Process monitoring in real time: Empirical bayes approach—discrete case

In this paper an empirical Bayes model is developed to monitor and analyse discrete data generated in a manufacturing process for printed circuit boards. A key feature of this analysis is the use of the current observation at time t and the posterior estimates of the distribution of the proportion nonconforming at time t – 1 to obtain a new, updated estimate of the posterior distribution at time t. The derived approach is widely applicable to statistical process control and provides a simple and fast algorithm for updating.     

Technical note: Evaluation of a triaxial accelerometer for monitoring selected behaviors in dairy calves

The objectives of this study were (1) to develop an algorithm for the acceleration sensor of the Smartbow Eartag (Smartbow GmbH, Weibern, Austria) to distinguish between postures (lying and standing or locomotion) and to detect 6 kinds of activities (milk intake, water intake, solid feed intake, ruminating, licking or sucking without milk intake, and other activities) in dairy calves and (2) to evaluate this sensor for identifying these behaviors in dairy calves compared with observations from video. Accelerometers were applied to the left ears of 15 preweaned Holstein dairy calves. Calves were kept in a group pen and received milk replacer from an automatic calf feeder. Based on 38 h of acceleration data and video observation, an algorithm was established to detect the predefined behaviors. Using cross-validation, video recordings were used to analyze whether a behavior was detected correctly by the developed algorithm. For posture, sensitivity (94.4%), specificity (94.3%), precision (95.8%), and accuracy (94.3%) were high. Cohen's kappa was calculated as 0.88. For the 6 defined activities, overall (i.e., aggregated for all activities) accuracy was 70.8% and kappa was calculated as 0.58. Some activities (e.g., ruminating, feed intake, other activities) were identified better than others. In conclusion, the developed algorithm based on the acceleration data of the Smartbow Eartag was successful in detecting lying behavior, rumination, feed intake, and other activities in calves, but further development of the underlying algorithm will be necessary to produce reliable results for milk and water intake.     

"Conceptual area" among pathological groups: A failure to replicate.

The ability of the "conceptual-area" scoring system to differentiate between tuberculous, process schizophrenic, reactive schizophrenic, and brain-damaged patients was tested by administering the Object Sorting Test to 125 hospitalized veterans. The diagnostic groups were equivalent in mean education, intelligence, and length of hospitalization, but the tuberculous and brain-damaged patients averaged 8 yr. older than the schizophrenics. None of the scores differentiated the groups at the .05 level. In discussing these results, it was maintained that, contrary to comment in the literature, "conceptual area" has never conclusively differentiated, in a simultaneous comparison, between nonpsychiatric, brain-damaged, and schizophrenic patients, and may not be appropriate for this purpose. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Circular Laser/Camera-Based Attitude and Altitude Estimation: Minimal and Robust Solutions

This paper proposes a basic structured light system for pose estimation. It consists of a circular laser pattern and a camera rigidly attached to the laser source. We develop a geometric modeling that allows to efficiently estimate the pose at scale of the system, relative to a reference plane onto which the pattern is projected. Three different robust estimation strategies, including two minimal solutions, are also presented with this geometric formulation. Synthetic and real experiments are performed for a complete evaluation, both quantitatively and qualitatively, according to different scenarios and environments. We also show that the system can be embedded for UAV experiments.     

Occurrence, distribution and fluxes of benzotriazoles along the German large river basins into the North Sea

Benzotriazole (BT) and tolyltriazole (TT) are high production volume chemicals which are used in various industrial and household applications. In this study, the distribution of benzotriazoles in the estuaries of different rivers of central Europe and in the North Sea was analyzed by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). BT as well as TT was detected in all water samples. The concentrations for total benzotriazoles (BTs) ranged from 1.7 to 40 ng/L in the North Sea in costal areas. Concentrations in rivers are from 200 to 1250 ng/L, respectively. The mass flux of total benzotriazoles from the major rivers of central Europe into the North Sea was calculated to 78 t/a, dominated by the Rhine with an individual flux of 57 t/a of BTs. The analysis of the distribution profile in the North Sea showed that the decrease of the concentration was mostly caused by dilution and that the benzotriazoles are poorly degradable in the North Sea. This paper presents the first report of benzotriazoles in the marine environment.     

A GIS based component-oriented integrated system for estimation, visualization and analysis of road traffic air pollution

Road traffic is a dominant source of air pollution. Therefore it is necessary to provide decision-makers with up-to-date emission information in an easily understandable form. To achieve this goal we have integrated existing emission calculation software with a graphical user interface, which includes a GIS (geographical information system) component. The paper first gives a summary of the basic road traffic emission model and then focuses on the design and implementation of the computer application with the emphasis on the used component and GIS technology. The integrated emission evaluation system offers entirely new ways of using the emission model and gives additional visualization and analysis possibilities.