monitor. But are language switches easier or harder to detect than within-language semantic errors? To approximate internal monitoring, bilinguals listened (Experiment 1) or read aloud (Experiment 2) stories, and detected language switches (translation equivalents or semantically unrelated to expected words) and within-language errors (semantically related or unrelated to expected words). Bilinguals detected semantically related within-language errors most slowly and least accurately, language switches more quickly and accurately than within-language errors, and (in Experiment 2), translation equivalents as quickly and accurately as unrelated language switches. These results suggest that internal monitoring of form (which can detect mismatches in language membership) completes earlier than, and is independent of, monitoring of meaning. However, analysis of reading times prior to error detection revealed meaning violations to be more disruptive for processing than language violations. PMID:28649169

Scalable video transmission over Rayleigh fading channels using LDPC codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bansal, Manu; Kondi, Lisimachos P.

2005-03-01

In this paper, we investigate an important problem of efficiently utilizing the available resources for video transmission over wireless channels while maintaining a good decoded video quality and resilience to channel impairments. Our system consists of the video codec based on 3-D set partitioning in hierarchical trees (3-D SPIHT) algorithm and employs two different schemes using low-density parity check (LDPC) codes for channel error protection. The first method uses the serial concatenation of the constant-rate LDPC code and rate-compatible punctured convolutional (RCPC) codes. Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is used to detect transmission errors. In the other scheme, we use the product code structure consisting of a constant rate LDPC/CRC code across the rows of the `blocks' of source data and an erasure-correction systematic Reed-Solomon (RS) code as the column code. In both the schemes introduced here, we use fixed-length source packets protected with unequal forward error correction coding ensuring a strictly decreasing protection across the bitstream. A Rayleigh flat-fading channel with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is modeled for the transmission. The rate-distortion optimization algorithm is developed and carried out for the selection of source coding and channel coding rates using Lagrangian optimization. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of this system under different wireless channel conditions and both the proposed methods (LDPC+RCPC/CRC and RS+LDPC/CRC) outperform the more conventional schemes such as those employing RCPC/CRC.

Re-Computation of Numerical Results Contained in NACA Report No. 496

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perry, Boyd, III

2015-01-01

An extensive examination of NACA Report No. 496 (NACA 496), "General Theory of Aerodynamic Instability and the Mechanism of Flutter," by Theodore Theodorsen, is described. The examination included checking equations and solution methods and re-computing interim quantities and all numerical examples in NACA 496. The checks revealed that NACA 496 contains computational shortcuts (time- and effort-saving devices for engineers of the time) and clever artifices (employed in its solution methods), but, unfortunately, also contains numerous tripping points (aspects of NACA 496 that have the potential to cause confusion) and some errors. The re-computations were performed employing the methods and procedures described in NACA 496, but using modern computational tools. With some exceptions, the magnitudes and trends of the original results were in fair-to-very-good agreement with the re-computed results. The exceptions included what are speculated to be computational errors in the original in some instances and transcription errors in the original in others. Independent flutter calculations were performed and, in all cases, including those where the original and re-computed results differed significantly, were in excellent agreement with the re-computed results. Appendix A contains NACA 496; Appendix B contains a Matlab(Reistered) program that performs the re-computation of results; Appendix C presents three alternate solution methods, with examples, for the two-degree-of-freedom solution method of NACA 496; Appendix D contains the three-degree-of-freedom solution method (outlined in NACA 496 but never implemented), with examples.

Model Checking - My 27-Year Quest to Overcome the State Explosion Problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clarke, Ed

2009-01-01

Model Checking is an automatic verification technique for state-transition systems that are finite=state or that have finite-state abstractions. In the early 1980 s in a series of joint papers with my graduate students E.A. Emerson and A.P. Sistla, we proposed that Model Checking could be used for verifying concurrent systems and gave algorithms for this purpose. At roughly the same time, Joseph Sifakis and his student J.P. Queille at the University of Grenoble independently developed a similar technique. Model Checking has been used successfully to reason about computer hardware and communication protocols and is beginning to be used for verifying computer software. Specifications are written in temporal logic, which is particularly valuable for expressing concurrency properties. An intelligent, exhaustive search is used to determine if the specification is true or not. If the specification is not true, the Model Checker will produce a counterexample execution trace that shows why the specification does not hold. This feature is extremely useful for finding obscure errors in complex systems. The main disadvantage of Model Checking is the state-explosion problem, which can occur if the system under verification has many processes or complex data structures. Although the state-explosion problem is inevitable in worst case, over the past 27 years considerable progress has been made on the problem for certain classes of state-transition systems that occur often in practice. In this talk, I will describe what Model Checking is, how it works, and the main techniques that have been developed for combating the state explosion problem.

Converting international ¼ inch tree volume to Doyle

Treesearch

Aaron Holley; John R. Brooks; Stuart A. Moss

2014-01-01

An equation for converting Mesavage and Girard's International ¼ inch tree volumes to the Doyle log rule is presented as a function of tree diameter. Volume error for trees having less than four logs exhibited volume prediction errors within a range of ±10 board feet. In addition, volume prediction error as a percent of actual Doyle tree volume...

An efficient algorithm for generating random number pairs drawn from a bivariate normal distribution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, C. W.

1983-01-01

An efficient algorithm for generating random number pairs from a bivariate normal distribution was developed. Any desired value of the two means, two standard deviations, and correlation coefficient can be selected. Theoretically the technique is exact and in practice its accuracy is limited only by the quality of the uniform distribution random number generator, inaccuracies in computer function evaluation, and arithmetic. A FORTRAN routine was written to check the algorithm and good accuracy was obtained. Some small errors in the correlation coefficient were observed to vary in a surprisingly regular manner. A simple model was developed which explained the qualities aspects of the errors.

Trajectory Design to Mitigate Risk on the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dichmann, Donald

2016-01-01

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will employ a highly eccentric Earth orbit, in 2:1 lunar resonance, reached with a lunar flyby preceded by 3.5 phasing loops. The TESS mission has limited propellant and several orbit constraints. Based on analysis and simulation, we have designed the phasing loops to reduce delta-V and to mitigate risk due to maneuver execution errors. We have automated the trajectory design process and use distributed processing to generate and to optimize nominal trajectories, check constraint satisfaction, and finally model the effects of maneuver errors to identify trajectories that best meet the mission requirements.

Local rollback for fault-tolerance in parallel computing systems

DOEpatents

Blumrich, Matthias A [Yorktown Heights, NY; Chen, Dong [Yorktown Heights, NY; Gara, Alan [Yorktown Heights, NY; Giampapa, Mark E [Yorktown Heights, NY; Heidelberger, Philip [Yorktown Heights, NY; Ohmacht, Martin [Yorktown Heights, NY; Steinmacher-Burow, Burkhard [Boeblingen, DE; Sugavanam, Krishnan [Yorktown Heights, NY

2012-01-24

A control logic device performs a local rollback in a parallel super computing system. The super computing system includes at least one cache memory device. The control logic device determines a local rollback interval. The control logic device runs at least one instruction in the local rollback interval. The control logic device evaluates whether an unrecoverable condition occurs while running the at least one instruction during the local rollback interval. The control logic device checks whether an error occurs during the local rollback. The control logic device restarts the local rollback interval if the error occurs and the unrecoverable condition does not occur during the local rollback interval.

Common data buffer system. [communication with computational equipment utilized in spacecraft operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrne, F. (Inventor)

1981-01-01

A high speed common data buffer system is described for providing an interface and communications medium between a plurality of computers utilized in a distributed computer complex forming part of a checkout, command and control system for space vehicles and associated ground support equipment. The system includes the capability for temporarily storing data to be transferred between computers, for transferring a plurality of interrupts between computers, for monitoring and recording these transfers, and for correcting errors incurred in these transfers. Validity checks are made on each transfer and appropriate error notification is given to the computer associated with that transfer.

Vein-style air pumping tube and tire system and method of assembly

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

Benedict, Robert Leon; Gobinath, Thulasiram; Lin, Cheng-Hsiung

An air pumping tube and tire system and method of assembling is provided in which a tire groove is formed to extend into a flexing region of a tire sidewall and a complementary air pumping tube inserts into the tire groove. In the green, uncured air pumping tube condition, one or more check valves are assembled into the air pumping tube through access shafts and align with an internal air passageway of the air pumping tube. Plug components of the system enclose the check valves in the air pumping tube and the check valve-containing green air pumping tube is thenmore » cured.« less

Program Instrumentation and Trace Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Havelund, Klaus; Goldberg, Allen; Filman, Robert; Rosu, Grigore; Koga, Dennis (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Several attempts have been made recently to apply techniques such as model checking and theorem proving to the analysis of programs. This shall be seen as a current trend to analyze real software systems instead of just their designs. This includes our own effort to develop a model checker for Java, the Java PathFinder 1, one of the very first of its kind in 1998. However, model checking cannot handle very large programs without some kind of abstraction of the program. This paper describes a complementary scalable technique to handle such large programs. Our interest is turned on the observation part of the equation: How much information can be extracted about a program from observing a single execution trace? It is our intention to develop a technology that can be applied automatically and to large full-size applications, with minimal modification to the code. We present a tool, Java PathExplorer (JPaX), for exploring execution traces of Java programs. The tool prioritizes scalability for completeness, and is directed towards detecting errors in programs, not to prove correctness. One core element in JPaX is an instrumentation package that allows to instrument Java byte code files to log various events when executed. The instrumentation is driven by a user provided script that specifies what information to log. Examples of instructions that such a script can contain are: 'report name and arguments of all called methods defined in class C, together with a timestamp'; 'report all updates to all variables'; and 'report all acquisitions and releases of locks'. In more complex instructions one can specify that certain expressions should be evaluated and even that certain code should be executed under various conditions. The instrumentation package can hence be seen as implementing Aspect Oriented Programming for Java in the sense that one can add functionality to a Java program without explicitly changing the code of the original program, but one rather writes an aspect and compiles it into the original program using the instrumentation. Another core element of JPaX is an observation package that supports the analysis of the generated event stream. Two kinds of analysis are currently supported. In temporal analysis the execution trace is evaluated against formulae written in temporal logic. We have implemented a temporal logic evaluator on finite traces using the Maude rewriting system from SRI International, USA. Temporal logic is defined in Maude by giving its syntax as a signature and its semantics as rewrite equations. The resulting semantics is extremely efficient and can handle event streams of hundreds of millions events in few minutes. Furthermore, the implementation is very succinct. The second form of even stream analysis supported is error pattern analysis where an execution trace is analyzed using various error detection algorithms that can identify error-prone programming practices that may potentially lead to errors in some different executions. Two such algorithms focusing on concurrency errors have been implemented in JPaX, one for deadlocks and the other for data races. It is important to note, that a deadlock or data race potential does not need to occur in order for its potential to be detected with these algorithms. This is what makes them very scalable in practice. The data race algorithm implemented is the Eraser algorithm from Compaq, however adopted to Java. The tool is currently being applied to a code base for controlling a spacecraft by the developers of that software in order to evaluate its applicability.

Bayesian Hierarchical Air-Sea Interaction Modeling: Application to the Labrador Sea

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Niiler, Pearn P.

2002-01-01

The objectives are to: 1) Organize data from 26 MINIMET drifters in the Labrador Sea, including sensor calibration and error checking of ARGOS transmissions. 2) Produce wind direction, barometer, and sea surface temperature time series. In addition, provide data from historical file of 150 SHARP drifters in the Labrador Sea. 3) Work with data interpretation and data-modeling assimilation issues.

Signature-based store checking buffer

DOEpatents

Sridharan, Vilas; Gurumurthi, Sudhanva

2015-06-02

A system and method for optimizing redundant output verification, are provided. A hardware-based store fingerprint buffer receives multiple instances of output from multiple instances of computation. The store fingerprint buffer generates a signature from the content included in the multiple instances of output. When a barrier is reached, the store fingerprint buffer uses the signature to verify the content is error-free.

Student Beliefs towards Written Corrective Feedback: The Case of Filipino High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balanga, Roselle A.; Fidel, Irish Van B.; Gumapac, Mone Virma Ginry P.; Ho, Howell T.; Tullo, Riza Mae C.; Villaraza, Patricia Monette L.; Vizconde, Camilla J.

2016-01-01

The study identified the beliefs of high school students toward Written Corrective Feedback (WCF), based on the framework of Anderson (2010). It also investigated the most common errors that students commit in writing stories and the type of WCF students receive from teachers. Data in the form of stories which were checked by teachers were…

Double-Checking the Race Box: Examining Inconsistency between Survey Measures of Observed and Self-Reported Race

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saperstein, Aliya

2006-01-01

Social constructivist theories of race suggest no two measures of race will capture the same information, but the degree of "error" this creates for quantitative research on inequality is unclear. Using unique data from the General Social Survey, I find observed and self-reported measures of race yield substantively different results when used to…

The Role of Human Error in Design, Construction, and Reliability of Marine Structures.

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-10-01

The 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident was largely a result of a failure to properly sort out and recognize critically important information...determinating the goals and objectives of the program and by evaluating and interpreting the results in terms of structural design, construction, and...67 Checking Models in Structural Design ....................................... 69 Nuclear Power Plants

An interactive review system for NASTRAN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Durocher, L. L.; Gasper, A. F.

1982-01-01

An interactive review system that addresses the problems of model display, model error checking, and postprocessing is described. The menu driven system consists of four programs whose advantages and limitations are detailed. The interface between NASTRAN and MOVIE-BYU, the modifications required to make MOVIE usable in a finite element context, and the resulting capabilities of MOVIE as a graphics postprocessor for NASTRAN are illustrated.

99aa/99ac data sets

Science.gov Websites

-redshifted), Observed Flux, Statistical Error (Based on the optimal extraction algorithm of the IRAF packages were acquired using different instrumental settings for the blue and red parts of the spectrum to avoid extracted for systematics checks of the wavelength calibration. Wavelength and flux calibration were applied

Performance Analysis of AeroRP with Ground Station Advertisements

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-12

results showed that AeroRP outperforms the traditional MANET routing protocols in terms of throughput and packet delivery ra - tio (PDR) [5, 6]. AeroRP...and waiting for the source to re- send the packet increases the end-to-end delay. The AeroNP corruption indicator and HEC -CRC (header error check...Dev ID | NP HEC CRC-16 | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ \\ \\ / AeroTP Payload

Effects of Spell Checkers on English as a Second Language Students' Incidental Spelling Learning: A Cognitive Load Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Po-Han; Liu, Tzu-Chien; Paas, Fred

2017-01-01

Computer-based spell checkers help to correct misspells instantly. Almost all the word processing devices are now equipped with a spell-check function that either automatically corrects errors or provides a list of intended words. However, it is not clear on how the reliance on this convenient technological solution affects spelling learning.…

Prototype data terminal: Multiplexer/demultiplexer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leck, D. E.; Goodwin, J. E.

1972-01-01

The design and operation of a quad redundant data terminal and a multiplexer/demultiplexer (MDU) design are described. The most unique feature is the design of the quad redundant data terminal. This is one of the few designs where the unit is fail/op, fail/op, fail/safe. Laboratory tests confirm that the unit will operate satisfactorily with the failure of three out of four channels. Although the design utilizes state-of-the-art technology. The waveform error checks, the voting techniques, and the parity bit checks are believed to be used in unique configurations. Correct word selection routines are also novel, if not unique. The MDU design, while not redundant, utilizes, the latest state-of-the-art advantages of light couplers and integrated circuit amplifiers.

Data Quality Control and Maintenance for the Qweak Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heiner, Nicholas; Spayde, Damon

2014-03-01

The Qweak collaboration seeks to quantify the weak charge of a proton through the analysis of the parity-violating electron asymmetry in elastic electron-proton scattering. The asymmetry is calculated by measuring how many electrons deflect from a hydrogen target at the chosen scattering angle for aligned and anti-aligned electron spins, then evaluating the difference between the numbers of deflections that occurred for both polarization states. The weak charge can then be extracted from this data. Knowing the weak charge will allow us to calculate the electroweak mixing angle for the particular Q2 value of the chosen electrons, which the Standard Model makes a firm prediction for. Any significant deviation from this prediction would be a prime indicator of the existence of physics beyond what the Standard Model describes. After the experiment was conducted at Jefferson Lab, collected data was stored within a MySQL database for further analysis. I will present an overview of the database and its functions as well as a demonstration of the quality checks and maintenance performed on the data itself. These checks include an analysis of errors occurring throughout the experiment, specifically data acquisition errors within the main detector array, and an analysis of data cuts.

Improved CLARAty Functional-Layer/Decision-Layer Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estlin, Tara; Rabideau, Gregg; Gaines, Daniel; Johnston, Mark; Chouinard, Caroline; Nessnas, Issa; Shu, I-Hsiang

2008-01-01

Improved interface software for communication between the CLARAty Decision and Functional layers has been developed. [The Coupled Layer Architecture for Robotics Autonomy (CLARAty) was described in Coupled-Layer Robotics Architecture for Autonomy (NPO-21218), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 12 (December 2002), page 48. To recapitulate: the CLARAty architecture was developed to improve the modularity of robotic software while tightening coupling between planning/execution and basic control subsystems. Whereas prior robotic software architectures typically contained three layers, the CLARAty contains two layers: a decision layer (DL) and a functional layer (FL).] Types of communication supported by the present software include sending commands from DL modules to FL modules and sending data updates from FL modules to DL modules. The present software supplants prior interface software that had little error-checking capability, supported data parameters in string form only, supported commanding at only one level of the FL, and supported only limited updates of the state of the robot. The present software offers strong error checking, and supports complex data structures and commanding at multiple levels of the FL, and relative to the prior software, offers a much wider spectrum of state-update capabilities.

Prescribing errors during hospital inpatient care: factors influencing identification by pharmacists.

PubMed

Tully, Mary P; Buchan, Iain E

2009-12-01

To investigate the prevalence of prescribing errors identified by pharmacists in hospital inpatients and the factors influencing error identification rates by pharmacists throughout hospital admission. 880-bed university teaching hospital in North-west England. Data about prescribing errors identified by pharmacists (median: 9 (range 4-17) collecting data per day) when conducting routine work were prospectively recorded on 38 randomly selected days over 18 months. Proportion of new medication orders in which an error was identified; predictors of error identification rate, adjusted for workload and seniority of pharmacist, day of week, type of ward or stage of patient admission. 33,012 new medication orders were reviewed for 5,199 patients; 3,455 errors (in 10.5% of orders) were identified for 2,040 patients (39.2%; median 1, range 1-12). Most were problem orders (1,456, 42.1%) or potentially significant errors (1,748, 50.6%); 197 (5.7%) were potentially serious; 1.6% (n = 54) were potentially severe or fatal. Errors were 41% (CI: 28-56%) more likely to be identified at patient's admission than at other times, independent of confounders. Workload was the strongest predictor of error identification rates, with 40% (33-46%) less errors identified on the busiest days than at other times. Errors identified fell by 1.9% (1.5-2.3%) for every additional chart checked, independent of confounders. Pharmacists routinely identify errors but increasing workload may reduce identification rates. Where resources are limited, they may be better spent on identifying and addressing errors immediately after admission to hospital.

Judging the judges' performance in rhythmic gymnastics.

PubMed

Flessas, Konstantinos; Mylonas, Dimitris; Panagiotaropoulou, Georgia; Tsopani, Despina; Korda, Alexandrea; Siettos, Constantinos; Di Cagno, Alessandra; Evdokimidis, Ioannis; Smyrnis, Nikolaos

2015-03-01

Rhythmic gymnastics (RG) is an aesthetic event balancing between art and sport that also has a performance rating system (Code of Points) given by the International Gymnastics Federation. It is one of the sports in which competition results greatly depend on the judges' evaluation. In the current study, we explored the judges' performance in a five-gymnast ensemble routine. An expert-novice paradigm (10 international-level, 10 national-level, and 10 novice-level judges) was implemented under a fully simulated procedure of judgment in a five-gymnast ensemble routine of RG using two videos of routines performed by the Greek national team of RG. Simultaneous recordings of two-dimensional eye movements were taken during the judgment procedure to assess the percentage of time spent by each judge viewing the videos and fixation performance of each judge when an error in gymnast performance had occurred. All judge level groups had very modest performance of error recognition on gymnasts' routines, and the best international judges reported approximately 40% of true errors. Novice judges spent significantly more time viewing the videos compared with national and international judges and spent significantly more time fixating detected errors than the other two groups. National judges were the only group that made efficient use of fixation to detect errors. The fact that international-level judges outperformed both other groups, while not relying on visual fixation to detect errors, suggests that these experienced judges probably make use of other cognitive strategies, increasing their overall error detection efficiency, which was, however, still far below optimum.

Graduate International Students' Social Experiences Examined through Their Transient Lives: A Phenomenological Study at a Private Research University in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kashyap, Nishmin Balsara

2011-01-01

This is a phenomenological study of ten graduate international students at Chardin University (pseudonym). Through 30 in-depth interviews, multiple social contacts, and group and member checking sessions, stories emerged that highlight the social experiences of these graduate international students through their transient lives. For the purposes…

The ethics and practical importance of defining, distinguishing and disclosing nursing errors: a discussion paper.

PubMed

Johnstone, Megan-Jane; Kanitsaki, Olga

2006-03-01

Nurses globally are required and expected to report nursing errors. As is clearly demonstrated in the international literature, fulfilling this requirement is not, however, without risks. In this discussion paper, the notion of 'nursing error', the practical and moral importance of defining, distinguishing and disclosing nursing errors and how a distinct definition of 'nursing error' fits with the new 'system approach' to human-error management in health care are critiqued. Drawing on international literature and two key case exemplars from the USA and Australia, arguments are advanced to support the view that although it is 'right' for nurses to report nursing errors, it will be very difficult for them to do so unless a non-punitive approach to nursing-error management is adopted.

MPI Runtime Error Detection with MUST: Advances in Deadlock Detection

DOE PAGES

Hilbrich, Tobias; Protze, Joachim; Schulz, Martin; ...

2013-01-01

The widely used Message Passing Interface (MPI) is complex and rich. As a result, application developers require automated tools to avoid and to detect MPI programming errors. We present the Marmot Umpire Scalable Tool (MUST) that detects such errors with significantly increased scalability. We present improvements to our graph-based deadlock detection approach for MPI, which cover future MPI extensions. Our enhancements also check complex MPI constructs that no previous graph-based detection approach handled correctly. Finally, we present optimizations for the processing of MPI operations that reduce runtime deadlock detection overheads. Existing approaches often require ( p ) analysis time permore » MPI operation, for p processes. We empirically observe that our improvements lead to sub-linear or better analysis time per operation for a wide range of real world applications.« less

The theory precision analyse of RFM localization of satellite remote sensing imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jianqing; Xv, Biao

2009-11-01

The tradition method of detecting precision of Rational Function Model(RFM) is to make use of a great deal check points, and it calculates mean square error through comparing calculational coordinate with known coordinate. This method is from theory of probability, through a large number of samples to statistic estimate value of mean square error, we can think its estimate value approaches in its true when samples are well enough. This paper is from angle of survey adjustment, take law of propagation of error as the theory basis, and it calculates theory precision of RFM localization. Then take the SPOT5 three array imagery as experiment data, and the result of traditional method and narrated method in the paper are compared, while has confirmed tradition method feasible, and answered its theory precision question from the angle of survey adjustment.

Psychometric properties of the Body Checking Questionnaire in college women.

PubMed

White, Emily K; Claudat, Kim; Jones, Sarah C; Barchard, Kimberly A; Warren, Cortney S

2015-03-01

While the Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ; Reas et al., 2002) is the most commonly-used measure of body checking behaviors, findings on the factor structure in nonclinical samples are mixed. This study investigated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the BCQ among nonclinical college women. In Study 1 (n=326), an exploratory factor analysis indicated factors corresponding to (a) behavioral and (b) visual checking. In Study 2 (n=1013), a confirmatory factor analysis revealed adequate fit for these factors, better than the original or total score solutions. Scales based upon the two factors demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity with measures of eating pathology, and sensitivity for detecting at-risk eating pathology. Results suggest an alternate two-factor solution that differs from the original three-factor solution. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Error Analysis in Academic Writing: A Case of International Postgraduate Students in Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amiri, Fatemeh; Puteh, Marlia

2017-01-01

This paper examines the different types of writing errors performed by 16 international postgraduate students undertaking an intensive English course at a public university in Malaysia. It was mandatory for international postgraduate students who obtained less than IELTS Band 6 to undertake an Intensive English Course (IEC) offered by the…

Internally-generated error signals in monkey frontal eye field during an inferred motion task

PubMed Central

Ferrera, Vincent P.; Barborica, Andrei

2010-01-01

An internal model for predictive saccades in frontal cortex was investigated by recording neurons in monkey frontal eye field during an inferred motion task. Monkeys were trained to make saccades to the extrapolated position of a small moving target that was rendered temporarily invisible and whose trajectory was altered. On roughly two-thirds of the trials, monkeys made multiple saccades while the target was invisible. Primary saccades were correlated with extrapolated target position. Secondary saccades significantly reduced residual errors resulting from imperfect accuracy of the first saccade. These observations suggest that the second saccade was corrective. As there was no visual feedback, corrective saccades could only be driven by an internally generated error signal. Neuronal activity in the frontal eye field was directionally tuned prior to both primary and secondary saccades. Separate subpopulations of cells encoded either saccade direction or direction error prior to the second saccade. These results suggest that FEF neurons encode the error after the first saccade, as well as the direction of the second saccade. Hence, FEF appears to contribute to detecting and correcting movement errors based on internally generated signals. PMID:20810882

Getting the right blood to the right patient: the contribution of near-miss event reporting and barrier analysis.

PubMed

Kaplan, H S

2005-11-01

Safety and reliability in blood transfusion are not static, but are dynamic non-events. Since performance deviations continually occur in complex systems, their detection and correction must be accomplished over and over again. Non-conformance must be detected early enough to allow for recovery or mitigation. Near-miss events afford early detection of possible system weaknesses and provide an early chance at correction. National event reporting systems, both voluntary and involuntary, have begun to include near-miss reporting in their classification schemes, raising awareness for their detection. MERS-TM is a voluntary safety reporting initiative in transfusion. Currently 22 hospitals submit reports anonymously to a central database which supports analysis of a hospital's own data and that of an aggregate database. The system encourages reporting of near-miss events, where the patient is protected from receiving an unsuitable or incorrect blood component due to a planned or unplanned recovery step. MERS-TM data suggest approximately 90% of events are near-misses, with 10% caught after issue but before transfusion. Near-miss reporting may increase total reports ten-fold. The ratio of near-misses to events with harm is 339:1, consistent with other industries' ratio of 300:1, which has been proposed as a measure of reporting in event reporting systems. Use of a risk matrix and an event's relation to protective barriers allow prioritization of these events. Near-misses recovered by planned barriers occur ten times more frequently then unplanned recoveries. A bedside check of the patient's identity with that on the blood component is an essential, final barrier. How the typical two person check is performed, is critical. Even properly done, this check is ineffective against sampling and testing errors. Blood testing at bedside just prior to transfusion minimizes the risk of such upstream events. However, even with simple and well designed devices, training may be a critical issue. Sample errors account for more than half of reported events. The most dangerous miscollection is a blood sample passing acceptance with no previous patient results for comparison. Bar code labels or collection of a second sample may counter this upstream vulnerability. Further upstream barriers have been proposed to counter the precariousness of urgent blood sample collection in a changing unstable situation. One, a linking device, allows safer labeling of tubes away from the bedside, the second, a forcing function, prevents omission of critical patient identification steps. Errors in the blood bank itself account for 15% of errors with a high potential severity. In one such event, a component incorrectly issued, but safely detected prior to transfusion, focused attention on multitasking's contribution to laboratory error. In sum, use of near-miss information, by enhancing barriers supporting error prevention and mitigation, increases our capacity to get the right blood to the right patient.

How do speakers resist distraction? Evidence from a taboo picture-word interference task.

PubMed

Dhooge, Elisah; Hartsuiker, Robert J

2011-07-01

Even in the presence of irrelevant stimuli, word production is a highly accurate and fluent process. But how do speakers prevent themselves from naming the wrong things? One possibility is that an attentional system inhibits task-irrelevant representations. Alternatively, a verbal self-monitoring system might check speech for accuracy and remove errors stemming from irrelevant information. Because self-monitoring is sensitive to social appropriateness, taboo errors should be intercepted more than neutral errors are. To prevent embarrassment, speakers might also speak more slowly when confronted with taboo distractors. Our results from two experiments are consistent with the self-monitoring account: Examining picture-naming speed (Experiment 1) and accuracy (Experiment 2), we found fewer naming errors but longer picture-naming latencies for pictures presented with taboo distractors than for pictures presented with neutral distractors. These results suggest that when intrusions of irrelevant words are highly undesirable, speakers do not simply inhibit these words: Rather, the language-production system adjusts itself to the context and filters out the undesirable words.

Use of autocorrelation scanning in DNA copy number analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Liangcai; Zhang, Li

2013-11-01

Data quality is a critical issue in the analyses of DNA copy number alterations obtained from microarrays. It is commonly assumed that copy number alteration data can be modeled as piecewise constant and the measurement errors of different probes are independent. However, these assumptions do not always hold in practice. In some published datasets, we find that measurement errors are highly correlated between probes that interrogate nearby genomic loci, and the piecewise-constant model does not fit the data well. The correlated errors cause problems in downstream analysis, leading to a large number of DNA segments falsely identified as having copy number gains and losses. We developed a simple tool, called autocorrelation scanning profile, to assess the dependence of measurement error between neighboring probes. Autocorrelation scanning profile can be used to check data quality and refine the analysis of DNA copy number data, which we demonstrate in some typical datasets. lzhangli@mdanderson.org. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Laboratory longitudinal diffusion tests: 1. Dimensionless formulations and validity of simplified solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeda, M.; Nakajima, H.; Zhang, M.; Hiratsuka, T.

2008-04-01

To obtain reliable diffusion parameters for diffusion testing, multiple experiments should not only be cross-checked but the internal consistency of each experiment should also be verified. In the through- and in-diffusion tests with solution reservoirs, test interpretation of different phases often makes use of simplified analytical solutions. This study explores the feasibility of steady, quasi-steady, equilibrium and transient-state analyses using simplified analytical solutions with respect to (i) valid conditions for each analytical solution, (ii) potential error, and (iii) experimental time. For increased generality, a series of numerical analyses are performed using unified dimensionless parameters and the results are all related to dimensionless reservoir volume (DRV) which includes only the sorptive parameter as an unknown. This means the above factors can be investigated on the basis of the sorption properties of the testing material and/or tracer. The main findings are that steady, quasi-steady and equilibrium-state analyses are applicable when the tracer is not highly sorptive. However, quasi-steady and equilibrium-state analyses become inefficient or impractical compared to steady state analysis when the tracer is non-sorbing and material porosity is significantly low. Systematic and comprehensive reformulation of analytical models enables the comparison of experimental times between different test methods. The applicability and potential error of each test interpretation can also be studied. These can be applied in designing, performing, and interpreting diffusion experiments by deducing DRV from the available information for the target material and tracer, combined with the results of this study.

Reproducing Epidemiologic Research and Ensuring Transparency.

PubMed

Coughlin, Steven S

2017-08-15

Measures for ensuring that epidemiologic studies are reproducible include making data sets and software available to other researchers so they can verify published findings, conduct alternative analyses of the data, and check for statistical errors or programming errors. Recent developments related to the reproducibility and transparency of epidemiologic studies include the creation of a global platform for sharing data from clinical trials and the anticipated future extension of the global platform to non-clinical trial data. Government agencies and departments such as the US Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program have also enhanced their data repositories and data sharing resources. The Institute of Medicine and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors released guidance on sharing clinical trial data. The US National Institutes of Health has updated their data-sharing policies. In this issue of the Journal, Shepherd et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2017;186:387-392) outline a pragmatic approach for reproducible research with sensitive data for studies for which data cannot be shared because of legal or ethical restrictions. Their proposed quasi-reproducible approach facilitates the dissemination of statistical methods and codes to independent researchers. Both reproducibility and quasi-reproducibility can increase transparency for critical evaluation, further dissemination of study methods, and expedite the exchange of ideas among researchers. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Admitting international graduate nursing students: what faculty need to know.

PubMed

Genovese, S Kim; Schmidt, Nola A; Brown, Janet M

2015-01-01

The number of international applicants to US nursing graduate programs is increasing. Modifying standard admission criteria, such as RN licensure, graduate record examination, validation of BSN degree, criminal background check, letters of recommendation, and personal statements, is necessary because of unique complexities. Addressing admission requirements unique to international students, such as English proficiency, visas, and proof of financial resources, is critical. Managing complexities of admitting international students is necessary to facilitate their success.

Tools for Administration of a UNIX-Based Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LeClaire, Stephen; Farrar, Edward

2004-01-01

Several computer programs have been developed to enable efficient administration of a large, heterogeneous, UNIX-based computing and communication network that includes a variety of computers connected to a variety of subnetworks. One program provides secure software tools for administrators to create, modify, lock, and delete accounts of specific users. This program also provides tools for users to change their UNIX passwords and log-in shells. These tools check for errors. Another program comprises a client and a server component that, together, provide a secure mechanism to create, modify, and query quota levels on a network file system (NFS) mounted by use of the VERITAS File SystemJ software. The client software resides on an internal secure computer with a secure Web interface; one can gain access to the client software from any authorized computer capable of running web-browser software. The server software resides on a UNIX computer configured with the VERITAS software system. Directories where VERITAS quotas are applied are NFS-mounted. Another program is a Web-based, client/server Internet Protocol (IP) address tool that facilitates maintenance lookup of information about IP addresses for a network of computers.

DNA Barcoding through Quaternary LDPC Codes

PubMed Central

Tapia, Elizabeth; Spetale, Flavio; Krsticevic, Flavia; Angelone, Laura; Bulacio, Pilar

2015-01-01

For many parallel applications of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies short barcodes able to accurately multiplex a large number of samples are demanded. To address these competitive requirements, the use of error-correcting codes is advised. Current barcoding systems are mostly built from short random error-correcting codes, a feature that strongly limits their multiplexing accuracy and experimental scalability. To overcome these problems on sequencing systems impaired by mismatch errors, the alternative use of binary BCH and pseudo-quaternary Hamming codes has been proposed. However, these codes either fail to provide a fine-scale with regard to size of barcodes (BCH) or have intrinsic poor error correcting abilities (Hamming). Here, the design of barcodes from shortened binary BCH codes and quaternary Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes is introduced. Simulation results show that although accurate barcoding systems of high multiplexing capacity can be obtained with any of these codes, using quaternary LDPC codes may be particularly advantageous due to the lower rates of read losses and undetected sample misidentification errors. Even at mismatch error rates of 10−2 per base, 24-nt LDPC barcodes can be used to multiplex roughly 2000 samples with a sample misidentification error rate in the order of 10−9 at the expense of a rate of read losses just in the order of 10−6. PMID:26492348

DNA Barcoding through Quaternary LDPC Codes.

PubMed

Tapia, Elizabeth; Spetale, Flavio; Krsticevic, Flavia; Angelone, Laura; Bulacio, Pilar

2015-01-01

For many parallel applications of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies short barcodes able to accurately multiplex a large number of samples are demanded. To address these competitive requirements, the use of error-correcting codes is advised. Current barcoding systems are mostly built from short random error-correcting codes, a feature that strongly limits their multiplexing accuracy and experimental scalability. To overcome these problems on sequencing systems impaired by mismatch errors, the alternative use of binary BCH and pseudo-quaternary Hamming codes has been proposed. However, these codes either fail to provide a fine-scale with regard to size of barcodes (BCH) or have intrinsic poor error correcting abilities (Hamming). Here, the design of barcodes from shortened binary BCH codes and quaternary Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes is introduced. Simulation results show that although accurate barcoding systems of high multiplexing capacity can be obtained with any of these codes, using quaternary LDPC codes may be particularly advantageous due to the lower rates of read losses and undetected sample misidentification errors. Even at mismatch error rates of 10(-2) per base, 24-nt LDPC barcodes can be used to multiplex roughly 2000 samples with a sample misidentification error rate in the order of 10(-9) at the expense of a rate of read losses just in the order of 10(-6).

Austrian Daily Climate Data Rescue and Quality Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurkovic, A.; Lipa, W.; Adler, S.; Albenberger, J.; Lechner, W.; Swietli, R.; Vossberg, I.; Zehetner, S.

2010-09-01

Checked climate datasets are a "conditio sine qua non" for all projects that are relevant for environment and climate. In the framework of climate change studies and analysis it is essential to work with quality controlled and trustful data. Furthermore these datasets are used as input for various simulation models. In regard to investigations of extreme events, like strong precipitation periods, drought periods and similar ones we need climate data in high temporal resolution (at least in daily resolution). Because of the historical background - during Second World War the majority of our climate sheets were sent to Berlin, where the historical sheets were destroyed by a bomb attack and so important information got lost - only several climate sheets, mostly duplicates, before 1939 are available and stored in our climate data archive. In 1970 the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics in Vienna started a first attempt to digitize climate data by means of punch cards. With the introduction of a routinely climate data quality control in 1984 we can speak of high-class-checked daily data (finally checked data, quality flag 6). Our group is working on the processing of digitization and quality control of the historical data for the period 1872 to 1983 for 18 years. Since 2007 it was possible to intensify the work (processes) in the framework of an internal project, namely Austrian Climate Data Rescue and Quality Control. The aim of this initiative was - and still is - to supply daily data in an outstanding good and uniform quality. So this project is a kind of pre-project for all scientific projects which are working with daily data. In addition to routine quality checks (that are running since 1984) using the commercial Bull Software we are testing our data with additional open source software, namely ProClim.db. By the use of this spatial and statistical test procedure, the elements air temperature and precipitation - for several sites in Carinthia - could already be checked, flagged and corrected. Checking the output (so called- error list) of ProClim is very time consuming and needs trained staff; however, in last instance it is necessary. Due to the guideline "Your archive is your business card for quality" the sub-project NEW ARCHIVE was initialized and started at the end of 2009. Our paper archive contains historical, up to 150 year-old, climate sheets that are valuable cultural assets. Unfortunately the storage of these historical and actual data treasures turned out to be more than suboptimal (insufficient protection against dust, dirt, humidity and light incidence). Because of this fact a concept for a new storage system and archive database was generated and already partly realized. In a nutshell this presentation shows on the one hand the importance of recovering historical climate sheets for climate change research - even if it is exhausting and time consuming - and gives on the other hand a general overview of used quality control procedures at our institute.

Litho hotspots fixing using model based algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Meili; Yu, Shirui; Mao, Zhibiao; Shafee, Marwa; Madkour, Kareem; ElManhawy, Wael; Kwan, Joe; Hu, Xinyi; Wan, Qijian; Du, Chunshan

2017-04-01

As technology advances, IC designs are getting more sophisticated, thus it becomes more critical and challenging to fix printability issues in the design flow. Running lithography checks before tapeout is now mandatory for designers, which creates a need for more advanced and easy-to-use techniques for fixing hotspots found after lithographic simulation without creating a new design rule checking (DRC) violation or generating a new hotspot. This paper presents a new methodology for fixing hotspots on layouts while using the same engine currently used to detect the hotspots. The fix is achieved by applying minimum movement of edges causing the hotspot, with consideration of DRC constraints. The fix is internally simulated by the lithographic simulation engine to verify that the hotspot is eliminated and that no new hotspot is generated by the new edge locations. Hotspot fix checking is enhanced by adding DRC checks to the litho-friendly design (LFD) rule file to guarantee that any fix options that violate DRC checks are removed from the output hint file. This extra checking eliminates the need to re-run both DRC and LFD checks to ensure the change successfully fixed the hotspot, which saves time and simplifies the designer's workflow. This methodology is demonstrated on industrial designs, where the fixing rate of single and dual layer hotspots is reported.

[Current Situation Survey of the Measures to Prevent Medication Errors in the Operating Room: Report of the Japan Society of Anesthesiologists Safety Commission Working Group for Consideration of Recommendations for Color Coding of Prepared Syringe Labels for Prevention of Medication Errors].

PubMed

Shida, Kyoko; Suzuki, Toshiyasu; Sugahara, Kazuhiro; Sobue, Kazuya

2016-05-01

In the case of medication errors which are among the more frequent adverse events that occur in the hospital, there is a need for effective measures to prevent incidence. According to the Japan Society of Anesthesiologists study "Drug incident investigation 2005-2007 years", "Error of a syringe at the selection stage" was the most frequent (44.2%). The status of current measures and best practices implemented in Japanese hospitals was the focus of a subsequent investigation. Representative specialists in anesthesiology certified hospitals across the country were surveyed via a questionnaire sampling that lasted 46 days. Investigation method was via the Web with survey responses anonymous. With respect to preventive measures implemented to mitigate risk of medication errors in perioperative settings, responses included: incident and accident report (215 facilities, 70.3%), use of pre-filled syringes (180 facilities, 58.8%), devised the arrangement of dangerous drugs (154 facilities, 50.3%), use of the product with improper connection preventing mechanism (123 facilities, 40.2%), double-check (116 facilities, 37.9%), use of color barreled syringe (115 facilities, 37.6%), use of color label or color tape (89 facilities, 29.1%), presentation of medication such as placing the ampoule or syringe on a tray by dividing color code for drug class on a tray (54 facilities, 17.6%), the discontinuance of handwritten labels (23 facilities, 7.5%), use of a drug verification system that uses bar code (20 facilities, 6.5%), and facilities that have not implemented any means (11 facilities, 3.6%), others not mentioned (10 facilities, 3.3%), and use of carts that count/account the agents by drug type and record selection and number picked automatically (6 facilities, 2.0%). Drug name identification affixed to the syringe via perforated label torn from the ampoule/vial, etc. (245 facilities, 28.1%), handwriting directly to the syringe (208 facilities, 23.8%), use of the attached label (like that comes with the product) (187 facilities, 21.4%), handwriting on the plain tape (87 facilities, 10.0%), printing labels (62 facilities, 7.1%), printed color labels (44 facilities, 5.0%), handwriting on the color tape (27 facilities, 3.1%), machinery for printing the drug name by scanning bar code of the ampoule, etc.(10 facilities, 1.1%), others (3 facilities, 0.3%), no description on the prepared drug (0 facilities, 0%). The awareness of international standard color code, such as by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), was only 18.6%. Targeting anesthesiology certified hospitals recognized by the Japan Society of Anesthesiologists, the result of the survey on the measures to prevent medication errors during perioperative procedures indicated that various measures were documented in use. However, many facilities still use hand written labels (a common cause for errors). Confirmation of the need for improved drug name and drug recognition on syringe was documented.

Automated generation of a World Wide Web-based data entry and check program for medical applications.

PubMed

Kiuchi, T; Kaihara, S

1997-02-01

The World Wide Web-based form is a promising method for the construction of an on-line data collection system for clinical and epidemiological research. It is, however, laborious to prepare a common gateway interface (CGI) program for each project, which the World Wide Web server needs to handle the submitted data. In medicine, it is even more laborious because the CGI program must check deficits, type, ranges, and logical errors (bad combination of data) of entered data for quality assurance as well as data length and meta-characters of the entered data to enhance the security of the server. We have extended the specification of the hypertext markup language (HTML) form to accommodate information necessary for such data checking and we have developed software named AUTOFORM for this purpose. The software automatically analyzes the extended HTML form and generates the corresponding ordinary HTML form, 'Makefile', and C source of CGI programs. The resultant CGI program checks the entered data through the HTML form, records them in a computer, and returns them to the end-user. AUTOFORM drastically reduces the burden of development of the World Wide Web-based data entry system and allows the CGI programs to be more securely and reliably prepared than had they been written from scratch.

FORTRAN multitasking library for use on the ELXSI 6400 and the CRAY XMP

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

Montry, G.R.

1985-07-16

A library of FORTRAN-based multitasking routines has been written for the ELXSI 6400 and the CRAY XMP. This library is designed to make multitasking codes easily transportable between machines with different hardware configurations. The library provides enhanced error checking and diagnostics over vendor-supplied multitasking intrinsics. The library also contains multitasking control structures not normally supplied by the vendor.

Co-operation of digital nonlinear equalizers and soft-decision LDPC FEC in nonlinear transmission.

PubMed

Tanimura, Takahito; Oda, Shoichiro; Hoshida, Takeshi; Aoki, Yasuhiko; Tao, Zhenning; Rasmussen, Jens C

2013-12-30

We experimentally and numerically investigated the characteristics of 128 Gb/s dual polarization - quadrature phase shift keying signals received with two types of nonlinear equalizers (NLEs) followed by soft-decision (SD) low-density parity-check (LDPC) forward error correction (FEC). Successful co-operation among SD-FEC and NLEs over various nonlinear transmissions were demonstrated by optimization of parameters for NLEs.

An Empirical Methodology for Engineering Human Systems Integration

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

scanning critical information and selectively skipping what is not important for the immediate task. This learned skill is called a proper “cross check...ability to recover from errors. Efficiency: the level of productivity that can be achieved once learning has occurred. 162 Learnability: the...use, to legacy systems. Knowing what design issues have plagued past operators can guide the generation of requirements to address the identified

Outcomes of a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis for medication errors in pediatric anesthesia.

PubMed

Martin, Lizabeth D; Grigg, Eliot B; Verma, Shilpa; Latham, Gregory J; Rampersad, Sally E; Martin, Lynn D

2017-06-01

The Institute of Medicine has called for development of strategies to prevent medication errors, which are one important cause of preventable harm. Although the field of anesthesiology is considered a leader in patient safety, recent data suggest high medication error rates in anesthesia practice. Unfortunately, few error prevention strategies for anesthesia providers have been implemented. Using Toyota Production System quality improvement methodology, a multidisciplinary team observed 133 h of medication practice in the operating room at a tertiary care freestanding children's hospital. A failure mode and effects analysis was conducted to systematically deconstruct and evaluate each medication handling process step and score possible failure modes to quantify areas of risk. A bundle of five targeted countermeasures were identified and implemented over 12 months. Improvements in syringe labeling (73 to 96%), standardization of medication organization in the anesthesia workspace (0 to 100%), and two-provider infusion checks (23 to 59%) were observed. Medication error reporting improved during the project and was subsequently maintained. After intervention, the median medication error rate decreased from 1.56 to 0.95 per 1000 anesthetics. The frequency of medication error harm events reaching the patient also decreased. Systematic evaluation and standardization of medication handling processes by anesthesia providers in the operating room can decrease medication errors and improve patient safety. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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

Sheu, R; Ghafar, R; Powers, A

Purpose: Demonstrate the effectiveness of in-house software in ensuring EMR workflow efficiency and safety. Methods: A web-based dashboard system (WBDS) was developed to monitor clinical workflow in real time using web technology (WAMP) through ODBC (Open Database Connectivity). Within Mosaiq (Elekta Inc), operational workflow is driven and indicated by Quality Check Lists (QCLs), which is triggered by automation software IQ Scripts (Elekta Inc); QCLs rely on user completion to propagate. The WBDS retrieves data directly from the Mosaig SQL database and tracks clinical events in real time. For example, the necessity of a physics initial chart check can be determinedmore » by screening all patients on treatment who have received their first fraction and who have not yet had their first chart check. Monitoring similar “real” events with our in-house software creates a safety net as its propagation does not rely on individual users input. Results: The WBDS monitors the following: patient care workflow (initial consult to end of treatment), daily treatment consistency (scheduling, technique, charges), physics chart checks (initial, EOT, weekly), new starts, missing treatments (>3 warning/>5 fractions, action required), and machine overrides. The WBDS can be launched from any web browser which allows the end user complete transparency and timely information. Since the creation of the dashboards, workflow interruptions due to accidental deletion or completion of QCLs were eliminated. Additionally, all physics chart checks were completed timely. Prompt notifications of treatment record inconsistency and machine overrides have decreased the amount of time between occurrence and execution of corrective action. Conclusion: Our clinical workflow relies primarily on QCLs and IQ Scripts; however, this functionality is not the panacea of safety and efficiency. The WBDS creates a more thorough system of checks to provide a safer and near error-less working environment.« less

Wind Power Forecasting Error Distributions: An International Comparison; Preprint

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

Hodge, B. M.; Lew, D.; Milligan, M.

2012-09-01

Wind power forecasting is expected to be an important enabler for greater penetration of wind power into electricity systems. Because no wind forecasting system is perfect, a thorough understanding of the errors that do occur can be critical to system operation functions, such as the setting of operating reserve levels. This paper provides an international comparison of the distribution of wind power forecasting errors from operational systems, based on real forecast data. The paper concludes with an assessment of similarities and differences between the errors observed in different locations.

STS-104 Crew Training of Jim Reilly in EMU fit check

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-09

JSC2001-E-11692 (9 April 2001) --- Astronaut James F. Reilly, mission specialist, prepares to don his helmet for an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) fit check in one of the chambers in the Crew Systems Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The STS-104 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) represents the Space Shuttle Atlantis' first flight using a new engine and is targeted for a liftoff no earlier than June 14, 2001.

STS-104 Crew Training of Jim Reilly in EMU fit check

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-09

JSC2001-E-11699 (9 April 2001) --- Astronaut James F. Reilly, STS-104 mission specialist, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) fit check in one of the chambers in the Crew Systems Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The STS-104 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) represents the Space Shuttle Atlantis' first flight using a new engine and is targeted for a liftoff no earlier than June 14, 2001.

STS-104 Crew Training of Jim Reilly in EMU fit check

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-09

JSC2001-E-11702 (9 April 2001) --- Astronaut James F. Reilly, STS-104 mission specialist, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) fit check in one of the chambers in the Crew Systems Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The STS-104 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) represents the Space Shuttle Atlantis' first flight using a new engine and is targeted for a liftoff no earlier than June 14, 2001.

STS-104 Crew Training of Jim Reilly in EMU fit check

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-09

JSC2001-E-11696 (9 April 2001) --- Astronaut James F. Reilly, STS-104 mission specialist, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) fit check in one of the chambers in the Crew Systems Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The STS-104 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) represents the Space Shuttle Atlantis' first flight using a new engine and is targeted for a liftoff no earlier than June 14, 2001.

STS-104 Crew Training of Jim Reilly in EMU fit check

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-09

JSC2001-E-11697 (9 April 2001) --- Astronaut James F. Reilly, STS-104 mission specialist, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) fit check in one of the chambers in the Crew Systems Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The STS-104 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) represents the Space Shuttle Atlantis' first flight using a new engine and is targeted for a liftoff no earlier than June 14, 2001.

STS-104 Crew Training of Jim Reilly in EMU fit check

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-09

JSC2001-E-11698 (9 April 2001) --- Astronaut James F. Reilly, STS-104 mission specialist, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) fit check in one of the chambers in the Crew Systems Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The STS-104 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) represents the Space Shuttle Atlantis' first flight using a new engine and is targeted for a liftoff no earlier than June 14, 2001.

STS-104 Crew Training of Jim Reilly in EMU fit check

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-09

JSC2001-E-11703 (9 April 2001) --- Astronaut James F. Reilly, STS-104 mission specialist, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) fit check in one of the chambers in the Crew Systems Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The STS-104 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) represents the Space Shuttle Atlantis' first flight using a new engine and is targeted for a liftoff no earlier than June 14, 2001.

MS Voss checks out his EVA space tools

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-03-09

STS102-E-5032 (9 March 2001) --- On Discovery's mid deck, astronauts James S. Voss and Susan J. Helms (partially visible at right edge), STS-102 mission specialists, check gear associated with a scheduled space walk to perform work on the International Space Station (ISS). At the time this Flight Day 1 digital still camera image was exposed, the Discovery was on a time line to catch the orbital outpost and link with it during Flight Day 2.

The effect of on/off indicator design on state confusion, preference, and response time performance, executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donner, Kimberly A.; Holden, Kritina L.; Manahan, Meera K.

1991-01-01

Investigated are five designs of software-based ON/OFF indicators in a hypothetical Space Station Power System monitoring task. The hardware equivalent of the indicators used in the present study is the traditional indicator light that illuminates an ON label or an OFF label. Coding methods used to represent the active state were reverse video, color, frame, check, or reverse video with check. Display background color was also varied. Subjects made judgments concerning the state of indicators that resulted in very low error rates and high percentages of agreement across indicator designs. Response time measures for each of the five indicator designs did not differ significantly, although subjects reported that color was the best communicator. The impact of these results on indicator design is discussed.

A code-aided carrier synchronization algorithm based on improved nonbinary low-density parity-check codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Cheng-lin; Cheng, Zhi-hui

2016-09-01

In order to further improve the carrier synchronization estimation range and accuracy at low signal-to-noise ratio ( SNR), this paper proposes a code-aided carrier synchronization algorithm based on improved nonbinary low-density parity-check (NB-LDPC) codes to study the polarization-division-multiplexing coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (PDM-CO-OFDM) system performance in the cases of quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) modes. The simulation results indicate that this algorithm can enlarge frequency and phase offset estimation ranges and enhance accuracy of the system greatly, and the bit error rate ( BER) performance of the system is improved effectively compared with that of the system employing traditional NB-LDPC code-aided carrier synchronization algorithm.

Trajectory Design Enhancements to Mitigate Risk for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dichmann, Donald; Parker, Joel; Nickel, Craig; Lutz, Stephen

2016-01-01

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will employ a highly eccentric Earth orbit, in 2:1 lunar resonance, which will be reached with a lunar flyby preceded by 3.5 phasing loops. The TESS mission has limited propellant and several constraints on the science orbit and on the phasing loops. Based on analysis and simulation, we have designed the phasing loops to reduce delta-V (DV) and to mitigate risk due to maneuver execution errors. We have automated the trajectory design process and use distributed processing to generate and optimal nominal trajectories; to check constraint satisfaction; and finally to model the effects of maneuver errors to identify trajectories that best meet the mission requirements.

Symmetric Blind Information Reconciliation for Quantum Key Distribution

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

Kiktenko, Evgeniy O.; Trushechkin, Anton S.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a quantum-proof key-exchange scheme which is fast approaching the communication industry. An essential component in QKD is the information reconciliation step, which is used for correcting the quantum-channel noise errors. The recently suggested blind-reconciliation technique, based on low-density parity-check codes, offers remarkable prospectives for efficient information reconciliation without an a priori quantum bit error rate estimation. We suggest an improvement of the blind-information-reconciliation protocol promoting a significant increase in the efficiency of the procedure and reducing its interactivity. Finally, the proposed technique is based on introducing symmetry in operations of parties, and the consideration ofmore » results of unsuccessful belief-propagation decodings.« less

Symmetric Blind Information Reconciliation for Quantum Key Distribution

DOE PAGES

Kiktenko, Evgeniy O.; Trushechkin, Anton S.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; ...

2017-10-27

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a quantum-proof key-exchange scheme which is fast approaching the communication industry. An essential component in QKD is the information reconciliation step, which is used for correcting the quantum-channel noise errors. The recently suggested blind-reconciliation technique, based on low-density parity-check codes, offers remarkable prospectives for efficient information reconciliation without an a priori quantum bit error rate estimation. We suggest an improvement of the blind-information-reconciliation protocol promoting a significant increase in the efficiency of the procedure and reducing its interactivity. Finally, the proposed technique is based on introducing symmetry in operations of parties, and the consideration ofmore » results of unsuccessful belief-propagation decodings.« less

Accumulate-Repeat-Accumulate-Accumulate Codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Divsalar, Dariush; Dolinar, Samuel; Thorpe, Jeremy

2007-01-01

Accumulate-repeat-accumulate-accumulate (ARAA) codes have been proposed, inspired by the recently proposed accumulate-repeat-accumulate (ARA) codes. These are error-correcting codes suitable for use in a variety of wireless data-communication systems that include noisy channels. ARAA codes can be regarded as serial turbolike codes or as a subclass of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, and, like ARA codes they have projected graph or protograph representations; these characteristics make it possible to design high-speed iterative decoders that utilize belief-propagation algorithms. The objective in proposing ARAA codes as a subclass of ARA codes was to enhance the error-floor performance of ARA codes while maintaining simple encoding structures and low maximum variable node degree.

ERROR REDUCTION IN DUCT LEAKAGE TESTING THROUGH DATA CROSS-CHECKS

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

ANDREWS, J.W.

1998-12-31

One way to reduce uncertainty in scientific measurement is to devise a protocol in which more quantities are measured than are absolutely required, so that the result is over constrained. This report develops a method for so combining data from two different tests for air leakage in residential duct systems. An algorithm, which depends on the uncertainty estimates for the measured quantities, optimizes the use of the excess data. In many cases it can significantly reduce the error bar on at least one of the two measured duct leakage rates (supply or return), and it provides a rational method ofmore » reconciling any conflicting results from the two leakage tests.« less

Logic design for dynamic and interactive recovery.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, W. C.; Jessep, D. C.; Wadia, A. B.; Schneider, P. R.; Bouricius, W. G.

1971-01-01

Recovery in a fault-tolerant computer means the continuation of system operation with data integrity after an error occurs. This paper delineates two parallel concepts embodied in the hardware and software functions required for recovery; detection, diagnosis, and reconfiguration for hardware, data integrity, checkpointing, and restart for the software. The hardware relies on the recovery variable set, checking circuits, and diagnostics, and the software relies on the recovery information set, audit, and reconstruct routines, to characterize the system state and assist in recovery when required. Of particular utility is a handware unit, the recovery control unit, which serves as an interface between error detection and software recovery programs in the supervisor and provides dynamic interactive recovery.

Symmetric Blind Information Reconciliation for Quantum Key Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiktenko, E. O.; Trushechkin, A. S.; Lim, C. C. W.; Kurochkin, Y. V.; Fedorov, A. K.

2017-10-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a quantum-proof key-exchange scheme which is fast approaching the communication industry. An essential component in QKD is the information reconciliation step, which is used for correcting the quantum-channel noise errors. The recently suggested blind-reconciliation technique, based on low-density parity-check codes, offers remarkable prospectives for efficient information reconciliation without an a priori quantum bit error rate estimation. We suggest an improvement of the blind-information-reconciliation protocol promoting a significant increase in the efficiency of the procedure and reducing its interactivity. The proposed technique is based on introducing symmetry in operations of parties, and the consideration of results of unsuccessful belief-propagation decodings.

Data Quality Control of the French Permanent Broadband Network in the RESIF Framework.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grunberg, M.; Lambotte, S.; Engels, F.

2014-12-01

In the framework of the RESIF (Réseau Sismologique et géodésique Français) project, a new information system is setting up, allowing the improvement of the management and the distribution of high quality data from the different elements of RESIF. Within this information system, EOST (in Strasbourg) is in charge of collecting real-time permanent broadband seismic waveform, and performing Quality Control on these data. The real-time and validated data set are pushed to the French National Distribution Center (Isterre/Grenoble) to make them publicly available. Furthermore EOST hosts the BCSF-ReNaSS, in charge of the French metropolitan seismic bulletin. This allows to benefit from some high-end quality control based on the national and world-wide seismicity. Here we present the real-time seismic data flow from the stations of the French National Broad Band Network to EOST, and then, the data Quality Control procedures that were recently installed, including some new developments.The data Quality Control consists in applying a variety of processes to check the consistency of the whole system from the stations to the data center. This allows us to verify that instruments and data transmission are operating correctly. Moreover, time quality is critical for most of the scientific data applications. To face this challenge and check the consistency of polarities and amplitudes, we deployed several high-end processes including a noise correlation procedure to check for timing accuracy (intrumental time errors result in a time-shift of the whole cross-correlation, clearly distinct from those due to change in medium physical properties), and a systematic comparison of synthetic and real data for teleseismic earthquakes of magnitude larger than 6.5 to detect timing errors as well as polarity and amplitude problems.

Evaluation of a Risk Awareness Perception Training Program on Novice Teen Driver Behavior at Left-Turn Intersections.

PubMed

McDonald, Catherine C; Kandadai, Venk; Loeb, Helen; Seacrist, Thomas; Lee, Yi-Ching; Bonfiglio, Dana; Fisher, Donald L; Winston, Flaura K

Collisions at left turn intersections are among the most prevalent types of teen driver serious crashes, with inadequate surveillance as a key factor. Risk awareness perception training (RAPT) has shown effectiveness in improving hazard anticipation for latent hazards. The goal of this study was to determine if RAPT version 3 (RAPT-3) improved intersection turning behaviors among novice teen drivers when the hazards were not latent and frequent glancing to multiple locations at the intersection was needed. Teens aged 16-18 with ≤180 days of licensure were randomly assigned to: 1) an intervention group (n=18) that received RAPT-3 (Trained); or 2) a control group (n=19) that received no training (Untrained). Both groups completed RAPT-3 Baseline Assessment and the Trained group completed RAPT-3 Training and RAPT-3 Post Assessment. Training effects were evaluated on a driving simulator. Simulator ( gap selection errors and collisions ) and eye tracker ( traffic check errors) metrics from six left-turn stop sign controlled intersections in the Simulated Driving Assessment (SDA) were analyzed. The Trained group scored significantly higher in RAPT-3 Post Assessment than RAPT-3 Baseline Assessment (p< 0.0001). There were no significant differences in either traffic check and gap selection errors or collisions among Trained and Untrained teens in the SDA. Though Trained teens learned about hazard anticipation related to latent hazards, learning did not translate to performance differences in left-turn stop sign controlled intersections where the hazards were not latent. Our findings point to further research to better understand the challenges teens have with left turn intersections.

Towards component-based validation of GATE: aspects of the coincidence processor

PubMed Central

Moraes, Eder R.; Poon, Jonathan K.; Balakrishnan, Karthikayan; Wang, Wenli; Badawi, Ramsey D.

2014-01-01

GATE is public domain software widely used for Monte Carlo simulation in emission tomography. Validations of GATE have primarily been performed on a whole-system basis, leaving the possibility that errors in one sub-system may be offset by errors in others. We assess the accuracy of the GATE PET coincidence generation sub-system in isolation, focusing on the options most closely modeling the majority of commercially available scanners. Independent coincidence generators were coded by teams at Toshiba Medical Research Unit (TMRU) and UC Davis. A model similar to the Siemens mCT scanner was created in GATE. Annihilation photons interacting with the detectors were recorded. Coincidences were generated using GATE, TMRU and UC Davis code and results compared to “ground truth” obtained from the history of the photon interactions. GATE was tested twice, once with every qualified single event opening a time window and initiating a coincidence check (the “multiple window method”), and once where a time window is opened and a coincidence check initiated only by the first single event to occur after the end of the prior time window (the “single window method”). True, scattered and random coincidences were compared. Noise equivalent count rates were also computed and compared. The TMRU and UC Davis coincidence generators agree well with ground truth. With GATE, reasonable accuracy can be obtained if the single window method option is chosen and random coincidences are estimated without use of the delayed coincidence option. However in this GATE version, other parameter combinations can result in significant errors. PMID:25240897

FAO/INFOODS Guidelines for Checking Food Composition Data Prior to the Publication of a User Table/Database, Version 1.0

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Food composition data play an essential role in many sectors, including nutrition, health, agriculture, environment, food labeling and trade. Over the last 25 years, International Network of Food Data Systems (INFOODS) has developed many international standards, guidelines and tools to obtain harmo...

Automation Bias: Decision Making and Performance in High-Tech Cockpits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mosier, Kathleen L.; Skitka, Linda J.; Heers, Susan; Burdick, Mark; Rosekind, Mark R. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Automated aids and decision support tools are rapidly becoming indispensible tools in high-technology cockpits, and are assuming increasing control of "cognitive" flight tasks, such as calculating fuel-efficient routes, navigating, or detecting and diagnosing system malfunctions and abnormalities. This study was designed to investigate "automation bias," a recently documented factor in the use of automated aids and decision support systems. The term refers to omission and commission errors resulting from the use of automated cues as a heuristic replacement for vigilant information seeking and processing. Glass-cockpit pilots flew flight scenarios involving automation "events," or opportunities for automation-related omission and commission errors. Pilots who perceived themselves as "accountable" for their performance and strategies of interaction with the automation were more likely to double-check automated functioning against other cues, and less likely to commit errors. Pilots were also likely to erroneously "remember" the presence of expected cues when describing their decision-making processes.

A selective-update affine projection algorithm with selective input vectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, NamWoong; Shin, JaeWook; Park, PooGyeon

2011-10-01

This paper proposes an affine projection algorithm (APA) with selective input vectors, which based on the concept of selective-update in order to reduce estimation errors and computations. The algorithm consists of two procedures: input- vector-selection and state-decision. The input-vector-selection procedure determines the number of input vectors by checking with mean square error (MSE) whether the input vectors have enough information for update. The state-decision procedure determines the current state of the adaptive filter by using the state-decision criterion. As the adaptive filter is in transient state, the algorithm updates the filter coefficients with the selected input vectors. On the other hand, as soon as the adaptive filter reaches the steady state, the update procedure is not performed. Through these two procedures, the proposed algorithm achieves small steady-state estimation errors, low computational complexity and low update complexity for colored input signals.

Utilizing LANDSAT imagery to monitor land-use change - A case study in Ohio

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gordon, S. I.

1980-01-01

A study, performed in Ohio, of the nature and extent of interpretation errors in the application of Landsat imagery to land-use planning and modeling is reported. Potential errors associated with the misalignment of pixels after geometric correction and with misclassification of land cover or land use due to spectral similarities were identified on interpreted computer-compatible tapes of a portion of Franklin County for two adjacent days of 1975 and one day of 1973, and the extents of these errors were quantified by comparison with a ground-checked set of aerial-photograph interpretations. The open-space and agricultural categories are found to be the most consistently classified, while the more urban areas were classified correctly only from about 43 to 8% of the time. It is thus recommended that the direct application of Landsat data to land-use planning must await improvements in classification techniques and accuracy.

Misadministration of radiation therapy in veterinary medicine: a case report and literature review.

PubMed

Arkans, M M; Gieger, T L; Nolan, M W

2017-03-01

Recent technical advancements in radiation therapy have allowed for improved targeting of tumours and sparing nearby normal tissues, while simultaneously decreasing the risk for medical errors by incorporating additional safety checks into electronic medical record keeping systems. The benefits of these new technologies, however, depends on their proper integration and use in the oncology clinic. Despite the advancement of technology for treatment delivery and medical record keeping, misadministration errors have a significant impact on patient care in veterinary oncology. The first part of this manuscript describes a medical incident that occurred at an academic veterinary referral hospital, in a dog receiving a combination of stereotactic radiation therapy and full-course intensity-modulated, image-guided radiation therapy. The second part of the report is a literature review, which explores misadministration errors and novel challenges which arise with the implementation of advancing technologies in veterinary radiation oncology. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.