Effective Feature Preprocessing for Time Series Forecasting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhao, Junhua; Dong, Zhaoyang; Xu, Zhao

2006-01-01

Time series forecasting is an important area in data mining research. Feature preprocessing techniques have significant influence on forecasting accuracy, therefore are essential in a forecasting model. Although several feature preprocessing techniques have been applied in time series forecasting...... performance in time series forecasting. It is demonstrated in our experiment that, effective feature preprocessing can significantly enhance forecasting accuracy. This research can be a useful guidance for researchers on effectively selecting feature preprocessing techniques and integrating them with time...... series forecasting models....

Facilitating Watermark Insertion by Preprocessing Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matt L. Miller

2004-10-01

Full Text Available There are several watermarking applications that require the deployment of a very large number of watermark embedders. These applications often have severe budgetary constraints that limit the computation resources that are available. Under these circumstances, only simple embedding algorithms can be deployed, which have limited performance. In order to improve performance, we propose preprocessing the original media. It is envisaged that this preprocessing occurs during content creation and has no budgetary or computational constraints. Preprocessing combined with simple embedding creates a watermarked Work, the performance of which exceeds that of simple embedding alone. However, this performance improvement is obtained without any increase in the computational complexity of the embedder. Rather, the additional computational burden is shifted to the preprocessing stage. A simple example of this procedure is described and experimental results confirm our assertions.

Textural Analysis of Fatique Crack Surfaces: Image Pre-processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Lauschmann

2000-01-01

Full Text Available For the fatique crack history reconstitution, new methods of quantitative microfractography are beeing developed based on the image processing and textural analysis. SEM magnifications between micro- and macrofractography are used. Two image pre-processing operatins were suggested and proved to prepare the crack surface images for analytical treatment: 1. Normalization is used to transform the image to a stationary form. Compared to the generally used equalization, it conserves the shape of brightness distribution and saves the character of the texture. 2. Binarization is used to transform the grayscale image to a system of thick fibres. An objective criterion for the threshold brightness value was found as that resulting into the maximum number of objects. Both methods were succesfully applied together with the following textural analysis.

Retinal Image Preprocessing: Background and Noise Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Usman Akram

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Retinal images are used for the automated screening and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. The retinal image quality must be improved for the detection of features and abnormalities and for this purpose preprocessing of retinal images is vital. In this paper, we present a novel automated approach for preprocessing of colored retinal images. The proposed technique improves the quality of input retinal image by separating the background and noisy area from the overall image. It contains coarse segmentation and fine segmentation. Standard retinal images databases Diaretdb0, Diaretdb1, DRIVE and STARE are used to test the validation of our preprocessing technique. The experimental results show the validity of proposed preprocessing technique.

The Evaluation of Preprocessing Choices in Single-Subject BOLD fMRI Using NPAIRS Performance Metrics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stephen, LaConte; Rottenberg, David; Strother, Stephen

2003-01-01

to obtain cross-validation-based model performance estimates of prediction accuracy and global reproducibility for various degrees of model complexity. We rely on the concept of an analysis chain meta-model in which all parameters of the preprocessing steps along with the final statistical model are treated...

The Effect of Preprocessing on Arabic Document Categorization

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Abdullah Ayedh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Preprocessing is one of the main components in a conventional document categorization (DC framework. This paper aims to highlight the effect of preprocessing tasks on the efficiency of the Arabic DC system. In this study, three classification techniques are used, namely, naive Bayes (NB, k-nearest neighbor (KNN, and support vector machine (SVM. Experimental analysis on Arabic datasets reveals that preprocessing techniques have a significant impact on the classification accuracy, especially with complicated morphological structure of the Arabic language. Choosing appropriate combinations of preprocessing tasks provides significant improvement on the accuracy of document categorization depending on the feature size and classification techniques. Findings of this study show that the SVM technique has outperformed the KNN and NB techniques. The SVM technique achieved 96.74% micro-F1 value by using the combination of normalization and stemming as preprocessing tasks.

Data preprocessing in data mining

CERN Document Server

García, Salvador; Herrera, Francisco

2015-01-01

Data Preprocessing for Data Mining addresses one of the most important issues within the well-known Knowledge Discovery from Data process. Data directly taken from the source will likely have inconsistencies, errors or most importantly, it is not ready to be considered for a data mining process. Furthermore, the increasing amount of data in recent science, industry and business applications, calls to the requirement of more complex tools to analyze it. Thanks to data preprocessing, it is possible to convert the impossible into possible, adapting the data to fulfill the input demands of each data mining algorithm. Data preprocessing includes the data reduction techniques, which aim at reducing the complexity of the data, detecting or removing irrelevant and noisy elements from the data. This book is intended to review the tasks that fill the gap between the data acquisition from the source and the data mining process. A comprehensive look from a practical point of view, including basic concepts and surveying t...

Automated cleaning and pre-processing of immunoglobulin gene sequences from high-throughput sequencing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miri eMichaeli

2012-12-01

Full Text Available High throughput sequencing (HTS yields tens of thousands to millions of sequences that require a large amount of pre-processing work to clean various artifacts. Such cleaning cannot be performed manually. Existing programs are not suitable for immunoglobulin (Ig genes, which are variable and often highly mutated. This paper describes Ig-HTS-Cleaner (Ig High Throughput Sequencing Cleaner, a program containing a simple cleaning procedure that successfully deals with pre-processing of Ig sequences derived from HTS, and Ig-Indel-Identifier (Ig Insertion – Deletion Identifier, a program for identifying legitimate and artifact insertions and/or deletions (indels. Our programs were designed for analyzing Ig gene sequences obtained by 454 sequencing, but they are applicable to all types of sequences and sequencing platforms. Ig-HTS-Cleaner and Ig-Indel-Identifier have been implemented in Java and saved as executable JAR files, supported on Linux and MS Windows. No special requirements are needed in order to run the programs, except for correctly constructing the input files as explained in the text. The programs' performance has been tested and validated on real and simulated data sets.

Preprocessing of A-scan GPR data based on energy features

Science.gov (United States)

Dogan, Mesut; Turhan-Sayan, Gonul

2016-05-01

There is an increasing demand for noninvasive real-time detection and classification of buried objects in various civil and military applications. The problem of detection and annihilation of landmines is particularly important due to strong safety concerns. The requirement for a fast real-time decision process is as important as the requirements for high detection rates and low false alarm rates. In this paper, we introduce and demonstrate a computationally simple, timeefficient, energy-based preprocessing approach that can be used in ground penetrating radar (GPR) applications to eliminate reflections from the air-ground boundary and to locate the buried objects, simultaneously, at one easy step. The instantaneous power signals, the total energy values and the cumulative energy curves are extracted from the A-scan GPR data. The cumulative energy curves, in particular, are shown to be useful to detect the presence and location of buried objects in a fast and simple way while preserving the spectral content of the original A-scan data for further steps of physics-based target classification. The proposed method is demonstrated using the GPR data collected at the facilities of IPA Defense, Ankara at outdoor test lanes. Cylindrically shaped plastic containers were buried in fine-medium sand to simulate buried landmines. These plastic containers were half-filled by ammonium nitrate including metal pins. Results of this pilot study are demonstrated to be highly promising to motivate further research for the use of energy-based preprocessing features in landmine detection problem.

Simultaneous data pre-processing and SVM classification model selection based on a parallel genetic algorithm applied to spectroscopic data of olive oils.

Science.gov (United States)

Devos, Olivier; Downey, Gerard; Duponchel, Ludovic

2014-04-01

Classification is an important task in chemometrics. For several years now, support vector machines (SVMs) have proven to be powerful for infrared spectral data classification. However such methods require optimisation of parameters in order to control the risk of overfitting and the complexity of the boundary. Furthermore, it is established that the prediction ability of classification models can be improved using pre-processing in order to remove unwanted variance in the spectra. In this paper we propose a new methodology based on genetic algorithm (GA) for the simultaneous optimisation of SVM parameters and pre-processing (GENOPT-SVM). The method has been tested for the discrimination of the geographical origin of Italian olive oil (Ligurian and non-Ligurian) on the basis of near infrared (NIR) or mid infrared (FTIR) spectra. Different classification models (PLS-DA, SVM with mean centre data, GENOPT-SVM) have been tested and statistically compared using McNemar's statistical test. For the two datasets, SVM with optimised pre-processing give models with higher accuracy than the one obtained with PLS-DA on pre-processed data. In the case of the NIR dataset, most of this accuracy improvement (86.3% compared with 82.8% for PLS-DA) occurred using only a single pre-processing step. For the FTIR dataset, three optimised pre-processing steps are required to obtain SVM model with significant accuracy improvement (82.2%) compared to the one obtained with PLS-DA (78.6%). Furthermore, this study demonstrates that even SVM models have to be developed on the basis of well-corrected spectral data in order to obtain higher classification rates. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Validation of DWI pre-processing procedures for reliable differentiation between human brain gliomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Vellmer, Sebastian; Tonoyan, Aram S; Suter, Dieter; Pronin, Igor N; Maximov, Ivan I

2018-02-01

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is a powerful tool in clinical applications, in particular, in oncology screening. dMRI demonstrated its benefit and efficiency in the localisation and detection of different types of human brain tumours. Clinical dMRI data suffer from multiple artefacts such as motion and eddy-current distortions, contamination by noise, outliers etc. In order to increase the image quality of the derived diffusion scalar metrics and the accuracy of the subsequent data analysis, various pre-processing approaches are actively developed and used. In the present work we assess the effect of different pre-processing procedures such as a noise correction, different smoothing algorithms and spatial interpolation of raw diffusion data, with respect to the accuracy of brain glioma differentiation. As a set of sensitive biomarkers of the glioma malignancy grades we chose the derived scalar metrics from diffusion and kurtosis tensor imaging as well as the neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) biophysical model. Our results show that the application of noise correction, anisotropic diffusion filtering, and cubic-order spline interpolation resulted in the highest sensitivity and specificity for glioma malignancy grading. Thus, these pre-processing steps are recommended for the statistical analysis in brain tumour studies. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Supervised pre-processing approaches in multiple class variables classification for fish recruitment forecasting

KAUST Repository

Fernandes, José Antonio

2013-02-01

A multi-species approach to fisheries management requires taking into account the interactions between species in order to improve recruitment forecasting of the fish species. Recent advances in Bayesian networks direct the learning of models with several interrelated variables to be forecasted simultaneously. These models are known as multi-dimensional Bayesian network classifiers (MDBNs). Pre-processing steps are critical for the posterior learning of the model in these kinds of domains. Therefore, in the present study, a set of \\'state-of-the-art\\' uni-dimensional pre-processing methods, within the categories of missing data imputation, feature discretization and feature subset selection, are adapted to be used with MDBNs. A framework that includes the proposed multi-dimensional supervised pre-processing methods, coupled with a MDBN classifier, is tested with synthetic datasets and the real domain of fish recruitment forecasting. The correctly forecasting of three fish species (anchovy, sardine and hake) simultaneously is doubled (from 17.3% to 29.5%) using the multi-dimensional approach in comparison to mono-species models. The probability assessments also show high improvement reducing the average error (estimated by means of Brier score) from 0.35 to 0.27. Finally, these differences are superior to the forecasting of species by pairs. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Ensemble preprocessing of near-infrared (NIR) spectra for multivariate calibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Lu; Zhou Yanping; Tang Lijuan; Wu Hailong; Jiang Jianhui; Shen Guoli; Yu Ruqin

2008-01-01

Preprocessing of raw near-infrared (NIR) spectral data is indispensable in multivariate calibration when the measured spectra are subject to significant noises, baselines and other undesirable factors. However, due to the lack of sufficient prior information and an incomplete knowledge of the raw data, NIR spectra preprocessing in multivariate calibration is still trial and error. How to select a proper method depends largely on both the nature of the data and the expertise and experience of the practitioners. This might limit the applications of multivariate calibration in many fields, where researchers are not very familiar with the characteristics of many preprocessing methods unique in chemometrics and have difficulties to select the most suitable methods. Another problem is many preprocessing methods, when used alone, might degrade the data in certain aspects or lose some useful information while improving certain qualities of the data. In order to tackle these problems, this paper proposes a new concept of data preprocessing, ensemble preprocessing method, where partial least squares (PLSs) models built on differently preprocessed data are combined by Monte Carlo cross validation (MCCV) stacked regression. Little or no prior information of the data and expertise are required. Moreover, fusion of complementary information obtained by different preprocessing methods often leads to a more stable and accurate calibration model. The investigation of two real data sets has demonstrated the advantages of the proposed method

Impact of functional MRI data preprocessing pipeline on default-mode network detectability in patients with disorders of consciousness

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Adrian eAndronache

2013-08-01

Full Text Available An emerging application of resting-state functional MRI is the study of patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC, where integrity of default-mode network (DMN activity is associated to the clinical level of preservation of consciousness. Due to the inherent inability to follow verbal instructions, arousal induced by scanning noise and postural pain, these patients tend to exhibit substantial levels of movement. This results in spurious, non-neural fluctuations of the blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD signal, which impair the evaluation of residual functional connectivity. Here, the effect of data preprocessing choices on the detectability of the DMN was systematically evaluated in a representative cohort of 30 clinically and etiologically heterogeneous DoC patients and 33 healthy controls. Starting from a standard preprocessing pipeline, additional steps were gradually inserted, namely band-pass filtering, removal of co-variance with the movement vectors, removal of co-variance with the global brain parenchyma signal, rejection of realignment outlier volumes and ventricle masking. Both independent-component analysis (ICA and seed-based analysis (SBA were performed, and DMN detectability was assessed quantitatively as well as visually. The results of the present study strongly show that the detection of DMN activity in the sub-optimal fMRI series acquired on DoC patients is contingent on the use of adequate filtering steps. ICA and SBA are differently affected but give convergent findings for high-grade preprocessing. We propose that future studies in this area should adopt the described preprocessing procedures as a minimum standard to reduce the probability of wrongly inferring that DMN activity is absent.

Image preprocessing for improving computational efficiency in implementation of restoration and superresolution algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundareshan, Malur K; Bhattacharjee, Supratik; Inampudi, Radhika; Pang, Ho-Yuen

2002-12-10

Computational complexity is a major impediment to the real-time implementation of image restoration and superresolution algorithms in many applications. Although powerful restoration algorithms have been developed within the past few years utilizing sophisticated mathematical machinery (based on statistical optimization and convex set theory), these algorithms are typically iterative in nature and require a sufficient number of iterations to be executed to achieve the desired resolution improvement that may be needed to meaningfully perform postprocessing image exploitation tasks in practice. Additionally, recent technological breakthroughs have facilitated novel sensor designs (focal plane arrays, for instance) that make it possible to capture megapixel imagery data at video frame rates. A major challenge in the processing of these large-format images is to complete the execution of the image processing steps within the frame capture times and to keep up with the output rate of the sensor so that all data captured by the sensor can be efficiently utilized. Consequently, development of novel methods that facilitate real-time implementation of image restoration and superresolution algorithms is of significant practical interest and is the primary focus of this study. The key to designing computationally efficient processing schemes lies in strategically introducing appropriate preprocessing steps together with the superresolution iterations to tailor optimized overall processing sequences for imagery data of specific formats. For substantiating this assertion, three distinct methods for tailoring a preprocessing filter and integrating it with the superresolution processing steps are outlined. These methods consist of a region-of-interest extraction scheme, a background-detail separation procedure, and a scene-derived information extraction step for implementing a set-theoretic restoration of the image that is less demanding in computation compared with the

Preprocessing Moist Lignocellulosic Biomass for Biorefinery Feedstocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neal Yancey; Christopher T. Wright; Craig Conner; J. Richard Hess

2009-06-01

Biomass preprocessing is one of the primary operations in the feedstock assembly system of a lignocellulosic biorefinery. Preprocessing is generally accomplished using industrial grinders to format biomass materials into a suitable biorefinery feedstock for conversion to ethanol and other bioproducts. Many factors affect machine efficiency and the physical characteristics of preprocessed biomass. For example, moisture content of the biomass as received from the point of production has a significant impact on overall system efficiency and can significantly affect the characteristics (particle size distribution, flowability, storability, etc.) of the size-reduced biomass. Many different grinder configurations are available on the market, each with advantages under specific conditions. Ultimately, the capacity and/or efficiency of the grinding process can be enhanced by selecting the grinder configuration that optimizes grinder performance based on moisture content and screen size. This paper discusses the relationships of biomass moisture with respect to preprocessing system performance and product physical characteristics and compares data obtained on corn stover, switchgrass, and wheat straw as model feedstocks during Vermeer HG 200 grinder testing. During the tests, grinder screen configuration and biomass moisture content were varied and tested to provide a better understanding of their relative impact on machine performance and the resulting feedstock physical characteristics and uniformity relative to each crop tested.

Comparison of pre-processing methods for multiplex bead-based immunoassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Rausch, Tanja K; Schillert, Arne; Ziegler, Andreas; Lüking, Angelika; Zucht, Hans-Dieter; Schulz-Knappe, Peter

2016-08-11

High throughput protein expression studies can be performed using bead-based protein immunoassays, such as the Luminex® xMAP® technology. Technical variability is inherent to these experiments and may lead to systematic bias and reduced power. To reduce technical variability, data pre-processing is performed. However, no recommendations exist for the pre-processing of Luminex® xMAP® data. We compared 37 different data pre-processing combinations of transformation and normalization methods in 42 samples on 384 analytes obtained from a multiplex immunoassay based on the Luminex® xMAP® technology. We evaluated the performance of each pre-processing approach with 6 different performance criteria. Three performance criteria were plots. All plots were evaluated by 15 independent and blinded readers. Four different combinations of transformation and normalization methods performed well as pre-processing procedure for this bead-based protein immunoassay. The following combinations of transformation and normalization were suitable for pre-processing Luminex® xMAP® data in this study: weighted Box-Cox followed by quantile or robust spline normalization (rsn), asinh transformation followed by loess normalization and Box-Cox followed by rsn.

Effects of preprocessing method on TVOC emission of car mat

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Min; Jia, Li

2013-02-01

The effects of the mat preprocessing method on total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) emission of car mat are studied in this paper. An appropriate TVOC emission period for car mat is suggested. The emission factors for total volatile organic compounds from three kinds of new car mats are discussed. The car mats are preprocessed by washing, baking and ventilation. When car mats are preprocessed by washing, the TVOC emission for all samples tested are lower than that preprocessed in other methods. The TVOC emission is in stable situation for a minimum of 4 days. The TVOC emitted from some samples may exceed 2500μg/kg. But the TVOC emitted from washed Polyamide (PA) and wool mat is less than 2500μg/kg. The emission factors of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) are experimentally investigated in the case of different preprocessing methods. The air temperature in environment chamber and the water temperature for washing are important factors influencing on emission of car mats.

Preprocessing of 18F-DMFP-PET Data Based on Hidden Markov Random Fields and the Gaussian Distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fermín Segovia

2017-10-01

Full Text Available 18F-DMFP-PET is an emerging neuroimaging modality used to diagnose Parkinson's disease (PD that allows us to examine postsynaptic dopamine D2/3 receptors. Like other neuroimaging modalities used for PD diagnosis, most of the total intensity of 18F-DMFP-PET images is concentrated in the striatum. However, other regions can also be useful for diagnostic purposes. An appropriate delimitation of the regions of interest contained in 18F-DMFP-PET data is crucial to improve the automatic diagnosis of PD. In this manuscript we propose a novel methodology to preprocess 18F-DMFP-PET data that improves the accuracy of computer aided diagnosis systems for PD. First, the data were segmented using an algorithm based on Hidden Markov Random Field. As a result, each neuroimage was divided into 4 maps according to the intensity and the neighborhood of the voxels. The maps were then individually normalized so that the shape of their histograms could be modeled by a Gaussian distribution with equal parameters for all the neuroimages. This approach was evaluated using a dataset with neuroimaging data from 87 parkinsonian patients. After these preprocessing steps, a Support Vector Machine classifier was used to separate idiopathic and non-idiopathic PD. Data preprocessed by the proposed method provided higher accuracy results than the ones preprocessed with previous approaches.

Preprocessing Algorithm for Deciphering Historical Inscriptions Using String Metric

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorand Lehel Toth

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The article presents the improvements in the preprocessing part of the deciphering method (shortly preprocessing algorithm for historical inscriptions of unknown origin. Glyphs used in historical inscriptions changed through time; therefore, various versions of the same script may contain different glyphs for each grapheme. The purpose of the preprocessing algorithm is reducing the running time of the deciphering process by filtering out the less probable interpretations of the examined inscription. However, the first version of the preprocessing algorithm leads incorrect outcome or no result in the output in certain cases. Therefore, its improved version was developed to find the most similar words in the dictionary by relaying the search conditions more accurately, but still computationally effectively. Moreover, a sophisticated similarity metric used to determine the possible meaning of the unknown inscription is introduced. The results of the evaluations are also detailed.

The 1996 ENDF pre-processing codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullen, D.E.

1996-01-01

The codes are named 'the Pre-processing' codes, because they are designed to pre-process ENDF/B data, for later, further processing for use in applications. This is a modular set of computer codes, each of which reads and writes evaluated nuclear data in the ENDF/B format. Each code performs one or more independent operations on the data, as described below. These codes are designed to be computer independent, and are presently operational on every type of computer from large mainframe computer to small personal computers, such as IBM-PC and Power MAC. The codes are available from the IAEA Nuclear Data Section, free of charge upon request. (author)

REMINDER Saved Leave Scheme (SLS) : Transfer of leave to saved leave accounts

CERN Multimedia

HR Division

2002-01-01

Under the provisions of the voluntary saved leave scheme (SLS), a maximum total of 10 days'*) annual and compensatory leave (excluding saved leave accumulated in accordance with the provisions of Administrative Circular No. 22B) can be transferred to the saved leave account at the end of the leave year (30 September). We remind you that, since last year, unused leave of all those taking part in the saved leave scheme at the closure of the leave-year accounts is transferred automatically to the saved leave account on that date. Therefore, staff members have no administrative steps to take. In addition, the transfer, which eliminates the risk of omitting to request leave transfers and rules out calculation errors in transfer requests, will be clearly shown in the list of leave transactions that can be consulted in EDH from October 2002 onwards. Furthermore, this automatic leave transfer optimizes staff members' chances of benefiting from a saved leave bonus provided that they are still participants in the schem...

A survey of visual preprocessing and shape representation techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Olshausen, Bruno A.

1988-01-01

Many recent theories and methods proposed for visual preprocessing and shape representation are summarized. The survey brings together research from the fields of biology, psychology, computer science, electrical engineering, and most recently, neural networks. It was motivated by the need to preprocess images for a sparse distributed memory (SDM), but the techniques presented may also prove useful for applying other associative memories to visual pattern recognition. The material of this survey is divided into three sections: an overview of biological visual processing; methods of preprocessing (extracting parts of shape, texture, motion, and depth); and shape representation and recognition (form invariance, primitives and structural descriptions, and theories of attention).

Applying Enhancement Filters in the Pre-processing of Images of Lymphoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Sérgio Henrique; Do Nascimento, Marcelo Zanchetta; Neves, Leandro Alves; Batista, Valério Ramos

2015-01-01

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the immune system, and is classified as Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin. It is one of the ten types of cancer that are the most common on earth. Among all malignant neoplasms diagnosed in the world, lymphoma ranges from three to four percent of them. Our work presents a study of some filters devoted to enhancing images of lymphoma at the pre-processing step. Here the enhancement is useful for removing noise from the digital images. We have analysed the noise caused by different sources like room vibration, scraps and defocusing, and in the following classes of lymphoma: follicular, mantle cell and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The filters Gaussian, Median and Mean-Shift were applied to different colour models (RGB, Lab and HSV). Afterwards, we performed a quantitative analysis of the images by means of the Structural Similarity Index. This was done in order to evaluate the similarity between the images. In all cases we have obtained a certainty of at least 75%, which rises to 99% if one considers only HSV. Namely, we have concluded that HSV is an important choice of colour model at pre-processing histological images of lymphoma, because in this case the resulting image will get the best enhancement

Image Processing of Welding Procedure Specification and Pre-process program development for Finite Element Modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K. S.; Lee, H. J.

2009-11-01

PRE-WELD program, which generates automatically the input file for the finite element analysis on the 2D butt welding at the dissimilar metal weld part, was developed. This program is pre-process program of the FEM code for analyzing the residual stress at the welding parts. Even if the users have not the detail knowledge for the FEM modelling, the users can make the ABAQUS INPUT easily by inputting the shape data of welding part, the weld current and voltage of welding parameters. By using PRE-WELD program, we can save the time and the effort greatly for preparing the ABAQUS INPUT for the residual stress analysis at the welding parts, and make the exact input without the human error

Real-time topic-aware influence maximization using preprocessing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Lin, Tian; Yang, Cheng

2016-01-01

Influence maximization is the task of finding a set of seed nodes in a social network such that the influence spread of these seed nodes based on certain influence diffusion model is maximized. Topic-aware influence diffusion models have been recently proposed to address the issue that influence between a pair of users are often topic-dependent and information, ideas, innovations etc. being propagated in networks are typically mixtures of topics. In this paper, we focus on the topic-aware influence maximization task. In particular, we study preprocessing methods to avoid redoing influence maximization for each mixture from scratch. We explore two preprocessing algorithms with theoretical justifications. Our empirical results on data obtained in a couple of existing studies demonstrate that one of our algorithms stands out as a strong candidate providing microsecond online response time and competitive influence spread, with reasonable preprocessing effort.

Compact Circuit Preprocesses Accelerometer Output

Science.gov (United States)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr.

1993-01-01

Compact electronic circuit transfers dc power to, and preprocesses ac output of, accelerometer and associated preamplifier. Incorporated into accelerometer case during initial fabrication or retrofit onto commercial accelerometer. Made of commercial integrated circuits and other conventional components; made smaller by use of micrologic and surface-mount technology.

Change detection using landsat time series: A review of frequencies, preprocessing, algorithms, and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Zhe

2017-08-01

The free and open access to all archived Landsat images in 2008 has completely changed the way of using Landsat data. Many novel change detection algorithms based on Landsat time series have been developed We present a comprehensive review of four important aspects of change detection studies based on Landsat time series, including frequencies, preprocessing, algorithms, and applications. We observed the trend that the more recent the study, the higher the frequency of Landsat time series used. We reviewed a series of image preprocessing steps, including atmospheric correction, cloud and cloud shadow detection, and composite/fusion/metrics techniques. We divided all change detection algorithms into six categories, including thresholding, differencing, segmentation, trajectory classification, statistical boundary, and regression. Within each category, six major characteristics of different algorithms, such as frequency, change index, univariate/multivariate, online/offline, abrupt/gradual change, and sub-pixel/pixel/spatial were analyzed. Moreover, some of the widely-used change detection algorithms were also discussed. Finally, we reviewed different change detection applications by dividing these applications into two categories, change target and change agent detection.

Preprocessing of emotional visual information in the human piriform cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, Patrick; Bestgen, Anne-Kathrin; Lech, Robert K; Kuchinke, Lars; Suchan, Boris

2017-08-23

This study examines the processing of visual information by the olfactory system in humans. Recent data point to the processing of visual stimuli by the piriform cortex, a region mainly known as part of the primary olfactory cortex. Moreover, the piriform cortex generates predictive templates of olfactory stimuli to facilitate olfactory processing. This study fills the gap relating to the question whether this region is also capable of preprocessing emotional visual information. To gain insight into the preprocessing and transfer of emotional visual information into olfactory processing, we recorded hemodynamic responses during affective priming using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Odors of different valence (pleasant, neutral and unpleasant) were primed by images of emotional facial expressions (happy, neutral and disgust). Our findings are the first to demonstrate that the piriform cortex preprocesses emotional visual information prior to any olfactory stimulation and that the emotional connotation of this preprocessing is subsequently transferred and integrated into an extended olfactory network for olfactory processing.

REMINDER: Saved Leave Scheme (SLS)

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

Transfer of leave to saved leave accounts Under the provisions of the voluntary saved leave scheme (SLS), a maximum total of 10 days'* annual and compensatory leave (excluding saved leave accumulated in accordance with the provisions of Administrative Circular No 22B) can be transferred to the saved leave account at the end of the leave year (30 September). We remind you that unused leave of all those taking part in the saved leave scheme at the closure of the leave year accounts is transferred automatically to the saved leave account on that date. Therefore, staff members have no administrative steps to take. In addition, the transfer, which eliminates the risk of omitting to request leave transfers and rules out calculation errors in transfer requests, will be clearly shown in the list of leave transactions that can be consulted in EDH from October 2003 onwards. Furthermore, this automatic leave transfer optimizes staff members' chances of benefiting from a saved leave bonus provided that they ar...

A data preprocessing strategy for metabolomics to reduce the mask effect in data analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun eYang

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Metabolomics is a booming research field. Its success highly relies on the discovery of differential metabolites by comparing different data sets (for example, patients vs. controls. One of the challenges is that differences of the low abundant metabolites between groups are often masked by the high variation of abundant metabolites -. In order to solve this challenge, a novel data preprocessing strategy consisting of 3 steps was proposed in this study. In step 1, a ‘modified 80%’ rule was used to reduce effect of missing values; in step 2, unit-variance and Pareto scaling methods were used to reduce the mask effect from the abundant metabolites. In step 3, in order to fix the adverse effect of scaling, stability information of the variables deduced from intensity information and the class information, was used to assign suitable weights to the variables. When applying to an LC/MS based metabolomics dataset from chronic hepatitis B patients study and two simulated datasets, the mask effect was found to be partially eliminated and several new low abundant differential metabolites were rescued.

Image preprocessing study on KPCA-based face recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xuan; Li, Dehua

2015-12-01

Face recognition as an important biometric identification method, with its friendly, natural, convenient advantages, has obtained more and more attention. This paper intends to research a face recognition system including face detection, feature extraction and face recognition, mainly through researching on related theory and the key technology of various preprocessing methods in face detection process, using KPCA method, focuses on the different recognition results in different preprocessing methods. In this paper, we choose YCbCr color space for skin segmentation and choose integral projection for face location. We use erosion and dilation of the opening and closing operation and illumination compensation method to preprocess face images, and then use the face recognition method based on kernel principal component analysis method for analysis and research, and the experiments were carried out using the typical face database. The algorithms experiment on MATLAB platform. Experimental results show that integration of the kernel method based on PCA algorithm under certain conditions make the extracted features represent the original image information better for using nonlinear feature extraction method, which can obtain higher recognition rate. In the image preprocessing stage, we found that images under various operations may appear different results, so as to obtain different recognition rate in recognition stage. At the same time, in the process of the kernel principal component analysis, the value of the power of the polynomial function can affect the recognition result.

Data pre-processing for web log mining: Case study of commercial bank website usage analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jozef Kapusta

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We use data cleaning, integration, reduction and data conversion methods in the pre-processing level of data analysis. Data processing techniques improve the overall quality of the patterns mined. The paper describes using of standard pre-processing methods for preparing data of the commercial bank website in the form of the log file obtained from the web server. Data cleaning, as the simplest step of data pre-processing, is non–trivial as the analysed content is highly specific. We had to deal with the problem of frequent changes of the content and even frequent changes of the structure. Regular changes in the structure make use of the sitemap impossible. We presented approaches how to deal with this problem. We were able to create the sitemap dynamically just based on the content of the log file. In this case study, we also examined just the one part of the website over the standard analysis of an entire website, as we did not have access to all log files for the security reason. As the result, the traditional practices had to be adapted for this special case. Analysing just the small fraction of the website resulted in the short session time of regular visitors. We were not able to use recommended methods to determine the optimal value of session time. Therefore, we proposed new methods based on outliers identification for raising the accuracy of the session length in this paper.

An Effective Measured Data Preprocessing Method in Electrical Impedance Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chenglong Yu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available As an advanced process detection technology, electrical impedance tomography (EIT has widely been paid attention to and studied in the industrial fields. But the EIT techniques are greatly limited to the low spatial resolutions. This problem may result from the incorrect preprocessing of measuring data and lack of general criterion to evaluate different preprocessing processes. In this paper, an EIT data preprocessing method is proposed by all rooting measured data and evaluated by two constructed indexes based on all rooted EIT measured data. By finding the optimums of the two indexes, the proposed method can be applied to improve the EIT imaging spatial resolutions. In terms of a theoretical model, the optimal rooting times of the two indexes range in [0.23, 0.33] and in [0.22, 0.35], respectively. Moreover, these factors that affect the correctness of the proposed method are generally analyzed. The measuring data preprocessing is necessary and helpful for any imaging process. Thus, the proposed method can be generally and widely used in any imaging process. Experimental results validate the two proposed indexes.

Research on pre-processing of QR Code

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Haixing; Xia, Haojie; Dong, Ning

2013-10-01

QR code encodes many kinds of information because of its advantages: large storage capacity, high reliability, full arrange of utter-high-speed reading, small printing size and high-efficient representation of Chinese characters, etc. In order to obtain the clearer binarization image from complex background, and improve the recognition rate of QR code, this paper researches on pre-processing methods of QR code (Quick Response Code), and shows algorithms and results of image pre-processing for QR code recognition. Improve the conventional method by changing the Souvola's adaptive text recognition method. Additionally, introduce the QR code Extraction which adapts to different image size, flexible image correction approach, and improve the efficiency and accuracy of QR code image processing.

Effect of packaging on physicochemical characteristics of irradiated pre-processed chicken

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Xiujie; Zhang Dongjie; Zhang Dequan; Li Shurong; Gao Meixu; Wang Zhidong

2011-01-01

To explore the effect of modified atmosphere packaging and antioxidants on the physicochemical characteristics of irradiated pre-processed chicken, the pre-processed chicken was added antioxidants first, and then packaged in common, vacuum and gas respectively, and finally irradiated at 5 kGy dosage. All samples was stored at 4 ℃. The pH, TBA, TVB-N and color deviation were evaluated after 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, 18 and 21 d of storage. The results showed that pH value of pre-processed chicken with antioxidants and vacuum packaged increased with the storage time but not significantly among different treatments. The TBA value was also increased but not significantly (P > 0.05), which indicated that vacuum package inhibited the lipid oxidation. TVB-N value increased with storage time, TVB-N value of vacuum package samples reached 14.29 mg/100 g at 21 d storage, which did not exceeded the reference indexes of fresh meat. a * value of the pre-processed chicken of vacuum package and non-oxygen package samples increased significantly during storage (P > 0.05), and chicken color kept bright red after 21 d storage with vacuum package It is concluded that vacuum packaging of irradiated pre-processed chicken is effective on ensuring its physical and chemical properties during storage. (authors)

Examination of Speed Contribution of Parallelization for Several Fingerprint Pre-Processing Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GORGUNOGLU, S.

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In analysis of minutiae based fingerprint systems, fingerprints needs to be pre-processed. The pre-processing is carried out to enhance the quality of the fingerprint and to obtain more accurate minutiae points. Reducing the pre-processing time is important for identification and verification in real time systems and especially for databases holding large fingerprints information. Parallel processing and parallel CPU computing can be considered as distribution of processes over multi core processor. This is done by using parallel programming techniques. Reducing the execution time is the main objective in parallel processing. In this study, pre-processing of minutiae based fingerprint system is implemented by parallel processing on multi core computers using OpenMP and on graphics processor using CUDA to improve execution time. The execution times and speedup ratios are compared with the one that of single core processor. The results show that by using parallel processing, execution time is substantially improved. The improvement ratios obtained for different pre-processing algorithms allowed us to make suggestions on the more suitable approaches for parallelization.

Normalization: A Preprocessing Stage

OpenAIRE

Patro, S. Gopal Krishna; Sahu, Kishore Kumar

2015-01-01

As we know that the normalization is a pre-processing stage of any type problem statement. Especially normalization takes important role in the field of soft computing, cloud computing etc. for manipulation of data like scale down or scale up the range of data before it becomes used for further stage. There are so many normalization techniques are there namely Min-Max normalization, Z-score normalization and Decimal scaling normalization. So by referring these normalization techniques we are ...

Automated pre-processing and multivariate vibrational spectra analysis software for rapid results in clinical settings

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharjee, T.; Kumar, P.; Fillipe, L.

2018-02-01

Vibrational spectroscopy, especially FTIR and Raman, has shown enormous potential in disease diagnosis, especially in cancers. Their potential for detecting varied pathological conditions are regularly reported. However, to prove their applicability in clinics, large multi-center multi-national studies need to be undertaken; and these will result in enormous amount of data. A parallel effort to develop analytical methods, including user-friendly software that can quickly pre-process data and subject them to required multivariate analysis is warranted in order to obtain results in real time. This study reports a MATLAB based script that can automatically import data, preprocess spectra— interpolation, derivatives, normalization, and then carry out Principal Component Analysis (PCA) followed by Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) of the first 10 PCs; all with a single click. The software has been verified on data obtained from cell lines, animal models, and in vivo patient datasets, and gives results comparable to Minitab 16 software. The software can be used to import variety of file extensions, asc, .txt., .xls, and many others. Options to ignore noisy data, plot all possible graphs with PCA factors 1 to 5, and save loading factors, confusion matrices and other parameters are also present. The software can provide results for a dataset of 300 spectra within 0.01 s. We believe that the software will be vital not only in clinical trials using vibrational spectroscopic data, but also to obtain rapid results when these tools get translated into clinics.

Effect of microaerobic fermentation in preprocessing fibrous lignocellulosic materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Alattar, Manar Arica; Green, Terrence R; Henry, Jordan; Gulca, Vitalie; Tizazu, Mikias; Bergstrom, Robby; Popa, Radu

2012-06-01

Amending soil with organic matter is common in agricultural and logging practices. Such amendments have benefits to soil fertility and crop yields. These benefits may be increased if material is preprocessed before introduction into soil. We analyzed the efficiency of microaerobic fermentation (MF), also referred to as Bokashi, in preprocessing fibrous lignocellulosic (FLC) organic materials using varying produce amendments and leachate treatments. Adding produce amendments increased leachate production and fermentation rates and decreased the biological oxygen demand of the leachate. Continuously draining leachate without returning it to the fermentors led to acidification and decreased concentrations of polysaccharides (PS) in leachates. PS fragmentation and the production of soluble metabolites and gases stabilized in fermentors in about 2-4 weeks. About 2 % of the carbon content was lost as CO(2). PS degradation rates, upon introduction of processed materials into soil, were similar to unfermented FLC. Our results indicate that MF is insufficient for adequate preprocessing of FLC material.

Performance of Pre-processing Schemes with Imperfect Channel State Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Søren Skovgaard; Kyritsi, Persa; De Carvalho, Elisabeth

2006-01-01

Pre-processing techniques have several benefits when the CSI is perfect. In this work we investigate three linear pre-processing filters, assuming imperfect CSI caused by noise degradation and channel temporal variation. Results indicate, that the LMMSE filter achieves the lowest BER and the high......Pre-processing techniques have several benefits when the CSI is perfect. In this work we investigate three linear pre-processing filters, assuming imperfect CSI caused by noise degradation and channel temporal variation. Results indicate, that the LMMSE filter achieves the lowest BER...... and the highest SINR when the CSI is perfect, whereas the simple matched filter may be a good choice when the CSI is imperfect. Additionally the results give insight into the inherent trade-off between robustness against CSI imperfections and spatial focusing ability....

The 1989 ENDF pre-processing codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullen, D.E.; McLaughlin, P.K.

1989-12-01

This document summarizes the 1989 version of the ENDF pre-processing codes which are required for processing evaluated nuclear data coded in the format ENDF-4, ENDF-5, or ENDF-6. The codes are available from the IAEA Nuclear Data Section, free of charge upon request. (author)

Net-Zero Building Technologies Create Substantial Energy Savings -

Science.gov (United States)

only an estimated 1% of commercial buildings are built to net-zero energy criteria. One reason for this Continuum Magazine | NREL Net-Zero Building Technologies Create Substantial Energy Savings Net -Zero Building Technologies Create Substantial Energy Savings Researchers work to package and share step

Parallelizing flow-accumulation calculations on graphics processing units—From iterative DEM preprocessing algorithm to recursive multiple-flow-direction algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Cheng-Zhi; Zhan, Lijun

2012-06-01

As one of the important tasks in digital terrain analysis, the calculation of flow accumulations from gridded digital elevation models (DEMs) usually involves two steps in a real application: (1) using an iterative DEM preprocessing algorithm to remove the depressions and flat areas commonly contained in real DEMs, and (2) using a recursive flow-direction algorithm to calculate the flow accumulation for every cell in the DEM. Because both algorithms are computationally intensive, quick calculation of the flow accumulations from a DEM (especially for a large area) presents a practical challenge to personal computer (PC) users. In recent years, rapid increases in hardware capacity of the graphics processing units (GPUs) provided in modern PCs have made it possible to meet this challenge in a PC environment. Parallel computing on GPUs using a compute-unified-device-architecture (CUDA) programming model has been explored to speed up the execution of the single-flow-direction algorithm (SFD). However, the parallel implementation on a GPU of the multiple-flow-direction (MFD) algorithm, which generally performs better than the SFD algorithm, has not been reported. Moreover, GPU-based parallelization of the DEM preprocessing step in the flow-accumulation calculations has not been addressed. This paper proposes a parallel approach to calculate flow accumulations (including both iterative DEM preprocessing and a recursive MFD algorithm) on a CUDA-compatible GPU. For the parallelization of an MFD algorithm (MFD-md), two different parallelization strategies using a GPU are explored. The first parallelization strategy, which has been used in the existing parallel SFD algorithm on GPU, has the problem of computing redundancy. Therefore, we designed a parallelization strategy based on graph theory. The application results show that the proposed parallel approach to calculate flow accumulations on a GPU performs much faster than either sequential algorithms or other parallel GPU

Data Acquisition and Preprocessing in Studies on Humans: What Is Not Taught in Statistics Classes?

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yeyi; Hernandez, Ladia M; Mueller, Peter; Dong, Yongquan; Forman, Michele R

2013-01-01

The aim of this paper is to address issues in research that may be missing from statistics classes and important for (bio-)statistics students. In the context of a case study, we discuss data acquisition and preprocessing steps that fill the gap between research questions posed by subject matter scientists and statistical methodology for formal inference. Issues include participant recruitment, data collection training and standardization, variable coding, data review and verification, data cleaning and editing, and documentation. Despite the critical importance of these details in research, most of these issues are rarely discussed in an applied statistics program. One reason for the lack of more formal training is the difficulty in addressing the many challenges that can possibly arise in the course of a study in a systematic way. This article can help to bridge this gap between research questions and formal statistical inference by using an illustrative case study for a discussion. We hope that reading and discussing this paper and practicing data preprocessing exercises will sensitize statistics students to these important issues and achieve optimal conduct, quality control, analysis, and interpretation of a study.

Comparison of multivariate preprocessing techniques as applied to electronic tongue based pattern classification for black tea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palit, Mousumi; Tudu, Bipan; Bhattacharyya, Nabarun; Dutta, Ankur; Dutta, Pallab Kumar; Jana, Arun; Bandyopadhyay, Rajib; Chatterjee, Anutosh

2010-01-01

In an electronic tongue, preprocessing on raw data precedes pattern analysis and choice of the appropriate preprocessing technique is crucial for the performance of the pattern classifier. While attempting to classify different grades of black tea using a voltammetric electronic tongue, different preprocessing techniques have been explored and a comparison of their performances is presented in this paper. The preprocessing techniques are compared first by a quantitative measurement of separability followed by principle component analysis; and then two different supervised pattern recognition models based on neural networks are used to evaluate the performance of the preprocessing techniques.

Value of Distributed Preprocessing of Biomass Feedstocks to a Bioenergy Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christopher T Wright

2006-07-01

Biomass preprocessing is one of the primary operations in the feedstock assembly system and the front-end of a biorefinery. Its purpose is to chop, grind, or otherwise format the biomass into a suitable feedstock for conversion to ethanol and other bioproducts. Many variables such as equipment cost and efficiency, and feedstock moisture content, particle size, bulk density, compressibility, and flowability affect the location and implementation of this unit operation. Previous conceptual designs show this operation to be located at the front-end of the biorefinery. However, data are presented that show distributed preprocessing at the field-side or in a fixed preprocessing facility can provide significant cost benefits by producing a higher value feedstock with improved handling, transporting, and merchandising potential. In addition, data supporting the preferential deconstruction of feedstock materials due to their bio-composite structure identifies the potential for significant improvements in equipment efficiencies and compositional quality upgrades. Theses data are collected from full-scale low and high capacity hammermill grinders with various screen sizes. Multiple feedstock varieties with a range of moisture values were used in the preprocessing tests. The comparative values of the different grinding configurations, feedstock varieties, and moisture levels are assessed through post-grinding analysis of the different particle fractions separated with a medium-scale forage particle separator and a Rototap separator. The results show that distributed preprocessing produces a material that has bulk flowable properties and fractionation benefits that can improve the ease of transporting, handling and conveying the material to the biorefinery and improve the biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes.

Federal Aviation Administration retained savings program proposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hostick, D.J.; Larson, L.L.; Hostick, C.J.

1998-03-01

Federal legislation allows federal agencies to retain up to 50% of the savings associated with implementing energy efficiency and water conservation measures and practices. Given budget pressures to reduce expenditures, the use of retained savings to fund additional projects represents a source of funds outside of the traditional budget cycle. The Southwest Region Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tasked Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to develop a model retained savings program for Southwest Region FAA use and as a prototype for consideration by the FAA. PNNL recommends the following steps be taken in developing a Southwest Region FAA retained savings program: Establish a retained savings mechanism. Determine the level at which the retained savings should be consolidated into a fund. The preliminary recommendation is to establish a revolving efficiency loan fund at the regional level. Such a mechanism allows some consolidation of savings to fund larger projects, while maintaining a sense of facility ownership in that the funds will remain within the region

Incremental Learning of Medical Data for Multi-Step Patient Health Classification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kranen, Philipp; Müller, Emmanuel; Assent, Ira

2010-01-01

of textile sensors, body sensors and preprocessing techniques as well as the integration and merging of sensor data in electronic health record systems. Emergency detection on multiple levels will show the benefits of multi-step classification and further enhance the scalability of emergency detection...

Pre-processing for Triangulation of Probabilistic Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bodlaender, H.L.; Koster, A.M.C.A.; Eijkhof, F. van den; Gaag, L.C. van der

2001-01-01

The currently most efficient algorithm for inference with a probabilistic network builds upon a triangulation of a networks graph. In this paper, we show that pre-processing can help in finding good triangulations for probabilistic networks, that is, triangulations with a minimal maximum

Comparative performance evaluation of transform coding in image pre-processing

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Vignesh V.; NB, Harikrishnan; Narayanan, Gayathri; CK, Niveditha

2017-07-01

We are in the midst of a communication transmute which drives the development as largely as dissemination of pioneering communication systems with ever-increasing fidelity and resolution. Distinguishable researches have been appreciative in image processing techniques crazed by a growing thirst for faster and easier encoding, storage and transmission of visual information. In this paper, the researchers intend to throw light on many techniques which could be worn at the transmitter-end in order to ease the transmission and reconstruction of the images. The researchers investigate the performance of different image transform coding schemes used in pre-processing, their comparison, and effectiveness, the necessary and sufficient conditions, properties and complexity in implementation. Whimsical by prior advancements in image processing techniques, the researchers compare various contemporary image pre-processing frameworks- Compressed Sensing, Singular Value Decomposition, Integer Wavelet Transform on performance. The paper exposes the potential of Integer Wavelet transform to be an efficient pre-processing scheme.

Classification-based comparison of pre-processing methods for interpretation of mass spectrometry generated clinical datasets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoefsloot Huub CJ

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Mass spectrometry is increasingly being used to discover proteins or protein profiles associated with disease. Experimental design of mass-spectrometry studies has come under close scrutiny and the importance of strict protocols for sample collection is now understood. However, the question of how best to process the large quantities of data generated is still unanswered. Main challenges for the analysis are the choice of proper pre-processing and classification methods. While these two issues have been investigated in isolation, we propose to use the classification of patient samples as a clinically relevant benchmark for the evaluation of pre-processing methods. Results Two in-house generated clinical SELDI-TOF MS datasets are used in this study as an example of high throughput mass-spectrometry data. We perform a systematic comparison of two commonly used pre-processing methods as implemented in Ciphergen ProteinChip Software and in the Cromwell package. With respect to reproducibility, Ciphergen and Cromwell pre-processing are largely comparable. We find that the overlap between peaks detected by either Ciphergen ProteinChip Software or Cromwell is large. This is especially the case for the more stringent peak detection settings. Moreover, similarity of the estimated intensities between matched peaks is high. We evaluate the pre-processing methods using five different classification methods. Classification is done in a double cross-validation protocol using repeated random sampling to obtain an unbiased estimate of classification accuracy. No pre-processing method significantly outperforms the other for all peak detection settings evaluated. Conclusion We use classification of patient samples as a clinically relevant benchmark for the evaluation of pre-processing methods. Both pre-processing methods lead to similar classification results on an ovarian cancer and a Gaucher disease dataset. However, the settings for pre-processing

Impact of data transformation and preprocessing in supervised ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Impact of data transformation and preprocessing in supervised learning ... Nowadays, the ideas of integrating machine learning techniques in power system has ... The proposed algorithm used Python-based split train and k-fold model ...

Thinning: A Preprocessing Technique for an OCR System for the Brahmi Script

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. K. Anasuya Devi

2006-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we study the methodology employed for preprocessing the archaeological images. We present the various algorithms used in the low level processing stage of image analysis for Optical Character Recognition System for Brahmi Script. The image preprocessing technique covered in this paper include Thinning method. We also try to analyze the results obtained by the pixel-level processing algorithms.

Boosting reversible pushdown machines by preprocessing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Axelsen, Holger Bock; Kutrib, Martin; Malcher, Andreas

2016-01-01

languages, whereas for reversible pushdown automata the accepted family of languages lies strictly in between the reversible deterministic context-free languages and the real-time deterministic context-free languages. Moreover, it is shown that the computational power of both types of machines...... is not changed by allowing the preprocessing sequential transducer to work irreversibly. Finally, we examine the closure properties of the family of languages accepted by such machines....

Pre-processing by data augmentation for improved ellipse fitting.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Pankaj; Belchamber, Erika R; Miklavcic, Stanley J

2018-01-01

Ellipse fitting is a highly researched and mature topic. Surprisingly, however, no existing method has thus far considered the data point eccentricity in its ellipse fitting procedure. Here, we introduce the concept of eccentricity of a data point, in analogy with the idea of ellipse eccentricity. We then show empirically that, irrespective of ellipse fitting method used, the root mean square error (RMSE) of a fit increases with the eccentricity of the data point set. The main contribution of the paper is based on the hypothesis that if the data point set were pre-processed to strategically add additional data points in regions of high eccentricity, then the quality of a fit could be improved. Conditional validity of this hypothesis is demonstrated mathematically using a model scenario. Based on this confirmation we propose an algorithm that pre-processes the data so that data points with high eccentricity are replicated. The improvement of ellipse fitting is then demonstrated empirically in real-world application of 3D reconstruction of a plant root system for phenotypic analysis. The degree of improvement for different underlying ellipse fitting methods as a function of data noise level is also analysed. We show that almost every method tested, irrespective of whether it minimizes algebraic error or geometric error, shows improvement in the fit following data augmentation using the proposed pre-processing algorithm.

A Stereo Music Preprocessing Scheme for Cochlear Implant Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Buyens, Wim; van Dijk, Bas; Wouters, Jan; Moonen, Marc

2015-10-01

Listening to music is still one of the more challenging aspects of using a cochlear implant (CI) for most users. Simple musical structures, a clear rhythm/beat, and lyrics that are easy to follow are among the top factors contributing to music appreciation for CI users. Modifying the audio mix of complex music potentially improves music enjoyment in CI users. A stereo music preprocessing scheme is described in which vocals, drums, and bass are emphasized based on the representation of the harmonic and the percussive components in the input spectrogram, combined with the spatial allocation of instruments in typical stereo recordings. The scheme is assessed with postlingually deafened CI subjects (N = 7) using pop/rock music excerpts with different complexity levels. The scheme is capable of modifying relative instrument level settings, with the aim of improving music appreciation in CI users, and allows individual preference adjustments. The assessment with CI subjects confirms the preference for more emphasis on vocals, drums, and bass as offered by the preprocessing scheme, especially for songs with higher complexity. The stereo music preprocessing scheme has the potential to improve music enjoyment in CI users by modifying the audio mix in widespread (stereo) music recordings. Since music enjoyment in CI users is generally poor, this scheme can assist the music listening experience of CI users as a training or rehabilitation tool.

Detailed Investigation and Comparison of the XCMS and MZmine 2 Chromatogram Construction and Chromatographic Peak Detection Methods for Preprocessing Mass Spectrometry Metabolomics Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Owen D; Sumner, Susan J; Li, Shuzhao; Barnes, Stephen; Du, Xiuxia

2017-09-05

XCMS and MZmine 2 are two widely used software packages for preprocessing untargeted LC/MS metabolomics data. Both construct extracted ion chromatograms (EICs) and detect peaks from the EICs, the first two steps in the data preprocessing workflow. While both packages have performed admirably in peak picking, they also detect a problematic number of false positive EIC peaks and can also fail to detect real EIC peaks. The former and latter translate downstream into spurious and missing compounds and present significant limitations with most existing software packages that preprocess untargeted mass spectrometry metabolomics data. We seek to understand the specific reasons why XCMS and MZmine 2 find the false positive EIC peaks that they do and in what ways they fail to detect real compounds. We investigate differences of EIC construction methods in XCMS and MZmine 2 and find several problems in the XCMS centWave peak detection algorithm which we show are partly responsible for the false positive and false negative compound identifications. In addition, we find a problem with MZmine 2's use of centWave. We hope that a detailed understanding of the XCMS and MZmine 2 algorithms will allow users to work with them more effectively and will also help with future algorithmic development.

A new approach to pre-processing digital image for wavelet-based watermark

Science.gov (United States)

Agreste, Santa; Andaloro, Guido

2008-11-01

The growth of the Internet has increased the phenomenon of digital piracy, in multimedia objects, like software, image, video, audio and text. Therefore it is strategic to individualize and to develop methods and numerical algorithms, which are stable and have low computational cost, that will allow us to find a solution to these problems. We describe a digital watermarking algorithm for color image protection and authenticity: robust, not blind, and wavelet-based. The use of Discrete Wavelet Transform is motivated by good time-frequency features and a good match with Human Visual System directives. These two combined elements are important for building an invisible and robust watermark. Moreover our algorithm can work with any image, thanks to the step of pre-processing of the image that includes resize techniques that adapt to the size of the original image for Wavelet transform. The watermark signal is calculated in correlation with the image features and statistic properties. In the detection step we apply a re-synchronization between the original and watermarked image according to the Neyman-Pearson statistic criterion. Experimentation on a large set of different images has been shown to be resistant against geometric, filtering, and StirMark attacks with a low rate of false alarm.

REMINDER Saved Leave Scheme (SLS) : Simplified procedure for the transfer of leave to saved leave accounts

CERN Multimedia

HR Division

2001-01-01

As part of the process of streamlining procedures, the HR and AS Divisions have jointly developed a system whereby annual and compensatory leave will henceforth be automatically transferred1) to saved leave accounts. Under the provisions of the voluntary saved leave scheme (SLS), a maximum total of 10 days'2)Previously, every person taking part in the scheme has been individually issued with a form for the purposes of requesting the transfer of leave to the leave account and the transfer has then had to be done manually by HR Division. To streamline the procedure, unused leave of all those taking part in the saved leave scheme at the closure of the leave-year accounts will henceforth be transferred automatically to the saved leave account on that date. This simplification is in the interest of all parties concerned. This automatic transfer procedure has a number of advantages for participants in the SLS scheme. First, staff members will no longer have to take any administrative steps. Secondly, the new proced...

zipHMMlib:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sand, Andreas; Kristiansen, Martin; Pedersen, Christian Nørgaard Storm

2013-01-01

the computations in the forward algorithm which can be reused. This analysis can be saved between uses of the library and is independent of concrete hidden Markov models so one preprocessing can be used to run a number of different models. Using this library, we achieve up to 78 times shorter wall-clock time...... have built a software library for efficiently computing the likelihood of a hidden Markov model. The library exploits commonly occurring substrings in the input to reuse computations in the forward algorithm. In a pre-processing step our library identifies common substrings and builds a structure over...

Data preprocessing methods of FT-NIR spectral data for the classification cooking oil

Science.gov (United States)

Ruah, Mas Ezatul Nadia Mohd; Rasaruddin, Nor Fazila; Fong, Sim Siong; Jaafar, Mohd Zuli

2014-12-01

This recent work describes the data pre-processing method of FT-NIR spectroscopy datasets of cooking oil and its quality parameters with chemometrics method. Pre-processing of near-infrared (NIR) spectral data has become an integral part of chemometrics modelling. Hence, this work is dedicated to investigate the utility and effectiveness of pre-processing algorithms namely row scaling, column scaling and single scaling process with Standard Normal Variate (SNV). The combinations of these scaling methods have impact on exploratory analysis and classification via Principle Component Analysis plot (PCA). The samples were divided into palm oil and non-palm cooking oil. The classification model was build using FT-NIR cooking oil spectra datasets in absorbance mode at the range of 4000cm-1-14000cm-1. Savitzky Golay derivative was applied before developing the classification model. Then, the data was separated into two sets which were training set and test set by using Duplex method. The number of each class was kept equal to 2/3 of the class that has the minimum number of sample. Then, the sample was employed t-statistic as variable selection method in order to select which variable is significant towards the classification models. The evaluation of data pre-processing were looking at value of modified silhouette width (mSW), PCA and also Percentage Correctly Classified (%CC). The results show that different data processing strategies resulting to substantial amount of model performances quality. The effects of several data pre-processing i.e. row scaling, column standardisation and single scaling process with Standard Normal Variate indicated by mSW and %CC. At two PCs model, all five classifier gave high %CC except Quadratic Distance Analysis.

Optimal production scheduling for energy efficiency improvement in biofuel feedstock preprocessing considering work-in-process particle separation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Lin; Sun, Zeyi; Yao, Xufeng; Wang, Donghai

2016-01-01

Biofuel is considered a promising alternative to traditional liquid transportation fuels. The large-scale substitution of biofuel can greatly enhance global energy security and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. One major concern of the broad adoption of biofuel is the intensive energy consumption in biofuel manufacturing. This paper focuses on the energy efficiency improvement of biofuel feedstock preprocessing, a major process of cellulosic biofuel manufacturing. An improved scheme of the feedstock preprocessing considering work-in-process particle separation is introduced to reduce energy waste and improve energy efficiency. A scheduling model based on the improved scheme is also developed to identify an optimal production schedule that can minimize the energy consumption of the feedstock preprocessing under production target constraint. A numerical case study is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The research outcome is expected to improve the energy efficiency and enhance the environmental sustainability of biomass feedstock preprocessing. - Highlights: • A novel method to schedule production in biofuel feedstock preprocessing process. • Systems modeling approach is used. • Capable of optimize preprocessing to reduce energy waste and improve energy efficiency. • A numerical case is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. • Energy consumption per unit production can be significantly reduced.

Reproducible cancer biomarker discovery in SELDI-TOF MS using different pre-processing algorithms.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinfeng Zou

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: There has been much interest in differentiating diseased and normal samples using biomarkers derived from mass spectrometry (MS studies. However, biomarker identification for specific diseases has been hindered by irreproducibility. Specifically, a peak profile extracted from a dataset for biomarker identification depends on a data pre-processing algorithm. Until now, no widely accepted agreement has been reached. RESULTS: In this paper, we investigated the consistency of biomarker identification using differentially expressed (DE peaks from peak profiles produced by three widely used average spectrum-dependent pre-processing algorithms based on SELDI-TOF MS data for prostate and breast cancers. Our results revealed two important factors that affect the consistency of DE peak identification using different algorithms. One factor is that some DE peaks selected from one peak profile were not detected as peaks in other profiles, and the second factor is that the statistical power of identifying DE peaks in large peak profiles with many peaks may be low due to the large scale of the tests and small number of samples. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the DE peak detection power in large profiles could be improved by the stratified false discovery rate (FDR control approach and that the reproducibility of DE peak detection could thereby be increased. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing and evaluating pre-processing algorithms in terms of reproducibility can elucidate the relationship among different algorithms and also help in selecting a pre-processing algorithm. The DE peaks selected from small peak profiles with few peaks for a dataset tend to be reproducibly detected in large peak profiles, which suggests that a suitable pre-processing algorithm should be able to produce peaks sufficient for identifying useful and reproducible biomarkers.

Small Town Energy Program (STEP) Final Report revised

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, Charles (Chuck) T.

2014-01-02

University Park, Maryland (“UP”) is a small town of 2,540 residents, 919 homes, 2 churches, 1 school, 1 town hall, and 1 breakthrough community energy efficiency initiative: the Small Town Energy Program (“STEP”). STEP was developed with a mission to “create a model community energy transformation program that serves as a roadmap for other small towns across the U.S.” STEP first launched in January 2011 in UP and expanded in July 2012 to the neighboring communities of Hyattsville, Riverdale Park, and College Heights Estates, MD. STEP, which concluded in July 2013, was generously supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The STEP model was designed for replication in other resource-constrained small towns similar to University Park - a sector largely neglected to date in federal and state energy efficiency programs. STEP provided a full suite of activities for replication, including: energy audits and retrofits for residential buildings, financial incentives, a community-based social marketing backbone and local community delivery partners. STEP also included the highly innovative use of an “Energy Coach” who worked one-on-one with clients throughout the program. Please see www.smalltownenergy.org for more information. In less than three years, STEP achieved the following results in University Park: • 30% of community households participated voluntarily in STEP; • 25% of homes received a Home Performance with ENERGY STAR assessment; • 16% of households made energy efficiency improvements to their home; • 64% of households proceeded with an upgrade after their assessment; • 9 Full Time Equivalent jobs were created or retained, and 39 contractors worked on STEP over the course of the project. Estimated Energy Savings - Program Totals kWh Electricity 204,407 Therms Natural Gas 24,800 Gallons of Oil 2,581 Total Estimated MMBTU Saved (Source Energy) 5,474 Total Estimated Annual Energy Cost Savings $61,343 STEP clients who

Parallel pipeline algorithm of real time star map preprocessing

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hai-yong; Qin, Tian-mu; Liu, Jia-qi; Li, Zhi-feng; Li, Jian-hua

2016-03-01

To improve the preprocessing speed of star map and reduce the resource consumption of embedded system of star tracker, a parallel pipeline real-time preprocessing algorithm is presented. The two characteristics, the mean and the noise standard deviation of the background gray of a star map, are firstly obtained dynamically by the means that the intervene of the star image itself to the background is removed in advance. The criterion on whether or not the following noise filtering is needed is established, then the extraction threshold value is assigned according to the level of background noise, so that the centroiding accuracy is guaranteed. In the processing algorithm, as low as two lines of pixel data are buffered, and only 100 shift registers are used to record the connected domain label, by which the problems of resources wasting and connected domain overflow are solved. The simulating results show that the necessary data of the selected bright stars could be immediately accessed in a delay time as short as 10us after the pipeline processing of a 496×496 star map in 50Mb/s is finished, and the needed memory and registers resource total less than 80kb. To verify the accuracy performance of the algorithm proposed, different levels of background noise are added to the processed ideal star map, and the statistic centroiding error is smaller than 1/23 pixel under the condition that the signal to noise ratio is greater than 1. The parallel pipeline algorithm of real time star map preprocessing helps to increase the data output speed and the anti-dynamic performance of star tracker.

Summary of ENDF/B pre-processing codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullen, D.E.

1981-12-01

This document contains the summary documentation for the ENDF/B pre-processing codes: LINEAR, RECENT, SIGMA1, GROUPIE, EVALPLOT, MERGER, DICTION, CONVERT. This summary documentation is merely a copy of the comment cards that appear at the beginning of each programme; these comment cards always reflect the latest status of input options, etc. For the latest published documentation on the methods used in these codes see UCRL-50400, Vol.17 parts A-E, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (1979)

Parallel finite elements with domain decomposition and its pre-processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, A.; Yagawa, G.; Hamada, S.

1993-01-01

This paper describes a parallel finite element analysis using a domain decomposition method, and the pre-processing for the parallel calculation. Computer simulations are about to replace experiments in various fields, and the scale of model to be simulated tends to be extremely large. On the other hand, computational environment has drastically changed in these years. Especially, parallel processing on massively parallel computers or computer networks is considered to be promising techniques. In order to achieve high efficiency on such parallel computation environment, large granularity of tasks, a well-balanced workload distribution are key issues. It is also important to reduce the cost of pre-processing in such parallel FEM. From the point of view, the authors developed the domain decomposition FEM with the automatic and dynamic task-allocation mechanism and the automatic mesh generation/domain subdivision system for it. (author)

ITSG-Grace2016 data preprocessing methodologies revisited: impact of using Level-1A data products

Science.gov (United States)

Klinger, Beate; Mayer-Gürr, Torsten

2017-04-01

For the ITSG-Grace2016 release, the gravity field recovery is based on the use of official GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) Level-1B data products, generated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Before gravity field recovery, the Level-1B instrument data are preprocessed. This data preprocessing step includes the combination of Level-1B star camera (SCA1B) and angular acceleration (ACC1B) data for an improved attitude determination (sensor fusion), instrument data screening and ACC1B data calibration. Based on a Level-1A test dataset, provided for individual month throughout the GRACE period by the Center of Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin (UTCSR), the impact of using Level-1A instead of Level-1B data products within the ITSG-Grace2016 processing chain is analyzed. We discuss (1) the attitude determination through an optimal combination of SCA1A and ACC1A data using our sensor fusion approach, (2) the impact of the new attitude product on temporal gravity field solutions, and (3) possible benefits of using Level-1A data for instrument data screening and calibration. As the GRACE mission is currently reaching its end-of-life, the presented work aims not only at a better understanding of GRACE science data to reduce the impact of possible error sources on the gravity field recovery, but it also aims at preparing Level-1A data handling capabilities for the GRACE Follow-On mission.

A base composition analysis of natural patterns for the preprocessing of metagenome sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonham-Carter, Oliver; Ali, Hesham; Bastola, Dhundy

2013-01-01

On the pretext that sequence reads and contigs often exhibit the same kinds of base usage that is also observed in the sequences from which they are derived, we offer a base composition analysis tool. Our tool uses these natural patterns to determine relatedness across sequence data. We introduce spectrum sets (sets of motifs) which are permutations of bacterial restriction sites and the base composition analysis framework to measure their proportional content in sequence data. We suggest that this framework will increase the efficiency during the pre-processing stages of metagenome sequencing and assembly projects. Our method is able to differentiate organisms and their reads or contigs. The framework shows how to successfully determine the relatedness between these reads or contigs by comparison of base composition. In particular, we show that two types of organismal-sequence data are fundamentally different by analyzing their spectrum set motif proportions (coverage). By the application of one of the four possible spectrum sets, encompassing all known restriction sites, we provide the evidence to claim that each set has a different ability to differentiate sequence data. Furthermore, we show that the spectrum set selection having relevance to one organism, but not to the others of the data set, will greatly improve performance of sequence differentiation even if the fragment size of the read, contig or sequence is not lengthy. We show the proof of concept of our method by its application to ten trials of two or three freshly selected sequence fragments (reads and contigs) for each experiment across the six organisms of our set. Here we describe a novel and computationally effective pre-processing step for metagenome sequencing and assembly tasks. Furthermore, our base composition method has applications in phylogeny where it can be used to infer evolutionary distances between organisms based on the notion that related organisms often have much conserved code.

Evaluation of a Stereo Music Preprocessing Scheme for Cochlear Implant Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Buyens, Wim; van Dijk, Bas; Moonen, Marc; Wouters, Jan

2018-01-01

Although for most cochlear implant (CI) users good speech understanding is reached (at least in quiet environments), the perception and the appraisal of music are generally unsatisfactory. The improvement in music appraisal was evaluated in CI participants by using a stereo music preprocessing scheme implemented on a take-home device, in a comfortable listening environment. The preprocessing allowed adjusting the balance among vocals/bass/drums and other instruments, and was evaluated for different genres of music. The correlation between the preferred settings and the participants' speech and pitch detection performance was investigated. During the initial visit preceding the take-home test, the participants' speech-in-noise perception and pitch detection performance were measured, and a questionnaire about their music involvement was completed. The take-home device was provided, including the stereo music preprocessing scheme and seven playlists with six songs each. The participants were asked to adjust the balance by means of a turning wheel to make the music sound most enjoyable, and to repeat this three times for all songs. Twelve postlingually deafened CI users participated in the study. The data were collected by means of a take-home device, which preserved all the preferred settings for the different songs. Statistical analysis was done with a Friedman test (with post hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank test) to check the effect of "Genre." The correlations were investigated with Pearson's and Spearman's correlation coefficients. All participants preferred a balance significantly different from the original balance. Differences across participants were observed which could not be explained by perceptual abilities. An effect of "Genre" was found, showing significantly smaller preferred deviation from the original balance for Golden Oldies compared to the other genres. The stereo music preprocessing scheme showed an improvement in music appraisal with complex music and

Summary of ENDF/B Pre-Processing Codes June 1983

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullen, D.E.

1983-06-01

This is the summary documentation for the 1983 version of the ENDF/B Pre-Processing Codes LINEAR, RECENT, SIGMA1, GROUPIE, EVALPLOT, MERGER, DICTION, COMPLOT, CONVERT. This summary documentation is merely a copy of the comment cards that appear at the beginning of each programme; these comment cards always reflect the latest status of input options, etc

Automated procedures for sizing aerospace vehicle structures /SAVES/

Science.gov (United States)

Giles, G. L.; Blackburn, C. L.; Dixon, S. C.

1972-01-01

Results from a continuing effort to develop automated methods for structural design are described. A system of computer programs presently under development called SAVES is intended to automate the preliminary structural design of a complete aerospace vehicle. Each step in the automated design process of the SAVES system of programs is discussed, with emphasis placed on use of automated routines for generation of finite-element models. The versatility of these routines is demonstrated by structural models generated for a space shuttle orbiter, an advanced technology transport,n hydrogen fueled Mach 3 transport. Illustrative numerical results are presented for the Mach 3 transport wing.

A First Step in Learning Analytics: Pre-Processing Low-Level Alice Logging Data of Middle School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, Linda; McDowell, Charlie; Denner, Jill

2013-01-01

Educational data mining can miss or misidentify key findings about student learning without a transparent process of analyzing the data. This paper describes the first steps in the process of using low-level logging data to understand how middle school students used Alice, an initial programming environment. We describe the steps that were…

Voice preprocessing system incorporating a real-time spectrum analyzer with programmable switched-capacitor filters

Science.gov (United States)

Knapp, G.

1984-01-01

As part of a speaker verification program for BISS (Base Installation Security System), a test system is being designed with a flexible preprocessing system for the evaluation of voice spectrum/verification algorithm related problems. The main part of this report covers the design, construction, and testing of a voice analyzer with 16 integrating real-time frequency channels ranging from 300 Hz to 3 KHz. The bandpass filter response of each channel is programmable by NMOS switched capacitor quad filter arrays. Presently, the accuracy of these units is limited to a moderate precision by the finite steps of programming. However, repeatability of characteristics between filter units and sections seems to be excellent for the implemented fourth-order Butterworth bandpass responses. We obtained a 0.1 dB linearity error of signal detection and measured a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 70 dB. The proprocessing system discussed includes preemphasis filter design, gain normalizer design, and data acquisition system design as well as test results.

Poisson pre-processing of nonstationary photonic signals: Signals with equality between mean and variance.

Science.gov (United States)

Poplová, Michaela; Sovka, Pavel; Cifra, Michal

2017-01-01

Photonic signals are broadly exploited in communication and sensing and they typically exhibit Poisson-like statistics. In a common scenario where the intensity of the photonic signals is low and one needs to remove a nonstationary trend of the signals for any further analysis, one faces an obstacle: due to the dependence between the mean and variance typical for a Poisson-like process, information about the trend remains in the variance even after the trend has been subtracted, possibly yielding artifactual results in further analyses. Commonly available detrending or normalizing methods cannot cope with this issue. To alleviate this issue we developed a suitable pre-processing method for the signals that originate from a Poisson-like process. In this paper, a Poisson pre-processing method for nonstationary time series with Poisson distribution is developed and tested on computer-generated model data and experimental data of chemiluminescence from human neutrophils and mung seeds. The presented method transforms a nonstationary Poisson signal into a stationary signal with a Poisson distribution while preserving the type of photocount distribution and phase-space structure of the signal. The importance of the suggested pre-processing method is shown in Fano factor and Hurst exponent analysis of both computer-generated model signals and experimental photonic signals. It is demonstrated that our pre-processing method is superior to standard detrending-based methods whenever further signal analysis is sensitive to variance of the signal.

Pre-processing data using wavelet transform and PCA based on ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Abazar Solgi

2017-07-14

Jul 14, 2017 ... Pre-processing data using wavelet transform and PCA based on support vector regression and gene expression programming for river flow simulation. Abazar Solgi1,*, Amir Pourhaghi1, Ramin Bahmani2 and Heidar Zarei3. 1. Department of Water Resources Engineering, Shahid Chamran University of ...

Scientific data products and the data pre-processing subsystem of the Chang'e-3 mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan Xu; Liu Jian-Jun; Li Chun-Lai; Feng Jian-Qing; Ren Xin; Wang Fen-Fei; Yan Wei; Zuo Wei; Wang Xiao-Qian; Zhang Zhou-Bin

2014-01-01

The Chang'e-3 (CE-3) mission is China's first exploration mission on the surface of the Moon that uses a lander and a rover. Eight instruments that form the scientific payloads have the following objectives: (1) investigate the morphological features and geological structures at the landing site; (2) integrated in-situ analysis of minerals and chemical compositions; (3) integrated exploration of the structure of the lunar interior; (4) exploration of the lunar-terrestrial space environment, lunar surface environment and acquire Moon-based ultraviolet astronomical observations. The Ground Research and Application System (GRAS) is in charge of data acquisition and pre-processing, management of the payload in orbit, and managing the data products and their applications. The Data Pre-processing Subsystem (DPS) is a part of GRAS. The task of DPS is the pre-processing of raw data from the eight instruments that are part of CE-3, including channel processing, unpacking, package sorting, calibration and correction, identification of geographical location, calculation of probe azimuth angle, probe zenith angle, solar azimuth angle, and solar zenith angle and so on, and conducting quality checks. These processes produce Level 0, Level 1 and Level 2 data. The computing platform of this subsystem is comprised of a high-performance computing cluster, including a real-time subsystem used for processing Level 0 data and a post-time subsystem for generating Level 1 and Level 2 data. This paper describes the CE-3 data pre-processing method, the data pre-processing subsystem, data classification, data validity and data products that are used for scientific studies

Pre-processing of Fourier transform infrared spectra by means of multivariate analysis implemented in the R environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Banas, Krzysztof; Banas, Agnieszka; Gajda, Mariusz; Pawlicki, Bohdan; Kwiatek, Wojciech M; Breese, Mark B H

2015-04-21

Pre-processing of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra is typically the first and crucial step in data analysis. Very often hyperspectral datasets include the regions characterized by the spectra of very low intensity, for example two-dimensional (2D) maps where the areas with only support materials (like mylar foil) are present. In that case segmentation of the complete dataset is required before subsequent evaluation. The method proposed in this contribution is based on a multivariate approach (hierarchical cluster analysis), and shows its superiority when compared to the standard method of cutting-off by using only the mean spectral intensity. Both techniques were implemented and their performance was tested in the R statistical environment - open-source platform - that is a favourable solution if the repeatability and transparency are the key aspects.

Relative effects of statistical preprocessing and postprocessing on a regional hydrological ensemble prediction system

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Sanjib; Siddique, Ridwan; Reed, Seann; Ahnert, Peter; Mendoza, Pablo; Mejia, Alfonso

2018-03-01

The relative roles of statistical weather preprocessing and streamflow postprocessing in hydrological ensemble forecasting at short- to medium-range forecast lead times (day 1-7) are investigated. For this purpose, a regional hydrologic ensemble prediction system (RHEPS) is developed and implemented. The RHEPS is comprised of the following components: (i) hydrometeorological observations (multisensor precipitation estimates, gridded surface temperature, and gauged streamflow); (ii) weather ensemble forecasts (precipitation and near-surface temperature) from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction 11-member Global Ensemble Forecast System Reforecast version 2 (GEFSRv2); (iii) NOAA's Hydrology Laboratory-Research Distributed Hydrologic Model (HL-RDHM); (iv) heteroscedastic censored logistic regression (HCLR) as the statistical preprocessor; (v) two statistical postprocessors, an autoregressive model with a single exogenous variable (ARX(1,1)) and quantile regression (QR); and (vi) a comprehensive verification strategy. To implement the RHEPS, 1 to 7 days weather forecasts from the GEFSRv2 are used to force HL-RDHM and generate raw ensemble streamflow forecasts. Forecasting experiments are conducted in four nested basins in the US Middle Atlantic region, ranging in size from 381 to 12 362 km2. Results show that the HCLR preprocessed ensemble precipitation forecasts have greater skill than the raw forecasts. These improvements are more noticeable in the warm season at the longer lead times (> 3 days). Both postprocessors, ARX(1,1) and QR, show gains in skill relative to the raw ensemble streamflow forecasts, particularly in the cool season, but QR outperforms ARX(1,1). The scenarios that implement preprocessing and postprocessing separately tend to perform similarly, although the postprocessing-alone scenario is often more effective. The scenario involving both preprocessing and postprocessing consistently outperforms the other scenarios. In some cases

Large Hospital 50% Energy Savings: Technical Support Document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonnema, E.; Studer, D.; Parker, A.; Pless, S.; Torcellini, P.

2010-09-01

This Technical Support Document documents the technical analysis and design guidance for large hospitals to achieve whole-building energy savings of at least 50% over ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004 and represents a step toward determining how to provide design guidance for aggressive energy savings targets. This report documents the modeling methods used to demonstrate that the design recommendations meet or exceed the 50% goal. EnergyPlus was used to model the predicted energy performance of the baseline and low-energy buildings to verify that 50% energy savings are achievable. Percent energy savings are based on a nominal minimally code-compliant building and whole-building, net site energy use intensity. The report defines architectural-program characteristics for typical large hospitals, thereby defining a prototype model; creates baseline energy models for each climate zone that are elaborations of the prototype models and are minimally compliant with Standard 90.1-2004; creates a list of energy design measures that can be applied to the prototype model to create low-energy models; uses industry feedback to strengthen inputs for baseline energy models and energy design measures; and simulates low-energy models for each climate zone to show that when the energy design measures are applied to the prototype model, 50% energy savings (or more) are achieved.

Social Security and Saving: A Time-Series Econometrics Pedagogical Example (With "R" Code)

Science.gov (United States)

Wassell, Charles S., Jr.

2018-01-01

In 1974, and then again in 1996, Martin Feldstein published studies of the impact of the Social Security system on private saving in the U.S. economy. He found that Social Security depressed personal saving by a substantial amount--up to 50 percent. The author uses the Feldstein data and empirical models in this article to illustrate the steps in…

Thresholding: A Pixel-Level Image Processing Methodology Preprocessing Technique for an OCR System for the Brahmi Script

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. K. Anasuya Devi

2006-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we study the methodology employed for preprocessing the archaeological images. We present the various algorithms used in the low-level processing stage of image analysis for Optical Character Recognition System for Brahmi Script. The image preprocessing technique covered in this paper is thresholding. We also try to analyze the results obtained by the pixel-level processing algorithms.

Comparison of planar images and SPECT with bayesean preprocessing for the demonstration of facial anatomy and craniomandibular disorders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kircos, L.T.; Ortendahl, D.A.; Hattner, R.S.; Faulkner, D.; Taylor, R.L.

1984-01-01

Craniomandiublar disorders involving the facial anatomy may be difficult to demonstrate in planar images. Although bone scanning is generally more sensitive than radiography, facial bone anatomy is complex and focal areas of increased or decreased radiotracer may become obscured by overlapping structures in planar images. Thus SPECT appears ideally suited to examination of the facial skeleton. A series of patients with craniomandibular disorders of unknown origin were imaged using 20 mCi Tc-99m MDP. Planar and SPECT (Siemens 7500 ZLC Orbiter) images were obtained four hours after injection. The SPECT images were reconstructed with a filtered back-projection algorithm. In order to improve image contrast and resolution in SPECT images, the rotation views were pre-processed with a Bayesean deblurring algorithm which has previously been show to offer improved contrast and resolution in planar images. SPECT images using the pre-processed rotation views were obtained and compared to the SPECT images without pre-processing and the planar images. TMJ arthropathy involving either the glenoid fossa or the mandibular condyle, orthopedic changes involving the mandible or maxilla, localized dental pathosis, as well as changes in structures peripheral to the facial skeleton were identified. Bayesean pre-processed SPECT depicted the facial skeleton more clearly as well as providing a more obvious demonstration of the bony changes associated with craniomandibular disorders than either planar images or SPECT without pre-processing

Linguistic Preprocessing and Tagging for Problem Report Trend Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Beil, Robert J.; Malin, Jane T.

2012-01-01

Mr. Robert Beil, Systems Engineer at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), requested the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) develop a prototype tool suite that combines complementary software technology used at Johnson Space Center (JSC) and KSC for problem report preprocessing and semantic tag extraction, to improve input to data mining and trend analysis. This document contains the outcome of the assessment and the Findings, Observations and NESC Recommendations.

The 1992 ENDF Pre-processing codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullen, D.E.

1992-01-01

This document summarizes the 1992 version of the ENDF pre-processing codes which are required for processing evaluated nuclear data coded in the format ENDF-4, ENDF-5, or ENDF-6. Included are the codes CONVERT, MERGER, LINEAR, RECENT, SIGMA1, LEGEND, FIXUP, GROUPIE, DICTION, MIXER, VIRGIN, COMPLOT, EVALPLOT, RELABEL. Some of the functions of these codes are: to calculate cross-sections from resonance parameters; to calculate angular distributions, group average, mixtures of cross-sections, etc; to produce graphical plottings and data comparisons. The codes are designed to operate on virtually any type of computer including PC's. They are available from the IAEA Nuclear Data Section, free of charge upon request, on magnetic tape or a set of HD diskettes. (author)

Input data preprocessing method for exchange rate forecasting via neural network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antić Dragan S.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present a method for neural network input parameters selection and preprocessing. The purpose of this network is to forecast foreign exchange rates using artificial intelligence. Two data sets are formed for two different economic systems. Each system is represented by six categories with 70 economic parameters which are used in the analysis. Reduction of these parameters within each category was performed by using the principal component analysis method. Component interdependencies are established and relations between them are formed. Newly formed relations were used to create input vectors of a neural network. The multilayer feed forward neural network is formed and trained using batch training. Finally, simulation results are presented and it is concluded that input data preparation method is an effective way for preprocessing neural network data. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br.TR 35005, br. III 43007 i br. III 44006

CudaPre3D: An Alternative Preprocessing Algorithm for Accelerating 3D Convex Hull Computation on the GPU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MEI, G.

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In the calculating of convex hulls for point sets, a preprocessing procedure that is to filter the input points by discarding non-extreme points is commonly used to improve the computational efficiency. We previously proposed a quite straightforward preprocessing approach for accelerating 2D convex hull computation on the GPU. In this paper, we extend that algorithm to being used in 3D cases. The basic ideas behind these two preprocessing algorithms are similar: first, several groups of extreme points are found according to the original set of input points and several rotated versions of the input set; then, a convex polyhedron is created using the found extreme points; and finally those interior points locating inside the formed convex polyhedron are discarded. Experimental results show that: when employing the proposed preprocessing algorithm, it achieves the speedups of about 4x on average and 5x to 6x in the best cases over the cases where the proposed approach is not used. In addition, more than 95 percent of the input points can be discarded in most experimental tests.

Status of pre-processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Germany and its influence on the recovery of gold.

Science.gov (United States)

Chancerel, Perrine; Bolland, Til; Rotter, Vera Susanne

2011-03-01

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) contains gold in low but from an environmental and economic point of view relevant concentration. After collection, WEEE is pre-processed in order to generate appropriate material fractions that are sent to the subsequent end-processing stages (recovery, reuse or disposal). The goal of this research is to quantify the overall recovery rates of pre-processing technologies used in Germany for the reference year 2007. To achieve this goal, facilities operating in Germany were listed and classified according to the technology they apply. Information on their processing capacity was gathered by evaluating statistical databases. Based on a literature review of experimental results for gold recovery rates of different pre-processing technologies, the German overall recovery rate of gold at the pre-processing level was quantified depending on the characteristics of the treated WEEE. The results reveal that - depending on the equipment groups - pre-processing recovery rates of gold of 29 to 61% are achieved in Germany. Some practical recommendations to reduce the losses during pre-processing could be formulated. Defining mass-based recovery targets in the legislation does not set incentives to recover trace elements. Instead, the priorities for recycling could be defined based on other parameters like the environmental impacts of the materials. The implementation of measures to reduce the gold losses would also improve the recovery of several other non-ferrous metals like tin, nickel, and palladium.

Evaluating the benefits of digital pathology implementation: Time savings in laboratory logistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Baidoshvili, Alexi; Bucur, Anca; van Leeuwen, Jasper; van der Laak, Jeroen; Kluin, Philip; van Diest, Paul J

2018-06-20

The benefits of digital pathology for workflow improvement and thereby cost savings in pathology, at least partly outweighing investment costs, are increasingly recognized. Successful implementations in a variety of scenarios start to demonstrate cost benefits of digital pathology for both research and routine diagnostics, contributing to a sound business case encouraging further adoption. To further support new adopters, there is still a need for detailed assessment of the impact this technology has on the relevant pathology workflows with emphasis on time saving. To assess the impact of digital pathology adoption on logistic laboratory tasks (i.e. not including pathologists' time for diagnosis making) in LabPON, a large regional pathology laboratory in The Netherlands. To quantify the benefits of digitization we analyzed the differences between the traditional analog and new digital workflows, carried out detailed measurements of all relevant steps in key analog and digital processes, and compared time spent. We modeled and assessed the logistic savings in five workflows: (1) Routine diagnosis, (2) Multi-disciplinary meeting, (3) External revision requests, (4) Extra stainings and (5) External consultation. On average over 19 working hours were saved on a typical day by working digitally, with the highest savings in routine diagnosis and multi-disciplinary meeting workflows. By working digitally, a significant amount of time could be saved in a large regional pathology lab with a typical case mix. We also present the data in each workflow per task and concrete logistic steps to allow extrapolation to the context and case mix of other laboratories. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Acoustic Biometric System Based on Preprocessing Techniques and Linear Support Vector Machines.

Science.gov (United States)

del Val, Lara; Izquierdo-Fuente, Alberto; Villacorta, Juan J; Raboso, Mariano

2015-06-17

Drawing on the results of an acoustic biometric system based on a MSE classifier, a new biometric system has been implemented. This new system preprocesses acoustic images, extracts several parameters and finally classifies them, based on Support Vector Machine (SVM). The preprocessing techniques used are spatial filtering, segmentation-based on a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to separate the person from the background, masking-to reduce the dimensions of images-and binarization-to reduce the size of each image. An analysis of classification error and a study of the sensitivity of the error versus the computational burden of each implemented algorithm are presented. This allows the selection of the most relevant algorithms, according to the benefits required by the system. A significant improvement of the biometric system has been achieved by reducing the classification error, the computational burden and the storage requirements.

Household Savings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Browning, Martin; Lusardi, Annamaria

suggested in the informal saving literature can be captured in the standard optimizing model. Particular attention is given to recent work on the precautionary motive and its implications for saving and consumption behavior. We also discuss the "behavioral" or "psychological" approach that eschews the use......In this survey, we review the recent theoretical and empirical literature on household saving and consumption. The discussion is structured around a list of motives for saving and how well the standard theory captures these motives. We show that almost all of the motives for saving that have been...

A simpler method of preprocessing MALDI-TOF MS data for differential biomarker analysis: stem cell and melanoma cancer studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tong Dong L

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Raw spectral data from matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF with MS profiling techniques usually contains complex information not readily providing biological insight into disease. The association of identified features within raw data to a known peptide is extremely difficult. Data preprocessing to remove uncertainty characteristics in the data is normally required before performing any further analysis. This study proposes an alternative yet simple solution to preprocess raw MALDI-TOF-MS data for identification of candidate marker ions. Two in-house MALDI-TOF-MS data sets from two different sample sources (melanoma serum and cord blood plasma are used in our study. Method Raw MS spectral profiles were preprocessed using the proposed approach to identify peak regions in the spectra. The preprocessed data was then analysed using bespoke machine learning algorithms for data reduction and ion selection. Using the selected ions, an ANN-based predictive model was constructed to examine the predictive power of these ions for classification. Results Our model identified 10 candidate marker ions for both data sets. These ion panels achieved over 90% classification accuracy on blind validation data. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was performed and the area under the curve for melanoma and cord blood classifiers was 0.991 and 0.986, respectively. Conclusion The results suggest that our data preprocessing technique removes unwanted characteristics of the raw data, while preserving the predictive components of the data. Ion identification analysis can be carried out using MALDI-TOF-MS data with the proposed data preprocessing technique coupled with bespoke algorithms for data reduction and ion selection.

Effect of pre-processing on the physico-chemical properties of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The findings indicated that the pre-processing treatments produced significant differences (p < 0.05) in protein (1.50 ± 0.18g/100g) and carbohydrate (1.09 ± 0.94g/100g) composition of the baking soda blanched milk sample. The viscosity of the baking soda blanched milk (18.91 ± 3.38cps) was significantly higher than that ...

Orthogonal feature selection method. [For preprocessing of man spectral data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kowalski, B R [Univ. of Washington, Seattle; Bender, C F

1976-01-01

A new method of preprocessing spectral data for extraction of molecular structural information is desired. This SELECT method generates orthogonal features that are important for classification purposes and that also retain their identity to the original measurements. A brief introduction to chemical pattern recognition is presented. A brief description of the method and an application to mass spectral data analysis follow. (BLM)

Data pre-processing: a case study in predicting student's retention in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

dataset with features that are ready for data mining task. The study also proposed a process model and suggestions, which can be applied to support more comprehensible tools for educational domain who is the end user. Subsequently, the data pre-processing become more efficient for predicting student's retention in ...

Saving in cycles: how to get people to save more money.

Science.gov (United States)

Tam, Leona; Dholakia, Utpal

2014-02-01

Low personal savings rates are an important social issue in the United States. We propose and test one particular method to get people to save more money that is based on the cyclical time orientation. In contrast to conventional, popular methods that encourage individuals to ignore past mistakes, focus on the future, and set goals to save money, our proposed method frames the savings task in cyclical terms, emphasizing the present. Across the studies, individuals who used our proposed cyclical savings method, compared with individuals who used a linear savings method, provided an average of 74% higher savings estimates and saved an average of 78% more money. We also found that the cyclical savings method was more efficacious because it increased implementation planning and lowered future optimism regarding saving money.

Learning and Generalisation in Neural Networks with Local Preprocessing

OpenAIRE

Kutsia, Merab

2007-01-01

We study learning and generalisation ability of a specific two-layer feed-forward neural network and compare its properties to that of a simple perceptron. The input patterns are mapped nonlinearly onto a hidden layer, much larger than the input layer, and this mapping is either fixed or may result from an unsupervised learning process. Such preprocessing of initially uncorrelated random patterns results in the correlated patterns in the hidden layer. The hidden-to-output mapping of the net...

A clinical evaluation of the RNCA study using Fourier filtering as a preprocessing method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robeson, W.; Alcan, K.E.; Graham, M.C.; Palestro, C.; Oliver, F.H.; Benua, R.S.

1984-06-01

Forty-one patients (25 male, 16 female) were studied by Radionuclide Cardangiography (RNCA) in our institution. There were 42 rest studies and 24 stress studies (66 studies total). Sixteen patients were normal, 15 had ASHD, seven had a cardiomyopathy, and three had left-sided valvular regurgitation. Each study was preprocessed using both the standard nine-point smoothing method and Fourier filtering. Amplitude and phase images were also generated. Both preprocessing methods were compared with respect to image quality, border definition, reliability and reproducibility of the LVEF, and cine wall motion interpretation. Image quality and border definition were judged superior by the consensus of two independent observers in 65 of 66 studies (98%) using Fourier filtered data. The LVEF differed between the two processes by greater than .05 in 17 of 66 studies (26%) including five studies in which the LVEF could not be determined using nine-point smoothed data. LV wall motion was normal by both techniques in all control patients by cine analysis. However, cine wall motion analysis using Fourier filtered data demonstrated additional abnormalities in 17 of 25 studies (68%) in the ASHD group, including three uninterpretable studies using nine-point smoothed data. In the cardiomyopathy/valvular heart disease group, ten of 18 studies (56%) had additional wall motion abnormalities using Fourier filtered data (including four uninterpretable studies using nine-point smoothed data). We conclude that Fourier filtering is superior to the nine-point smooth preprocessing method now in general use in terms of image quality, border definition, generation of an LVEF, and cine wall motion analysis. The advent of the array processor makes routine preprocessing by Fourier filtering a feasible technologic advance in the development of the RNCA study.

A clinical evaluation of the RNCA study using Fourier filtering as a preprocessing method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robeson, W.; Alcan, K.E.; Graham, M.C.; Palestro, C.; Oliver, F.H.; Benua, R.S.

1984-01-01

Forty-one patients (25 male, 16 female) were studied by Radionuclide Cardangiography (RNCA) in our institution. There were 42 rest studies and 24 stress studies (66 studies total). Sixteen patients were normal, 15 had ASHD, seven had a cardiomyopathy, and three had left-sided valvular regurgitation. Each study was preprocessed using both the standard nine-point smoothing method and Fourier filtering. Amplitude and phase images were also generated. Both preprocessing methods were compared with respect to image quality, border definition, reliability and reproducibility of the LVEF, and cine wall motion interpretation. Image quality and border definition were judged superior by the consensus of two independent observers in 65 of 66 studies (98%) using Fourier filtered data. The LVEF differed between the two processes by greater than .05 in 17 of 66 studies (26%) including five studies in which the LVEF could not be determined using nine-point smoothed data. LV wall motion was normal by both techniques in all control patients by cine analysis. However, cine wall motion analysis using Fourier filtered data demonstrated additional abnormalities in 17 of 25 studies (68%) in the ASHD group, including three uninterpretable studies using nine-point smoothed data. In the cardiomyopathy/valvular heart disease group, ten of 18 studies (56%) had additional wall motion abnormalities using Fourier filtered data (including four uninterpretable studies using nine-point smoothed data). We conclude that Fourier filtering is superior to the nine-point smooth preprocessing method now in general use in terms of image quality, border definition, generation of an LVEF, and cine wall motion analysis. The advent of the array processor makes routine preprocessing by Fourier filtering a feasible technologic advance in the development of the RNCA study

Measure Guideline: Replacing Single-Speed Pool Pumps with Variable Speed Pumps for Energy Savings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunt, A.; Easley, S.

2012-05-01

The report evaluates potential energy savings by replacing traditional single-speed pool pumps with variable speed pool pumps, and provide a basic cost comparison between continued uses of traditional pumps verses new pumps. A simple step-by-step process for inspecting the pool area and installing a new pool pump follows.

Evaluation of the robustness of the preprocessing technique improving reversible compressibility of CT images: Tested on various CT examinations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeon, Chang Ho; Kim, Bohyoung; Gu, Bon Seung; Lee, Jong Min [Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 300 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 463-707 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kil Joong [Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 300 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 463-707, South Korea and Department of Radiation Applied Life Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-799 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Kyoung Ho [Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 300 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 463-707, South Korea and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, and Clinical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Tae Ki [Medical Information Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 300 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 463-707 (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

Purpose: To modify the preprocessing technique, which was previously proposed, improving compressibility of computed tomography (CT) images to cover the diversity of three dimensional configurations of different body parts and to evaluate the robustness of the technique in terms of segmentation correctness and increase in reversible compression ratio (CR) for various CT examinations.Methods: This study had institutional review board approval with waiver of informed patient consent. A preprocessing technique was previously proposed to improve the compressibility of CT images by replacing pixel values outside the body region with a constant value resulting in maximizing data redundancy. Since the technique was developed aiming at only chest CT images, the authors modified the segmentation method to cover the diversity of three dimensional configurations of different body parts. The modified version was evaluated as follows. In randomly selected 368 CT examinations (352 787 images), each image was preprocessed by using the modified preprocessing technique. Radiologists visually confirmed whether the segmented region covers the body region or not. The images with and without the preprocessing were reversibly compressed using Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), JPEG2000 two-dimensional (2D), and JPEG2000 three-dimensional (3D) compressions. The percentage increase in CR per examination (CR{sub I}) was measured.Results: The rate of correct segmentation was 100.0% (95% CI: 99.9%, 100.0%) for all the examinations. The median of CR{sub I} were 26.1% (95% CI: 24.9%, 27.1%), 40.2% (38.5%, 41.1%), and 34.5% (32.7%, 36.2%) in JPEG, JPEG2000 2D, and JPEG2000 3D, respectively.Conclusions: In various CT examinations, the modified preprocessing technique can increase in the CR by 25% or more without concerning about degradation of diagnostic information.

Measure Guideline. Replacing Single-Speed Pool Pumps with Variable Speed Pumps for Energy Savings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunt, A. [Building Media and the Building America Retrofit Alliance (BARA), Wilmington, DE (United States); Easley, S. [Building Media and the Building America Retrofit Alliance (BARA), Wilmington, DE (United States)

2012-05-01

This measure guideline evaluates potential energy savings by replacing traditional single-speed pool pumps with variable speed pool pumps, and provides a basic cost comparison between continued uses of traditional pumps verses new pumps. A simple step-by-step process for inspecting the pool area and installing a new pool pump follows.

Contour extraction of echocardiographic images based on pre-processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussein, Zinah Rajab; Rahmat, Rahmita Wirza; Abdullah, Lili Nurliyana [Department of Multimedia, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Department of Computer and Communication Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering University Putra Malaysia 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Zamrin, D M [Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Saripan, M Iqbal

2011-02-15

In this work we present a technique to extract the heart contours from noisy echocardiograph images. Our technique is based on improving the image before applying contours detection to reduce heavy noise and get better image quality. To perform that, we combine many pre-processing techniques (filtering, morphological operations, and contrast adjustment) to avoid unclear edges and enhance low contrast of echocardiograph images, after implementing these techniques we can get legible detection for heart boundaries and valves movement by traditional edge detection methods.

Contour extraction of echocardiographic images based on pre-processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, Zinah Rajab; Rahmat, Rahmita Wirza; Abdullah, Lili Nurliyana; Zamrin, D M; Saripan, M Iqbal

2011-01-01

In this work we present a technique to extract the heart contours from noisy echocardiograph images. Our technique is based on improving the image before applying contours detection to reduce heavy noise and get better image quality. To perform that, we combine many pre-processing techniques (filtering, morphological operations, and contrast adjustment) to avoid unclear edges and enhance low contrast of echocardiograph images, after implementing these techniques we can get legible detection for heart boundaries and valves movement by traditional edge detection methods.

Parallel preprocessing in a nuclear data acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pichot, G.; Auriol, E.; Lemarchand, G.; Millaud, J.

1977-01-01

The appearance of microprocessors and large memory chips has somewhat modified the spectrum of tools usable by the data acquisition system designer. This is particular true in the nuclear research field where the data flow has been continuously growing as a consequence of the increasing capabilities of new detectors. This paper deals with the insertion, between a data acquisition system and a computer, of a preprocessing structure based on microprocessors and large capacity high speed memories. The results shows a significant improvement on several aspects in the operation of the system with returns paying back the investments in 18 months

TargetSearch--a Bioconductor package for the efficient preprocessing of GC-MS metabolite profiling data.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuadros-Inostroza, Alvaro; Caldana, Camila; Redestig, Henning; Kusano, Miyako; Lisec, Jan; Peña-Cortés, Hugo; Willmitzer, Lothar; Hannah, Matthew A

2009-12-16

Metabolite profiling, the simultaneous quantification of multiple metabolites in an experiment, is becoming increasingly popular, particularly with the rise of systems-level biology. The workhorse in this field is gas-chromatography hyphenated with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The high-throughput of this technology coupled with a demand for large experiments has led to data pre-processing, i.e. the quantification of metabolites across samples, becoming a major bottleneck. Existing software has several limitations, including restricted maximum sample size, systematic errors and low flexibility. However, the biggest limitation is that the resulting data usually require extensive hand-curation, which is subjective and can typically take several days to weeks. We introduce the TargetSearch package, an open source tool which is a flexible and accurate method for pre-processing even very large numbers of GC-MS samples within hours. We developed a novel strategy to iteratively correct and update retention time indices for searching and identifying metabolites. The package is written in the R programming language with computationally intensive functions written in C for speed and performance. The package includes a graphical user interface to allow easy use by those unfamiliar with R. TargetSearch allows fast and accurate data pre-processing for GC-MS experiments and overcomes the sample number limitations and manual curation requirements of existing software. We validate our method by carrying out an analysis against both a set of known chemical standard mixtures and of a biological experiment. In addition we demonstrate its capabilities and speed by comparing it with other GC-MS pre-processing tools. We believe this package will greatly ease current bottlenecks and facilitate the analysis of metabolic profiling data.

Comparison of classification algorithms for various methods of preprocessing radar images of the MSTAR base

Science.gov (United States)

Borodinov, A. A.; Myasnikov, V. V.

2018-04-01

The present work is devoted to comparing the accuracy of the known qualification algorithms in the task of recognizing local objects on radar images for various image preprocessing methods. Preprocessing involves speckle noise filtering and normalization of the object orientation in the image by the method of image moments and by a method based on the Hough transform. In comparison, the following classification algorithms are used: Decision tree; Support vector machine, AdaBoost, Random forest. The principal component analysis is used to reduce the dimension. The research is carried out on the objects from the base of radar images MSTAR. The paper presents the results of the conducted studies.

Visualization of Information Based on Tweets from Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency: BMKG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mira Chandra Kirana

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Indonesia is a country with high rate of natural disaster, so any information about early warning of natural disaster are very important. Social media such as Twitter become one of tools for spreading information about natural disaster warning from account of  Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG, therefore, the effectiveness of this kind of method for providing information have not known yet. The statement becomes the reason that the visualization is needed to analyze the information spread of natural disaster early warning with Twitter. This study is performed in 3 steps, which is retrieving, preprocessing then visualization. Retrieving process is used to get the tweet data of BMKG account in twitter then save into database, while preprocessing is done to process tweet data that has been saved in database by grouping the data according to the category, which includes Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics according to existing keyword, also reduce tweet data that is unimportant like BMKG's reply tweet toward other user's question. Visualization stage uses the result of preprocessing data into line chart graphic, bar chart and pie chart. Highest information spreading from BMKG tweet happened in Geophysics at March with 25987 re-tweets, while the highest peak happened at 2 March 2016 with information about 8.3 SR earthquake in Mentawai islands, West Sumatera with total of 6145 re-tweets.

Key issues in estimating energy and greenhouse gas savings of biofuels: challenges and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dheeraj Rathore

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The increasing demand for biofuels has encouraged the researchers and policy makers worldwide to find sustainable biofuel production systems in accordance with the regional conditions and needs. The sustainability of a biofuel production system includes energy and greenhouse gas (GHG saving along with environmental and social acceptability. Life cycle assessment (LCA is an internationally recognized tool for determining the sustainability of biofuels. LCA includes goal and scope, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation as major steps. LCA results vary significantly, if there are any variations in performing these steps. For instance, biofuel producing feedstocks have different environmental values that lead to different GHG emission savings and energy balances. Similarly, land-use and land-use changes may overestimate biofuel sustainability. This study aims to examine various biofuel production systems for their GHG savings and energy balances, relative to conventional fossil fuels with an ambition to address the challenges and to offer future directions for LCA based biofuel studies. Environmental and social acceptability of biofuel production is the key factor in developing biofuel support policies. Higher GHG emission saving and energy balance of biofuel can be achieved, if biomass yield is high, and ecologically sustainable biomass or non-food biomass is converted into biofuel and used efficiently.

[Study of near infrared spectral preprocessing and wavelength selection methods for endometrial cancer tissue].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Li-Ting; Xiang, Yu-Hong; Dai, Yin-Mei; Zhang, Zhuo-Yong

2010-04-01

Near infrared spectroscopy was applied to measure the tissue slice of endometrial tissues for collecting the spectra. A total of 154 spectra were obtained from 154 samples. The number of normal, hyperplasia, and malignant samples was 36, 60, and 58, respectively. Original near infrared spectra are composed of many variables, for example, interference information including instrument errors and physical effects such as particle size and light scatter. In order to reduce these influences, original spectra data should be performed with different spectral preprocessing methods to compress variables and extract useful information. So the methods of spectral preprocessing and wavelength selection have played an important role in near infrared spectroscopy technique. In the present paper the raw spectra were processed using various preprocessing methods including first derivative, multiplication scatter correction, Savitzky-Golay first derivative algorithm, standard normal variate, smoothing, and moving-window median. Standard deviation was used to select the optimal spectral region of 4 000-6 000 cm(-1). Then principal component analysis was used for classification. Principal component analysis results showed that three types of samples could be discriminated completely and the accuracy almost achieved 100%. This study demonstrated that near infrared spectroscopy technology and chemometrics method could be a fast, efficient, and novel means to diagnose cancer. The proposed methods would be a promising and significant diagnosis technique of early stage cancer.

Efficacy of New Measures Saving Time in Acute Stroke Management: A Quantified Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Iglesias Mohedano, Ana María; García Pastor, Andrés; Díaz Otero, Fernando; Vázquez Alen, Pilar; Vales Montero, Marta; Luque Buzo, Elisa; Redondo Ráfales, Nuria; Chavarria Cano, Beatriz; Fernández Bullido, Yolanda; Villanueva Osorio, Jose Antonio; Gil Núñez, Antonio

2017-08-01

Time to treatment remains the most important factor in acute ischemic stroke prognosis. We quantified the effect of new interventions reducing in-hospital delays in acute stroke management and assessed its repercussion on door-to-imaging (DTI), imaging-to-needle (ITN), and door-to-needle (DTN) times. Prospective registry of consecutive stroke patients who were candidates for reperfusion therapy attended in a tertiary care hospital from February 1 to December 31, 2014. A series of measures aimed at reducing in-hospital delays were implemented. We compared DTI, ITN, and DTN times between patients who underwent the interventions and those who did not. 231 patients. DTI time was lower when personal history was reviewed and tests were ordered before patient arrival (2.5 minutes saved, P = .016) and when electrocardiogram was not made (5.4 minutes saved, P time significantly (14 and 12 minutes saved, respectively, P time. Completing all steps resulted in the lowest DTI and ITN times (13 and 19 minutes, respectively). Every measure is an important part of a chain focused on saving time in acute stroke: the lowest DTI and ITN times were obtained when all steps were completed. Measures shortening ITN time produced a greater impact on DTN time reduction; therefore, ITN interventions should be considered a critical part of new protocols and guidelines. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Faith community nursing: real care, real cost savings.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeaworth, Rosalee C; Sailors, Ronnette

2014-01-01

At a time when healthcare costs are increasing more than other aspects of the economy, churches are stepping up to help fill needs through congregational health ministries. Faith Community Nursing (FCN) is a rapidly growing health service in the churches of many denominations. This article documents healthcare services and financial savings provided by FCNs and health ministries, showing the critical role faith community nursing can play in containing healthcare costs.

TargetSearch - a Bioconductor package for the efficient preprocessing of GC-MS metabolite profiling data

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

Background Metabolite profiling, the simultaneous quantification of multiple metabolites in an experiment, is becoming increasingly popular, particularly with the rise of systems-level biology. The workhorse in this field is gas-chromatography hyphenated with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The high-throughput of this technology coupled with a demand for large experiments has led to data pre-processing, i.e. the quantification of metabolites across samples, becoming a major bottleneck. Existing software has several limitations, including restricted maximum sample size, systematic errors and low flexibility. However, the biggest limitation is that the resulting data usually require extensive hand-curation, which is subjective and can typically take several days to weeks. Results We introduce the TargetSearch package, an open source tool which is a flexible and accurate method for pre-processing even very large numbers of GC-MS samples within hours. We developed a novel strategy to iteratively correct and update retention time indices for searching and identifying metabolites. The package is written in the R programming language with computationally intensive functions written in C for speed and performance. The package includes a graphical user interface to allow easy use by those unfamiliar with R. Conclusions TargetSearch allows fast and accurate data pre-processing for GC-MS experiments and overcomes the sample number limitations and manual curation requirements of existing software. We validate our method by carrying out an analysis against both a set of known chemical standard mixtures and of a biological experiment. In addition we demonstrate its capabilities and speed by comparing it with other GC-MS pre-processing tools. We believe this package will greatly ease current bottlenecks and facilitate the analysis of metabolic profiling data. PMID:20015393

TargetSearch - a Bioconductor package for the efficient preprocessing of GC-MS metabolite profiling data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisec Jan

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Metabolite profiling, the simultaneous quantification of multiple metabolites in an experiment, is becoming increasingly popular, particularly with the rise of systems-level biology. The workhorse in this field is gas-chromatography hyphenated with mass spectrometry (GC-MS. The high-throughput of this technology coupled with a demand for large experiments has led to data pre-processing, i.e. the quantification of metabolites across samples, becoming a major bottleneck. Existing software has several limitations, including restricted maximum sample size, systematic errors and low flexibility. However, the biggest limitation is that the resulting data usually require extensive hand-curation, which is subjective and can typically take several days to weeks. Results We introduce the TargetSearch package, an open source tool which is a flexible and accurate method for pre-processing even very large numbers of GC-MS samples within hours. We developed a novel strategy to iteratively correct and update retention time indices for searching and identifying metabolites. The package is written in the R programming language with computationally intensive functions written in C for speed and performance. The package includes a graphical user interface to allow easy use by those unfamiliar with R. Conclusions TargetSearch allows fast and accurate data pre-processing for GC-MS experiments and overcomes the sample number limitations and manual curation requirements of existing software. We validate our method by carrying out an analysis against both a set of known chemical standard mixtures and of a biological experiment. In addition we demonstrate its capabilities and speed by comparing it with other GC-MS pre-processing tools. We believe this package will greatly ease current bottlenecks and facilitate the analysis of metabolic profiling data.

Automated Pre-processing for NMR Assignments with Reduced Tedium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2004-05-11

An important rate-limiting step in the reasonance asignment process is accurate identification of resonance peaks in MNR spectra. NMR spectra are noisy. Hence, automatic peak-picking programs must navigate between the Scylla of reliable but incomplete picking, and the Charybdis of noisy but complete picking. Each of these extremes complicates the assignment process: incomplete peak-picking results in the loss of essential connectivities, while noisy picking conceals the true connectivities under a combinatiorial explosion of false positives. Intermediate processing can simplify the assignment process by preferentially removing false peaks from noisy peak lists. This is accomplished by requiring consensus between multiple NMR experiments, exploiting a priori information about NMR spectra, and drawing on empirical statistical distributions of chemical shift extracted from the BioMagResBank. Experienced NMR practitioners currently apply many of these techniques "by hand", which is tedious, and may appear arbitrary to the novice. To increase efficiency, we have created a systematic and automated approach to this process, known as APART. Automated pre-processing has three main advantages: reduced tedium, standardization, and pedagogy. In the hands of experienced spectroscopists, the main advantage is reduced tedium (a rapid increase in the ratio of true peaks to false peaks with minimal effort). When a project is passed from hand to hand, the main advantage is standardization. APART automatically documents the peak filtering process by archiving its original recommendations, the accompanying justifications, and whether a user accepted or overrode a given filtering recommendation. In the hands of a novice, this tool can reduce the stumbling block of learning to differentiate between real peaks and noise, by providing real-time examples of how such decisions are made.

The recursive combination filter approach of pre-processing for the estimation of standard deviation of RR series.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Alok; Swati, D

2015-09-01

Variation in the interval between the R-R peaks of the electrocardiogram represents the modulation of the cardiac oscillations by the autonomic nervous system. This variation is contaminated by anomalous signals called ectopic beats, artefacts or noise which mask the true behaviour of heart rate variability. In this paper, we have proposed a combination filter of recursive impulse rejection filter and recursive 20% filter, with recursive application and preference of replacement over removal of abnormal beats to improve the pre-processing of the inter-beat intervals. We have tested this novel recursive combinational method with median method replacement to estimate the standard deviation of normal to normal (SDNN) beat intervals of congestive heart failure (CHF) and normal sinus rhythm subjects. This work discusses the improvement in pre-processing over single use of impulse rejection filter and removal of abnormal beats for heart rate variability for the estimation of SDNN and Poncaré plot descriptors (SD1, SD2, and SD1/SD2) in detail. We have found the 22 ms value of SDNN and 36 ms value of SD2 descriptor of Poincaré plot as clinical indicators in discriminating the normal cases from CHF cases. The pre-processing is also useful in calculation of Lyapunov exponent which is a nonlinear index as Lyapunov exponents calculated after proposed pre-processing modified in a way that it start following the notion of less complex behaviour of diseased states.

Private Sector Savings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pitonáková Renáta

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The majority of household savings are in the form of bank deposits. It is therefore of interest for credit institutions to tailor their deposit policy for getting finances from non-banking entities and to provide the private sector with the loans that are necessary for investment activities and consumption. This paper deals with the determinants of the saving rate of the private sector of Slovakia. Economic, financial and demographic variables influence savings. Growth of income per capita, private disposable income, elderly dependency ratio, real interest rate and inflation have a positive impact on savings, while increases in public savings indicate a crowding out effect. The inflation rate implies precautionary savings, and dependency ratio savings for bequest. There are also implications for governing institutions deciding on the implementation of appropriate fiscal and monetary operations.

Achieving Accurate Automatic Sleep Staging on Manually Pre-processed EEG Data Through Synchronization Feature Extraction and Graph Metrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chriskos, Panteleimon; Frantzidis, Christos A; Gkivogkli, Polyxeni T; Bamidis, Panagiotis D; Kourtidou-Papadeli, Chrysoula

2018-01-01

Sleep staging, the process of assigning labels to epochs of sleep, depending on the stage of sleep they belong, is an arduous, time consuming and error prone process as the initial recordings are quite often polluted by noise from different sources. To properly analyze such data and extract clinical knowledge, noise components must be removed or alleviated. In this paper a pre-processing and subsequent sleep staging pipeline for the sleep analysis of electroencephalographic signals is described. Two novel methods of functional connectivity estimation (Synchronization Likelihood/SL and Relative Wavelet Entropy/RWE) are comparatively investigated for automatic sleep staging through manually pre-processed electroencephalographic recordings. A multi-step process that renders signals suitable for further analysis is initially described. Then, two methods that rely on extracting synchronization features from electroencephalographic recordings to achieve computerized sleep staging are proposed, based on bivariate features which provide a functional overview of the brain network, contrary to most proposed methods that rely on extracting univariate time and frequency features. Annotation of sleep epochs is achieved through the presented feature extraction methods by training classifiers, which are in turn able to accurately classify new epochs. Analysis of data from sleep experiments on a randomized, controlled bed-rest study, which was organized by the European Space Agency and was conducted in the "ENVIHAB" facility of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany attains high accuracy rates, over 90% based on ground truth that resulted from manual sleep staging by two experienced sleep experts. Therefore, it can be concluded that the above feature extraction methods are suitable for semi-automatic sleep staging.

Does Daylight Saving Save Energy? A Meta-Analysis

OpenAIRE

Havránek, Tomáš; Herman, Dominik; Irsova, Zuzana

2016-01-01

The original rationale for adopting daylight saving time (DST) was energy savings. Modern research studies, however, question the magnitude and even direction of the effect of DST on energy consumption. Representing the first meta-analysis in this literature, we collect 162 estimates from 44 studies and find that the mean reported estimate indicates modest energy savings: 0.34% during the days when DST applies. The literature is not affected by publication bias, but the results vary systemati...

A Real-Time Embedded System for Stereo Vision Preprocessing Using an FPGA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjær-Nielsen, Anders; Jensen, Lars Baunegaard With; Sørensen, Anders Stengaard

2008-01-01

In this paper a low level vision processing node for use in existing IEEE 1394 camera setups is presented. The processing node is a small embedded system, that utilizes an FPGA to perform stereo vision preprocessing at rates limited by the bandwidth of IEEE 1394a (400Mbit). The system is used...

Performance Comparison of Several Pre-Processing Methods in a Hand Gesture Recognition System based on Nearest Neighbor for Different Background Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iwan Setyawan

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a performance analysis and comparison of several pre-processing methods used in a hand gesture recognition system. The pre-processing methods are based on the combinations of several image processing operations, namely edge detection, low pass filtering, histogram equalization, thresholding and desaturation. The hand gesture recognition system is designed to classify an input image into one of six possible classes. The input images are taken with various background conditions. Our experiments showed that the best result is achieved when the pre-processing method consists of only a desaturation operation, achieving a classification accuracy of up to 83.15%.

Acquiring and preprocessing leaf images for automated plant identification: understanding the tradeoff between effort and information gain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Rzanny

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Automated species identification is a long term research subject. Contrary to flowers and fruits, leaves are available throughout most of the year. Offering margin and texture to characterize a species, they are the most studied organ for automated identification. Substantially matured machine learning techniques generate the need for more training data (aka leaf images. Researchers as well as enthusiasts miss guidance on how to acquire suitable training images in an efficient way. Methods In this paper, we systematically study nine image types and three preprocessing strategies. Image types vary in terms of in-situ image recording conditions: perspective, illumination, and background, while the preprocessing strategies compare non-preprocessed, cropped, and segmented images to each other. Per image type-preprocessing combination, we also quantify the manual effort required for their implementation. We extract image features using a convolutional neural network, classify species using the resulting feature vectors and discuss classification accuracy in relation to the required effort per combination. Results The most effective, non-destructive way to record herbaceous leaves is to take an image of the leaf’s top side. We yield the highest classification accuracy using destructive back light images, i.e., holding the plucked leaf against the sky for image acquisition. Cropping the image to the leaf’s boundary substantially improves accuracy, while precise segmentation yields similar accuracy at a substantially higher effort. The permanent use or disuse of a flash light has negligible effects. Imaging the typically stronger textured backside of a leaf does not result in higher accuracy, but notably increases the acquisition cost. Conclusions In conclusion, the way in which leaf images are acquired and preprocessed does have a substantial effect on the accuracy of the classifier trained on them. For the first time, this

Clinical data miner: an electronic case report form system with integrated data preprocessing and machine-learning libraries supporting clinical diagnostic model research.

Science.gov (United States)

Installé, Arnaud Jf; Van den Bosch, Thierry; De Moor, Bart; Timmerman, Dirk

2014-10-20

Using machine-learning techniques, clinical diagnostic model research extracts diagnostic models from patient data. Traditionally, patient data are often collected using electronic Case Report Form (eCRF) systems, while mathematical software is used for analyzing these data using machine-learning techniques. Due to the lack of integration between eCRF systems and mathematical software, extracting diagnostic models is a complex, error-prone process. Moreover, due to the complexity of this process, it is usually only performed once, after a predetermined number of data points have been collected, without insight into the predictive performance of the resulting models. The objective of the study of Clinical Data Miner (CDM) software framework is to offer an eCRF system with integrated data preprocessing and machine-learning libraries, improving efficiency of the clinical diagnostic model research workflow, and to enable optimization of patient inclusion numbers through study performance monitoring. The CDM software framework was developed using a test-driven development (TDD) approach, to ensure high software quality. Architecturally, CDM's design is split over a number of modules, to ensure future extendability. The TDD approach has enabled us to deliver high software quality. CDM's eCRF Web interface is in active use by the studies of the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis consortium, with over 4000 enrolled patients, and more studies planned. Additionally, a derived user interface has been used in six separate interrater agreement studies. CDM's integrated data preprocessing and machine-learning libraries simplify some otherwise manual and error-prone steps in the clinical diagnostic model research workflow. Furthermore, CDM's libraries provide study coordinators with a method to monitor a study's predictive performance as patient inclusions increase. To our knowledge, CDM is the only eCRF system integrating data preprocessing and machine-learning libraries

Characterizing the continuously acquired cardiovascular time series during hemodialysis, using median hybrid filter preprocessing noise reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Scott; Bowyer, Andrea; Harrap, Stephen B

2015-01-01

The clinical characterization of cardiovascular dynamics during hemodialysis (HD) has important pathophysiological implications in terms of diagnostic, cardiovascular risk assessment, and treatment efficacy perspectives. Currently the diagnosis of significant intradialytic systolic blood pressure (SBP) changes among HD patients is imprecise and opportunistic, reliant upon the presence of hypotensive symptoms in conjunction with coincident but isolated noninvasive brachial cuff blood pressure (NIBP) readings. Considering hemodynamic variables as a time series makes a continuous recording approach more desirable than intermittent measures; however, in the clinical environment, the data signal is susceptible to corruption due to both impulsive and Gaussian-type noise. Signal preprocessing is an attractive solution to this problem. Prospectively collected continuous noninvasive SBP data over the short-break intradialytic period in ten patients was preprocessed using a novel median hybrid filter (MHF) algorithm and compared with 50 time-coincident pairs of intradialytic NIBP measures from routine HD practice. The median hybrid preprocessing technique for continuously acquired cardiovascular data yielded a dynamic regression without significant noise and artifact, suitable for high-level profiling of time-dependent SBP behavior. Signal accuracy is highly comparable with standard NIBP measurement, with the added clinical benefit of dynamic real-time hemodynamic information.

Pre-Processing and Modeling Tools for Bigdata

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hashem Hadi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Modeling tools and operators help the user / developer to identify the processing field on the top of the sequence and to send into the computing module only the data related to the requested result. The remaining data is not relevant and it will slow down the processing. The biggest challenge nowadays is to get high quality processing results with a reduced computing time and costs. To do so, we must review the processing sequence, by adding several modeling tools. The existing processing models do not take in consideration this aspect and focus on getting high calculation performances which will increase the computing time and costs. In this paper we provide a study of the main modeling tools for BigData and a new model based on pre-processing.

Application of preprocessing filtering on Decision Tree C4.5 and rough set theory

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Joseph C. C.; Lin, Tsau Y.

2001-03-01

This paper compares two artificial intelligence methods: the Decision Tree C4.5 and Rough Set Theory on the stock market data. The Decision Tree C4.5 is reviewed with the Rough Set Theory. An enhanced window application is developed to facilitate the pre-processing filtering by introducing the feature (attribute) transformations, which allows users to input formulas and create new attributes. Also, the application produces three varieties of data set with delaying, averaging, and summation. The results prove the improvement of pre-processing by applying feature (attribute) transformations on Decision Tree C4.5. Moreover, the comparison between Decision Tree C4.5 and Rough Set Theory is based on the clarity, automation, accuracy, dimensionality, raw data, and speed, which is supported by the rules sets generated by both algorithms on three different sets of data.

Cloudy Solar Software - Enhanced Capabilities for Finding, Pre-processing, and Visualizing Solar Data

Science.gov (United States)

Istvan Etesi, Laszlo; Tolbert, K.; Schwartz, R.; Zarro, D.; Dennis, B.; Csillaghy, A.

2010-05-01

In our project "Extending the Virtual Solar Observatory (VSO)” we have combined some of the features available in Solar Software (SSW) to produce an integrated environment for data analysis, supporting the complete workflow from data location, retrieval, preparation, and analysis to creating publication-quality figures. Our goal is an integrated analysis experience in IDL, easy-to-use but flexible enough to allow more sophisticated procedures such as multi-instrument analysis. To that end, we have made the transition from a locally oriented setting where all the analysis is done on the user's computer, to an extended analysis environment where IDL has access to services available on the Internet. We have implemented a form of Cloud Computing that uses the VSO search and a new data retrieval and pre-processing server (PrepServer) that provides remote execution of instrument-specific data preparation. We have incorporated the interfaces to the VSO search and the PrepServer into an IDL widget (SHOW_SYNOP) that provides user-friendly searching and downloading of raw solar data and optionally sends search results for pre-processing to the PrepServer prior to downloading the data. The raw and pre-processed data can be displayed with our plotting suite, PLOTMAN, which can handle different data types (light curves, images, and spectra) and perform basic data operations such as zooming, image overlays, solar rotation, etc. PLOTMAN is highly configurable and suited for visual data analysis and for creating publishable figures. PLOTMAN and SHOW_SYNOP work hand-in-hand for a convenient working environment. Our environment supports a growing number of solar instruments that currently includes RHESSI, SOHO/EIT, TRACE, SECCHI/EUVI, HINODE/XRT, and HINODE/EIS.

Evaluation of Microarray Preprocessing Algorithms Based on Concordance with RT-PCR in Clinical Samples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kasper Lage; Szallasi, Zoltan Imre; Eklund, Aron Charles

2009-01-01

evaluated consistency using the Pearson correlation between measurements obtained on the two platforms. Also, we introduce the log-ratio discrepancy as a more relevant measure of discordance between gene expression platforms. Of nine preprocessing algorithms tested, PLIER+16 produced expression values...

Determining the Cost-Savings Threshold and Alignment Accuracy of Patient-Specific Instrumentation in Total Ankle Replacements.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamid, Kamran S; Matson, Andrew P; Nwachukwu, Benedict U; Scott, Daniel J; Mather, Richard C; DeOrio, James K

2017-01-01

Traditional intraoperative referencing for total ankle replacements (TARs) involves multiple steps and fluoroscopic guidance to determine mechanical alignment. Recent adoption of patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) allows for referencing to be determined preoperatively, resulting in less steps and potentially decreased operative time. We hypothesized that usage of PSI would result in decreased operating room time that would offset the additional cost of PSI compared with standard referencing (SR). In addition, we aimed to compare postoperative radiographic alignment between PSI and SR. Between August 2014 and September 2015, 87 patients undergoing TAR were enrolled in a prospectively collected TAR database. Patients were divided into cohorts based on PSI vs SR, and operative times were reviewed. Radiographic alignment parameters were retrospectively measured at 6 weeks postoperatively. Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) was used to derive direct costs. Cost vs operative time-savings were examined via 2-way sensitivity analysis to determine cost-saving thresholds for PSI applicable to a range of institution types. Cost-saving thresholds defined the price of PSI below which PSI would be cost-saving. A total of 35 PSI and 52 SR cases were evaluated with no significant differences identified in patient characteristics. Operative time from incision to completion of casting in cases without adjunct procedures was 127 minutes with PSI and 161 minutes with SR ( P cost-savings threshold range at our institution of $863 below which PSI pricing would provide net cost-savings. Two-way sensitivity analysis generated a globally applicable cost-savings threshold model based on institution-specific costs and surgeon-specific time-savings. This study demonstrated equivalent postoperative TAR alignment with PSI and SR referencing systems but with a significant decrease in operative time with PSI. Based on TDABC and associated sensitivity analysis, a cost-savings threshold

A Technical Review on Biomass Processing: Densification, Preprocessing, Modeling and Optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaya Shankar Tumuluru; Christopher T. Wright

2010-06-01

It is now a well-acclaimed fact that burning fossil fuels and deforestation are major contributors to climate change. Biomass from plants can serve as an alternative renewable and carbon-neutral raw material for the production of bioenergy. Low densities of 40–60 kg/m3 for lignocellulosic and 200–400 kg/m3 for woody biomass limits their application for energy purposes. Prior to use in energy applications these materials need to be densified. The densified biomass can have bulk densities over 10 times the raw material helping to significantly reduce technical limitations associated with storage, loading and transportation. Pelleting, briquetting, or extrusion processing are commonly used methods for densification. The aim of the present research is to develop a comprehensive review of biomass processing that includes densification, preprocessing, modeling and optimization. The specific objective include carrying out a technical review on (a) mechanisms of particle bonding during densification; (b) methods of densification including extrusion, briquetting, pelleting, and agglomeration; (c) effects of process and feedstock variables and biomass biochemical composition on the densification (d) effects of preprocessing such as grinding, preheating, steam explosion, and torrefaction on biomass quality and binding characteristics; (e) models for understanding the compression characteristics; and (f) procedures for response surface modeling and optimization.

ENDF/B Pre-Processing Codes: Implementing and testing on a Personal Computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLaughlin, P.K.

1987-05-01

This document describes the contents of the diskettes containing the ENDF/B Pre-Processing codes by D.E. Cullen, and example data for use in implementing and testing these codes on a Personal Computer of the type IBM-PC/AT. Upon request the codes are available from the IAEA Nuclear Data Section, free of charge, on a series of 7 diskettes. (author)

Saving can save from death anxiety: mortality salience and financial decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaleskiewicz, Tomasz; Gasiorowska, Agata; Kesebir, Pelin

2013-01-01

Four studies tested the idea that saving money can buffer death anxiety and constitute a more effective buffer than spending money. Saving can relieve future-related anxiety and provide people with a sense of control over their fate, thereby rendering death thoughts less threatening. Study 1 found that participants primed with both saving and spending reported lower death fear than controls. Saving primes, however, were associated with significantly lower death fear than spending primes. Study 2 demonstrated that mortality primes increase the attractiveness of more frugal behaviors in save-or-spend dilemmas. Studies 3 and 4 found, in two different cultures (Polish and American), that the activation of death thoughts prompts people to allocate money to saving as opposed to spending. Overall, these studies provided evidence that saving protects from existential anxiety, and probably more so than spending.

Saving can save from death anxiety: mortality salience and financial decision-making.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Zaleskiewicz

Full Text Available Four studies tested the idea that saving money can buffer death anxiety and constitute a more effective buffer than spending money. Saving can relieve future-related anxiety and provide people with a sense of control over their fate, thereby rendering death thoughts less threatening. Study 1 found that participants primed with both saving and spending reported lower death fear than controls. Saving primes, however, were associated with significantly lower death fear than spending primes. Study 2 demonstrated that mortality primes increase the attractiveness of more frugal behaviors in save-or-spend dilemmas. Studies 3 and 4 found, in two different cultures (Polish and American, that the activation of death thoughts prompts people to allocate money to saving as opposed to spending. Overall, these studies provided evidence that saving protects from existential anxiety, and probably more so than spending.

Technical Support Document: Strategies for 50% Energy Savings in Large Office Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leach, M.; Lobato, C.; Hirsch, A.; Pless, S.; Torcellini, P.

2010-09-01

This Technical Support Document (TSD) documents technical analysis that informs design guidance for designing and constructing large office buildings that achieve 50% net site energy savings over baseline buildings defined by minimal compliance with respect to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004. This report also represents a step toward developing a methodology for using energy modeling in the design process to achieve aggressive energy savings targets. This report documents the modeling and analysis methods used to identify design recommendations for six climate zones that capture the range of U.S. climate variability; demonstrates how energy savings change between ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 and Standard 90.1-2004 to determine baseline energy use; uses a four-story 'low-rise' prototype to analyze the effect of building aspect ratio on energy use intensity; explores comparisons between baseline and low-energy building energy use for alternate energy metrics (net source energy, energy emissions, and energy cost); and examines the extent to which glass curtain construction limits achieve energy savings by using a 12-story 'high-rise' prototype.

Energy Savings Lifetimes and Persistence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffman, Ian M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Schiller, Steven R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Todd, Annika [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Billingsley, Megan A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Goldman, Charles A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Schwartz, Lisa C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2016-02-01

This technical brief explains the concepts of energy savings lifetimes and savings persistence and discusses how program administrators use these factors to calculate savings for efficiency measures, programs and portfolios. Savings lifetime is the length of time that one or more energy efficiency measures or activities save energy, and savings persistence is the change in savings throughout the functional life of a given efficiency measure or activity. Savings lifetimes are essential for assessing the lifecycle benefits and cost effectiveness of efficiency activities and for forecasting loads in resource planning. The brief also provides estimates of savings lifetimes derived from a national collection of costs and savings for electric efficiency programs and portfolios.

Spending to save

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Anders

2013-01-01

the energy distribution companies meet their overall saving obligation, the net savings impact are about a third of the savings reported by the obligated parties. Further it was found that while energy savings in the public and business sector have a high net impact, some subsidies given under the EEO...... perspective. The evaluation has resulted in noticeable adjustments of the design of the Danish EEO, e.g. introduction of a 1 year payback-time limit for projects receiving subsidies, a minimum baseline for insulation products, and specification of documentation requirements....

Speech perception for adult cochlear implant recipients in a realistic background noise: effectiveness of preprocessing strategies and external options for improving speech recognition in noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Gifford, René H; Revit, Lawrence J

2010-01-01

Although cochlear implant patients are achieving increasingly higher levels of performance, speech perception in noise continues to be problematic. The newest generations of implant speech processors are equipped with preprocessing and/or external accessories that are purported to improve listening in noise. Most speech perception measures in the clinical setting, however, do not provide a close approximation to real-world listening environments. To assess speech perception for adult cochlear implant recipients in the presence of a realistic restaurant simulation generated by an eight-loudspeaker (R-SPACE) array in order to determine whether commercially available preprocessing strategies and/or external accessories yield improved sentence recognition in noise. Single-subject, repeated-measures design with two groups of participants: Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Corporation recipients. Thirty-four subjects, ranging in age from 18 to 90 yr (mean 54.5 yr), participated in this prospective study. Fourteen subjects were Advanced Bionics recipients, and 20 subjects were Cochlear Corporation recipients. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) in semidiffuse restaurant noise originating from an eight-loudspeaker array were assessed with the subjects' preferred listening programs as well as with the addition of either Beam preprocessing (Cochlear Corporation) or the T-Mic accessory option (Advanced Bionics). In Experiment 1, adaptive SRTs with the Hearing in Noise Test sentences were obtained for all 34 subjects. For Cochlear Corporation recipients, SRTs were obtained with their preferred everyday listening program as well as with the addition of Focus preprocessing. For Advanced Bionics recipients, SRTs were obtained with the integrated behind-the-ear (BTE) mic as well as with the T-Mic. Statistical analysis using a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) evaluated the effects of the preprocessing strategy or external accessory in reducing the SRT in noise. In addition

EARLINET Single Calculus Chain - technical - Part 1: Pre-processing of raw lidar data

Science.gov (United States)

D'Amico, Giuseppe; Amodeo, Aldo; Mattis, Ina; Freudenthaler, Volker; Pappalardo, Gelsomina

2016-02-01

In this paper we describe an automatic tool for the pre-processing of aerosol lidar data called ELPP (EARLINET Lidar Pre-Processor). It is one of two calculus modules of the EARLINET Single Calculus Chain (SCC), the automatic tool for the analysis of EARLINET data. ELPP is an open source module that executes instrumental corrections and data handling of the raw lidar signals, making the lidar data ready to be processed by the optical retrieval algorithms. According to the specific lidar configuration, ELPP automatically performs dead-time correction, atmospheric and electronic background subtraction, gluing of lidar signals, and trigger-delay correction. Moreover, the signal-to-noise ratio of the pre-processed signals can be improved by means of configurable time integration of the raw signals and/or spatial smoothing. ELPP delivers the statistical uncertainties of the final products by means of error propagation or Monte Carlo simulations. During the development of ELPP, particular attention has been payed to make the tool flexible enough to handle all lidar configurations currently used within the EARLINET community. Moreover, it has been designed in a modular way to allow an easy extension to lidar configurations not yet implemented. The primary goal of ELPP is to enable the application of quality-assured procedures in the lidar data analysis starting from the raw lidar data. This provides the added value of full traceability of each delivered lidar product. Several tests have been performed to check the proper functioning of ELPP. The whole SCC has been tested with the same synthetic data sets, which were used for the EARLINET algorithm inter-comparison exercise. ELPP has been successfully employed for the automatic near-real-time pre-processing of the raw lidar data measured during several EARLINET inter-comparison campaigns as well as during intense field campaigns.

Exploring the time-saving bias: How drivers misestimate time saved when increasing speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eyal Peer

2010-12-01

Full Text Available According to the time-saving bias, drivers underestimate the time saved when increasing from a low speed and overestimate the time saved when increasing from a relatively high speed. Previous research used a specific type of task --- drivers were asked to estimate time saved when increasing speed and to give a numeric response --- to show this. The present research conducted two studies with multiple questions to show that the time-saving bias occurs in other tasks. Study 1 found that drivers committed the time-saving bias when asked to estimate (a the time saved when increasing speed or (b the distance that can be completed at a given time when increasing speed or (c the speed required to complete a given distance in decreasing times. Study 2 showed no major differences in estimations of time saved compared to estimations of the remaining journey time and also between responses given on a numeric scale versus a visual analog scale. Study 3 tested two possible explanations for the time-saving bias: a Proportion heuristic and a Differences heuristic. Some evidence was found for use of the latter.

Scene matching based on non-linear pre-processing on reference image and sensed image

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhong Sheng; Zhang Tianxu; Sang Nong

2005-01-01

To solve the heterogeneous image scene matching problem, a non-linear pre-processing method for the original images before intensity-based correlation is proposed. The result shows that the proper matching probability is raised greatly. Especially for the low S/N image pairs, the effect is more remarkable.

Joint Preprocesser-Based Detectors for One-Way and Two-Way Cooperative Communication Networks

KAUST Repository

Abuzaid, Abdulrahman I.

2014-05-01

Efficient receiver designs for cooperative communication networks are becoming increasingly important. In previous work, cooperative networks communicated with the use of L relays. As the receiver is constrained, channel shortening and reduced-rank techniques were employed to design the preprocessing matrix that reduces the length of the received vector from L to U. In the first part of the work, a receiver structure is proposed which combines our proposed threshold selection criteria with the joint iterative optimization (JIO) algorithm that is based on the mean square error (MSE). Our receiver assists in determining the optimal U. Furthermore, this receiver provides the freedom to choose U for each frame depending on the tolerable difference allowed for MSE. Our study and simulation results show that by choosing an appropriate threshold, it is possible to gain in terms of complexity savings while having no or minimal effect on the BER performance of the system. Furthermore, the effect of channel estimation on the performance of the cooperative system is investigated. In the second part of the work, a joint preprocessor-based detector for cooperative communication networks is proposed for one-way and two-way relaying. This joint preprocessor-based detector operates on the principles of minimizing the symbol error rate (SER) instead of minimizing MSE. For a realistic assessment, pilot symbols are used to estimate the channel. From our simulations, it can be observed that our proposed detector achieves the same SER performance as that of the maximum likelihood (ML) detector with all participating relays. Additionally, our detector outperforms selection combining (SC), channel shortening (CS) scheme and reduced-rank techniques when using the same U. Finally, our proposed scheme has the lowest computational complexity.

Energy saving certificates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-11-01

The French ministry of economy, finances and industry and the French agency of environment and energy mastery (Ademe) have organized on November 8, 2005, a colloquium for the presentation of the energy saving certificates, a new tool to oblige the energy suppliers to encourage their clients to make energy savings. This document gathers the transparencies presented at this colloquium about the following topics: state-of-the-art and presentation of the energy saving certificates system: presentation of the EEC system, presentation of the EEC standard operations; the energy saving certificates in Europe today: energy efficiency commitment in UK, Italian white certificate scheme, perspectives of the different European systems. (J.S.)

Preprocessing with Photoshop Software on Microscopic Images of A549 Cells in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Zhou-Xin; Yu, Hai-Bin; Shen, Jun-Ling; Li, Ya; Li, Jian-Sheng

2015-06-01

To establish a preprocessing method for cell morphometry in microscopic images of A549 cells in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Adobe Photoshop CS2 (Adobe Systems, Inc.) was used for preprocessing the images. First, all images were processed for size uniformity and high distinguishability between the cell and background area. Then, a blank image with the same size and grids was established and cross points of the grids were added into a distinct color. The blank image was merged into a processed image. In the merged images, the cells with 1 or more cross points were chosen, and then the cell areas were enclosed and were replaced in a distinct color. Except for chosen cellular areas, all areas were changed into a unique hue. Three observers quantified roundness of cells in images with the image preprocess (IPP) or without the method (Controls), respectively. Furthermore, 1 observer measured the roundness 3 times with the 2 methods, respectively. The results between IPPs and Controls were compared for repeatability and reproducibility. As compared with the Control method, among 3 observers, use of the IPP method resulted in a higher number and a higher percentage of same-chosen cells in an image. The relative average deviation values of roundness, either for 3 observers or 1 observer, were significantly higher in Controls than in IPPs (p Photoshop, a chosen cell from an image was more objective, regular, and accurate, creating an increase of reproducibility and repeatability on morphometry of A549 cells in epithelial to mesenchymal transition.

Measuring industrial energy savings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly Kissock, J.; Eger, Carl

2008-01-01

Accurate measurement of energy savings from industrial energy efficiency projects can reduce uncertainty about the efficacy of the projects, guide the selection of future projects, improve future estimates of expected savings, promote financing of energy efficiency projects through shared-savings agreements, and improve utilization of capital resources. Many efforts to measure industrial energy savings, or simply track progress toward efficiency goals, have had difficulty incorporating changing weather and production, which are frequently major drivers of plant energy use. This paper presents a general method for measuring plant-wide industrial energy savings that takes into account changing weather and production between the pre and post-retrofit periods. In addition, the method can disaggregate savings into components, which provides additional resolution for understanding the effectiveness of individual projects when several projects are implemented together. The method uses multivariable piece-wise regression models to characterize baseline energy use, and disaggregates savings by taking the total derivative of the energy use equation. Although the method incorporates search techniques, multi-variable least-squares regression and calculus, it is easily implemented using data analysis software, and can use readily available temperature, production and utility billing data. This is important, since more complicated methods may be too complex for widespread use. The method is demonstrated using case studies of actual energy assessments. The case studies demonstrate the importance of adjusting for weather and production between the pre- and post-retrofit periods, how plant-wide savings can be disaggregated to evaluate the effectiveness of individual retrofits, how the method can identify the time-dependence of savings, and limitations of engineering models when used to estimate future savings

76 FR 16477 - General Reporting and Recordkeeping by Savings Associations and Savings and Loan Holding Companies

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-23

... Savings Associations and Savings and Loan Holding Companies AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS...), 12 CFR 562.4 (audit of savings association, savings and loan holding company, or affiliate), 12 CFR... the savings association), 12 CFR 584.1(f) (books and records of each savings and loan holding company...

A graphical method to evaluate spectral preprocessing in multivariate regression calibrations: example with Savitzky-Golay filters and partial least squares regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Delwiche, Stephen R; Reeves, James B

2010-01-01

In multivariate regression analysis of spectroscopy data, spectral preprocessing is often performed to reduce unwanted background information (offsets, sloped baselines) or accentuate absorption features in intrinsically overlapping bands. These procedures, also known as pretreatments, are commonly smoothing operations or derivatives. While such operations are often useful in reducing the number of latent variables of the actual decomposition and lowering residual error, they also run the risk of misleading the practitioner into accepting calibration equations that are poorly adapted to samples outside of the calibration. The current study developed a graphical method to examine this effect on partial least squares (PLS) regression calibrations of near-infrared (NIR) reflection spectra of ground wheat meal with two analytes, protein content and sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation (SDS) volume (an indicator of the quantity of the gluten proteins that contribute to strong doughs). These two properties were chosen because of their differing abilities to be modeled by NIR spectroscopy: excellent for protein content, fair for SDS sedimentation volume. To further demonstrate the potential pitfalls of preprocessing, an artificial component, a randomly generated value, was included in PLS regression trials. Savitzky-Golay (digital filter) smoothing, first-derivative, and second-derivative preprocess functions (5 to 25 centrally symmetric convolution points, derived from quadratic polynomials) were applied to PLS calibrations of 1 to 15 factors. The results demonstrated the danger of an over reliance on preprocessing when (1) the number of samples used in a multivariate calibration is low (<50), (2) the spectral response of the analyte is weak, and (3) the goodness of the calibration is based on the coefficient of determination (R(2)) rather than a term based on residual error. The graphical method has application to the evaluation of other preprocess functions and various

Estimating customer electricity savings from projects installed by the U.S. ESCO industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvallo, Juan Pablo [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Larsen, Peter H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Goldman, Charles A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2014-11-25

The U.S. energy service company (ESCO) industry has a well-established track record of delivering substantial energy and dollar savings in the public and institutional facilities sector, typically through the use of energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) (Larsen et al. 2012; Goldman et al. 2005; Hopper et al. 2005, Stuart et al. 2013). This ~$6.4 billion industry, which is expected to grow significantly over the next five years, may play an important role in achieving demand-side energy efficiency under local/state/federal environmental policy goals. To date, there has been little or no research in the public domain to estimate electricity savings for the entire U.S. ESCO industry. Estimating these savings levels is a foundational step in order to determine total avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from demand-side energy efficiency measures installed by U.S. ESCOs. We introduce a method to estimate the total amount of electricity saved by projects implemented by the U.S. ESCO industry using the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) /National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO) database of projects and LBNL’s biennial industry survey. We report two metrics: incremental electricity savings and savings from ESCO projects that are active in a given year (e.g., 2012). Overall, we estimate that in 2012 active U.S. ESCO industry projects generated about 34 TWh of electricity savings—15 TWh of these electricity savings were for MUSH market customers who did not rely on utility customer-funded energy efficiency programs (see Figure 1). This analysis shows that almost two-thirds of 2012 electricity savings in municipal, local and state government facilities, universities/colleges, K-12 schools, and healthcare facilities (i.e., the so-called “MUSH” market) were not supported by a utility customer-funded energy efficiency program.

Advertising energy saving programs: The potential environmental cost of emphasizing monetary savings.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Daniel; Bruine de Bruin, Wändi; Fischhoff, Baruch; Lave, Lester

2015-06-01

Many consumers have monetary or environmental motivations for saving energy. Indeed, saving energy produces both monetary benefits, by reducing energy bills, and environmental benefits, by reducing carbon footprints. We examined how consumers' willingness and reasons to enroll in energy-savings programs are affected by whether advertisements emphasize monetary benefits, environmental benefits, or both. From a normative perspective, having 2 noteworthy kinds of benefit should not decrease a program's attractiveness. In contrast, psychological research suggests that adding external incentives to an intrinsically motivating task may backfire. To date, however, it remains unclear whether this is the case when both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are inherent to the task, as with energy savings, and whether removing explicit mention of extrinsic motivation will reduce its importance. We found that emphasizing a program's monetary benefits reduced participants' willingness to enroll. In addition, participants' explanations about enrollment revealed less attention to environmental concerns when programs emphasized monetary savings, even when environmental savings were also emphasized. We found equal attention to monetary motivations in all conditions, revealing an asymmetric attention to monetary and environmental motives. These results also provide practical guidance regarding the positioning of energy-saving programs: emphasize intrinsic benefits; the extrinsic ones may speak for themselves. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The effects of pre-processing strategies in sentiment analysis of online movie reviews

Science.gov (United States)

Zin, Harnani Mat; Mustapha, Norwati; Murad, Masrah Azrifah Azmi; Sharef, Nurfadhlina Mohd

2017-10-01

With the ever increasing of internet applications and social networking sites, people nowadays can easily express their feelings towards any products and services. These online reviews act as an important source for further analysis and improved decision making. These reviews are mostly unstructured by nature and thus, need processing like sentiment analysis and classification to provide a meaningful information for future uses. In text analysis tasks, the appropriate selection of words/features will have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the classifier. Thus, this paper explores the effect of the pre-processing strategies in the sentiment analysis of online movie reviews. In this paper, supervised machine learning method was used to classify the reviews. The support vector machine (SVM) with linear and non-linear kernel has been considered as classifier for the classification of the reviews. The performance of the classifier is critically examined based on the results of precision, recall, f-measure, and accuracy. Two different features representations were used which are term frequency and term frequency-inverse document frequency. Results show that the pre-processing strategies give a significant impact on the classification process.

Characterizing the continuously acquired cardiovascular time series during hemodialysis, using median hybrid filter preprocessing noise reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilson S

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Scott Wilson,1,2 Andrea Bowyer,3 Stephen B Harrap4 1Department of Renal Medicine, The Alfred Hospital, 2Baker IDI, Melbourne, 3Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Melbourne Hospital, 4University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia Abstract: The clinical characterization of cardiovascular dynamics during hemodialysis (HD has important pathophysiological implications in terms of diagnostic, cardiovascular risk assessment, and treatment efficacy perspectives. Currently the diagnosis of significant intradialytic systolic blood pressure (SBP changes among HD patients is imprecise and opportunistic, reliant upon the presence of hypotensive symptoms in conjunction with coincident but isolated noninvasive brachial cuff blood pressure (NIBP readings. Considering hemodynamic variables as a time series makes a continuous recording approach more desirable than intermittent measures; however, in the clinical environment, the data signal is susceptible to corruption due to both impulsive and Gaussian-type noise. Signal preprocessing is an attractive solution to this problem. Prospectively collected continuous noninvasive SBP data over the short-break intradialytic period in ten patients was preprocessed using a novel median hybrid filter (MHF algorithm and compared with 50 time-coincident pairs of intradialytic NIBP measures from routine HD practice. The median hybrid preprocessing technique for continuously acquired cardiovascular data yielded a dynamic regression without significant noise and artifact, suitable for high-level profiling of time-dependent SBP behavior. Signal accuracy is highly comparable with standard NIBP measurement, with the added clinical benefit of dynamic real-time hemodynamic information. Keywords: continuous monitoring, blood pressure

Safe and sensible preprocessing and baseline correction of pupil-size data.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathôt, Sebastiaan; Fabius, Jasper; Van Heusden, Elle; Van der Stigchel, Stefan

2018-02-01

Measurement of pupil size (pupillometry) has recently gained renewed interest from psychologists, but there is little agreement on how pupil-size data is best analyzed. Here we focus on one aspect of pupillometric analyses: baseline correction, i.e., analyzing changes in pupil size relative to a baseline period. Baseline correction is useful in experiments that investigate the effect of some experimental manipulation on pupil size. In such experiments, baseline correction improves statistical power by taking into account random fluctuations in pupil size over time. However, we show that baseline correction can also distort data if unrealistically small pupil sizes are recorded during the baseline period, which can easily occur due to eye blinks, data loss, or other distortions. Divisive baseline correction (corrected pupil size = pupil size/baseline) is affected more strongly by such distortions than subtractive baseline correction (corrected pupil size = pupil size - baseline). We discuss the role of baseline correction as a part of preprocessing of pupillometric data, and make five recommendations: (1) before baseline correction, perform data preprocessing to mark missing and invalid data, but assume that some distortions will remain in the data; (2) use subtractive baseline correction; (3) visually compare your corrected and uncorrected data; (4) be wary of pupil-size effects that emerge faster than the latency of the pupillary response allows (within ±220 ms after the manipulation that induces the effect); and (5) remove trials on which baseline pupil size is unrealistically small (indicative of blinks and other distortions).

On image pre-processing for PIV of sinlge- and two-phase flows over reflecting objects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Deen, N.G.; Willems, P.; van Sint Annaland, M.; Kuipers, J.A.M.; Lammertink, Rob G.H.; Kemperman, Antonius J.B.; Wessling, Matthias; van der Meer, Walterus Gijsbertus Joseph

2010-01-01

A novel image pre-processing scheme for PIV of single- and two-phase flows over reflecting objects which does not require the use of additional hardware is discussed. The approach for single-phase flow consists of image normalization and intensity stretching followed by background subtraction. For

Hyperspectral imaging in medicine: image pre-processing problems and solutions in Matlab.

Science.gov (United States)

Koprowski, Robert

2015-11-01

The paper presents problems and solutions related to hyperspectral image pre-processing. New methods of preliminary image analysis are proposed. The paper shows problems occurring in Matlab when trying to analyse this type of images. Moreover, new methods are discussed which provide the source code in Matlab that can be used in practice without any licensing restrictions. The proposed application and sample result of hyperspectral image analysis. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

One-Step Dynamic Classifier Ensemble Model for Customer Value Segmentation with Missing Values

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Xiao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Scientific customer value segmentation (CVS is the base of efficient customer relationship management, and customer credit scoring, fraud detection, and churn prediction all belong to CVS. In real CVS, the customer data usually include lots of missing values, which may affect the performance of CVS model greatly. This study proposes a one-step dynamic classifier ensemble model for missing values (ODCEM model. On the one hand, ODCEM integrates the preprocess of missing values and the classification modeling into one step; on the other hand, it utilizes multiple classifiers ensemble technology in constructing the classification models. The empirical results in credit scoring dataset “German” from UCI and the real customer churn prediction dataset “China churn” show that the ODCEM outperforms four commonly used “two-step” models and the ensemble based model LMF and can provide better decision support for market managers.

Preprocessing in a Tiered Sensor Network for Habitat Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanbiao Wang

2003-03-01

Full Text Available We investigate task decomposition and collaboration in a two-tiered sensor network for habitat monitoring. The system recognizes and localizes a specified type of birdcalls. The system has a few powerful macronodes in the first tier, and many less powerful micronodes in the second tier. Each macronode combines data collected by multiple micronodes for target classification and localization. We describe two types of lightweight preprocessing which significantly reduce data transmission from micronodes to macronodes. Micronodes classify events according to their cross-zero rates and discard irrelevant events. Data about events of interest is reduced and compressed before being transmitted to macronodes for target localization. Preliminary experiments illustrate the effectiveness of event filtering and data reduction at micronodes.

76 FR 31680 - General Reporting and Recordkeeping by Savings Associations and Savings and Loan Holding Companies

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-01

... Savings Associations and Savings and Loan Holding Companies AGENCY: Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS... Savings and Loan Holding Companies. OMB Number: 1550-0011. Form Number: N/A. Description: This information...), 12 CFR 562.4 (audit of savings association, savings and loan holding company, or affiliate), 12 CFR...

12 CFR 583.21 - Savings association.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... AFFECTING SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANIES § 583.21 Savings association. The term savings association means a Federal savings and loan association or a Federal savings bank chartered under section 5 of the Home Owners' Loan Act, a building and loan, savings and loan or homestead association or a cooperative...

THE EFFECT OF DECOMPOSITION METHOD AS DATA PREPROCESSING ON NEURAL NETWORKS MODEL FOR FORECASTING TREND AND SEASONAL TIME SERIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Subanar Subanar

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, one of the central topics for the neural networks (NN community is the issue of data preprocessing on the use of NN. In this paper, we will investigate this topic particularly on the effect of Decomposition method as data processing and the use of NN for modeling effectively time series with both trend and seasonal patterns. Limited empirical studies on seasonal time series forecasting with neural networks show that some find neural networks are able to model seasonality directly and prior deseasonalization is not necessary, and others conclude just the opposite. In this research, we study particularly on the effectiveness of data preprocessing, including detrending and deseasonalization by applying Decomposition method on NN modeling and forecasting performance. We use two kinds of data, simulation and real data. Simulation data are examined on multiplicative of trend and seasonality patterns. The results are compared to those obtained from the classical time series model. Our result shows that a combination of detrending and deseasonalization by applying Decomposition method is the effective data preprocessing on the use of NN for forecasting trend and seasonal time series.

lop-DWI: A Novel Scheme for Pre-Processing of Diffusion-Weighted Images in the Gradient Direction Domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Sepehrband, Farshid; Choupan, Jeiran; Caruyer, Emmanuel; Kurniawan, Nyoman D; Gal, Yaniv; Tieng, Quang M; McMahon, Katie L; Vegh, Viktor; Reutens, David C; Yang, Zhengyi

2014-01-01

We describe and evaluate a pre-processing method based on a periodic spiral sampling of diffusion-gradient directions for high angular resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Our pre-processing method incorporates prior knowledge about the acquired diffusion-weighted signal, facilitating noise reduction. Periodic spiral sampling of gradient direction encodings results in an acquired signal in each voxel that is pseudo-periodic with characteristics that allow separation of low-frequency signal from high frequency noise. Consequently, it enhances local reconstruction of the orientation distribution function used to define fiber tracks in the brain. Denoising with periodic spiral sampling was tested using synthetic data and in vivo human brain images. The level of improvement in signal-to-noise ratio and in the accuracy of local reconstruction of fiber tracks was significantly improved using our method.

Energy supply and energy saving in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.M. Ilchenko

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article examines the main problems and solutions of energy saving and energy supply in Ukraine. Low energy efficiency has become one of the main factors of the crisis in the Ukrainian economy. The most relevant scientific and methodical approaches to assessment of the level of energy consumption and saving are indicated. The comparative analysis of annual energy use has been made. A potential to solve energy supply problems is strongly correlated with the ability to ensure the innovative development of economy for efficient and economical use of existing and imported energy resources. The ways for reducing of energy resource consumption have been suggested. Creation of technological conditions for the use of alternative energy sources is considered to be rational also. The development of renewable sources of energy (alternative and renewable energy sources will provide a significant effect in reducing the use of traditional energy sources, harmful emissions and greenhouse gas. Under these conditions, increasing of energy efficiency of economy and its competitiveness can be real. Improvement of environmental and social conditions of citizens of the country will mark a positive step towards the EU, and also will cancel some problems of the future generation.

A review of blood sample handling and pre-processing for metabolomics studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandes, Vinicius Veri; Barbas, Coral; Dudzik, Danuta

2017-09-01

Metabolomics has been found to be applicable to a wide range of clinical studies, bringing a new era for improving clinical diagnostics, early disease detection, therapy prediction and treatment efficiency monitoring. A major challenge in metabolomics, particularly untargeted studies, is the extremely diverse and complex nature of biological specimens. Despite great advances in the field there still exist fundamental needs for considering pre-analytical variability that can introduce bias to the subsequent analytical process and decrease the reliability of the results and moreover confound final research outcomes. Many researchers are mainly focused on the instrumental aspects of the biomarker discovery process, and sample related variables sometimes seem to be overlooked. To bridge the gap, critical information and standardized protocols regarding experimental design and sample handling and pre-processing are highly desired. Characterization of a range variation among sample collection methods is necessary to prevent results misinterpretation and to ensure that observed differences are not due to an experimental bias caused by inconsistencies in sample processing. Herein, a systematic discussion of pre-analytical variables affecting metabolomics studies based on blood derived samples is performed. Furthermore, we provide a set of recommendations concerning experimental design, collection, pre-processing procedures and storage conditions as a practical review that can guide and serve for the standardization of protocols and reduction of undesirable variation. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Development of an Energy-Savings Calculation Methodology for Residential Miscellaneous Electric Loads: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendron, R.; Eastment, M.

2006-08-01

In order to meet whole-house energy savings targets beyond 50% in residential buildings, it will be essential that new technologies and systems approaches be developed to address miscellaneous electric loads (MELs). These MELs are comprised of the small and diverse collection of energy-consuming devices found in homes, including what are commonly known as plug loads (televisions, stereos, microwaves), along with all hard-wired loads that do not fit into other major end-use categories (doorbells, security systems, garage door openers). MELs present special challenges because their purchase and operation are largely under the control of the occupants. If no steps are taken to address MELs, they can constitute 40-50% of the remaining source energy use in homes that achieve 60-70% whole-house energy savings, and this percentage is likely to increase in the future as home electronics become even more sophisticated and their use becomes more widespread. Building America (BA), a U.S. Department of Energy research program that targets 50% energy savings by 2015 and 90% savings by 2025, has begun to identify and develop advanced solutions that can reduce MELs.

Geology of Woman Saving Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shayesteh Madani

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Money is lubricant and an instrument for economic transaction. Money social dimension has increased over time, transforming it from a sole economic instrument to a device for various transactions. Money economic value in society is indicated through different forms, one of which is saving, in the sense of money accumulation and its use under specific future circumstances. Women, who form half of the society, take specific approaches to money and savings. The current research aims to investigate the perspectives and changing attitude strategy to money and saving among married women. The participants of this study include 20 to 70 year-old employed household married women who were observed phenomenologically and interviewed qualitatively on saving through.   The findings of this study demonstrated women perspectives on various types of saving, ways of saving, transfer methods, saving consumption forms and their mechanism. It also revealed that while money is an economic instrument and possess the economic material; attitudes and acts related to money are influenced by social conditions that has consequently turned saving into a social phenomenon.

Computational Testing for Automated Preprocessing 2: Practical Demonstration of a System for Scientific Data-Processing Workflow Management for High-Volume EEG.

Science.gov (United States)

Cowley, Benjamin U; Korpela, Jussi

2018-01-01

Existing tools for the preprocessing of EEG data provide a large choice of methods to suitably prepare and analyse a given dataset. Yet it remains a challenge for the average user to integrate methods for batch processing of the increasingly large datasets of modern research, and compare methods to choose an optimal approach across the many possible parameter configurations. Additionally, many tools still require a high degree of manual decision making for, e.g., the classification of artifacts in channels, epochs or segments. This introduces extra subjectivity, is slow, and is not reproducible. Batching and well-designed automation can help to regularize EEG preprocessing, and thus reduce human effort, subjectivity, and consequent error. The Computational Testing for Automated Preprocessing (CTAP) toolbox facilitates: (i) batch processing that is easy for experts and novices alike; (ii) testing and comparison of preprocessing methods. Here we demonstrate the application of CTAP to high-resolution EEG data in three modes of use. First, a linear processing pipeline with mostly default parameters illustrates ease-of-use for naive users. Second, a branching pipeline illustrates CTAP's support for comparison of competing methods. Third, a pipeline with built-in parameter-sweeping illustrates CTAP's capability to support data-driven method parameterization. CTAP extends the existing functions and data structure from the well-known EEGLAB toolbox, based on Matlab, and produces extensive quality control outputs. CTAP is available under MIT open-source licence from https://github.com/bwrc/ctap.

Effects of Preprocessing on Multi-Direction Properties of Aluminum Alloy Cold-Spray Deposits

Science.gov (United States)

Rokni, M. R.; Nardi, A. T.; Champagne, V. K.; Nutt, S. R.

2018-05-01

The effects of powder preprocessing (degassing at 400 °C for 6 h) on microstructure and mechanical properties of 5056 aluminum deposits produced by high-pressure cold spray were investigated. To investigate directionality of the mechanical properties, microtensile coupons were excised from different directions of the deposit, i.e., longitudinal, short transverse, long transverse, and diagonal and then tested. The results were compared to properties of wrought 5056 and the coating deposited with as-received 5056 Al powder and correlated with the observed microstructures. Preprocessing softened the particles and eliminated the pores within them, resulting in more extensive and uniform deformation upon impact with the substrate and with underlying deposited material. Microstructural characterization and finite element simulation indicated that upon particle impact, the peripheral regions experienced more extensive deformation and higher temperatures than the central contact zone. This led to more recrystallization and stronger bonding at peripheral regions relative to the contact zone area and yielded superior properties in the longitudinal direction compared with the short transverse direction. Fractography revealed that crack propagation takes place along the particle-particle interfaces in the transverse directions (caused by insufficient bonding and recrystallization), whereas through the deposited particles, fracture is dominant in the longitudinal direction.

Influence of Averaging Preprocessing on Image Analysis with a Markov Random Field Model

Science.gov (United States)

Sakamoto, Hirotaka; Nakanishi-Ohno, Yoshinori; Okada, Masato

2018-02-01

This paper describes our investigations into the influence of averaging preprocessing on the performance of image analysis. Averaging preprocessing involves a trade-off: image averaging is often undertaken to reduce noise while the number of image data available for image analysis is decreased. We formulated a process of generating image data by using a Markov random field (MRF) model to achieve image analysis tasks such as image restoration and hyper-parameter estimation by a Bayesian approach. According to the notions of Bayesian inference, posterior distributions were analyzed to evaluate the influence of averaging. There are three main results. First, we found that the performance of image restoration with a predetermined value for hyper-parameters is invariant regardless of whether averaging is conducted. We then found that the performance of hyper-parameter estimation deteriorates due to averaging. Our analysis of the negative logarithm of the posterior probability, which is called the free energy based on an analogy with statistical mechanics, indicated that the confidence of hyper-parameter estimation remains higher without averaging. Finally, we found that when the hyper-parameters are estimated from the data, the performance of image restoration worsens as averaging is undertaken. We conclude that averaging adversely influences the performance of image analysis through hyper-parameter estimation.

Save Energy: Save Money!

Science.gov (United States)

Eccli, Eugene; And Others

This publication is a collection of inexpensive energy saving tips and home improvements for home owners, particularly in low-income areas or in older homes. Section titles are: (1) Keeping Warm; (2) Getting Heat Where You Need It; (3) Using the Sun; (4) Furnaces, Stoves, and Fireplaces; (5) Insulation and Other Energy Needs; (6) Do-It-Yourself…

Contract saving schemes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ronald, R.; Smith, S.J.; Elsinga, M.; Eng, O.S.; Fox O'Mahony, L.; Wachter, S.

2012-01-01

Contractual saving schemes for housing are institutionalised savings programmes normally linked to rights to loans for home purchase. They are diverse types as they have been developed differently in each national context, but normally fall into categories of open, closed, compulsory, and ‘free

PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS OF DATA PREPROCESSING AND GEOSPATIAL MEASURES FOR OPTIMIZING THE NEUROLOGICAL AND OTHER PEDIATRIC EMERGENCIES MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionela MANIU

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Time management, optimal and timed determination of emergency severity as well as optimizing the use of available human and material resources are crucial areas of emergency services. A starting point for achieving these optimizations can be considered the analysis and preprocess of real data from the emergency services. The benefits of performing this method consist in exposing more useful structures to data modelling algorithms which consequently will reduce overfitting and improves accuracy. This paper aims to offer practical recommendations for data preprocessing measures including feature selection and discretization of numeric attributes regarding age, duration of the case, season, period, week period (workday, weekend and geospatial location of neurological and other pediatric emergencies. An analytical, retrospective study was conducted on a sample consisting of 933 pediatric cases, from UPU-SMURD Sibiu, 01.01.2014 – 27.02.2017 period.

31 CFR 351.47 - May I purchase definitive Series EE savings bonds through a payroll savings plan?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... savings bonds through a payroll savings plan? 351.47 Section 351.47 Money and Finance: Treasury....47 May I purchase definitive Series EE savings bonds through a payroll savings plan? You may purchase... maintains a payroll savings plan. An authorized issuing agent must issue the bonds. ...

12 CFR 561.43 - Savings association.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., chartered under section 5 of the Act, or a building and loan, savings and loan, or homestead association, or... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Savings association. 561.43 Section 561.43... AFFECTING ALL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS § 561.43 Savings association. The term savings association means a...

Savings Behavior and Satisfaction with Savings: A Comparison of Low- and High-Income Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Elizabeth P.; Schumm, Walter R.

1987-01-01

Data on 1,739 married couples from 13 states were analyzed. Associations between satisfaction with savings and level of savings with measures of motivation to save, motivations to spend, and family resources were found to differ substantially between low- and high-income couples. (Author/CH)

Statistics in experimental design, preprocessing, and analysis of proteomics data.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Klaus

2011-01-01

High-throughput experiments in proteomics, such as 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MS), yield usually high-dimensional data sets of expression values for hundreds or thousands of proteins which are, however, observed on only a relatively small number of biological samples. Statistical methods for the planning and analysis of experiments are important to avoid false conclusions and to receive tenable results. In this chapter, the most frequent experimental designs for proteomics experiments are illustrated. In particular, focus is put on studies for the detection of differentially regulated proteins. Furthermore, issues of sample size planning, statistical analysis of expression levels as well as methods for data preprocessing are covered.

31 CFR 359.35 - May I purchase definitive Series I savings bonds through a payroll savings plan?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... savings bonds through a payroll savings plan? 359.35 Section 359.35 Money and Finance: Treasury... May I purchase definitive Series I savings bonds through a payroll savings plan? You may purchase definitive bonds through deductions from your pay if your employer maintains a payroll savings plan. An...

Web Log Pre-processing and Analysis for Generation of Learning Profiles in Adaptive E-learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radhika M. Pai

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Adaptive E-learning Systems (AESs enhance the efficiency of online courses in education by providing personalized contents and user interfaces that changes according to learner’s requirements and usage patterns. This paper presents the approach to generate learning profile of each learner which helps to identify the learning styles and provide Adaptive User Interface which includes adaptive learning components and learning material. The proposed method analyzes the captured web usage data to identify the learning profile of the learners. The learning profiles are identified by an algorithmic approach that is based on the frequency of accessing the materials and the time spent on the various learning components on the portal. The captured log data is pre-processed and converted into standard XML format to generate learners sequence data corresponding to the different sessions and time spent. The learning style model adopted in this approach is Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model (FSLSM. This paper also presents the analysis of learner’s activities, preprocessed XML files and generated sequences.

Web Log Pre-processing and Analysis for Generation of Learning Profiles in Adaptive E-learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radhika M. Pai

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Adaptive E-learning Systems (AESs enhance the efficiency of online courses in education by providing personalized contents and user interfaces that changes according to learner’s requirements and usage patterns. This paper presents the approach to generate learning profile of each learner which helps to identify the learning styles and provide Adaptive User Interface which includes adaptive learning components and learning material. The proposed method analyzes the captured web usage data to identify the learning profile of the learners. The learning profiles are identified by an algorithmic approach that is based on the frequency of accessing the materials and the time spent on the various learning components on the portal. The captured log data is pre-processed and converted into standard XML format to generate learners sequence data corresponding to the different sessions and time spent. The learning style model adopted in this approach is Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model (FSLSM. This paper also presents the analysis of learner’s activities, preprocessed XML files and generated sequences.

Digital soil mapping: strategy for data pre-processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre ten Caten

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The region of greatest variability on soil maps is along the edge of their polygons, causing disagreement among pedologists about the appropriate description of soil classes at these locations. The objective of this work was to propose a strategy for data pre-processing applied to digital soil mapping (DSM. Soil polygons on a training map were shrunk by 100 and 160 m. This strategy prevented the use of covariates located near the edge of the soil classes for the Decision Tree (DT models. Three DT models derived from eight predictive covariates, related to relief and organism factors sampled on the original polygons of a soil map and on polygons shrunk by 100 and 160 m were used to predict soil classes. The DT model derived from observations 160 m away from the edge of the polygons on the original map is less complex and has a better predictive performance.

Bayesian Optimization for Neuroimaging Pre-processing in Brain Age Classification and Prediction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenessa Lancaster

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Neuroimaging-based age prediction using machine learning is proposed as a biomarker of brain aging, relating to cognitive performance, health outcomes and progression of neurodegenerative disease. However, even leading age-prediction algorithms contain measurement error, motivating efforts to improve experimental pipelines. T1-weighted MRI is commonly used for age prediction, and the pre-processing of these scans involves normalization to a common template and resampling to a common voxel size, followed by spatial smoothing. Resampling parameters are often selected arbitrarily. Here, we sought to improve brain-age prediction accuracy by optimizing resampling parameters using Bayesian optimization. Using data on N = 2003 healthy individuals (aged 16–90 years we trained support vector machines to (i distinguish between young (<22 years and old (>50 years brains (classification and (ii predict chronological age (regression. We also evaluated generalisability of the age-regression model to an independent dataset (CamCAN, N = 648, aged 18–88 years. Bayesian optimization was used to identify optimal voxel size and smoothing kernel size for each task. This procedure adaptively samples the parameter space to evaluate accuracy across a range of possible parameters, using independent sub-samples to iteratively assess different parameter combinations to arrive at optimal values. When distinguishing between young and old brains a classification accuracy of 88.1% was achieved, (optimal voxel size = 11.5 mm3, smoothing kernel = 2.3 mm. For predicting chronological age, a mean absolute error (MAE of 5.08 years was achieved, (optimal voxel size = 3.73 mm3, smoothing kernel = 3.68 mm. This was compared to performance using default values of 1.5 mm3 and 4mm respectively, resulting in MAE = 5.48 years, though this 7.3% improvement was not statistically significant. When assessing generalisability, best performance was achieved when applying the entire Bayesian

An adaptive time-stepping strategy for solving the phase field crystal model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Zhengru; Ma, Yuan; Qiao, Zhonghua

2013-01-01

In this work, we will propose an adaptive time step method for simulating the dynamics of the phase field crystal (PFC) model. The numerical simulation of the PFC model needs long time to reach steady state, and then large time-stepping method is necessary. Unconditionally energy stable schemes are used to solve the PFC model. The time steps are adaptively determined based on the time derivative of the corresponding energy. It is found that the use of the proposed time step adaptivity cannot only resolve the steady state solution, but also the dynamical development of the solution efficiently and accurately. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the CPU time is significantly saved for long time simulations

Risk transfer via energy-savings insurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, Evan

2003-01-01

Among the key barriers to investment in energy efficiency are uncertainties about attaining projected energy savings and potential disputes over stipulated savings. The fields of energy management and risk management are thus intertwined. While many technical methods have emerged to manage performance risks (e.g. building diagnostics and commissioning), financial methods are less developed in the energy management arena than in other segments of the economy. Energy-savings insurance (ESI) - formal insurance of predicted energy savings - transfers and spreads both types of risk over a larger pool of energy efficiency projects and reduces barriers to market entry of smaller energy service firms who lack sufficiently strong balance sheets to self-insure the savings. ESI encourages those implementing energy-saving projects to go beyond standard measures and thereby achieve more significant levels of energy savings. Insurance providers are proponents of improved savings measurement and verification techniques, as well as maintenance, thereby contributing to national energy-saving objectives. If properly applied, ESI can potentially reduce the net cost of energy-saving projects by reducing the interest rates charged by lenders, and by increasing the level of savings through quality control. Governmental agencies have been pioneers in the use of ESI and could continue to play a role

12 CFR 575.10 - Acquisition and disposition of savings associations, savings and loan holding companies, and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... associations, savings and loan holding companies, and other corporations by mutual holding companies. 575.10... COMPANIES § 575.10 Acquisition and disposition of savings associations, savings and loan holding companies... savings and loan holding company in the stock form that is not a subsidiary holding company, provided the...

Image-preprocessing method for near-wall particle image velocimetry (PIV) image interrogation with very large in-plane displacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Yiding; Yuan, Huijing; Zhang, Chuanhong; Lee, Cunbiao

2013-01-01

Accurate particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements very near the wall are still a great challenge. The problem is compounded by the very large in-plane displacement on PIV images commonly encountered in measurements in hypersonic boundary layers. An improved image-preprocessing method is presented in this paper which expands the traditional window deformation iterative multigrid scheme to PIV images with very large displacement. Before the interrogation, stationary artificial particles of uniform size are added homogeneously in the wall region. The mean squares of the intensities of signals in the flow and in the wall region are postulated to be equal when half the initial interrogation window overlaps the wall region. The initial estimation near the wall is then smoothed by data from both sides of the shear layer to reduce the large random uncertainties. Interrogations in the following iterative steps then converge to the correct results to provide accurate predictions for particle tracking velocimetries. Significant improvement is seen in Monte Carlo simulations and experimental tests. The algorithm successfully extracted the small flow structures of the second-mode wave in the hypersonic boundary layer from PIV images with low signal-noise-ratios when the traditional method was not successful. (paper)

Entrepreneurial Saving Practices and Reinvestment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beck, Thorsten; Pamuk, Haki; Uras, Burak R.

2017-01-01

We use a novel enterprise survey to gauge the relationship between saving instruments and entrepreneurial reinvestment. We show that while most informal saving practices are not associated with a lower likelihood of reinvestment when compared with formal saving practices, there is a significantly

Risk transfer via energy savings insurance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mills, Evan

2001-10-01

Among the key barriers to investment in energy efficiency improvements are uncertainties about attaining projected energy savings and apprehension about potential disputes over these savings. The fields of energy management and risk management are thus intertwined. While many technical methods have emerged to manage performance risks (e.g. building commissioning), financial risk transfer techniques are less developed in the energy management arena than in other more mature segments of the economy. Energy Savings Insurance (ESI) - formal insurance of predicted energy savings - is one method of transferring financial risks away from the facility owner or energy services contractor. ESI offers a number of significant advantages over other forms of financial risk transfer, e.g. savings guarantees or performance bonds. ESI providers manage risk via pre-construction design review as well as post-construction commissioning and measurement and verification of savings. We found that the two mos t common criticisms of ESI - excessive pricing and onerous exclusions - are not born out in practice. In fact, if properly applied, ESI can potentially reduce the net cost of energy savings projects by reducing the interest rates charged by lenders, and by increasing the level of savings through quality control. Debt service can also be ensured by matching loan payments to projected energy savings while designing the insurance mechanism so that payments are made by the insurer in the event of a savings shortfall. We estimate the U.S. ESI market potential of $875 million/year in premium income. From an energy-policy perspective, ESI offers a number of potential benefits: ESI transfers performance risk from the balance sheet of the entity implementing the energy savings project, thereby freeing up capital otherwise needed to ''self-insure'' the savings. ESI reduces barriers to market entry of smaller energy services firms who do not have sufficiently strong balance

3-D image pre-processing algorithms for improved automated tracing of neuronal arbors.

Science.gov (United States)

Narayanaswamy, Arunachalam; Wang, Yu; Roysam, Badrinath

2011-09-01

The accuracy and reliability of automated neurite tracing systems is ultimately limited by image quality as reflected in the signal-to-noise ratio, contrast, and image variability. This paper describes a novel combination of image processing methods that operate on images of neurites captured by confocal and widefield microscopy, and produce synthetic images that are better suited to automated tracing. The algorithms are based on the curvelet transform (for denoising curvilinear structures and local orientation estimation), perceptual grouping by scalar voting (for elimination of non-tubular structures and improvement of neurite continuity while preserving branch points), adaptive focus detection, and depth estimation (for handling widefield images without deconvolution). The proposed methods are fast, and capable of handling large images. Their ability to handle images of unlimited size derives from automated tiling of large images along the lateral dimension, and processing of 3-D images one optical slice at a time. Their speed derives in part from the fact that the core computations are formulated in terms of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and in part from parallel computation on multi-core computers. The methods are simple to apply to new images since they require very few adjustable parameters, all of which are intuitive. Examples of pre-processing DIADEM Challenge images are used to illustrate improved automated tracing resulting from our pre-processing methods.

Statistical Downscaling Output GCM Modeling with Continuum Regression and Pre-Processing PCA Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sutikno Sutikno

2010-08-01

Full Text Available One of the climate models used to predict the climatic conditions is Global Circulation Models (GCM. GCM is a computer-based model that consists of different equations. It uses numerical and deterministic equation which follows the physics rules. GCM is a main tool to predict climate and weather, also it uses as primary information source to review the climate change effect. Statistical Downscaling (SD technique is used to bridge the large-scale GCM with a small scale (the study area. GCM data is spatial and temporal data most likely to occur where the spatial correlation between different data on the grid in a single domain. Multicollinearity problems require the need for pre-processing of variable data X. Continuum Regression (CR and pre-processing with Principal Component Analysis (PCA methods is an alternative to SD modelling. CR is one method which was developed by Stone and Brooks (1990. This method is a generalization from Ordinary Least Square (OLS, Principal Component Regression (PCR and Partial Least Square method (PLS methods, used to overcome multicollinearity problems. Data processing for the station in Ambon, Pontianak, Losarang, Indramayu and Yuntinyuat show that the RMSEP values and R2 predict in the domain 8x8 and 12x12 by uses CR method produces results better than by PCR and PLS.

CSS Preprocessing: Tools and Automation Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Queirós

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Cascading Style Sheets (CSS is a W3C specification for a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language, more precisely, for styling Web documents. However, in the last few years, the landscape for CSS development has changed dramatically with the appearance of several languages and tools aiming to help developers build clean, modular and performance-aware CSS. These new approaches give developers mechanisms to preprocess CSS rules through the use of programming constructs, defined as CSS preprocessors, with the ultimate goal to bring those missing constructs to the CSS realm and to foster stylesheets structured programming. At the same time, a new set of tools appeared, defined as postprocessors, for extension and automation purposes covering a broad set of features ranging from identifying unused and duplicate code to applying vendor prefixes. With all these tools and techniques in hands, developers need to provide a consistent workflow to foster CSS modular coding. This paper aims to present an introductory survey on the CSS processors. The survey gathers information on a specific set of processors, categorizes them and compares their features regarding a set of predefined criteria such as: maturity, coverage and performance. Finally, we propose a basic set of best practices in order to setup a simple and pragmatic styling code workflow.

Preprocessing Raw Data in Clinical Medicine for a Data Mining Purpose

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peterková Andrea

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Dealing with data from the field of medicine is nowadays very current and difficult. On a global scale, a large amount of medical data is produced on an everyday basis. For the purpose of our research, we understand medical data as data about patients like results from laboratory analysis, results from screening examinations (CT, ECHO and clinical parameters. This data is usually in a raw format, difficult to understand, non-standard and not suitable for further processing or analysis. This paper aims to describe the possible method of data preparation and preprocessing of such raw medical data into a form, where further analysis algorithms can be applied.

The influence of multiple goals on driving behavior: the case of safety, time saving, and fuel saving.

Science.gov (United States)

Dogan, Ebru; Steg, Linda; Delhomme, Patricia

2011-09-01

Due to the innate complexity of the task drivers have to manage multiple goals while driving and the importance of certain goals may vary over time leading to priority being given to different goals depending on the circumstances. This study aimed to investigate drivers' behavioral regulation while managing multiple goals during driving. To do so participants drove on urban and rural roads in a driving simulator while trying to manage fuel saving and time saving goals, besides the safety goals that are always present during driving. A between-subjects design was used with one group of drivers managing two goals (safety and fuel saving) and another group managing three goals (safety, fuel saving, and time saving) while driving. Participants were provided continuous feedback on the fuel saving goal via a meter on the dashboard. The results indicate that even when a fuel saving or time saving goal is salient, safety goals are still given highest priority when interactions with other road users take place and when interacting with a traffic light. Additionally, performance on the fuel saving goal diminished for the group that had to manage fuel saving and time saving together. The theoretical implications for a goal hierarchy in driving tasks and practical implications for eco-driving are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Saving-enhanced memory: the benefits of saving on the learning and remembering of new information.

Science.gov (United States)

Storm, Benjamin C; Stone, Sean M

2015-02-01

With the continued integration of technology into people's lives, saving digital information has become an everyday facet of human behavior. In the present research, we examined the consequences of saving certain information on the ability to learn and remember other information. Results from three experiments showed that saving one file before studying a new file significantly improved memory for the contents of the new file. Notably, this effect was not observed when the saving process was deemed unreliable or when the contents of the to-be-saved file were not substantial enough to interfere with memory for the new file. These results suggest that saving provides a means to strategically off-load memory onto the environment in order to reduce the extent to which currently unneeded to-be-remembered information interferes with the learning and remembering of other information. © The Author(s) 2014.

Social Capital and Savings Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Newman, Carol; Tarp, Finn; Khai, Luu Duc

In this paper, we analyze household savings in rural Vietnam paying particular attention to the factors that determine the proportion of savings held as formal deposits. Our aim is to explore the extent to which social capital can play a role in promoting formal savings behavior. Social capital...

Saving water through global trade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chapagain, Ashok; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert; Savenije, H.H.G.

2005-01-01

Many nations save domestic water resources by importing water-intensive products and exporting commodities that are less water intensive. National water saving through the import of a product can imply saving water at a global level if the flow is from sites with high to sites with low water

Energy savings in CSFR - building sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobsen, F.R.

1993-01-01

The Czechoslovak/Danish project on energy savings in buildings proves that it is possible to save up to 30% of the energy in buildings. 10% can be saved at an investment of 27 bill KCS. The total investment that is needed to save 30% is 140 bill KCS. Further energy savings can be obtained through more energy efficient supply systems. Information dissemination is important for the energy saving programme as are economic incentives. Investments in energy savings should be profitable for the investor, but this is not the case in the Czech and Slovak republics today. Changes are needed. Energy prices are still to low, compared to investment costs. Financial possibilities are not satisfactory for private investors. Price systems are not favourable to investment in energy savings. Training is needed for boiler men and energy consultants. Legislation is essential for the support of the full range of activities in the energy sector. Research and Development activities must back up the development of the sector. Pilot projects can illuminate the savings potential. The production of technical equipment for control and metering and production of insulation materials must be promoted. (AB)

Data Pre-Processing Method to Remove Interference of Gas Bubbles and Cell Clusters During Anaerobic and Aerobic Yeast Fermentations in a Stirred Tank Bioreactor

Science.gov (United States)

Princz, S.; Wenzel, U.; Miller, R.; Hessling, M.

2014-11-01

One aerobic and four anaerobic batch fermentations of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were conducted in a stirred bioreactor and monitored inline by NIR spectroscopy and a transflectance dip probe. From the acquired NIR spectra, chemometric partial least squares regression (PLSR) models for predicting biomass, glucose and ethanol were constructed. The spectra were directly measured in the fermentation broth and successfully inspected for adulteration using our novel data pre-processing method. These adulterations manifested as strong fluctuations in the shape and offset of the absorption spectra. They resulted from cells, cell clusters, or gas bubbles intercepting the optical path of the dip probe. In the proposed data pre-processing method, adulterated signals are removed by passing the time-scanned non-averaged spectra through two filter algorithms with a 5% quantile cutoff. The filtered spectra containing meaningful data are then averaged. A second step checks whether the whole time scan is analyzable. If true, the average is calculated and used to prepare the PLSR models. This new method distinctly improved the prediction results. To dissociate possible correlations between analyte concentrations, such as glucose and ethanol, the feeding analytes were alternately supplied at different concentrations (spiking) at the end of the four anaerobic fermentations. This procedure yielded low-error (anaerobic) PLSR models for predicting analyte concentrations of 0.31 g/l for biomass, 3.41 g/l for glucose, and 2.17 g/l for ethanol. The maximum concentrations were 14 g/l biomass, 167 g/l glucose, and 80 g/l ethanol. Data from the aerobic fermentation, carried out under high agitation and high aeration, were incorporated to realize combined PLSR models, which have not been previously reported to our knowledge.

Quality assessment of baby food made of different pre-processed organic raw materials under industrial processing conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidel, Kathrin; Kahl, Johannes; Paoletti, Flavio; Birlouez, Ines; Busscher, Nicolaas; Kretzschmar, Ursula; Särkkä-Tirkkonen, Marjo; Seljåsen, Randi; Sinesio, Fiorella; Torp, Torfinn; Baiamonte, Irene

2015-02-01

The market for processed food is rapidly growing. The industry needs methods for "processing with care" leading to high quality products in order to meet consumers' expectations. Processing influences the quality of the finished product through various factors. In carrot baby food, these are the raw material, the pre-processing and storage treatments as well as the processing conditions. In this study, a quality assessment was performed on baby food made from different pre-processed raw materials. The experiments were carried out under industrial conditions using fresh, frozen and stored organic carrots as raw material. Statistically significant differences were found for sensory attributes among the three autoclaved puree samples (e.g. overall odour F = 90.72, p processed from frozen carrots show increased moisture content and decrease of several chemical constituents. Biocrystallization identified changes between replications of the cooking. Pre-treatment of raw material has a significant influence on the final quality of the baby food.

THE IMAGE REGISTRATION OF FOURIER-MELLIN BASED ON THE COMBINATION OF PROJECTION AND GRADIENT PREPROCESSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Gao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Image registration is one of the most important applications in the field of image processing. The method of Fourier Merlin transform, which has the advantages of high precision and good robustness to change in light and shade, partial blocking, noise influence and so on, is widely used. However, not only this method can’t obtain the unique mutual power pulse function for non-parallel image pairs, even part of image pairs also can’t get the mutual power function pulse. In this paper, an image registration method based on Fourier-Mellin transformation in the view of projection-gradient preprocessing is proposed. According to the projection conformational equation, the method calculates the matrix of image projection transformation to correct the tilt image; then, gradient preprocessing and Fourier-Mellin transformation are performed on the corrected image to obtain the registration parameters. Eventually, the experiment results show that the method makes the image registration of Fourier-Mellin transformation not only applicable to the registration of the parallel image pairs, but also to the registration of non-parallel image pairs. What’s more, the better registration effect can be obtained

Effects of different correlation metrics and preprocessing factors on small-world brain functional networks: a resting-state functional MRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xia; Wang, Jinhui; Yan, Chaogan; Shu, Ni; Xu, Ke; Gong, Gaolang; He, Yong

2012-01-01

Graph theoretical analysis of brain networks based on resting-state functional MRI (R-fMRI) has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. These analyses often involve the selection of correlation metrics and specific preprocessing steps. However, the influence of these factors on the topological properties of functional brain networks has not been systematically examined. Here, we investigated the influences of correlation metric choice (Pearson's correlation versus partial correlation), global signal presence (regressed or not) and frequency band selection [slow-5 (0.01-0.027 Hz) versus slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz)] on the topological properties of both binary and weighted brain networks derived from them, and we employed test-retest (TRT) analyses for further guidance on how to choose the "best" network modeling strategy from the reliability perspective. Our results show significant differences in global network metrics associated with both correlation metrics and global signals. Analysis of nodal degree revealed differing hub distributions for brain networks derived from Pearson's correlation versus partial correlation. TRT analysis revealed that the reliability of both global and local topological properties are modulated by correlation metrics and the global signal, with the highest reliability observed for Pearson's-correlation-based brain networks without global signal removal (WOGR-PEAR). The nodal reliability exhibited a spatially heterogeneous distribution wherein regions in association and limbic/paralimbic cortices showed moderate TRT reliability in Pearson's-correlation-based brain networks. Moreover, we found that there were significant frequency-related differences in topological properties of WOGR-PEAR networks, and brain networks derived in the 0.027-0.073 Hz band exhibited greater reliability than those in the 0.01-0.027 Hz band. Taken together, our results provide direct evidence regarding the influences of correlation metrics and specific

Effects of different correlation metrics and preprocessing factors on small-world brain functional networks: a resting-state functional MRI study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xia Liang

Full Text Available Graph theoretical analysis of brain networks based on resting-state functional MRI (R-fMRI has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. These analyses often involve the selection of correlation metrics and specific preprocessing steps. However, the influence of these factors on the topological properties of functional brain networks has not been systematically examined. Here, we investigated the influences of correlation metric choice (Pearson's correlation versus partial correlation, global signal presence (regressed or not and frequency band selection [slow-5 (0.01-0.027 Hz versus slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz] on the topological properties of both binary and weighted brain networks derived from them, and we employed test-retest (TRT analyses for further guidance on how to choose the "best" network modeling strategy from the reliability perspective. Our results show significant differences in global network metrics associated with both correlation metrics and global signals. Analysis of nodal degree revealed differing hub distributions for brain networks derived from Pearson's correlation versus partial correlation. TRT analysis revealed that the reliability of both global and local topological properties are modulated by correlation metrics and the global signal, with the highest reliability observed for Pearson's-correlation-based brain networks without global signal removal (WOGR-PEAR. The nodal reliability exhibited a spatially heterogeneous distribution wherein regions in association and limbic/paralimbic cortices showed moderate TRT reliability in Pearson's-correlation-based brain networks. Moreover, we found that there were significant frequency-related differences in topological properties of WOGR-PEAR networks, and brain networks derived in the 0.027-0.073 Hz band exhibited greater reliability than those in the 0.01-0.027 Hz band. Taken together, our results provide direct evidence regarding the influences of correlation metrics

Energy Savings Measure Packages. Existing Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casey, Sean [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Booten, Chuck [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2011-11-01

This document presents the most cost effective Energy Savings Measure Packages (ESMP) for existing mixed-fuel and all electric homes to achieve 15% and 30% savings for each BetterBuildings grantee location across the United States. These packages are optimized for minimum cost to homeowners for source energy savings given the local climate and prevalent building characteristics (i.e. foundation types). Maximum cost savings are typically found between 30% and 50% energy savings over the reference home; this typically amounts to $300 - $700/year.

Pre-processing of input files for the AZTRAN code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vargas E, S.; Ibarra, G.

2017-09-01

The AZTRAN code began to be developed in the Nuclear Engineering Department of the Escuela Superior de Fisica y Matematicas (ESFM) of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN) with the purpose of numerically solving various models arising from the physics and engineering of nuclear reactors. The code is still under development and is part of the AZTLAN platform: Development of a Mexican platform for the analysis and design of nuclear reactors. Due to the complexity to generate an input file for the code, a script based on D language is developed, with the purpose of making its elaboration easier, based on a new input file format which includes specific cards, which have been divided into two blocks, mandatory cards and optional cards, including a pre-processing of the input file to identify possible errors within it, as well as an image generator for the specific problem based on the python interpreter. (Author)

Technical Support Document: Development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 Schools--30% Energy Savings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pless, S.; Torcellini, P.; Long, N.

2007-09-01

This Technical Support Document describes the process and methodology for the development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings (K-12 AEDG), a design guidance document intended to provide recommendations for achieving 30% energy savings in K-12 Schools over levels contained in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The 30% energy savings target is the first step toward achieving net-zero energy schools; schools that, on an annual basis, draw from outside sources less or equal energy than they generate on site from renewable energy sources.

SAVING BEHAVIOUR AND DETERMINANTS OF SAVING MOBILIZATION BY RURAL FINANCIAL CO-OPERATORS IN TIGRAI REGION, ETHIOPIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebhatu Kifle Tesfamariam

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper identified and examined saving behaviour and determinants of saving mobiliza-tion by the rural co-operators in Southern Tigrai Ethiopia. The input for the study was ob-tained from randomly selected 120 rural household savers from six purposively selected ru-ral savings and credit cooperatives. The result of the study using least squares method showed that savings mobilized is determined by household annual income, amount of loan borrowed and year of member stay in the cooperative. These factors therefore have to be considered in designing strategies aimed at improving the saving mobilization of coopera-tive members in the study area. Besides, economically feasible cooperative societies in the region should be encouraged among the rural households by supporting them with revolv-ing funds as they are more effective and efficient in mobilizing rural savings and provide collateral plus guarantor-based loans with low default rate. This will enable them to boost up their production output and increase their savings thereby stimulating the rural economy.

Review of Data Preprocessing Methods for Sign Language Recognition Systems based on Artificial Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zorins Aleksejs

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents an introductory analysis of relevant research topic for Latvian deaf society, which is the development of the Latvian Sign Language Recognition System. More specifically the data preprocessing methods are discussed in the paper and several approaches are shown with a focus on systems based on artificial neural networks, which are one of the most successful solutions for sign language recognition task.

Connecting possibilistic prudence and optimal saving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana María Lucia Casademunt

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we study the optimal saving problem in the framework of possibility theory. The notion of possibilistic precautionary saving is introduced as a measure of the way the presence of possibilistic risk (represented by a fuzzy number influences a consumer in establishing the level of optimal saving. The notion of prudence of an agent in the face of possibilistic risk is defined and the equivalence between the prudence condition and a positive possibilistic precautionary saving is proved. Some relations between possibilistic risk aversion, prudence and possibilistic precautionary saving were established.

Neural Online Filtering Based on Preprocessed Calorimeter Data

CERN Document Server

Torres, R C; The ATLAS collaboration; Simas Filho, E F; De Seixas, J M

2009-01-01

Among LHC detectors, ATLAS aims at coping with such high event rate by designing a three-level online triggering system. The first level trigger output will be ~75 kHz. This level will mark the regions where relevant events were found. The second level will validate LVL1 decision by looking only at the approved data using full granularity. At the level two output, the event rate will be reduced to ~2 kHz. Finally, the third level will look at full event information and a rate of ~200 Hz events is expected to be approved, and stored in persistent media for further offline analysis. Many interesting events decay into electrons, which have to be identified from the huge background noise (jets). This work proposes a high-efficient LVL2 electron / jet discrimination system based on neural networks fed from preprocessed calorimeter information. The feature extraction part of the proposed system performs a ring structure of data description. A set of concentric rings centered at the highest energy cell is generated ...

Data preprocessing methods for robust Fourier ptychographic microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Pan, An; Lei, Ming; Yao, Baoli

2017-12-01

Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is a recently developed computational imaging technique that achieves gigapixel images with both high resolution and large field-of-view. In the current FPM experimental setup, the dark-field images with high-angle illuminations are easily overwhelmed by stray lights and background noises due to the low signal-to-noise ratio, thus significantly degrading the achievable resolution of the FPM approach. We provide an overall and systematic data preprocessing scheme to enhance the FPM's performance, which involves sampling analysis, underexposed/overexposed treatments, background noises suppression, and stray lights elimination. It is demonstrated experimentally with both US Air Force (USAF) 1951 resolution target and biological samples that the benefit of the noise removal by these methods far outweighs the defect of the accompanying signal loss, as part of the lost signals can be compensated by the improved consistencies among the captured raw images. In addition, the reported nonparametric scheme could be further cooperated with the existing state-of-the-art algorithms with a great flexibility, facilitating a stronger noise-robust capability of the FPM approach in various applications.

Moonlight project promotes energy-saving technology

Science.gov (United States)

Ishihara, A.

1986-01-01

In promoting energy saving, development of energy conservation technologies aimed at raising energy efficiency in the fields of energy conversion, its transportation, its storage, and its consumption is considered, along with enactment of legal actions urging rational use of energies and implementation of an enlightenment campaign for energy conservation to play a crucial role. Under the Moonlight Project, technical development is at present being centered around the following six pillars: (1) large scale energy saving technology; (2) pioneering and fundamental energy saving technology; (3) international cooperative research project; (4) research and survey of energy saving technology; (5) energy saving technology development by private industry; and (6) promotion of energy saving through standardization. Heat pumps, magnetohydrodynamic generators and fuel cells are discussed.

Saved Leave Scheme (SLS) : Simplified procedure for the transfer of leave to saved leave accounts

CERN Multimedia

HR Division

2001-01-01

As part of the process of streamlining procedures, the HR and AS Divisions have jointly developed a system whereby annual and compensatory leave will henceforth be automatically transferred1) to saved leave accounts. Under the provisions of the voluntary saved leave scheme (SLS), a maximum total of 10 days'2) annual and compensatory leave (excluding saved leave accumulated in accordance with the provisions of Administrative Circular No. 22 B) can be transferred to the saved leave account at the end of the leave year (30 September). Previously, every person taking part in the scheme has been individually issued with a form for the purposes of requesting the transfer of leave to the leave account and the transfer has then had to be done manually by HR Division. To streamline the procedure, unused leave of all those taking part in the saved leave scheme at the closure of of the leave-year accounts will henceforth be transferred automatically to the saved leave account on that date. This simplification is in the ...

Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, James J; Laibson, David; Madrian, Brigitte C; Metrick, Andrew

2009-12-01

We show that individual investors over-extrapolate from their personal experience when making savings decisions. Investors who experience particularly rewarding outcomes from saving in their 401(k)-a high average and/or low variance return-increase their 401(k) savings rate more than investors who have less rewarding experiences with saving. This finding is not driven by aggregate time-series shocks, income effects, rational learning about investing skill, investor fixed effects, or time-varying investor-level heterogeneity that is correlated with portfolio allocations to stock, bond, and cash asset classes. We discuss implications for the equity premium puzzle and interventions aimed at improving household financial outcomes.

Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior*

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, James J.; Laibson, David; Madrian, Brigitte C.; Metrick, Andrew

2009-01-01

We show that individual investors over-extrapolate from their personal experience when making savings decisions. Investors who experience particularly rewarding outcomes from saving in their 401(k)—a high average and/or low variance return—increase their 401(k) savings rate more than investors who have less rewarding experiences with saving. This finding is not driven by aggregate time-series shocks, income effects, rational learning about investing skill, investor fixed effects, or time-varying investor-level heterogeneity that is correlated with portfolio allocations to stock, bond, and cash asset classes. We discuss implications for the equity premium puzzle and interventions aimed at improving household financial outcomes. PMID:20352013

Fast randomized point location without preprocessing in two- and three-dimensional Delaunay triangulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muecke, E.P.; Saias, I.; Zhu, B.

1996-05-01

This paper studies the point location problem in Delaunay triangulations without preprocessing and additional storage. The proposed procedure finds the query point simply by walking through the triangulation, after selecting a good starting point by random sampling. The analysis generalizes and extends a recent result of d = 2 dimensions by proving this procedure to take expected time close to O(n{sup 1/(d+1)}) for point location in Delaunay triangulations of n random points in d = 3 dimensions. Empirical results in both two and three dimensions show that this procedure is efficient in practice.

Performance Comparison of Several Pre-Processing Methods in a Hand Gesture Recognition System based on Nearest Neighbor for Different Background Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Regina Lionnie

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a performance analysis and comparison of several pre-processing  methods  used  in  a  hand  gesture  recognition  system.  The  preprocessing methods are based on the combinations ofseveral image processing operations,  namely  edge  detection,  low  pass  filtering,  histogram  equalization, thresholding and desaturation. The hand gesture recognition system is designed to classify an input image into one of six possibleclasses. The input images are taken with various background conditions. Our experiments showed that the best result is achieved when the pre-processing method consists of only a desaturation operation, achieving a classification accuracy of up to 83.15%.

Integrated fMRI Preprocessing Framework Using Extended Kalman Filter for Estimation of Slice-Wise Motion

OpenAIRE

Basile Pinsard; Basile Pinsard; Basile Pinsard; Arnaud Boutin; Arnaud Boutin; Julien Doyon; Julien Doyon; Habib Benali; Habib Benali; Habib Benali

2018-01-01

Functional MRI acquisition is sensitive to subjects' motion that cannot be fully constrained. Therefore, signal corrections have to be applied a posteriori in order to mitigate the complex interactions between changing tissue localization and magnetic fields, gradients and readouts. To circumvent current preprocessing strategies limitations, we developed an integrated method that correct motion and spatial low-frequency intensity fluctuations at the level of each slice in order to better fit ...

Electric energy savings from new technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moe, R.J.; Harrer, B.J.; Kellogg, M.A.; Lyke, A.J.; Imhoff, K.L.; Fisher, Z.J.

1986-01-01

Purpose of the report is to provide information about the electricity-saving potential of new technologies to OCEP that it can use in developing alternative long-term projections of US electricity consumption. Low-, base-, and high-case scenarios of the electricity savings for ten technologies were prepared. The total projected annual savings for the year 2000 for all ten technologies were 137 billion kilowatt hours (BkWh), 279 BkWh, and 470 BkWh, respectively, for the three cases. The magnitude of these savings projections can be gauged by comparing them to the Department's reference case projection for the 1985 National Energy Policy Plan. In the Department's reference case, total consumption in 2000 is projected to be 3319 BkWh. Thus, the savings projected here represent between 4% and 14% of total consumption projected for 2000. Because approximately 75% of the base-case estimate of savings are already incorporated into the reference forecast, reducing projected electricity consumption from what it otherwise would have been, the savings estimated here should not be directly subtracted from the reference forecast.

Piecewise Polynomial Aggregation as Preprocessing for Data Numerical Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Dobronets, B. S.; Popova, O. A.

2018-05-01

Data aggregation issues for numerical modeling are reviewed in the present study. The authors discuss data aggregation procedures as preprocessing for subsequent numerical modeling. To calculate the data aggregation, the authors propose using numerical probabilistic analysis (NPA). An important feature of this study is how the authors represent the aggregated data. The study shows that the offered approach to data aggregation can be interpreted as the frequency distribution of a variable. To study its properties, the density function is used. For this purpose, the authors propose using the piecewise polynomial models. A suitable example of such approach is the spline. The authors show that their approach to data aggregation allows reducing the level of data uncertainty and significantly increasing the efficiency of numerical calculations. To demonstrate the degree of the correspondence of the proposed methods to reality, the authors developed a theoretical framework and considered numerical examples devoted to time series aggregation.

Saving for Success: Financial Education and Savings Goal Achievement in Individual Development Accounts

Science.gov (United States)

Grinstead, Mary L.; Mauldin, Teresa; Sabia, Joseph J.; Koonce, Joan; Palmer, Lance

2011-01-01

Using microdata from the American Dream Demonstration, the current study examines factors associated with savings and savings goal achievement (indicated by a matched withdrawal) among participants of individual development account (IDA) programs. Multinomial logit results show that hours of participation in financial education programs, higher…

Short-Term Saved Leave Scheme

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

As announced at the meeting of the Standing Concertation Committee (SCC) on 26 June 2007 and in http://Bulletin No. 28/2007, the existing Saved Leave Scheme will be discontinued as of 31 December 2007. Staff participating in the Scheme will shortly receive a contract amendment stipulating the end of financial contributions compensated by save leave. Leave already accumulated on saved leave accounts can continue to be taken in accordance with the rules applicable to the current scheme. A new system of saved leave will enter into force on 1 January 2008 and will be the subject of a new implementation procedure entitled "Short-term saved leave scheme" dated 1 January 2008. At its meeting on 4 December 2007, the SCC agreed to recommend the Director-General to approve this procedure, which can be consulted on the HR Department’s website at the following address: https://cern.ch/hr-services/services-Ben/sls_shortterm.asp All staff wishing to participate in the new scheme a...

Short-Term Saved Leave Scheme

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2007-01-01

As announced at the meeting of the Standing Concertation Committee (SCC) on 26 June 2007 and in http://Bulletin No. 28/2007, the existing Saved Leave Scheme will be discontinued as of 31 December 2007. Staff participating in the Scheme will shortly receive a contract amendment stipulating the end of financial contributions compensated by save leave. Leave already accumulated on saved leave accounts can continue to be taken in accordance with the rules applicable to the current scheme. A new system of saved leave will enter into force on 1 January 2008 and will be the subject of a new im-plementation procedure entitled "Short-term saved leave scheme" dated 1 January 2008. At its meeting on 4 December 2007, the SCC agreed to recommend the Director-General to approve this procedure, which can be consulted on the HR Department’s website at the following address: https://cern.ch/hr-services/services-Ben/sls_shortterm.asp All staff wishing to participate in the new scheme ...

Risk transfer via energy savings insurance; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, Evan

2001-01-01

Among the key barriers to investment in energy efficiency improvements are uncertainties about attaining projected energy savings and apprehension about potential disputes over these savings. The fields of energy management and risk management are thus intertwined. While many technical methods have emerged to manage performance risks (e.g. building commissioning), financial risk transfer techniques are less developed in the energy management arena than in other more mature segments of the economy. Energy Savings Insurance (ESI) - formal insurance of predicted energy savings - is one method of transferring financial risks away from the facility owner or energy services contractor. ESI offers a number of significant advantages over other forms of financial risk transfer, e.g. savings guarantees or performance bonds. ESI providers manage risk via pre-construction design review as well as post-construction commissioning and measurement and verification of savings. We found that the two mos t common criticisms of ESI - excessive pricing and onerous exclusions - are not born out in practice. In fact, if properly applied, ESI can potentially reduce the net cost of energy savings projects by reducing the interest rates charged by lenders, and by increasing the level of savings through quality control. Debt service can also be ensured by matching loan payments to projected energy savings while designing the insurance mechanism so that payments are made by the insurer in the event of a savings shortfall. We estimate the U.S. ESI market potential of$875 million/year in premium income. From an energy-policy perspective, ESI offers a number of potential benefits: ESI transfers performance risk from the balance sheet of the entity implementing the energy savings project, thereby freeing up capital otherwise needed to ''self-insure'' the savings. ESI reduces barriers to market entry of smaller energy services firms who do not have sufficiently strong balance sheets to self

Energy savings: persuasion and persistence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eijadi, David; McDougall, Tom; Leaf, Kris; Douglas, Jim; Steinbock, Jason; Reimer, Paul [The Weidt Group, Minnetonka, MN (United States); Gauthier, Julia [Xcel Energy, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Wild, Doug; Richards McDaniel, Stephanie [BWBR Architects, Inc., Saint Paul, MN (United States)

2005-07-01

In this study, the architects, sponsoring utility and energy simulation specialist joined together to investigate the persistence of energy savings in three completed projects: a college library; a municipal transportation facility; and a hospital. The primary question being 'How well did the design decisions made with the help of simulation analysis translate into building operations over several years?' Design simulation and metered performance data are compared for specific energy-saving strategies. The paper provides a brief overview of the basis of selection of the three projects, the energy design assistance methods employed and the decisions made, along with their savings expectations. For each case, design characteristics, modelling assumptions, selected strategies and actual metered performance are outlined. We find evidence of appropriate levels of energy conservation, but they are not the absolute values predicted. In each case, the discrepancies between modelling assumptions and final construction or operating procedures are identified, examined and rectified. The paper illustrates that while owners are saving energy, they are not always getting the full savings potential for what they install. The paper concludes with a re-examination of the overall process. It evaluates the potential for additional savings of individual technologies and related larger utility incentives to design teams and building owners.

The Python Spectral Analysis Tool (PySAT) for Powerful, Flexible, and Easy Preprocessing and Machine Learning with Point Spectral Data

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, R. B.; Finch, N.; Clegg, S. M.; Graff, T.; Morris, R. V.; Laura, J.

2018-04-01

The PySAT point spectra tool provides a flexible graphical interface, enabling scientists to apply a wide variety of preprocessing and machine learning methods to point spectral data, with an emphasis on multivariate regression.

Saving-Based Asset Pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dreyer, Johannes Kabderian; Schneider, Johannes; T. Smith, William

2013-01-01

This paper explores the implications of a novel class of preferences for the behavior of asset prices. Following a suggestion by Marshall (1920), we entertain the possibility that people derive utility not only from consumption, but also from the very act of saving. These ‘‘saving-based’’ prefere...

Integrated fMRI Preprocessing Framework Using Extended Kalman Filter for Estimation of Slice-Wise Motion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Basile Pinsard

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Functional MRI acquisition is sensitive to subjects' motion that cannot be fully constrained. Therefore, signal corrections have to be applied a posteriori in order to mitigate the complex interactions between changing tissue localization and magnetic fields, gradients and readouts. To circumvent current preprocessing strategies limitations, we developed an integrated method that correct motion and spatial low-frequency intensity fluctuations at the level of each slice in order to better fit the acquisition processes. The registration of single or multiple simultaneously acquired slices is achieved online by an Iterated Extended Kalman Filter, favoring the robust estimation of continuous motion, while an intensity bias field is non-parametrically fitted. The proposed extraction of gray-matter BOLD activity from the acquisition space to an anatomical group template space, taking into account distortions, better preserves fine-scale patterns of activity. Importantly, the proposed unified framework generalizes to high-resolution multi-slice techniques. When tested on simulated and real data the latter shows a reduction of motion explained variance and signal variability when compared to the conventional preprocessing approach. These improvements provide more stable patterns of activity, facilitating investigation of cerebral information representation in healthy and/or clinical populations where motion is known to impact fine-scale data.

Multi-objective optimization for an automated and simultaneous phase and baseline correction of NMR spectral data

Science.gov (United States)

Sawall, Mathias; von Harbou, Erik; Moog, Annekathrin; Behrens, Richard; Schröder, Henning; Simoneau, Joël; Steimers, Ellen; Neymeyr, Klaus

2018-04-01

Spectral data preprocessing is an integral and sometimes inevitable part of chemometric analyses. For Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra a possible first preprocessing step is a phase correction which is applied to the Fourier transformed free induction decay (FID) signal. This preprocessing step can be followed by a separate baseline correction step. Especially if series of high-resolution spectra are considered, then automated and computationally fast preprocessing routines are desirable. A new method is suggested that applies the phase and the baseline corrections simultaneously in an automated form without manual input, which distinguishes this work from other approaches. The underlying multi-objective optimization or Pareto optimization provides improved results compared to consecutively applied correction steps. The optimization process uses an objective function which applies strong penalty constraints and weaker regularization conditions. The new method includes an approach for the detection of zero baseline regions. The baseline correction uses a modified Whittaker smoother. The functionality of the new method is demonstrated for experimental NMR spectra. The results are verified against gravimetric data. The method is compared to alternative preprocessing tools. Additionally, the simultaneous correction method is compared to a consecutive application of the two correction steps.

Freshwater savings from marine protein consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gephart, Jessica A; Pace, Michael L; D’Odorico, Paolo

2014-01-01

Marine fisheries provide an essential source of protein for many people around the world. Unlike alternative terrestrial sources of protein, marine fish production requires little to no freshwater inputs. Consuming marine fish protein instead of terrestrial protein therefore represents freshwater savings (equivalent to an avoided water cost) and contributes to a low water footprint diet. These water savings are realized by the producers of alternative protein sources, rather than the consumers of marine protein. This study quantifies freshwater savings from marine fish consumption around the world by estimating the water footprint of replacing marine fish with terrestrial protein based on current consumption patterns. An estimated 7 600 km 3  yr −1 of water is used for human food production. Replacing marine protein with terrestrial protein would require an additional 350 km 3  yr −1 of water, meaning that marine protein provides current water savings of 4.6%. The importance of these freshwater savings is highly uneven around the globe, with savings ranging from as little as 0 to as much as 50%. The largest savings as a per cent of current water footprints occur in Asia, Oceania, and several coastal African nations. The greatest national water savings from marine fish protein occur in Southeast Asia and the United States. As the human population increases, future water savings from marine fish consumption will be increasingly important to food and water security and depend on sustainable harvest of capture fisheries and low water footprint growth of marine aquaculture. (paper)

Energy Savings in a Market Economy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, Jørgen

1998-01-01

The paper outlines the concept of energy savings as opposed to energy efficency. Afterwards are described briefly the up and down role of energy savings in recent Danish energy policy. It discusses the failure of leaving electricity savings and Integrated Resource Planning to the electricity...

Improved methods to evaluate realised energy savings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boonekamp, P.G.M.

2005-01-01

This thesis regards the calculation of realised energy savings at national and sectoral level, and the policy contribution to total savings. It is observed that the results of monitoring and evaluation studies on realised energy savings are hardly applied in energy saving policy. Causes are the lack

49 CFR 173.219 - Life-saving appliances.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Life-saving appliances. 173.219 Section 173.219... Life-saving appliances. (a) A life-saving appliance, self-inflating or non-self-inflating, containing small quantities of hazardous materials that are required as part of the life-saving appliance must...

Saving in Sub-Saharan Africa

OpenAIRE

Ernest Aryeetey; Christopher Udry

2000-01-01

Gross domestic savings in Africa averaged only 8 percent of GDP in the 1980s, compared to 23 percent for Southeast Asia and 35 percent in the Newly Industrialized Economies. Aside from being generally low, saving rates in most of Africa have shown consistent decline over the last thirty years. These savings figures must be considered tentative, because they are derived as a residual in the national accounts from expenditure and production data that are themselves quite unreliable. Notwithstan...

chipPCR: an R package to pre-process raw data of amplification curves.

Science.gov (United States)

Rödiger, Stefan; Burdukiewicz, Michał; Schierack, Peter

2015-09-01

Both the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and quantitative isothermal amplification (qIA) are standard methods for nucleic acid quantification. Numerous real-time read-out technologies have been developed. Despite the continuous interest in amplification-based techniques, there are only few tools for pre-processing of amplification data. However, a transparent tool for precise control of raw data is indispensable in several scenarios, for example, during the development of new instruments. chipPCR is an R: package for the pre-processing and quality analysis of raw data of amplification curves. The package takes advantage of R: 's S4 object model and offers an extensible environment. chipPCR contains tools for raw data exploration: normalization, baselining, imputation of missing values, a powerful wrapper for amplification curve smoothing and a function to detect the start and end of an amplification curve. The capabilities of the software are enhanced by the implementation of algorithms unavailable in R: , such as a 5-point stencil for derivative interpolation. Simulation tools, statistical tests, plots for data quality management, amplification efficiency/quantification cycle calculation, and datasets from qPCR and qIA experiments are part of the package. Core functionalities are integrated in GUIs (web-based and standalone shiny applications), thus streamlining analysis and report generation. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/chipPCR. Source code: https://github.com/michbur/chipPCR. stefan.roediger@b-tu.de Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Software for Preprocessing Data from Rocket-Engine Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Chiu-Fu

2004-01-01

Three computer programs have been written to preprocess digitized outputs of sensors during rocket-engine tests at Stennis Space Center (SSC). The programs apply exclusively to the SSC E test-stand complex and utilize the SSC file format. The programs are the following: Engineering Units Generator (EUGEN) converts sensor-output-measurement data to engineering units. The inputs to EUGEN are raw binary test-data files, which include the voltage data, a list identifying the data channels, and time codes. EUGEN effects conversion by use of a file that contains calibration coefficients for each channel. QUICKLOOK enables immediate viewing of a few selected channels of data, in contradistinction to viewing only after post-test processing (which can take 30 minutes to several hours depending on the number of channels and other test parameters) of data from all channels. QUICKLOOK converts the selected data into a form in which they can be plotted in engineering units by use of Winplot (a free graphing program written by Rick Paris). EUPLOT provides a quick means for looking at data files generated by EUGEN without the necessity of relying on the PV-WAVE based plotting software.

Energy saving synergies in national energy systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck; Lund, Henrik

2015-01-01

In the transition towards a 100% renewable energy system, energy savings are essential. The possibility of energy savings through conservation or efficiency increases can be identified in, for instance, the heating and electricity sectors, in industry, and in transport. Several studies point...... to various optimal levels of savings in the different sectors of the energy system. However, these studies do not investigate the idea of energy savings being system dependent. This paper argues that such system dependency is critical to understand, as it does not make sense to analyse an energy saving...... without taking into account the actual benefit of the saving in relation to the energy system. The study therefore identifies a need to understand how saving methods may interact with each other and the system in which they are conducted. By using energy system analysis to do hourly simulation...

24 CFR 221.1 - Savings clause.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Savings clause. 221.1 Section 221.1... MORTGAGE AND LOAN INSURANCE PROGRAMS UNDER NATIONAL HOUSING ACT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES LOW COST AND MODERATE INCOME MORTGAGE INSURANCE-SAVINGS CLAUSE Eligibility Requirements-Low Cost Homes-Savings Clause § 221.1...

Energy saving and cost saving cooling; Energie und Kosten sparende Kuehlung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koenig, Klaus W. [Architektur- und Fachpressebuero Klaus W. Koenig, Ueberlingen (Germany)

2012-07-01

In the case of cost reduction, energy conservation and resource savings, rain water is an ideal medium offering more advantages in comparison to the cooling with drinking water. There are no fees for the drinking water and drainage of rain water. It is not necessary to soften rain water so that further operational costs for the treatment and drainage of waste water can be saved. The avoidance of the related material flows and necessary energy is a practiced environmental protection and climate protection.

Energy savings certificates 2011-2013 - Companies. Knowledge for action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-03-01

As fossil energy resources are depleted and the environmental impacts of their use are increasingly addressed, energy costs will continue to rise. In this context it is vital for businesses - in the service sector, industry or agriculture - to take steps now to start managing their energy consumption. A number of tools and mechanisms are currently being implemented to help companies in this process, at the national and European levels. Among these, Energy Savings Certificates (ESCs) were introduced in France by the Energy Policy Law of 13 July 2005, with the aim of achieving energy savings in sectors of dispersed activity, mainly buildings, but also light industry, agriculture and transport. For businesses this mechanism is an additional financial leverage tool that can be used to support their energy management projects. Under this scheme energy suppliers must promote energy-efficient investments, and thus are potential sources of financing for project owners. The Grenelle environmental conference forcefully reiterated the need to take action, in particular to renovate existing building stock. In order to achieve the ambitious goals that have been set, the financial mechanisms put into place, including the ESC scheme, must be amplified. Following the first conclusive test period (2006-2009), the ESC scheme is being ramped up during a second and more ambitious three-year period that began on 1 January 2011. The present document is intended to inform companies of changes in the ESC scheme to be implemented for the second period covering 2011-2013. This guidance is divided into two parts: the first section describes the principles of the ESC scheme, and the second offers advice to companies that want to use this scheme for an energy management project. You will also find a practical information sheet listing all the steps to be taken to submit an ESC claim

Nuclear data for fusion: Validation of typical pre-processing methods for radiation transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutton, T.; Sublet, J.C.; Morgan, L.; Leadbeater, T.W.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We quantify the effect of processing nuclear data from ENDF to ACE format. • We consider the differences between fission and fusion angular distributions. • C-nat(n,el) at 2.0 MeV has a 0.6% deviation between original and processed data. • Fe-56(n,el) at 14.1 MeV has a 11.0% deviation between original and processed data. • Processed data do not accurately depict ENDF distributions for fusion energies. - Abstract: Nuclear data form the basis of the radiation transport codes used to design and simulate the behaviour of nuclear facilities, such as the ITER and DEMO fusion reactors. Typically these data and codes are biased towards fission and high-energy physics applications yet are still applied to fusion problems. With increasing interest in fusion applications, the lack of fusion specific codes and relevant data libraries is becoming increasingly apparent. Industry standard radiation transport codes require pre-processing of the evaluated data libraries prior to use in simulation. Historically these methods focus on speed of simulation at the cost of accurate data representation. For legacy applications this has not been a major concern, but current fusion needs differ significantly. Pre-processing reconstructs the differential and double differential interaction cross sections with a coarse binned structure, or more recently as a tabulated cumulative distribution function. This work looks at the validity of applying these processing methods to data used in fusion specific calculations in comparison to fission. The relative effects of applying this pre-processing mechanism, to both fission and fusion relevant reaction channels are demonstrated, and as such the poor representation of these distributions for the fusion energy regime. For the nat C(n,el) reaction at 2.0 MeV, the binned differential cross section deviates from the original data by 0.6% on average. For the 56 Fe(n,el) reaction at 14.1 MeV, the deviation increases to 11.0%. We

A Comparative Investigation of the Combined Effects of Pre-Processing, Wavelength Selection, and Regression Methods on Near-Infrared Calibration Model Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Jian; Chen, Yi-Chieh; Morris, A Julian; Thennadil, Suresh N

2017-07-01

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is being widely used in various fields ranging from pharmaceutics to the food industry for analyzing chemical and physical properties of the substances concerned. Its advantages over other analytical techniques include available physical interpretation of spectral data, nondestructive nature and high speed of measurements, and little or no need for sample preparation. The successful application of NIR spectroscopy relies on three main aspects: pre-processing of spectral data to eliminate nonlinear variations due to temperature, light scattering effects and many others, selection of those wavelengths that contribute useful information, and identification of suitable calibration models using linear/nonlinear regression . Several methods have been developed for each of these three aspects and many comparative studies of different methods exist for an individual aspect or some combinations. However, there is still a lack of comparative studies for the interactions among these three aspects, which can shed light on what role each aspect plays in the calibration and how to combine various methods of each aspect together to obtain the best calibration model. This paper aims to provide such a comparative study based on four benchmark data sets using three typical pre-processing methods, namely, orthogonal signal correction (OSC), extended multiplicative signal correction (EMSC) and optical path-length estimation and correction (OPLEC); two existing wavelength selection methods, namely, stepwise forward selection (SFS) and genetic algorithm optimization combined with partial least squares regression for spectral data (GAPLSSP); four popular regression methods, namely, partial least squares (PLS), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM), and Gaussian process regression (GPR). The comparative study indicates that, in general, pre-processing of spectral data can play a significant

'Nurture the sprouting bud; do not uproot it'. Using saving groups to save for maternal and newborn health: lessons from rural Eastern Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekirapa-Kiracho, Elizabeth; Paina, Ligia; Muhumuza Kananura, Rornald; Mutebi, Aloysius; Jane, Pacuto; Tumuhairwe, Juliet; Tetui, Moses; Kiwanuka, Suzanne N

2017-08-01

Saving groups are increasingly being used to save in many developing countries. However, there is limited literature about how they can be exploited to improve maternal and newborn health. This paper describes saving practices, factors that encourage and constrain saving with saving groups, and lessons learnt while supporting communities to save through saving groups. This qualitative study was done in three districts in Eastern Uganda. Saving groups were identified and provided with support to enhance members' access to maternal and newborn health. Fifteen focus group discussions (FGDs) and 18 key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted to elicit members' views about saving practices. Document review was undertaken to identify key lessons for supporting saving groups. Qualitative data are presented thematically. Awareness of the importance of saving, safe custody of money saved, flexible saving arrangements and easy access to loans for personal needs including transport during obstetric emergencies increased willingness to save with saving groups. Saving groups therefore provided a safety net for the poor during emergencies. Poor management of saving groups and detrimental economic practices like gambling constrained saving. Efficient running of saving groups requires that they have a clear management structure, which is legally registered with relevant authorities and that it is governed by a constitution. Saving groups were considered a useful form of saving that enabled easy acess to cash for birth preparedness and transportation during emergencies. They are like 'a sprouting bud that needs to be nurtured rather than uprooted', as they appear to have the potential to act as a safety net for poor communities that have no health insurance. Local governments should therefore strengthen the management capacity of saving groups so as to ensure their efficient running through partnerships with non-governmental organizations that can provide support to such groups.

Values and Technologies in Energy Savings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgård, Jørgen Stig

2000-01-01

of this saving can cause what is called the rebound effect, which reduces the savings obtained from the technology. Ways to avoid this effect are suggested, and they require value changes, primarly around frugality, consumption, and hard-working. There are indications that some of the necessary changes are well......The chapter is based on the assumption, that technology improvement is not sufficient to achieve a sustainable world community. Changes in people´s values are necessary. A simple model suggest how values, together with basic needs and with the environmental and societal frames, determine people......´s behavioural pattern and lifestyles. Deliberate changes in social values are illustrated by a historical example. From the side of technology the basic principles in the economy of energy savings are briefly described. The marginally profitable energy savings provides an economic saving. The application...

STEP-TRAMM - A modeling interface for simulating localized rainfall induced shallow landslides and debris flow runout pathways

Science.gov (United States)

Or, D.; von Ruette, J.; Lehmann, P.

2017-12-01

Landslides and subsequent debris-flows initiated by rainfall represent a common natural hazard in mountainous regions. We integrated a landslide hydro-mechanical triggering model with a simple model for debris flow runout pathways and developed a graphical user interface (GUI) to represent these natural hazards at catchment scale at any location. The STEP-TRAMM GUI provides process-based estimates of the initiation locations and sizes of landslides patterns based on digital elevation models (SRTM) linked with high resolution global soil maps (SoilGrids 250 m resolution) and satellite based information on rainfall statistics for the selected region. In the preprocessing phase the STEP-TRAMM model estimates soil depth distribution to supplement other soil information for delineating key hydrological and mechanical properties relevant to representing local soil failure. We will illustrate this publicly available GUI and modeling platform to simulate effects of deforestation on landslide hazards in several regions and compare model outcome with satellite based information.

Energy Implications of Retrofitting Retail Sector Rooftop Units with Stepped-Speed and Variable-Speed Functionality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Studer, D.; Romero, R.; Herrmann, L.; Benne, K.

2012-04-01

Commercial retailers understand that retrofitting constant-speed RTU fan motors with stepped- or variable-speed alternatives could save significant energy in most U.S. climate zones. However, they lack supporting data, both real-world and simulation based, on the cost effectiveness and climate zone-specific energy savings associated with this measure. Thus, building managers and engineers have been unable to present a compelling business case for fan motor upgrades to upper management. This study uses whole-building energy simulation to estimate the energy impact of this type of measure so retailers can determine its economic feasibility.

Year-round daylight saving time will save more energy in India than corresponding DST or time zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahuja, Dilip R.; SenGupta, D.P.

2012-01-01

Many countries have experimented with daylight saving time (DST) to save energy and to align human activities more closely to the daily cycle of light and darkness. Using a novel methodology, we estimate the year-round energy savings to be obtained from advancing Indian Standard Time (IST), from the introduction of DST, and from dividing the country into two time zones. We find that the option of advancing IST consistently saves more energy than the corresponding DST option, which in turn saves more energy than the corresponding time zones option. This is because the energy benefits of advancing IST accrue for the entire year throughout the country, whereas the benefits of DST are confined to summer months and the benefits of two time zones are largely in the lower energy consuming eastern region. We recommend advancing IST by half-hour to being six hours ahead of UTC. This confers the advantages of DST and time zones without their disadvantages and is forecast to save more than 2 billion kWh of electricity every year during evening peaks that are difficult to supply. While these results are India-specific, similar exercises would be useful to many other countries. - Highlights: ► Advancing IST (YRDST) consistently saves more energy than the corresponding DST. ► DST consistently saves more energy than dividing India into two time zones. ► There are also many non-energy benefits of advancing IST. ► Results are for India; countries with DST may find it useful to consider YRDST.

Arabic text preprocessing for the natural language processing applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awajan, A.

2007-01-01

A new approach for processing vowelized and unvowelized Arabic texts in order to prepare them for Natural Language Processing (NLP) purposes is described. The developed approach is rule-based and made up of four phases: text tokenization, word light stemming, word's morphological analysis and text annotation. The first phase preprocesses the input text in order to isolate the words and represent them in a formal way. The second phase applies a light stemmer in order to extract the stem of each word by eliminating the prefixes and suffixes. The third phase is a rule-based morphological analyzer that determines the root and the morphological pattern for each extracted stem. The last phase produces an annotated text where each word is tagged with its morphological attributes. The preprocessor presented in this paper is capable of dealing with vowelized and unvowelized words, and provides the input words along with relevant linguistics information needed by different applications. It is designed to be used with different NLP applications such as machine translation text summarization, text correction, information retrieval and automatic vowelization of Arabic Text. (author)

Implementation of energy-saving policies in China: How local governments assisted industrial enterprises in achieving energy-saving targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Xiaofan; Li, Huimin; Wu, Liang; Qi, Ye

2014-01-01

Local governments have replaced the national ministries that are in charge of various industries to become the primary implementer of energy-saving policies in China since 2000. This paper employs a case study-based approach to demonstrate the significance of local governments’ policy measures in assisting industrial enterprises with energy-saving activities in China. Based on the longitudinal case of the Jasmine Thermal Electric Power Company, this paper hypothesizes that sub-national governments have played a major role in implementing energy-saving policies in China since the 11th Five-year-plan period. A wide range of provincial and municipal agencies collaborated in implementing five types of policy measures – informational policy, skill building, improved enforcement of central directives, price adjustment, and funding – that reduced barriers to energy saving and motivated active pursuit of energy-saving activities at industrial enterprises. The case study demonstrates how an enterprise and local governments work together to achieve the enterprise's energy-saving target. The authors will investigate the hypothesis of this paper in the context of multiple case studies that they plan to undertake in the future. - Highlights: • We employ a case study-based approach to study policy implementation in China. • Local governments have played a major role in implementing energy-saving policies. • Local public agencies collaborated in implementing five types of policy measures. • Local policy measures reduced barriers to energy saving at industrial enterprises. • Enterprises and local governments work together to achieve energy-saving targets

Creating an Eco-village: saving a forest and improving livelihood

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Babar, Mohiuddin [Nature Alliance, Dhaka (Bangladesh)

2012-11-01

The critical part was to save the forest. Each family uses about 4 to 5 kilogram of firewood. It was found that each tree produced about 140 to 150 kilogram of firewood. Thus, every day two trees were needed to be cut to meet the villagers' need of firewood. In this way, much of the forest would vanish as it did in the past. Nature Alliance took up a project to save the forest. To do it, the primary need was to bring about a change in the habit of the villagers in using firewood. So, a project was taken up for turning Shamalia into an ecovillage. The first step was to motivate the people against cutting trees. However, they needed the wood for use in the kitchen and there was no alternative like natural gas or dependable electricity. Besides starting a massive tree plantation campaign, some households were motivated to set up poultry farm. The venture would in one way give eggs and poultry bird for sale while it would render poultry droppings as feed for producing biogas which could be used as energy for cooking.

Energy savings in Danish residential building stock

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tommerup, Henrik M.; Svendsen, Svend

2006-01-01

a short account of the technical energy-saving possibilities that are present in existing dwellings and presents a financial methodology used for assessing energy-saving measures. In order to estimate the total savings potential detailed calculations have been performed in a case with two typical...... buildings representing the residential building stock and based on these calculations an assessment of the energy-saving potential is performed. A profitable savings potential of energy used for space heating of about 80% is identified over 45 years (until 2050) within the residential building stock......A large potential for energy savings exists in the Danish residential building stock due to the fact that 75% of the buildings were constructed before 1979 when the first important demands for energy performance of building were introduced. It is also a fact that many buildings in Denmark face...

Quantifying Adoption Rates and Energy Savings Over Time for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanes, Rebecca [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Carpenter Petri, Alberta C [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Riddle, Matt [Argonne National Laboratory; Graziano, Diane [Argonne National Laboratory

2017-10-09

Energy-efficient manufacturing technologies can reduce energy consumption and lower operating costs for an individual manufacturing facility, but increased process complexity and the resulting risk of disruption means that manufacturers may be reluctant to adopt such technologies. In order to quantify potential energy savings at scales larger than a single facility, it is necessary to account for how quickly and how widely the technology will be adopted by manufacturers. This work develops a methodology for estimating energy-efficient manufacturing technology adoption rates using quantitative, objectively measurable technology characteristics, including energetic, economic and technical criteria. Twelve technology characteristics are considered, and each characteristic is assigned an importance weight that reflects its impact on the overall technology adoption rate. Technology characteristic data and importance weights are used to calculate the adoption score, a number between 0 and 1 that represents how quickly the technology is likely to be adopted. The adoption score is then used to estimate parameters for the Bass diffusion curve, which quantifies the change in the number of new technology adopters in a population over time. Finally, energy savings at the sector level are calculated over time by multiplying the number of new technology adopters at each time step with the technology's facility-level energy savings. The proposed methodology will be applied to five state-of-the-art energy-efficient technologies in the carbon fiber composites sector, with technology data obtained from the Department of Energy's 2016 bandwidth study. Because the importance weights used in estimating the Bass curve parameters are subjective, a sensitivity analysis will be performed on the weights to obtain a range of parameters for each technology. The potential energy savings for each technology and the rate at which each technology is adopted in the sector are quantified

Consumer behaviours: Teaching children to save energy

Science.gov (United States)

Grønhøj, Alice

2016-08-01

Energy-saving programmes are increasingly targeted at children to encourage household energy conservation. A study involving the assignment of energy-saving interventions to Girl Scouts shows that a child-focused intervention can improve energy-saving behaviours among children and their parents.

Use of spectral pre-processing methods to compensate for the presence of packaging film in visible–near infrared hyperspectral images of food products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.A. Gowen

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The presence of polymeric packaging film in images of food products may modify spectra obtained in hyperspectral imaging (HSI experiments, leading to undesirable image artefacts which may impede image classification. Some pre-processing of the image is typically required to reduce the presence of such artefacts. The objective of this research was to investigate the use of spectral pre-processing techniques to compensate for the presence of packaging film in hyperspectral images obtained in the visible–near infrared wavelength range (445–945 nm, with application in food quality assessment. A selection of commonly used pre-processing methods, used individually and in combination, were applied to hyperspectral images of flat homogeneous samples, imaged in the presence and absence of different packaging films (polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate. Effects of the selected pre-treatments on variation due to the film’s presence were examined in principal components score space. The results show that the combination of first derivative Savitzky–Golay followed by standard normal variate transformation was useful in reducing variations in spectral response caused by the presence of packaging film. Compared to other methods examined, this combination has the benefits of being computationally fast and not requiring a priori knowledge about the sample or film used.

Predicted Versus Actual Savings for a Low-Rise Multifamily Retrofit in Boulder, Colorado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arena, L.; Williamson, J.

2013-11-01

To determine the most cost-effective methods of improving buildings, accurate analysis and prediction of the energy use of existing buildings is essential. However, multiple studies confirm that analysis methods tend to over-predict energy use in poorly insulated, leaky homes and thus, the savings associated with improving those homes. In NREL's report titled 'Assessing and Improving the Accuracy of Energy Analysis of Residential Buildings,' researchers propose a method for improving the accuracy of residential energy analysis methods. A key step in this process involves the comparisons of predicted versus metered energy use and savings. In support of this research need, CARB evaluated the retrofit of a multifamily building in Boulder, CO. The updated property is a 37 unit, 2 story apartment complex built in 1950, which underwent renovations in early 2009 to bring it into compliance with Boulder, CO's SmartRegs ordinance. Goals of the study were to: 1) evaluate predicted versus actual savings due to the improvements, 2) identify areas where the modeling assumptions may need to be changed, and 3) determine common changes made by renters that would negatively impact energy savings. In this study, CARB seeks to improve the accuracy of modeling software while assessing retrofit measures to specifically determine which are most effective for large multifamily complexes in the cold climate region. Other issues that were investigated include the effects of improving building efficiency on tenant comfort, the impact on tenant turnover rates, and the potential market barriers for this type of community scale project.

ONU Power Saving Scheme for EPON System

Science.gov (United States)

Mukai, Hiroaki; Tano, Fumihiko; Tanaka, Masaki; Kozaki, Seiji; Yamanaka, Hideaki

PON (Passive Optical Network) achieves FTTH (Fiber To The Home) economically, by sharing an optical fiber among plural subscribers. Recently, global climate change has been recognized as a serious near term problem. Power saving techniques for electronic devices are important. In PON system, the ONU (Optical Network Unit) power saving scheme has been studied and defined in XG-PON. In this paper, we propose an ONU power saving scheme for EPON. Then, we present an analysis of the power reduction effect and the data transmission delay caused by the ONU power saving scheme. According to the analysis, we propose an efficient provisioning method for the ONU power saving scheme which is applicable to both of XG-PON and EPON.

12 CFR 541.18 - Interim Federal savings association.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... an existing savings and loan holding company or to facilitate any other transaction the Office may... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interim Federal savings association. 541.18... REGULATIONS AFFECTING FEDERAL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS § 541.18 Interim Federal savings association. The term...

Prescription Program Provides Significant Savings

Science.gov (United States)

Rowan, James M.

2010-01-01

Most school districts today are looking for ways to save money without decreasing services to its staff. Retired pharmacist Tim Sylvester, a lifelong resident of Alpena Public Schools in Alpena, Michigan, presented the district with a pharmaceuticals plan that would save the district money without raising employee co-pays for prescriptions. The…

Evaluation of patient dose saving in grid-less x-ray mammography acquisition compared with full field digital mammography (FFDMG) acquisition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abdi, Ahmed Jibril; Mussmann, Bo Redder

2017-01-01

to investigate the dose saving in grid-less acquisition compared with conventional full-field digital mammography (FFDMG) acquisitions. A Piranha 657 was used to measure the entrance exposure. The entrance exposure was directly measured on different PMMA thicknesses of 20-70mm in steps of 10mm. The PMMA block...

12 CFR 583.20 - Savings and loan holding company.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Savings and loan holding company. 583.20... REGULATIONS AFFECTING SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANIES § 583.20 Savings and loan holding company. The term savings and loan holding company means any company that directly or indirectly controls a savings...

Macroeconomic determinants of savings in Egypt "Statistical Model"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanaa Abdelaty Hasan Esmail

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Like lot of countries, aggregate consumption constitutes a major portion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP in Egypt. Consumption decisions determine savings decisions. In long term growth literature, differences in long term growth had been explained to a large extent by differences in the rates of savings which also determine a country’s investment in productive capacity, human capital and socio-economic infrastructure. In this study, we analyse macroeconomic determinants of savings in Egypt using Ordinary multiple regression. Our results indicate that national savings rate is positively related with real GDP growth rate. This suggests that saving is a positive function of income. The evidence suggests that national savings rate is negatively related with federal debt growth and inflation. This hints towards crowding out of private sector investment through decline in savings rate as a result of government’s indebtedness. Finally, negative association between savings rate and inflation implies that the consumer is rational and makes decisions based on his perceptions when it comes to allocating the lifetime resources over the period of his life. Increase in inflation dampens the incentive to save and people respond rationally which is made evident by the negative sign on inflation coefficient in our model.

Cogeneration an opportunity for industrial energy saving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasha, R.A.; Butt, Z.S.

2011-01-01

This paper is about the cogeneration from industrial energy savings opportunities perspective. The energy crisis in these days forces industry to find ways to cope with critical situation. There are several energy savings options which if properly planned and implemented would be beneficial both for industry and community. One way of energy saving is Cogeneration i.e. Combined Heat and Power. The paper will review the basic methods, types and then discuss the suitability of these options for specific industry. It has been identified that generally process industry can get benefits of energy savings. (author)

Are Women Empowered to Save?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frances Woolley

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Female economic empowerment – rising earnings, increased opportunities, greater labour force participation – has given many women the means to save. The shifting of responsibility for retirement security from employers and governments onto individuals has given women a reason to save. But are women actually saving? In this paper, we explore the relationship between the gender dynamics within a family and the accumulation of wealth. We find that little evidence in support of the conventional wisdom that families with a female financial manager save more and repay their debts more often. We find some evidence that male financial management leads to greater savings, and other evidence suggesting that savings patterns have a complex relationship with intra-family gender dynamics. El empoderamiento económico de la mujer – el aumento de los ingresos, mayores oportunidades, mayor participación laboral – ha dado a muchas mujeres los medios para ahorrar. Al pasar la responsabilidad de los ingresos de la jubilación de los empleadores y el gobierno a los individuos ha dado a las mujeres un motivo para ahorrar. ¿Pero realmente ahorran las mujeres? En este artículo se analizan las relaciones entre las dinámicas de género en una familia, y la acumulación de riqueza. Se ha llegado a la conclusión de que hay poca evidencia que apoye la creencia convencional de que las familias en las que una mujer gestiona las financias ahorran más y devuelven sus créditos más frecuentemente. Se ha encontrado alguna evidencia de que la gestión financiera por varones acarrea mayores ahorros, y otras evidencias que sugieren que los patrones de ahorro tienen una relación compleja con las dinámicas de género dentro de la familia.

Energy conservation. Federal shared energy savings contracting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fultz, Keith O.; Milans, Flora H.; Kirk, Roy J.; Welker, Robert A.; Sparling, William J.; Butler, Sharon E.; Irwin, Susan W.

1989-04-01

A number of impediments have discouraged federal agencies from using shared energy savings contracts. As of November 30, 1988, only two federal agencies - the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the Department of the Army -had awarded such contracts even though they can yield significant energy and cost savings. The three major impediments we identified were uncertainty about the applicability of a particular procurement policy and practice, lack of management incentives, and difficulty in measuring energy and cost savings. To address the first impediment, the Department of Energy (DOE) developed a manual on shared energy savings contracting. The second impediment was addressed when the 100th Congress authorized incentives for federal agencies to enter into shared savings contracts. DOE addressed the third impediment by developing a methodology for calculating energy consumption and cost savings. However, because of differing methodological preferences, this issue will need to be addressed on a contract-by-contract basis. Some state governments and private sector firms are using performance contracts to reduce energy costs in their buildings and facilities. We were able to identify six states that were using performance contracts. Five have established programs, and all six states have projects under contract. The seven energy service companies we contacted indicated interest in federal shared energy savings contracting

Energy Saving Glass Lamination via Selective Radio Frequency Heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shawn M. Allan; Patricia M. Strickland; Holly S. Shulman

2009-11-11

Ceralink Inc. developed FastFuse™, a rapid, new, energy saving process for lamination of glass and composites using radio frequency (RF) heating technology. The Inventions and Innovations program supported the technical and commercial research and development needed to elevate the innovation from bench scale to a self-supporting technology with significant potential for growth. The attached report provides an overview of the technical and commerical progress achieved for FastFuse™ during the course of the project. FastFuse™ has the potential to revolutionize the laminate manufacturing industries by replacing energy intensive, multi-step processes with an energy efficient, single-step process that allows higher throughput. FastFuse™ transmits RF energy directly into the interlayer to generate heat, eliminating the need to directly heat glass layers and the surrounding enclosures, such as autoclaves or vacuum systems. FastFuse™ offers lower start-up and energy costs (up to 90% or more reduction in energy costs), and faster cycles times (less than 5 minutes). FastFuse™ is compatible with EVA, TPU, and PVB interlayers, and has been demonstrated for glass, plastics, and multi-material structures such as photovoltaics and transparent armor.

Household water saving: Evidence from Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Aisa, Rosa; Larramona, Gemma

2012-12-01

This article focuses on household water use in Spain by analyzing the influence of a detailed set of factors. We find that, although the presence of both water-saving equipment and water-conservation habits leads to water savings, the factors that influence each are not the same. In particular, our results show that those individuals most committed to the adoption of water-saving equipment and, at the same time, less committed to water-conservation habits tend to have higher incomes.

Do Savings Mediate Changes in Adolescents' Future Orientation and Health-Related Outcomes? Findings From Randomized Experiment in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimli, Leyla; Ssewamala, Fred M

2015-10-01

This present study tests the proposition that an economic strengthening intervention for families caring for AIDS-orphaned adolescents would positively affect adolescent future orientation and psychosocial outcomes through increased asset accumulation (in this case, by increasing family savings). Using longitudinal data from the cluster-randomized experiment, we ran generalized estimating equation models with robust standard errors clustering on individual observations. To examine whether family savings mediate the effect of the intervention on adolescents' future orientation and psychosocial outcomes, analyses were conducted in three steps: (1) testing the effect of intervention on mediator; (2) testing the effect of mediator on outcomes, controlling for the intervention; and (3) testing the significance of mediating effect using Sobel-Goodman method. Asymmetric confidence intervals for mediated effect were obtained through bootstrapping-to address the assumption of normal distribution. Results indicate that participation in a matched Child Savings Account (CSA) program improved adolescents' future orientation and psychosocial outcomes by reducing hopelessness, enhancing self-concept, and improving adolescents' confidence about their educational plans. However, the positive intervention effect on adolescent future orientation and psychosocial outcomes was not transmitted through saving. In other words, participation in the matched CSA program improved adolescent future orientation and psychosocial outcomes regardless of its impact on reported savings. Further research is necessary to understand exactly how participation in economic strengthening interventions, for example, those that employ matched CSAs, shape adolescent future orientation and psychosocial outcomes: what, if not savings, transmits the treatment effect and how? Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Feeding your piggy bank with intentions : A study on saving behaviour, saving strategies, and happiness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Francisco Vela, S.; Desmet, P.M.A.; Casais, M.

2014-01-01

The act of saving money can connect one’s present state to a meaningful future state, especially if we consider money not as a direct source of happiness, but as a resource for engaging in meaningful activities. To explore how design can contribute to making the act of saving more meaningful, we

Saving electricity in a hurry - update 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pasquier, Sara Bryan

2011-06-15

As demonstrated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami-triggered blackouts in Japan, electricity shortfalls can happen anytime and anywhere. Countries can minimise the negative economic, social and environmental impacts of such electricity shortfalls by developing emergency energy-saving strategies before a crisis occurs. This new IEA report highlights preliminary findings and conclusions from electricity shortfalls in Japan, the United States, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile. It draws on recent analysis to: reinforce well-established guidelines on diagnosing electricity shortfalls, identifying energy-saving opportunities and selecting a package of energy-saving measures; and highlight proven practice for implementing emergency energy-saving programmes. This paper will be valuable to government, academic, private-sector and civil-society stakeholders who inform, develop and implement electricity policy in general, and emergency energy-saving programmes in particular.

Pre-processing, registration and selection of adaptive optics corrected retinal images.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramaswamy, Gomathy; Devaney, Nicholas

2013-07-01

In this paper, the aim is to demonstrate enhanced processing of sequences of fundus images obtained using a commercial AO flood illumination system. The purpose of the work is to (1) correct for uneven illumination at the retina (2) automatically select the best quality images and (3) precisely register the best images. Adaptive optics corrected retinal images are pre-processed to correct uneven illumination using different methods; subtracting or dividing by the average filtered image, homomorphic filtering and a wavelet based approach. These images are evaluated to measure the image quality using various parameters, including sharpness, variance, power spectrum kurtosis and contrast. We have carried out the registration in two stages; a coarse stage using cross-correlation followed by fine registration using two approaches; parabolic interpolation on the peak of the cross-correlation and maximum-likelihood estimation. The angle of rotation of the images is measured using a combination of peak tracking and Procrustes transformation. We have found that a wavelet approach (Daubechies 4 wavelet at 6th level decomposition) provides good illumination correction with clear improvement in image sharpness and contrast. The assessment of image quality using a 'Designer metric' works well when compared to visual evaluation, although it is highly correlated with other metrics. In image registration, sub-pixel translation measured using parabolic interpolation on the peak of the cross-correlation function and maximum-likelihood estimation are found to give very similar results (RMS difference 0.047 pixels). We have confirmed that correcting rotation of the images provides a significant improvement, especially at the edges of the image. We observed that selecting the better quality frames (e.g. best 75% images) for image registration gives improved resolution, at the expense of poorer signal-to-noise. The sharpness map of the registered and de-rotated images shows increased

Stepless control system for reciprocating compressors: energy savings + process control improvement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grande, Alvaro; Wenisch, Markus [Hoerbiger Ventilwerke GmbH and Co KG, Wien (Austria); Jacobs, Denis [HOERBIGER do Brasil Industria de Equipamentos, Cajamar, SP (Brazil)

2012-07-01

In the past, the capacity of reciprocating compressors was typically controlled by on/off unloaders (step-control) and recycle valves. But due to the fact that the power ratings of new reciprocating compressors for the oil and gas industry increase significantly, advanced control systems are required to reduce power costs and save energy. On top of that, multi-stage compressors are frequently integrated into complex process plants that demand precise control and operational flexibility. There are several solutions for this equation, but maybe the most successful is the use of the reverse flow principle applied to an electronically controlled and hydraulically actuated suction valve unloaders system. (author)

RECRUITMENT FINANCED BY SAVED LEAVE (RSL PROGRAMME)

CERN Multimedia

Division du Personnel; Tel. 73903

1999-01-01

Transfer to the saved leave account and saved leave bonusStaff members participating in the RSL programme may opt to transfer up to 10 days of unused annual leave or unused compensatory leave into their saved leave account, at the end of the leave year, i.e. 30 September (as set out in the implementation procedure dated 27 August 1997).A leave transfer request form, which you should complete, sign and return, if you wish to use this possibility, has been addressed you. To allow the necessary time for the processing of your request, you should return it without delay.As foreseen in the implementation procedure, an additional day of saved leave will be granted for each full period of 20 days remaining in the saved leave account on 31 December 1999, for any staff member participating in the RSL programme until that date.For part-time staff members participating in the RSL programme, the above-mentioned days of leave (annual, compensatory and saved) are adjusted proportionally to their contractual working week as...

Chinese hotel general managers' perspectives on energy-saving practices

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yidan

As hotels' concern about sustainability and budget-control is growing steadily, energy-saving issues have become one of the important management concerns hospitality industry face. By executing proper energy-saving practices, previous scholars believed that hotel operation costs can decrease dramatically. Moreover, they believed that conducting energy-saving practices may eventually help the hotel to gain other benefits such as an improved reputation and stronger competitive advantage. The energy-saving issue also has become a critical management problem for the hotel industry in China. Previous research has not investigated energy-saving in China's hotel segment. To achieve a better understanding of the importance of energy-saving, this document attempts to present some insights into China's energy-saving practices in the tourist accommodations sector. Results of the study show the Chinese general managers' attitudes toward energy-saving issues and the differences among the diverse hotel managers who responded to the study. Study results indicate that in China, most of the hotels' energy bills decrease due to the implementation of energy-saving equipments. General managers of hotels in operation for a shorter period of time are typically responsible for making decisions about energy-saving issues; older hotels are used to choosing corporate level concerning to this issue. Larger Chinese hotels generally have official energy-saving usage training sessions for employees, but smaller Chinese hotels sometimes overlook the importance of employee training. The study also found that for the Chinese hospitality industry, energy-saving practices related to electricity are the most efficient and common way to save energy, but older hotels also should pay attention to other ways of saving energy such as water conservation or heating/cooling system.

Research of high speed data readout and pre-processing system based on xTCA for silicon pixel detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jingzhou; Lin Haichuan; Guo Fang; Liu Zhen'an; Xu Hao; Gong Wenxuan; Liu Zhao

2012-01-01

As the development of the detector, Silicon pixel detectors have been widely used in high energy physics experiments. It needs data processing system with high speed, high bandwidth and high availability to read data from silicon pixel detectors which generate more large data. The same question occurs on Belle II Pixel Detector which is a new style silicon pixel detector used in SuperKEKB accelerator with high luminance. The paper describes the research of High speed data readout and pre-processing system based on xTCA for silicon pixel detector. The system consists of High Performance Computer Node (HPCN) based on xTCA and ATCA frame. The HPCN consists of 4XFPs based on AMC, 1 AMC Carrier ATCA Board (ACAB) and 1 Rear Transmission Module. It characterized by 5 high performance FPGAs, 16 fiber links based on RocketIO, 5 Gbit Ethernet ports and DDR2 with capacity up to 18GB. In a ATCA frame, 14 HPCNs make up a system using the high speed backplane to achieve the function of data pre-processing and trigger. This system will be used on the trigger and data acquisition system of Belle II Pixel detector. (authors)

Flexible high-speed FASTBUS master for data read-out and preprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wurz, A.; Manner, R.

1990-01-01

This paper describes a single slot FASTBUS master module. It can be used for read-out and preprocessing of data that are read out from FASTBUS modules, e.g., and ADC system. The module consists of a 25 MHz, 32-bit processor MC 68030 with cache memory and memory management, a floating point coprocessor MC68882, 4 MBytes of main memory, and FASTBUS master and slave interfaces. In addition, a DMA controller for read-out of FASTBUS data is provided. The processor allows I/O via serial ports, a 16-bit parallel port, and a transputer link. Additional interfaces are planned. The main memory is multi-ported and can be accessed directly by the CPU, the FASTBUS, and external masters via the high-speed local bus that is accessible by way of a connector. The FASTBUS interface supports most of the standard operations in master and slave mode

Poor Families Striving to Save in Matched Children's Savings Accounts: Findings from a Randomized Experimental Design in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimli, Leyla; Ssewamala, Fred M; Neilands, Torsten B

2014-12-01

This study examines participants' savings in children's savings accounts (CSAs) set up for AIDS-orphaned children ages 10-15 in Uganda. Using a cluster randomized experimental design, we examine the extent to which families participating in a CSA program report more savings than their counterparts not participating in the program, explore the extent to which families who participate in the CSA program report using formal financial institutions compared with families who do not have a CSA, and consider whether families participating in the CSA program bring new money into the CSA or whether they reshuffle existing household assets. We find that participating in a CSA increased families' likelihood to report having saved money. However, our results show no intervention effect either on the amount of self-reported savings or on the likelihood of using formal financial institutions. Further research is needed to understand whether use of a CSA helps families generate new wealth.

Using primary care electronic health record data for comparative effectiveness research : experience of data quality assessment and preprocessing in The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huang, Yunyu; Voorham, Jaco; Haaijer-Ruskamp, Flora M.

Aim: Details of data quality and how quality issues were solved have not been reported in published comparative effectiveness studies using electronic health record data. Methods: We developed a conceptual framework of data quality assessment and preprocessing and apply it to a study comparing

Performance driven IT management five practical steps to business success

CERN Document Server

Sachs, Ira

2011-01-01

This book argues that the Federal Government needs a new approach to IT management. Introducing a novel five-step process called performance-driven management (PDM), author Ira Sachs explains in detail how to reduce risk on large IT programs and projects. This is an essential tool for all IT and business managers in government and contractors doing business with the government, and it has much useful and actionable information for anyone who is interested in helping their business save money and take on effective, successful practices.

Does extending daylight saving time save energy? Evidence from an Australian experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kellogg, R. [California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics; Wolff, H. [California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics]|[Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA), Bonn (Germany)

2007-03-15

Several countries are considering extending Daylight Saving Time (DST) in order to conserve energy, and the U.S. will extend DST by one month beginning in 2007. However, projections that these extensions will reduce electricity consumption rely on extrapolations and simulations rather than empirical evidence. This paper, in contrast, examines a quasiexperiment in which parts of Australia extended DST in 2000 to facilitate the Sydney Olympics. Using detailed panel data and a triple differences specification, we show that the extension did not conserve electricity, and that a prominent simulation model overstates electricity savings when it is applied to Australia. (orig.)

Chapter 21: Estimating Net Savings - Common Practices. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurnik, Charles W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Violette, Daniel M. [Navigant, Boulder, CO (United States); Rathbun, Pamela [Tetra Tech, Madison, WI (United States)

2017-11-02

This chapter focuses on the methods used to estimate net energy savings in evaluation, measurement, and verification (EM and V) studies for energy efficiency (EE) programs. The chapter provides a definition of net savings, which remains an unsettled topic both within the EE evaluation community and across the broader public policy evaluation community, particularly in the context of attribution of savings to a program. The chapter differs from the measure-specific Uniform Methods Project (UMP) chapters in both its approach and work product. Unlike other UMP resources that provide recommended protocols for determining gross energy savings, this chapter describes and compares the current industry practices for determining net energy savings but does not prescribe methods.

[Saving motives in young, middle-aged, and older adults. Preliminary results of a new inventory for exploring lifespan saving motives].

Science.gov (United States)

Rager, B; Lang, F R; Wagner, G G

2012-12-01

There is some research on personal reasons for saving money in the economic sciences. However, not much is known about the age differences of saving motives. In this vein, the future time perspective (FTP) is known to play a critical role for motivation across the life span. In this study, we introduce a new Saving Motive Inventory (SMI), which also covers saving goals after retirement. Furthermore, it is argued that additional saving motives that are not based on economic models of life-cycle saving also exist. In accordance with the socio-emotional selectivity theory, we explored age differences in an online survey with 496 participants from young (19-44 years), middle-aged (45-64 years), and older (65-86 years) adulthood, who completed a questionnaire on saving motives, personality, and future-related thinking (e.g., Future Time Perspective Scale, Life Orientation Test). Results of the explorative Factor Analysis (EFA) are consistent with the theoretical expectations. The factors are generativity, educational investment, consumption, indifference, and provision for death and dying. Together these five factors account for 67% of the variance. In general, the inventory is reliable and valid with respect to the expected internal and external criteria. It contributes to better understanding of saving motives over the lifespan, especially with respect to effects of the future time perspective.

Control Evaluation Information System Savings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eddy Sutedjo

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to evaluate the control of information system savings in the banking and to identify the weaknesses and problem happened in those saving systems. Research method used are book studies by collecting data and information needed and field studies by interview, observation, questioner, and checklist using COBIT method as a standard to assess the information system control of the company. The expected result about the evaluation result that show in the problem happened and recommendation given as the evaluation report and to give a view about the control done by the company. Conclusion took from this research that this banking company has met standards although some weaknesses still exists in the system.Index Terms - Control Information System, Savings

Augmenting the Energy-Saving Impact of IEEE 802.3az via the Control Plane

OpenAIRE

Thaenchaikun , Chakadkit; Jakllari , Gentian; Paillassa , Béatrice

2015-01-01

International audience; IEEE 802.3az, the recent standard for Energy Efficient Ethernet, is one of the main contributions of the ICT industry to the global quest for energy efficiency. Energy consumption reduction is accomplished by essentially replacing the continuous IDLE of legacy IEEE 802.3 cards with a Low Power Idle. While this is an important step in the right direction, studies have shown that the energy saving with IEEE 802.3az highly depends on the traffic load and stops for link ut...

Housing-related lifestyle and energy saving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, John

2017-01-01

of relevant background characteristics. A multivariate GLM analysis reveals that when differences in housing-related lifestyles are controlled, neither country of residence nor the interaction between lifestyle and country of residence influence energy saving innovativeness or everyday energy-saving efforts...

Entrepreneurial Saving Practices and Reinvestment : Theory and Evidence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beck, T.H.L.; Pamuk, H.; Uras, R.B.

2014-01-01

We use a novel enterprise survey from Tanzania to gauge the relationship between saving instruments and entrepreneurial reinvestment. While most informal savings practices do not imply a lower likelihood of entrepreneurial reinvestment when compared with formal savings practices, we find a

Current breathomics-a review on data pre-processing techniques and machine learning in metabolomics breath analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smolinska, A.; Hauschild, A. C.; Fijten, R. R. R.

2014-01-01

been extensively developed. Yet, the application of machine learning methods for fingerprinting VOC profiles in the breathomics is still in its infancy. Therefore, in this paper, we describe the current state of the art in data pre-processing and multivariate analysis of breathomics data. We start...... different conditions (e.g. disease stage, treatment). Independently of the utilized analytical method, the most important question, 'which VOCs are discriminatory?', remains the same. Answers can be given by several modern machine learning techniques (multivariate statistics) and, therefore, are the focus...

Entrepreneurial saving practices and reinvestment : Theory and evidence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beck, T.H.L.; Pamuk, Haki; Uras, Burak

2017-01-01

We use a novel enterprise survey to gauge the relationship between saving instruments and entrepreneurial reinvestment. We show that while most informal saving practices are not associated with a lower likelihood of reinvestment when compared with formal saving practices, there is a significantly

Robust preprocessing for stimulus-based functional MRI of the moving fetus.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Wonsang; Evangelou, Iordanis E; Zun, Zungho; Andescavage, Nickie; Limperopoulos, Catherine

2016-04-01

Fetal motion manifests as signal degradation and image artifact in the acquired time series of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. We present a robust preprocessing pipeline to specifically address fetal and placental motion-induced artifacts in stimulus-based fMRI with slowly cycled block design in the living fetus. In the proposed pipeline, motion correction is optimized to the experimental paradigm, and it is performed separately in each phase as well as in each region of interest (ROI), recognizing that each phase and organ experiences different types of motion. To obtain the averaged BOLD signals for each ROI, both misaligned volumes and noisy voxels are automatically detected and excluded, and the missing data are then imputed by statistical estimation based on local polynomial smoothing. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed pipeline was effective in mitigating the motion-induced artifacts in stimulus-based fMRI data of the fetal brain and placenta.

Evaluation of water saving measures for mid-sized tourist lodging units: the case of Samos Island, Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleftheria E. Klontza

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Hotel sector causes significant environmental stress in both natural and built up areas due to their consumption of water and energy. In addition, the production of large volumes of liquid and solid waste results in a significant environmental footprint. The use of water and energy by hotels is strongly linked (e.g. energy is consumed for hot water, operation of the pool, preparation of meals, etc. and usually referred to as the water – energy nexus. Thus, for big consumers like hotels, water and energy consumption should be addressed collectively as water-saving measures can lead to a reduction in energy consumption. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental performance of mid-sized hotel units by analyzing and quantifying their use of water. An analysis using a two-step approach was made of 8 accommodation facilities located on Samos Island, Greece: (i a mapping of water use by adopting an end-use approach, and then (ii an assessment of saving practices using three main criteria: savings, cost of investment and payback time. The preliminary results indicate that for small sized lodging units, water consumed inside the guest rooms accounts for the majority of all the water used and low-cost water saving measures and actions can reduce the pressure on water resources without disturbing guests, while increasing the financial profitability of a hotel.

An Innovative Hybrid Model Based on Data Pre-Processing and Modified Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in Wind Speed Forecasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Jiang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Wind speed forecasting has an unsuperseded function in the high-efficiency operation of wind farms, and is significant in wind-related engineering studies. Back-propagation (BP algorithms have been comprehensively employed to forecast time series that are nonlinear, irregular, and unstable. However, the single model usually overlooks the importance of data pre-processing and parameter optimization of the model, which results in weak forecasting performance. In this paper, a more precise and robust model that combines data pre-processing, BP neural network, and a modified artificial intelligence optimization algorithm was proposed, which succeeded in avoiding the limitations of the individual algorithm. The novel model not only improves the forecasting accuracy but also retains the advantages of the firefly algorithm (FA and overcomes the disadvantage of the FA while optimizing in the later stage. To verify the forecasting performance of the presented hybrid model, 10-min wind speed data from Penglai city, Shandong province, China, were analyzed in this study. The simulations revealed that the proposed hybrid model significantly outperforms other single metaheuristics.

Combined principal component preprocessing and n-tuple neural networks for improved classification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høskuldsson, Agnar; Linneberg, Christian

2000-01-01

We present a combined principal component analysis/neural network scheme for classification. The data used to illustrate the method consist of spectral fluorescence recordings from seven different production facilities, and the task is to relate an unknown sample to one of these seven factories....... The data are first preprocessed by performing an individual principal component analysis on each of the seven groups of data. The components found are then used for classifying the data, but instead of making a single multiclass classifier, we follow the ideas of turning a multiclass problem into a number...... of two-class problems. For each possible pair of classes we further apply a transformation to the calculated principal components in order to increase the separation between the classes. Finally we apply the so-called n-tuple neural network to the transformed data in order to give the classification...

Overview of contractual savings institutions

OpenAIRE

Vittas, Dimitri; Skully, Michael

1991-01-01

Contractual savings institutions include national provident funds, life insurance companies, private pension funds, and funded social pension insurance systems. They have long-term liabilities and stable cash flows and are therefore ideal providers of term finance, not only to government and industry, but also to municipal authorities and the housing sector. Except for Singapore, Malaysia, and a few other countries, most developing countries have small and insignificant contractual savings in...

Unsharp masking technique as a preprocessing filter for improvement of 3D-CT image of bony structure in the maxillofacial region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harada, Takuya; Nishikawa, Keiichi; Kuroyanagi, Kinya

1998-01-01

We evaluated the usefulness of the unsharp masking technique as a preprocessing filter to improve 3D-CT images of bony structure in the maxillofacial region. The effect of the unsharp masking technique with several combinations of mask size and weighting factor on image resolution was investigated using a spatial frequency phantom made of bone-equivalent material. The 3D-CT images were obtained with scans perpendicular to and parallel to the phantom plates. The contrast transfer function (CTF) and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of each spatial frequency component were measured. The FWHM was expressed as a ratio against the actual thickness of phantom plate. The effect on pseudoforamina was assessed using sliced CT images obtained in clinical bony 3D-CT examinations. The effect of the unsharp masking technique on image quality was also visually evaluated using five clinical fracture cases. CTFs did not change. FWHM ratios of original 3D-CT images were smaller than 1.0, regardless of the scanning direction. Those in scans perpendicular to the phantom plates were not changed by the unsharp masking technique. Those in parallel scanning were increased by mask size and weighting factor. The area of pseudoforamina decreased with increases in mask size and weighting factor. The combination of mask size 3 x 3 pixels and weighting factor 5 was optimal. Visual evaluation indicated that preprocessing with the unsharp masking technique improved the image quality of the 3D-CT images. The unsharp masking technique is useful as a preprocessing filter to improve the 3D-CT image of bony structure in the maxillofacial region. (author)

China energy-water nexus: Assessing the water-saving synergy effects of energy-saving policies during the eleventh Five-year Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu, Alun; Teng, Fei; Wang, Yu

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Energy and water limit China’s sustainable development. • Current energy policies fail to address water saving issues. • The energy-water coefficient is estimated for both direct use and indirect use. • Water saving effects associated with energy-saving policies is calculated. • Water-energy nexus should be enhanced in key industrial sectors. - Abstract: Energy and water have become major factors limiting sustainable development in China. Energy efficiency and optimization of water management are critical for the healthy growth of the Chinese economy. Current national energy policies fail to adequately address water use issues. Similarly, current water policies do not consider the impact of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, few studies have investigated the relationship between energy consumption and water use. The present study analyzes the energy-water nexus in Chinese industries using input–output tables. Coefficients that characterize the relationship between energy consumption and water are used to describe the supply-consumption relationship between the water supply and primary energy sectors. Next, we calculate the water-saving effects associated with the enforcement of energy-saving policies in selected industrial sectors during the eleventh Five-year Plan, from 2005 to 2010. These calculations address the ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, petrochemical engineering, building materials, and electricity industries as well as key light industries. Our findings indicate that energy-saving efforts in these industries will result in savings in water consumption. This study suggests that a cooperative relationship between water and energy conservation efforts should be an important factor in creating policies that encourage simultaneous savings of both resources. Additionally, the study indicates that government should promote water- and energy-saving techniques in key industrial sectors to encourage

37 CFR 11.61 - Savings clause.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Savings clause. 11.61 Section... Disciplinary Proceedings; Jurisdiction, Sanctions, Investigations, and Proceedings § 11.61 Savings clause. (a... subsequent to such effective date, if such conduct would continue to justify suspension or exclusion under...

Refrigeration: Introducing energy saving opportunities for business

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-04-15

In some industries, most notably food and drink and chemicals, refrigeration accounts for a significant proportion of overall site energy costs. For instance, in the industrial handling of meat, poultry and fish, it often accounts for 50% of total energy costs. In ice-cream production the proportion is 70%. In a number of commercial sectors, refrigeration also represents a significant proportion of overall energy costs. For example: Cold storage 90%; Food supermarkets 50%; Small shops with refrigerated cabinets 70% or over; Pubs and clubs 30%. Against these high costs, even a small reduction in refrigeration energy use can offer significant cost savings, resulting in increased profits. Energy saving need not be expensive. Energy savings of up to 20% can be realised in many refrigeration plant through actions that require little or no investment. In addition, improving the efficiency and reducing the load on a refrigeration plant can improve reliability and reduce the likelihood of a breakdown. Most organisations can save energy and money on refrigeration by: More efficient equipment; Good maintenance; Housekeeping and control. This publication provides an understanding of the operation of refrigeration systems, identifies where savings can be realised and will enable readers to present an informed case on energy savings to key decision makers within their organisation. (GB)

A Novel Walking Detection and Step Counting Algorithm Using Unconstrained Smartphones.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Xiaomin; Huang, Baoqi; Qi, Guodong

2018-01-19

Recently, with the development of artificial intelligence technologies and the popularity of mobile devices, walking detection and step counting have gained much attention since they play an important role in the fields of equipment positioning, saving energy, behavior recognition, etc. In this paper, a novel algorithm is proposed to simultaneously detect walking motion and count steps through unconstrained smartphones in the sense that the smartphone placement is not only arbitrary but also alterable. On account of the periodicity of the walking motion and sensitivity of gyroscopes, the proposed algorithm extracts the frequency domain features from three-dimensional (3D) angular velocities of a smartphone through FFT (fast Fourier transform) and identifies whether its holder is walking or not irrespective of its placement. Furthermore, the corresponding step frequency is recursively updated to evaluate the step count in real time. Extensive experiments are conducted by involving eight subjects and different walking scenarios in a realistic environment. It is shown that the proposed method achieves the precision of 93.76 % and recall of 93.65 % for walking detection, and its overall performance is significantly better than other well-known methods. Moreover, the accuracy of step counting by the proposed method is 95.74 % , and is better than both of the several well-known counterparts and commercial products.

48 CFR 48.104-3 - Sharing collateral savings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Sharing collateral savings... CONTRACT MANAGEMENT VALUE ENGINEERING Policies and Procedures 48.104-3 Sharing collateral savings. (a) The Government shares collateral savings with the contractor, unless the head of the contracting activity has...

48 CFR 2448.104-3 - Sharing collateral savings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Sharing collateral savings... DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT MANAGEMENT VALUE ENGINEERING 2448.104-3 Sharing collateral savings. (a) The authority of the HCA to determine that the cost of calculating and tracking collateral savings will exceed the...

Poor Families Striving to Save in Matched Children’s Savings Accounts: Findings from a Randomized Experimental Design in Uganda

Science.gov (United States)

Karimli, Leyla; Ssewamala, Fred M.; Neilands, Torsten B.

2014-01-01

This study examines participants’ savings in children’s savings accounts (CSAs) set up for AIDS-orphaned children ages 10–15 in Uganda. Using a cluster randomized experimental design, we examine the extent to which families participating in a CSA program report more savings than their counterparts not participating in the program, explore the extent to which families who participate in the CSA program report using formal financial institutions compared with families who do not have a CSA, and consider whether families participating in the CSA program bring new money into the CSA or whether they reshuffle existing household assets. We find that participating in a CSA increased families’ likelihood to report having saved money. However, our results show no intervention effect either on the amount of self-reported savings or on the likelihood of using formal financial institutions. Further research is needed to understand whether use of a CSA helps families generate new wealth. PMID:25525282

Electric energy savings from new technologies. Revision 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harrer, B.J.; Kellogg, M.A.; Lyke, A.J.; Imhoff, K.L.; Fisher, Z.J.

1986-09-01

Purpose of the report is to provide information about the electricity-saving potential of new technologies to OCEP that it can use in developing alternative long-term projections of US electricity consumption. Low-, base-, and high-case scenarios of the electricity savings for 10 technologies were prepared. The total projected annual savings for the year 2000 for all 10 technologies were 137 billion kilowatt hours (BkWh), 279 BkWh, and 470 BkWh, respectively, for the three cases. The magnitude of these savings projections can be gauged by comparing them to the Department's reference case projection for the 1985 National Energy Policy Plan. In the Department's reference case, total consumption in 2000 is projected to be 3319 BkWh. Because approximately 75% of the base-case estimate of savings are already incorporated into the reference projection, only 25% of the savings estimated here should be subtracted from the reference projection for analysis purposes.

Energy saving analysis and management modeling based on index decomposition analysis integrated energy saving potential method: Application to complex chemical processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geng, Zhiqiang; Gao, Huachao; Wang, Yanqing; Han, Yongming; Zhu, Qunxiong

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The integrated framework that combines IDA with energy-saving potential method is proposed. • Energy saving analysis and management framework of complex chemical processes is obtained. • This proposed method is efficient in energy optimization and carbon emissions of complex chemical processes. - Abstract: Energy saving and management of complex chemical processes play a crucial role in the sustainable development procedure. In order to analyze the effect of the technology, management level, and production structure having on energy efficiency and energy saving potential, this paper proposed a novel integrated framework that combines index decomposition analysis (IDA) with energy saving potential method. The IDA method can obtain the level of energy activity, energy hierarchy and energy intensity effectively based on data-drive to reflect the impact of energy usage. The energy saving potential method can verify the correctness of the improvement direction proposed by the IDA method. Meanwhile, energy efficiency improvement, energy consumption reduction and energy savings can be visually discovered by the proposed framework. The demonstration analysis of ethylene production has verified the practicality of the proposed method. Moreover, we can obtain the corresponding improvement for the ethylene production based on the demonstration analysis. The energy efficiency index and the energy saving potential of these worst months can be increased by 6.7% and 7.4%, respectively. And the carbon emissions can be reduced by 7.4–8.2%.

Neural network-based preprocessing to estimate the parameters of the X-ray emission of a single-temperature thermal plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Ichinohe, Y.; Yamada, S.; Miyazaki, N.; Saito, S.

2018-04-01

We present data preprocessing based on an artificial neural network to estimate the parameters of the X-ray emission spectra of a single-temperature thermal plasma. The method finds appropriate parameters close to the global optimum. The neural network is designed to learn the parameters of the thermal plasma (temperature, abundance, normalization and redshift) of the input spectra. After training using 9000 simulated X-ray spectra, the network has grown to predict all the unknown parameters with uncertainties of about a few per cent. The performance dependence on the network structure has been studied. We applied the neural network to an actual high-resolution spectrum obtained with Hitomi. The predicted plasma parameters agree with the known best-fitting parameters of the Perseus cluster within uncertainties of ≲10 per cent. The result shows that neural networks trained by simulated data might possibly be used to extract a feature built in the data. This would reduce human-intensive preprocessing costs before detailed spectral analysis, and would help us make the best use of the large quantities of spectral data that will be available in the coming decades.

12 CFR 583.12 - Multiple savings and loan holding company.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Multiple savings and loan holding company. 583... DEFINITIONS FOR REGULATIONS AFFECTING SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANIES § 583.12 Multiple savings and loan holding company. The term multiple savings and loan holding company means any savings and loan holding...

12 CFR 583.11 - Diversified savings and loan holding company.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Diversified savings and loan holding company... DEFINITIONS FOR REGULATIONS AFFECTING SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANIES § 583.11 Diversified savings and loan holding company. The term diversified savings and loan holding company means any savings and loan holding...

Road Sign Recognition with Fuzzy Adaptive Pre-Processing Models

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chien-Chuan; Wang, Ming-Shi

2012-01-01

A road sign recognition system based on adaptive image pre-processing models using two fuzzy inference schemes has been proposed. The first fuzzy inference scheme is to check the changes of the light illumination and rich red color of a frame image by the checking areas. The other is to check the variance of vehicle's speed and angle of steering wheel to select an adaptive size and position of the detection area. The Adaboost classifier was employed to detect the road sign candidates from an image and the support vector machine technique was employed to recognize the content of the road sign candidates. The prohibitory and warning road traffic signs are the processing targets in this research. The detection rate in the detection phase is 97.42%. In the recognition phase, the recognition rate is 93.04%. The total accuracy rate of the system is 92.47%. For video sequences, the best accuracy rate is 90.54%, and the average accuracy rate is 80.17%. The average computing time is 51.86 milliseconds per frame. The proposed system can not only overcome low illumination and rich red color around the road sign problems but also offer high detection rates and high computing performance. PMID:22778650

Revolving fund for energy saving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prebensen, K.

1993-01-01

A key issue in Eastern Europe is the adjustment of prices from the former COMECON level to a level conforming with free market conditions. In the case of household heating, this issue involves the removal of government subsidies leading to sharply increasing prices, metering of individual consumption, improving the efficiency of energy production, distribution and use - where savings of 30-50% in each link are technically feasible - thereby providing a potential for a adapting consumption patterns to higher energy prices, provided that funds are available. Currently, investment in commercial heat production and distribution systems have received substantial international support - whereas investment in reduction of demand has been little exploited. The Revolving Fund for Energy Savings in Polish Households is a concept for efficient financing of small-scale projects. It aims at financing, on the level of housing cooperatives, on the basis of a simplified lending and project evaluation procedure, well suited to current Polish conditions or an organizationally and financially weak banking system and little developed technical knowledge in the field of energy saving. A general introduction to the issue is given and technical problems are elaborated. The implementation of Energy Savings in Housing seen from the banking point of view, and a current pilot scheme for financing, are described. (AB)

Advances in Biological Water-saving Research: Challenge and Perspectives

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Lun Shan; Xiping Deng; Suiqi Zhang

2006-01-01

Increasing the efficiency of water use by crops continues to escalate as a topic of concern because drought is a restrictive environmental factor for crop productivity worldwide. Greater yield per unit rainfall is one of the most important challenges in water-saving agriculture. Besides water-saving by irrigation engineering and conservation tillage, a good understanding of factors limiting and/or regulating yield now provides us with an opportunity to identify and then precisely select for physiological and breeding traits that increase the efficiency of water use and drought tolerance under water-limited conditions, biological water-saving is one means of achieving this goat. A definition of biological water-saving measures is proposed which embraces improvements in water-use efficiency (WUE) and drought tolerance, by genetic improvement and physiological regulation. The preponderance of biological water-saving measures is discussed and strategies identified for working within natural resource constraints. The technology and future perspectives of biological water saving could provide not only new water-saving techniques but also a scientific base for application of water-saving irrigation and conservation tillage.

Concepts. Environmental care through energy saving

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wagner, G.

1987-04-01

Energy saving is an important ingredient of a preventive energy policy. It helps to reduce pollutants which are one essential source of damage done to air, water and soil. But even the environmentally damaging side effects of energy production, storage and distribution can be cut down through energy saving.

Mozambican Aggregate Consumption and Domestic Saving ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It was an unprecedented decade for its break with the previous trend; but so far, the new trend does not correspond to a substantial change in growth strategy to ensure that foreign savings become complementary rather than a substitute for domestic savings. Keywords: consumption, economic growth strategy, domestic ...

Casual relationship between gross domestic saving and economic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The empirical study confirmed that a significant relationship between domestic savings and ... and, which ultimately increases the country domestic saving level. ... which increase saving and investment into the country due to its dual effect. ... South Africa (96); South Sudan (1); Sudan (3); Swaziland (3); Tanzania (19); Togo ...

Building Savings and Investments Culture among Nigerians | Imegi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It is therefore necessary to build among Nigerians savings and investments culture. A review of extant literature revealed that people save and invest for several reasons among which are to enhance the standard of living, take advantage of rare business opportunities, and meet unforeseen circumstances. Savings can be ...

Water saving through international trade of agricultural products

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chapagain, Ashok; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert; Savenije, H.H.G.

2006-01-01

Many nations save domestic water resources by importing water-intensive products and exporting commodities that are less water intensive. National water saving through the import of a product can imply saving water at a global level if the flow is from sites with high to sites with low water

Start point to savings - Better load demand analysis in commercial buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abaravicius, Juozas; Pyrko, Jurek [Lund Univ., Dept of Energy Sciences (Sweden)

2007-07-01

Existing installations and energy systems in most commercial buildings could be used in a more efficient way to provide savings - both in terms of energy and load demand. The key for effective operation is a thorough and detailed analysis of energy use patterns that creates essential baseline for energy savings and the development of demand response (DR) strategies. The knowledge of energy demand variations is still very limited and the use of methods to analyse the load demand is rare. Many utilities have recently installed interval (hourly) metering even for smaller commercial users and households. This is a big step forward; however, experience shows that the data is being used only to a limited extent, mostly for billing purposes only. This paper reports about a study conducted with the objective of developing a detailed load demand analysis for commercial buildings. The study results should provide essential information for the formation and evaluation of future DR and energy efficiency strategies. This study was performed in collaboration with IKEA and E.ON and contributes to an ongoing IKEA energy efficiency programme. Two sample department stores in Sweden were selected and analysed within this project. The demand data analysis covers almost 3 years period, 2004-2006.This study contributes to new knowledge of energy use patterns (load demand) in commercial buildings. It proposes solutions of load-related problems, evaluates energy and load savings potential, identifies and analyses the needs, motives and barriers for participation in DR programmes. The study provides recommendations for ongoing and future efficiency and DR strategies and discusses the potential economic benefits from the DR measures.

Technical energy savings versus changes in human behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, Jørgen

1996-01-01

Energy savings seems to be the most environmentally benign element in an energy policy. The paper is a reflection on the work on saving energy both by improving technology and by adapting human daily behaviour. A simple model is suggested for the energy chain which converts the primary energy all...... the way into human satisfaction via energy services. Results of various analyses and field experiments show saving potentials for electricity of 50 - 80 per cents. Barriers for implementing these technical saving options are discussed. Also the necessity and potentials for changing behavioural or life...

A multifunctional energy-saving magnetic field generator

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Hui; Sun, Wanpeng; Liu, Jinzhen; Shi, Jinhua

2018-03-01

To improve the energy utilization of magnetic field generators for biological applications, a multifunctional energy-saving magnetic field generator (ESMFG) is presented. It is capable of producing both an alternating magnetic field (AMF) and a bipolar pulse magnetic field (BPMF) with high energy-saving and energy-reuse rates. Based on a theoretical analysis of an RLC second-order circuit, the energy-saving and energy-reuse rates of both types of magnetic fields can be calculated and are found to have acceptable values. The results of an experimental study using the proposed generator show that for the BPMF, the peak current reaches 130 A and the intensity reaches 70.3 mT. For the AMF, the intensity is 11.0 mT and the RMS current is 20 A. The energy-saving and energy-reuse rates for the AMF generator are 61.3% and 63.5%, respectively, while for the BPMF generator, the energy-saving rate is 33.6%. Thus, the proposed ESMFG has excellent potential for use in biomedical applications.

Causal Links among Saving, Investment and Growth and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The relationship between saving, investment and GDP still remains an empirical issue. In their aspiration to catch up the rest of the world, developing countries provides a special place on this matter. This paper tried to investigate the main determinants of saving and the connection among saving, investment and GDP in the ...

Canada Education Savings Program: Annual Statistical Review--2009

Science.gov (United States)

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2009

2009-01-01

The Canada Education Savings Program is an initiative of the Government of Canada. As part of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, the program administers the Canada Education Savings Grant and the Canada Learning Bond. These two initiatives help Canadian families save for a child's post-secondary education in Registered…

10 CFR 436.20 - Net savings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION FEDERAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING PROGRAMS Methodology and Procedures for Life Cycle Cost Analyses § 436.20 Net savings. For a retrofit project, net savings may be found by subtracting life cycle costs based on the proposed project from life cycle costs based on not having it. For a...

Creation of Carbon Credits by Water Saving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasutoshi Shimizu

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Until now, as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Japanese homes, the emphasis has been on reduction of energy consumption for air-conditioning and lighting. In recent years, there has been progress in CO₂ emission reduction through research into the water-saving performance of bathroom fixtures such as toilets and showers. Simulations have shown that CO₂ emissions associated with water consumption in Japanese homes can be reduced by 25% (1% of Japan’s total CO₂ emissions by 2020 through the adoption of the use of water-saving fixtures. In response to this finding, a program to promote the replacement of current fixtures with water-saving toilet bowls and thermally insulated bathtubs has been added to the Government of Japan’s energy-saving policy. Furthermore, CO₂ emission reduction through widespread use of water-saving fixtures has been adopted by the domestic credit system promoted by the Government of Japan as a way of achieving CO₂ emission-reduction targets; application of this credit system has also begun. As part of a bilateral offset credit mechanism promoted by the Government of Japan, research to evaluate the CO₂ reduction potential of the adoption of water-saving fixtures has been done in the city of Dalian, in China.

Save Energy Now Assessments Results 2008 Detailed Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wright, Anthony L [ORNL; Martin, Michaela A [ORNL; Nimbalkar, Sachin U [ORNL; Quinn, James [U.S. Department of Energy; Glatt, Ms. Sandy [DOE Industrial Technologies Program; Orthwein, Mr. Bill [U.S. Department of Energy

2010-09-01

In October 2005, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Bodman launched his Easy Ways to Save Energy campaign with a promise to provide energy assessments to 200 of the largest U.S. manufacturing plants. DOE's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) responded to the Secretary's campaign with its Save Energy Now initiative, featuring a new and highly cost-effective form of energy savings assessment. The approach for these assessments drew heavily on the existing resources of ITP's technology delivery component. Over the years, ITP Technology Delivery has worked with industry partners to assemble a suite of respected software tools, proven assessment protocols, training curricula, certified energy experts, and strong partnerships for deployment. The Save Energy Now assessments conducted in calendar year 2006 focused on natural gas savings and targeted many of the nation's largest manufacturing plants - those that consume at least 1 TBtu of energy annually. The 2006 Save Energy Now assessments focused primarily on assessments of steam and process heating systems, which account for an estimated 74% of all natural gas use by U.S. manufacturing plants. Because of the success of the Save Energy Now assessments conducted in 2006 and 2007, the program was expanded and enhanced in two major ways in 2008: (1) a new goal was set to perform at least 260 assessments; and (2) the assessment focus was expanded to include pumping, compressed air, and fan systems in addition to steam and process heating. DOE ITP also has developed software tools to assess energy efficiency improvement opportunities in pumping, compressed air, and fan systems. The Save Energy Now assessments integrate a strong training component designed to teach industrial plant personnel how to use DOE's opportunity assessment software tools. This approach has the advantages of promoting strong buy-in of plant personnel for the assessment and its outcomes and preparing them better to

Cost-saving production technologies and partial ownership

OpenAIRE

Juan Carlos Barcena-Ruiz; Norma Olaizola

2007-01-01

This work analyzes the incentives to acquire cost-saving production technologies when cross-participation exists at ownership level. We show that cross-participation reduces the incentives to adopt the cost-saving production technology.

Canada Education Savings Program: Annual Statistical Review 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2011

2011-01-01

The Canada Education Savings Program has been an initiative of the Government of Canada since 1998. As part of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, the program administers the Canada Education Savings Grant and the Canada Learning Bond. These two initiatives help Canadian families save for a child's post-secondary education in…

Canada Education Savings Program: Annual Statistical Review 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2012

2012-01-01

The Canada Education Savings Program (CESP) has been an initiative of the Government of Canada since 1998. As part of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the program administers the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) and the Canada Learning Bond (CLB). These two initiatives help Canadian families save for a child's…

The Python Spectral Analysis Tool (PySAT): A Powerful, Flexible, Preprocessing and Machine Learning Library and Interface

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, R. B.; Finch, N.; Clegg, S. M.; Graff, T. G.; Morris, R. V.; Laura, J.; Gaddis, L. R.

2017-12-01

Machine learning is a powerful but underutilized approach that can enable planetary scientists to derive meaningful results from the rapidly-growing quantity of available spectral data. For example, regression methods such as Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), can be used to determine chemical concentrations from ChemCam and SuperCam Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) data [1]. Many scientists are interested in testing different spectral data processing and machine learning methods, but few have the time or expertise to write their own software to do so. We are therefore developing a free open-source library of software called the Python Spectral Analysis Tool (PySAT) along with a flexible, user-friendly graphical interface to enable scientists to process and analyze point spectral data without requiring significant programming or machine-learning expertise. A related but separately-funded effort is working to develop a graphical interface for orbital data [2]. The PySAT point-spectra tool includes common preprocessing steps (e.g. interpolation, normalization, masking, continuum removal, dimensionality reduction), plotting capabilities, and capabilities to prepare data for machine learning such as creating stratified folds for cross validation, defining training and test sets, and applying calibration transfer so that data collected on different instruments or under different conditions can be used together. The tool leverages the scikit-learn library [3] to enable users to train and compare the results from a variety of multivariate regression methods. It also includes the ability to combine multiple "sub-models" into an overall model, a method that has been shown to improve results and is currently used for ChemCam data [4]. Although development of the PySAT point-spectra tool has focused primarily on the analysis of LIBS spectra, the relevant steps and methods are applicable to any spectral data. The

Canadian Potential Healthcare and Societal Cost Savings from Consumption of Pulses: A Cost-Of-Illness Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad M. H. Abdullah

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Consumption of dietary pulses, including beans, peas and lentils, is recommended by health authorities across jurisdictions for their nutritional value and effectiveness in helping to prevent and manage major diet-related illnesses of significant socioeconomic burden. The aim of this study was to estimate the potential annual healthcare and societal cost savings relevant to rates of reduction in complications from type 2 diabetes (T2D and incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD following a low glycemic index (GI or high fiber diet that includes pulses, or 100 g/day pulse intake in Canada, respectively. A four-step cost-of-illness analysis was conducted to: (1 estimate the proportions of individuals who are likely to consume pulses; (2 evaluate the reductions in established risk factors for T2D and CVD; (3 assess the percent reduction in incidences or complications of the diseases of interest; and (4 calculate the potential annual savings in relevant healthcare and related costs. A low GI or high fiber diet that includes pulses and 100 g/day pulse intake were shown to potentially yield Can$6.2 (95% CI $2.6–$9.9 to Can$62.4 (95% CI $26–$98.8 and Can$31.6 (95% CI $11.1–$52 to Can$315.5 (95% CI $110.6–$520.4 million in savings on annual healthcare and related costs of T2D and CVD, respectively. Specific provincial/territorial analyses suggested annual T2D and CVD related cost savings that ranged from up to Can$0.2 million in some provinces to up to Can$135 million in others. In conclusion, with regular consumption of pulse crops, there is a potential opportunity to facilitate T2D and CVD related socioeconomic cost savings that could be applied to Canadian healthcare or re-assigned to other priority domains. Whether these potential cost savings will be offset by other healthcare costs associated with longevity and diseases of the elderly is to be investigated over the long term.

Caustic saving potentile in textile processing mills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Latif, M.; Rehman, A.; Ghafar, A.; Hafeez, N.M.

2010-01-01

The textile processing industry of pakistan has great potential of improvement in resource consumption in various production processes. One major concern is the heavy usage of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) especially during the mercerization process which incurs a significant cost to a textile processing mill. To reduce the unit fabric production cost and stay competitive, the industry need to minimize the caustic wastage and explore the caustic saving potential. This paper describe the detailed caustic consumption practices and saving potentials in woven textile sector based on the data base of 100 industries. Region wise caustic saving potential is also investigated . Three caustic conservation option including process improvement, reuse and recycling, and caustic recovery plants are discussed. Detailed technical and and financial requirements. saving potentials and paybacks of these options are provided. (author)

Energy saving baking methods. Energibesparende bagemetoder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gry, P.

1988-01-01

The project ''Energy Saving Baking Methods'', run as part of the Energy Research Project-1984, and has as its aim to investigate potentials for energy saving by employing microwaves in the baking process. The project is a follow-up of the Nordic Industry Fund project which was completed in 1983. Smaller test ovens with IR long waves, warm air convection and microwaves of 2,47 GHz were used. Measurements of heat distribution from all three energy sources have been made. Extensive experiments have been carried out in order to develope baking methods for white loaves which are energy saving, but where the quality of the bread does not undergo any form of deterioration. Tests were made using microwaves alone, and in combination with hot air and IR. A resulting saving 35% baking time was achieved, and a further reduction of baking time can be reached where a greater improvement of energy distribution can take place, especially in the case of microwaves and IR. (AB).

Joint preprocesser-based detector for cooperative networks with limited hardware processing capability

KAUST Repository

Abuzaid, Abdulrahman I.

2015-02-01

In this letter, a joint detector for cooperative communication networks is proposed when the destination has limited hardware processing capability. The transmitter sends its symbols with the help of L relays. As the destination has limited hardware, only U out of L signals are processed and the energy of the remaining relays is lost. To solve this problem, a joint preprocessing based detector is proposed. This joint preprocessor based detector operate on the principles of minimizing the symbol error rate (SER). For a realistic assessment, pilot symbol aided channel estimation is incorporated for this proposed detector. From our simulations, it can be observed that our proposed detector achieves the same SER performance as that of the maximum likelihood (ML) detector with all participating relays. Additionally, our detector outperforms selection combining (SC), channel shortening (CS) scheme and reduced-rank techniques when using the same U. Our proposed scheme has low computational complexity.

Student saving, does it exist? : A study of students' saving behavior, attitude towards saving and motivation to save.

OpenAIRE

Tuvesson, Joakim; Yu, Shiyu

2011-01-01

Swedish households are getting deeper in debt and house prices keeps on rising. This is what happened in USA and it was one of the major causes of the recent financial crisis. To avoid a similar crisis in Sweden we think one part of the solution is to make sure that those who are students today and soon will get jobs, buy houses, take loans etcetera have necessary knowledge to do so. Students’ saving is an area that almost completely lacked researchers’ attention, and one goal with this thesi...

Low-cost computer classification of land cover in the Portland area, Oregon, by signature extension techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Gaydos, Leonard

1978-01-01

Computer-aided techniques for interpreting multispectral data acquired by Landsat offer economies in the mapping of land cover. Even so, the actual establishment of the statistical classes, or "signatures," is one of the relatively more costly operations involved. Analysts have therefore been seeking cost-saving signature extension techniques that would accept training data acquired for one time or place and apply them to another. Opportunities to extend signatures occur in preprocessing steps and in the classification steps that follow. In the present example, land cover classes were derived by the simplest and most direct form of signature extension: Classes statistically derived from a Landsat scene for the Puget Sound area, Wash., were applied to the Portland area, Oreg., using data for the next Landsat scene acquired less than 25 seconds down orbit. Many features can be recognized on the reduced-scale version of the Portland land cover map shown in this report, although no statistical assessment of its accuracy is available.

What actions in the domain of energy saving?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gourlia, J.P.; Richard, P.

2007-01-01

The energy saving potentialities are very often put forward to justify actions of mastery of energy demand. What are the possible substitutes and their result in terms of energy saving? What are the tools implemented and the services proposed by energy suppliers to end-users? What is the optimum mix between the regulatory measures and the market instruments to perform energy saving? What are the costs generated by such measures with respect to the expected results? How to sensibilize citizens to energy saving actions? These questions were debated during a round table which gathered 4 participants and two chairmen. (J.S.)

The PREP Pipeline: Standardized preprocessing for large-scale EEG analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nima eBigdelys Shamlo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The technology to collect brain imaging and physiological measures has become portable and ubiquitous, opening the possibility of large-scale analysis of real-world human imaging. By its nature, such data is large and complex, making automated processing essential. This paper shows how lack of attention to the very early stages of an EEG preprocessing pipeline can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and introduce unwanted artifacts into the data, particularly for computations done in single precision. We demonstrate that ordinary average referencing improves the signal-to-noise ratio, but that noisy channels can contaminate the results. We also show that identification of noisy channels depends on the reference and examine the complex interaction of filtering, noisy channel identification, and referencing. We introduce a multi-stage robust referencing scheme to deal with the noisy channel-reference interaction. We propose a standardized early-stage EEG processing pipeline (PREP and discuss the application of the pipeline to more than 600 EEG datasets. The pipeline includes an automatically generated report for each dataset processed. Users can download the PREP pipeline as a freely available MATLAB library from http://eegstudy.org/prepcode/.

The PREP pipeline: standardized preprocessing for large-scale EEG analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigdely-Shamlo, Nima; Mullen, Tim; Kothe, Christian; Su, Kyung-Min; Robbins, Kay A

2015-01-01

The technology to collect brain imaging and physiological measures has become portable and ubiquitous, opening the possibility of large-scale analysis of real-world human imaging. By its nature, such data is large and complex, making automated processing essential. This paper shows how lack of attention to the very early stages of an EEG preprocessing pipeline can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and introduce unwanted artifacts into the data, particularly for computations done in single precision. We demonstrate that ordinary average referencing improves the signal-to-noise ratio, but that noisy channels can contaminate the results. We also show that identification of noisy channels depends on the reference and examine the complex interaction of filtering, noisy channel identification, and referencing. We introduce a multi-stage robust referencing scheme to deal with the noisy channel-reference interaction. We propose a standardized early-stage EEG processing pipeline (PREP) and discuss the application of the pipeline to more than 600 EEG datasets. The pipeline includes an automatically generated report for each dataset processed. Users can download the PREP pipeline as a freely available MATLAB library from http://eegstudy.org/prepcode.

Principles of valuing business travel time savings

OpenAIRE

Fowkes, A.S.

2001-01-01

OVERVIEW\\ud \\ud There are two approaches to valuing travel time savings to business people. The first is that which has formed the basis of UK policy for about 30 years, and which is set out in Section 2. This takes the value of travel time savings on employer’s business as equal to the gross wage rate plus an allowance for other costs that the employer saves. These might include such things as desk space, computer, tools, uniform, protective clothing, travel expenses. These were investigated...

Financial development and domestic savings in emerging Asian countries

OpenAIRE

Yılmaz BAYAR

2014-01-01

Saving is one of the important determinants of economic growth. Therefore determinants of saving are indirectly important for a sustainable economic growth. Financial sector has come into prominence as a possible determinant of saving in the globalized financial markets. This study examines the relationship between gross domestic savings and financial development in the emerging Asian countries during the period 1992-2011 by using panel regression. We found that financial de...

Ultrasonic transesterification of Jatrophacurcas L. oil to biodiesel by a two-step process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Xin; Fang Zhen; Liu Yunhu

2010-01-01

Transesterification of high free fatty acid content Jatropha oil with methanol to biodiesel catalyzed directly by NaOH and high-concentrated H 2 SO 4 or by two-step process were studied in an ultrasonic reactor at 60 deg. C. If NaOH was used as catalyst, biodiesel yield was only 47.2% with saponification problem. With H 2 SO 4 as catalyst, biodiesel yield was increased to 92.8%. However, longer reaction time (4 h) was needed and the biodiesel was not stable. A two-step, acid-esterification and base-transesterification process was further used for biodiesel production. It was found that after the first-step pretreatment with H 2 SO 4 for 1 h, the acid value of Jatropha oil was reduced from 10.45 to 1.2 mg KOH/g, and subsequently, NaOH was used for the second-step transesterification. Stable and clear yellowish biodiesel was obtained with 96.4% yield after reaction for 0.5 h. The total production time was only 1.5 h that is just half of the previous reported. The two-step process with ultrasonic radiation is effective and time-saving for biodiesel production from Jatropha oil.

Electricity saving in households-A social cognitive approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thogersen, John; Gronhoj, Alice

2010-01-01

We propose a conceptual framework for understanding the (lack of) energy saving efforts of private households based on Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory. Results from applying this framework on a sample of Danish private electricity consumers are presented and it is concluded (a) that households' electricity consumption depends on both structural and motivational factors, (b) that their electricity saving effort depends on the strength of their internalized norms or self-expectations and on self-efficacy related factors, and (c) that there are predictable patterns of interaction among household members that influence their electricity consumption. The results suggest two approaches to promote electricity saving in households: (1) to change the socio-structural environment to be more facilitating for energy saving and empower householders to be more effective in their striving towards this goal through improved feedback about their household's electricity consumption and (2) social norms marketing, communicating social expectations and others' successful electricity saving achievements. - Research highlights: →A combination of survey and meter reading data is used to analyze energy saving in households. →Up to two adults from each household answered the questionnaire. →Dyadic data analysis is used to investigate interactions between household members. →Both structural and motivational factors account for households' electricity consumption. →Electricity saving efforts depends on internalized norms, self-efficacy and social interaction.

Electricity saving in households-A social cognitive approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thogersen, John, E-mail: jbt@asb.d [Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences, Department of Marketing, Haslegaardsvej 10, DK-8210 Aarhus (Denmark); Gronhoj, Alice, E-mail: alg@asb.d [Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences, Department of Marketing, Haslegaardsvej 10, DK-8210 Aarhus (Denmark)

2010-12-15

We propose a conceptual framework for understanding the (lack of) energy saving efforts of private households based on Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory. Results from applying this framework on a sample of Danish private electricity consumers are presented and it is concluded (a) that households' electricity consumption depends on both structural and motivational factors, (b) that their electricity saving effort depends on the strength of their internalized norms or self-expectations and on self-efficacy related factors, and (c) that there are predictable patterns of interaction among household members that influence their electricity consumption. The results suggest two approaches to promote electricity saving in households: (1) to change the socio-structural environment to be more facilitating for energy saving and empower householders to be more effective in their striving towards this goal through improved feedback about their household's electricity consumption and (2) social norms marketing, communicating social expectations and others' successful electricity saving achievements. - Research highlights: {yields}A combination of survey and meter reading data is used to analyze energy saving in households. {yields}Up to two adults from each household answered the questionnaire. {yields}Dyadic data analysis is used to investigate interactions between household members. {yields}Both structural and motivational factors account for households' electricity consumption. {yields}Electricity saving efforts depends on internalized norms, self-efficacy and social interaction.

Irradiated long bone transplants in limb saving surgeries for extremity bone cancers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, E.HM.

1996-01-01

In the Philippines, the treatment of cancers of the limbs has always been by amputation. In recent decades, better understanding of these cancers and advances in the disciplines of cancer medicine have made the saving of these limbs almost routine in better developed countries. Surgeries entail two steps: (1) excision of the tumor and the bone from which the tumor arose, followed by (2) reconstruction of the defect resulting from the excision. Tumor implants, however, are not available locally, and are too costly for the average Filipino patient. Microvascular surgery is limited by the size of the defect it can bridge; and bone cement, not being biologic, can result in greater long term problems. Recently, the option of long bone transplants (aka large-segment allografts) to reconstruct these defects has become available locally. These bones are harvested from both cadaveric and live amputee donors after appropriate consent and medical work-up. After processing at the UP-PGH Tissue and Bone Bank, the bones are sterilized by irradiation at the PNRI(Philippine Nuclear Research Institute), and store in deep freezers until use. In the Philippines, limb saving surgery for bone cancers of the extremities using these large-segment alloografts was introduced in 1993 at the UP-PGH Musculoskeletal Tumor Unit. This paper will present the author's initial 3-year experience with 19 patients whose limbs were saved using bone transplantation. All surgeries were performed by the author and all patients have been personally followed up by the author (follow-up ranging from 6 months to 3-1/2 years). Cases will be presented to show the pre- and intraoperative processing of the irradiated bone; and the patients before and after the operations with emphasis on their improved quality of life and return to function. These results would seem to show that irradiated long bone transplants coupled with skills for limb saving surgery may make amputations a thing of the past for many of our

Chain of evidence generation for contrast enhancement in digital image forensics

Science.gov (United States)

Battiato, Sebastiano; Messina, Giuseppe; Strano, Daniela

2010-01-01

The quality of the images obtained by digital cameras has improved a lot since digital cameras early days. Unfortunately, it is not unusual in image forensics to find wrongly exposed pictures. This is mainly due to obsolete techniques or old technologies, but also due to backlight conditions. To extrapolate some invisible details a stretching of the image contrast is obviously required. The forensics rules to produce evidences require a complete documentation of the processing steps, enabling the replication of the entire process. The automation of enhancement techniques is thus quite difficult and needs to be carefully documented. This work presents an automatic procedure to find contrast enhancement settings, allowing both image correction and automatic scripting generation. The technique is based on a preprocessing step which extracts the features of the image and selects correction parameters. The parameters are thus saved through a JavaScript code that is used in the second step of the approach to correct the image. The generated script is Adobe Photoshop compliant (which is largely used in image forensics analysis) thus permitting the replication of the enhancement steps. Experiments on a dataset of images are also reported showing the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

The rise of corporate savings

OpenAIRE

Roc Armenter

2012-01-01

Over the past few decades, several developed economies have experienced large changes in how much households and firms save. In fact, a sharp increase in firms’ savings behavior has changed the net position of the (nonfinancial) corporate sector vis-à-vis the rest of the economy. ; Why have firms in the business of producing goods or services become lenders? This is quite at odds with traditional models of corporate finance, which suggest that firms issue debt and equity to fund their operati...

Energy Savings from Industrial Water Reductions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rao, Prakash; McKane, Aimee; de Fontaine, Andre

2015-08-03

Although it is widely recognized that reducing freshwater consumption is of critical importance, generating interest in industrial water reduction programs can be hindered for a variety of reasons. These include the low cost of water, greater focus on water use in other sectors such as the agriculture and residential sectors, high levels of unbilled and/or unregulated self-supplied water use in industry, and lack of water metering and tracking capabilities at industrial facilities. However, there are many additional components to the resource savings associated with reducing site water use beyond the water savings alone, such as reductions in energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, treatment chemicals, and impact on the local watershed. Understanding and quantifying these additional resource savings can expand the community of businesses, NGOs, government agencies, and researchers with a vested interest in water reduction. This paper will develop a methodology for evaluating the embedded energy consumption associated with water use at an industrial facility. The methodology developed will use available data and references to evaluate the energy consumption associated with water supply and wastewater treatment outside of a facility’s fence line for various water sources. It will also include a framework for evaluating the energy consumption associated with water use within a facility’s fence line. The methodology will develop a more complete picture of the total resource savings associated with water reduction efforts and allow industrial water reduction programs to assess the energy and CO2 savings associated with their efforts.

Gravity gradient preprocessing at the GOCE HPF

Science.gov (United States)

Bouman, J.; Rispens, S.; Gruber, T.; Schrama, E.; Visser, P.; Tscherning, C. C.; Veicherts, M.

2009-04-01

One of the products derived from the GOCE observations are the gravity gradients. These gravity gradients are provided in the Gradiometer Reference Frame (GRF) and are calibrated in-flight using satellite shaking and star sensor data. In order to use these gravity gradients for application in Earth sciences and gravity field analysis, additional pre-processing needs to be done, including corrections for temporal gravity field signals to isolate the static gravity field part, screening for outliers, calibration by comparison with existing external gravity field information and error assessment. The temporal gravity gradient corrections consist of tidal and non-tidal corrections. These are all generally below the gravity gradient error level, which is predicted to show a 1/f behaviour for low frequencies. In the outlier detection the 1/f error is compensated for by subtracting a local median from the data, while the data error is assessed using the median absolute deviation. The local median acts as a high-pass filter and it is robust as is the median absolute deviation. Three different methods have been implemented for the calibration of the gravity gradients. All three methods use a high-pass filter to compensate for the 1/f gravity gradient error. The baseline method uses state-of-the-art global gravity field models and the most accurate results are obtained if star sensor misalignments are estimated along with the calibration parameters. A second calibration method uses GOCE GPS data to estimate a low degree gravity field model as well as gravity gradient scale factors. Both methods allow to estimate gravity gradient scale factors down to the 10-3 level. The third calibration method uses high accurate terrestrial gravity data in selected regions to validate the gravity gradient scale factors, focussing on the measurement band. Gravity gradient scale factors may be estimated down to the 10-2 level with this method.

User behaviour impact on energy savings potential

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose, Jørgen

2014-01-01

and the residents' behaviour and if these defaults do not reflect actual circumstances, it can result in non-realisation of expected energy savings. Furthermore, a risk also exists that residents' behaviour change after the energy upgrading, e.g. to obtain improved comfort than what was possible before......, 3) Domestic hot water consumption and 4) Air change rate. Based on the analysis, a methodology is established that can be used to make more realistic and accurate predictions of expected energy savings associated with energy upgrading taking into account user behaviour....... the upgrading and this could lead to further discrepancies between the calculated and the actual energy savings. This paper presents an analysis on how residents’ behaviour and the use of standard assumptions may influence expected energy savings. The analysis is performed on two typical single-family houses...

Energy saving and consumption reducing evaluation of thermal power plant

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Xiu; Han, Miaomiao

2018-03-01

At present, energy saving and consumption reduction require energy saving and consumption reduction measures for thermal power plant, establishing an evaluation system for energy conservation and consumption reduction is instructive for the whole energy saving work of thermal power plant. By analysing the existing evaluation system of energy conservation and consumption reduction, this paper points out that in addition to the technical indicators of power plant, market activities should also be introduced in the evaluation of energy saving and consumption reduction in power plant. Ttherefore, a new evaluation index of energy saving and consumption reduction is set up and the example power plant is calculated in this paper. Rresults show that after introducing the new evaluation index of energy saving and consumption reduction, the energy saving effect of the power plant can be judged more comprehensively, so as to better guide the work of energy saving and consumption reduction in power plant.

The modern water-saving agricultural technology: Progress and focus

African Journals Online (AJOL)

GREGORY

2010-09-13

Sep 13, 2010 ... DEVELOPING TENDENCY OF MODERN WATER-. SAVING AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY. Excavation of the own water-saving potential using biotechnology. The biological water-saving technology that uses crop physiology control and modern breeding techniques to increase production and water ...

Measured energy savings from using night temperature setback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szydlowski, R.F.; Wrench, L.E.; O'Neill, P.J.

1993-01-01

The measured energy savings resulting from using night temperature setback in typical light-construction wooden office buildings was determined. Researchers installed monitoring equipment in a six-building sample of two-story wooden buildings at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Data obtained during both single-setting and night-setback operating modes were used to develop models of each building's heat consumption as a function of the difference between inside and outside temperature. These models were used to estimate seasonal savings that could be obtained from the use of night-setback thermostat control. The measured savings in heating energy from using night temperature setback for the six Fort Devens buildings ranged from 14% to 25%; the mean savings was 19.2%. Based on an energy cost of $0.65/therm of natural gas, the estimated average cost savings of using automatic setback thermostats in these buildings is $780 per year per building

Diamond-set drill bits: savings achieved at Cominak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artru, P.; Bibert, F.X.; Croisat, G.

1988-01-01

Rotary instead of percussion adoption of drilling in the underground Akouta mine (Niger) has been the cause of important savings in blasting and bolting operations. Other savings affect capital expenditures and indirect savings are coming from better working conditions. For blast holes drilling and bolting, spare parts expenditures are 2.4 times lower with rotary drilling. Drilling rods are cheaper and last longer with rotary drilling. A rotary equipped Jumbos fleet is cheaper to maintain and is 18% more available, due to less mechanical and other breakdowns. Total savings for the mine owner and operator Cominak reach more than a billion of CFA francs [fr

Potential for the Use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts to Reduce Energy Consumption and Provide Energy and Cost Savings in Non-Building Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Charles; Green, Andrew S.; Dahle, Douglas; Barnett, John; Butler, Pat; Kerner, David

2013-08-01

The findings of this study indicate that potential exists in non-building applications to save energy and costs. This potential could save billions of federal dollars, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, increase energy independence and security, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Government has nearly twenty years of experience with achieving similar energy cost reductions, and letting the energy costs savings pay for themselves, by applying energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) inits buildings. Currently, the application of ESPCs is limited by statute to federal buildings. This study indicates that ESPCs can be a compatible and effective contracting tool for achieving savings in non-building applications.

A Novel Walking Detection and Step Counting Algorithm Using Unconstrained Smartphones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaomin Kang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, with the development of artificial intelligence technologies and the popularity of mobile devices, walking detection and step counting have gained much attention since they play an important role in the fields of equipment positioning, saving energy, behavior recognition, etc. In this paper, a novel algorithm is proposed to simultaneously detect walking motion and count steps through unconstrained smartphones in the sense that the smartphone placement is not only arbitrary but also alterable. On account of the periodicity of the walking motion and sensitivity of gyroscopes, the proposed algorithm extracts the frequency domain features from three-dimensional (3D angular velocities of a smartphone through FFT (fast Fourier transform and identifies whether its holder is walking or not irrespective of its placement. Furthermore, the corresponding step frequency is recursively updated to evaluate the step count in real time. Extensive experiments are conducted by involving eight subjects and different walking scenarios in a realistic environment. It is shown that the proposed method achieves the precision of 93.76 % and recall of 93.65 % for walking detection, and its overall performance is significantly better than other well-known methods. Moreover, the accuracy of step counting by the proposed method is 95.74 % , and is better than both of the several well-known counterparts and commercial products.

Switched Flip-Flop based Preprocessing Circuit for ISFETs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Kollár

2005-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a preprocessing circuit for ISFETs (Ion-sensitive field-effecttransistors to measure hydrogen-ion concentration in electrolyte is presented. A modifiedflip-flop is the main part of the circuit. The modification consists in replacing the standardtransistors by ISFETs and periodically switching the supply voltage on and off.Concentration of hydrogen ions to be measured discontinues the flip-flop value symmetry,which means that by switching the supply voltage on the flip-flop goes to one of two stablestates, ‘one’ or ‘zero’. The recovery of the value symmetry can be achieved by changing abalanced voltage, which is incorporated to the flip-flop, to bring the flip-flop to a 50%position (probability of ‘one’ equals to probability of ‘zero’. Thus, the balanced voltagereflects the measured concentration of hydrogen ions. Its magnitude is set automatically byusing a feedback circuit whose input is connected to the flip-flop output. The preprocessingcircuit, as the whole, is the well-known δ modulator in which the switched flip-flop servesas a comparator and a sampling circuit. The advantages of this approach in comparison tothose of standard approaches are discussed. Finally, theoretical results are verified bysimulations with TSPICE and a good agreement is reported.

Implementation of the Save and Restoration application for KOMAC operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jae-Ha; Song, Young-Gi; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Gyeongju (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

KOMAC has been operating a 100 MeV proton linear Accelerator. There are about 10,000 PVs for operating the 100 MeV proton linac. It is important to archive the operating parameters for operating beam lines and machine study. The parameters are reported manually and with screenshot. There not fixed reporting type so it is difficult to compare archived data. To improve and compensate the reporting system, a Save and Restoration application, which is based on JAVA has been implemented and connected with KOMAC Control system based on EPICS with JCA library. The operating data are saved in Save and Restoration Server in file type, and are restored to the required values using the saved files. This paper presents Implementation of the Save and Restoration application and its function. The group list is shown in restore page using reload button. The saved value of the PVs in group is shown as selecting a group which clients require and current values are appeared beside the restore value table to compare with saved data. The set restore button input the values in restore value table to each PV. The Save and Restore application save and restore the value of the PVs that clients require. The application is installed in client PC but data are archived in save and restore server in file format.

Acquiring energy savings in manufactured housing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davey, D.

1993-01-01

In 1991, the Northwest utilities faced a complex situation. They needed new sources of electrical power to avoid future deficits. A significant block of energy savings was available in the manufactured housing sector in the form of energy savings from increased insulation to new manufactured homes. The manufacturers were interested in saving the electricity in the homes, but would only deal with the utility sector as a whole. Half of the homes targeted were sited in investor-owned utility (IOU) service territories, and half in the public sector made up of utilities that purchased some or all of their electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration. Utilities agreed to acquire energy from manufacturers In the form of thermal efficiency measures specified by the Bonneville Power Administration. The program that resulted from over one year of negotiations was called the Manufactured Housing Acquisition Program, or MAP. Manufacturers, the utilities, State Energy Offices, the Northwest Power Planning Council and Bonneville all worked closely and with tenacity to build the program that went into effect on April 1, 1992, and should save the region between 7 and 9 megawatts, enough energy to supply 11,000 homes in the Northwest

76 FR 20459 - Savings and Loan Holding Company Application

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-12

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision Savings and Loan Holding Company... concerning the following information collection. Title of Proposal: Savings and Loan Holding Company... officer of a savings and loan holding company, or any individual who owns, controls, or holds with power...

Spectral Difference in the Image Domain for Large Neighborhoods, a GEOBIA Pre-Processing Step for High Resolution Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roeland de Kok

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Contrast plays an important role in the visual interpretation of imagery. To mimic visual interpretation and using contrast in a Geographic Object Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA environment, it is useful to consider an analysis for single pixel objects. This should be done before applying homogeneity criteria in the aggregation of pixels for the construction of meaningful image objects. The habit or “best practice” to start GEOBIA with pixel aggregation into homogeneous objects should come with the awareness that feature attributes for single pixels are at risk of becoming less accessible for further analysis. Single pixel contrast with image convolution on close neighborhoods is a standard technique, also applied in edge detection. This study elaborates on the analysis of close as well as much larger neighborhoods inside the GEOBIA domain. The applied calculations are limited to the first segmentation step for single pixel objects in order to produce additional feature attributes for objects of interest to be generated in further aggregation processes. The equation presented functions at a level that is considered an intermediary product in the sequential processing of imagery. The procedure requires intensive processor and memory capacity. The resulting feature attributes highlight not only contrasting pixels (edges but also contrasting areas of local pixel groups. The suggested approach can be extended and becomes useful in classifying artificial areas at national scales using high resolution satellite mosaics.

75 FR 27863 - Savings Bank of Maine, MHC and Savings Bank of Maine, Gardiner, Maine; Approval of Conversion...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-18

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision [AC-38: OTS Nos. 06947 and H 4709] Savings Bank of Maine, MHC and Savings Bank of Maine, Gardiner, Maine; Approval of Conversion Application Notice is hereby given that on May 7, 2010, the Office of Thrift Supervision approved the application of...

Electricity saving in households. A social cognitive approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thoegersen, John; Groenhoej, Alice [Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences, Department of Marketing, Haslegaardsvej 10, DK-8210 Aarhus (Denmark)

2010-12-15

We propose a conceptual framework for understanding the (lack of) energy saving efforts of private households based on Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory. Results from applying this framework on a sample of Danish private electricity consumers are presented and it is concluded (a) that households' electricity consumption depends on both structural and motivational factors, (b) that their electricity saving effort depends on the strength of their internalized norms or self-expectations and on self-efficacy related factors, and (c) that there are predictable patterns of interaction among household members that influence their electricity consumption. The results suggest two approaches to promote electricity saving in households: (1) to change the socio-structural environment to be more facilitating for energy saving and empower householders to be more effective in their striving towards this goal through improved feedback about their household's electricity consumption and (2) social norms marketing, communicating social expectations and others' successful electricity saving achievements. (author)

Potential energy savings and thermal comfort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Karsten Ingerslev; Rudbeck, Claus Christian; Schultz, Jørgen Munthe

1996-01-01

The simulation results on the energy saving potential and influence on indoor thermal comfort by replacement of common windows with aerogel windows as well as commercial low-energy windows are described and analysed.......The simulation results on the energy saving potential and influence on indoor thermal comfort by replacement of common windows with aerogel windows as well as commercial low-energy windows are described and analysed....

76 FR 35085 - Savings and Loan Holding Company Application

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-15

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision Savings and Loan Holding Company... Proposal: Savings Loan Holding Company Application. OMB Number: 1550-0015. Form Numbers: H-(e). Description... that no company, or any director or officer of a savings and loan holding company, or any individual...

The EU must triple its energy saving policy effect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wesselink, B.; Eichhammer, W.; Harmsen, R.

2010-01-01

The impact of EU energy savings policy must triple to achieve the bloc’s 2020 energy savings goal. But such efforts could get a much better foundation if European leaders set a binding energy consumption target, rather than the current indicative savings target. The evidence for such

Invisible costs, visible savings.

Science.gov (United States)

Lefever, G

1999-08-01

By identifying hidden inventory costs, nurse managers can save money for the organization. Some measures include tracking and standardizing supplies, accurately evaluating patients' needs, and making informed purchasing decisions.

The High Cost of Saving Energy Dollars.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Patricia

1985-01-01

In alternative financing a private company provides the capital and expertise for improving school energy efficiency. Savings are split between the school system and the company. Options for municipal leasing, cost sharing, and shared savings are explained along with financial, procedural, and legal considerations. (MLF)

HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS AS A SOURCE OF INVESTMENT RESOURCES IN UKRAINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Nosova

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The approaches of scientists in definition of the household savings, the motives of their creation and the role they perform are identified; the role of household savings in the economy is described; the importance of household saving transformation from unorganized to organized forms is analyzed; the size of saving in financial and nonfinancial forms, its dynamics and structure are characterized; comparison between household savings and main macroeconomic indicators is conducted; ways of investment of households savings are discussed; the dynamics of deposits in banks and credit unions, the participation of households in collective investment schemes (private and corporate investment funds is characterized; the dynamics of household deposits in national and foreign currencies is shown; the dynamics of nominal value of investment fund’s securities, that have been placed among resident individuals are characterized; the dynamics of deposit accounts and the number of credit unions members are described; the comparative characteristics of different ways to invest money is given; the reasons of unorganized savings existence are marked; barriers to convert savings into investments and the ways of overcoming them are identified.

Who's in the business of saving lives?

Science.gov (United States)

Lee Chang, Pepe

2006-10-01

There are individuals, including children, dying needlessly in poverty-stricken third world countries. Many of these deaths could be prevented if pharmaceutical companies provided the drugs needed to save their lives. Some believe that because pharmaceutical companies have the power to save lives, and because they can do so with little effort, they have a special obligation. I argue that there is no distinction, with respect to obligations and responsibilities, between pharmaceutical companies and other types of companies. As a result, to hold pharmaceutical companies especially responsible for saving lives in third world countries is unjustified.

Must losing taxes on saving be harmful?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huizinga, Harry; Nielsen, Søren Bo

2004-01-01

on account of international tax evasion mayprevent the overall saving-investment tax wedge from becoming too high, and hencemay be beneficial for moderate preferences for public goods. A world with 'high-spending' governments, in contrast, is made worse off by the loss of saving taxes,and hence stands...... are financed by taxes on savingand investment. There is international cross-ownership of firms, and countries areassumed to be unable to tax away pure profits. Countries then face an incentiveto impose a rather high investment tax also borne by foreigners. In this setting,the loss of the saving tax instrument...

Public-opinion poll on energy saving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

A public-opinion poll was carried out on energy saving from November 26 to December 2, 1981, across the country. The number of persons participated in the survey was 5,000, whose age was 20 and above. The recovery ratio was 4,007 persons (80.1 %). The results of the survey and also the question-answer form are given with respective percentages. The questions were in the following three categories: (1) cognizance of energy saving - space-heating temperature, energy saving conscience use of private cars, purchase of highenergy consumption appliances; (2) energy for future - energy consumption, energy consumption trend, new types of energy, main sources of power generation, nuclear power in the overall electric power, apprehension toward nuclear power plants, safety measures in nuclear power plants; (3) governmental energy policy measures. (J.P.N.)

A CLS-based survivable and energy-saving WDM-PON architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Min; Zhong, Wen-De; Zhang, Zhenrong; Luan, Feng

2013-11-01

We propose and demonstrate an improved survivable and energy-saving WDM-PON with colorless ONUs. It incorporates both energy-saving and self-healing operations. A simple effective energy-saving scheme is proposed by including an energy-saving control unit in the OLT and a control unit at each ONU. The energy-saving scheme realizes both dozing and sleep (offline) modes, which greatly improves the energy-saving efficiency for WDM-PONs. An intelligent protection switching scheme is designed in the OLT, which can distinguish if an ONU is in dozing/sleep (offline) state or a fiber is faulty. Moreover, by monitoring the optical power of each channel on both working and protection paths, the OLT can know the connection status of every fiber path, thus facilitating an effective protection switching and a faster failure recovery. The improved WDM-PON architecture not only significantly reduces energy consumption, but also performs self-healing operation in practical operation scenarios. The scheme feasibility is experimentally verified with 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1.25 Gbit/s upstream transmissions. We also examine the energy-saving efficiency of our proposed energy-saving scheme by simulation, which reveals that energy saving mainly arises from the dozing mode, not from the sleep mode when the ONU is in the online state.

SPAR-H Step-by-Step Guidance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

W. J. Galyean; A. M. Whaley; D. L. Kelly; R. L. Boring

2011-05-01

This guide provides step-by-step guidance on the use of the SPAR-H method for quantifying Human Failure Events (HFEs). This guide is intended to be used with the worksheets provided in: 'The SPAR-H Human Reliability Analysis Method,' NUREG/CR-6883, dated August 2005. Each step in the process of producing a Human Error Probability (HEP) is discussed. These steps are: Step-1, Categorizing the HFE as Diagnosis and/or Action; Step-2, Rate the Performance Shaping Factors; Step-3, Calculate PSF-Modified HEP; Step-4, Accounting for Dependence, and; Step-5, Minimum Value Cutoff. The discussions on dependence are extensive and include an appendix that describes insights obtained from the psychology literature.

SPAR-H Step-by-Step Guidance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galyean, W.J.; Whaley, A.M.; Kelly, D.L.; Boring, R.L.

2011-01-01

This guide provides step-by-step guidance on the use of the SPAR-H method for quantifying Human Failure Events (HFEs). This guide is intended to be used with the worksheets provided in: 'The SPAR-H Human Reliability Analysis Method,' NUREG/CR-6883, dated August 2005. Each step in the process of producing a Human Error Probability (HEP) is discussed. These steps are: Step-1, Categorizing the HFE as Diagnosis and/or Action; Step-2, Rate the Performance Shaping Factors; Step-3, Calculate PSF-Modified HEP; Step-4, Accounting for Dependence, and; Step-5, Minimum Value Cutoff. The discussions on dependence are extensive and include an appendix that describes insights obtained from the psychology literature.

Valuation of Travel Time Savings in Viewpoint of WTA

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Chang-qiao; Liu, Yang; Liu, Xiao-ming

2014-01-01

In order to investigate the issues in measurement of value of travel time savings (VTTS), the willingness-to-accept (WTA) for the private car owner is studied by using surveyed data. It is convincing that trip purpose, trip length, time savings, cost savings, income, and allowance from employee have effects on the WTA. Moreover, influences of these variables are not the same for different trip purposes. For commuting trips, effects of income and allowance from employee are significant while time savings and cost savings are dominated for leisure and shopping trips. It is also found that WTA is much higher than expected which implies that there are a group of drivers who are not prone to switching to other trip modes other than passenger car. PMID:25530751

Valuation of travel time savings in viewpoint of WTA.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Chang-Qiao; Liu, Yang; Liu, Xiao-Ming

2014-01-01

In order to investigate the issues in measurement of value of travel time savings (VTTS), the willingness-to-accept (WTA) for the private car owner is studied by using surveyed data. It is convincing that trip purpose, trip length, time savings, cost savings, income, and allowance from employee have effects on the WTA. Moreover, influences of these variables are not the same for different trip purposes. For commuting trips, effects of income and allowance from employee are significant while time savings and cost savings are dominated for leisure and shopping trips. It is also found that WTA is much higher than expected which implies that there are a group of drivers who are not prone to switching to other trip modes other than passenger car.

SPAR-H Step-by-Step Guidance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

April M. Whaley; Dana L. Kelly; Ronald L. Boring; William J. Galyean

2012-06-01

Step-by-step guidance was developed recently at Idaho National Laboratory for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the use of the Standardized Plant Analysis Risk-Human Reliability Analysis (SPAR-H) method for quantifying Human Failure Events (HFEs). This work was done to address SPAR-H user needs, specifically requests for additional guidance on the proper application of various aspects of the methodology. This paper overviews the steps of the SPAR-H analysis process and highlights some of the most important insights gained during the development of the step-by-step directions. This supplemental guidance for analysts is applicable when plant-specific information is available, and goes beyond the general guidance provided in existing SPAR-H documentation. The steps highlighted in this paper are: Step-1, Categorizing the HFE as Diagnosis and/or Action; Step-2, Rate the Performance Shaping Factors; Step-3, Calculate PSF-Modified HEP; Step-4, Accounting for Dependence, and; Step-5, Minimum Value Cutoff.

Recording and Audit of Resource Saving Innovations at Modern Industrial Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. M.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Resource saving and energy saving are essential components of “energy security” problem in all the countries, which raises the importance of analysis and revision of approaches to organization of recording and audit of resource saving innovations at industrial companies. The article’s objective is to study organization of recording and audit of resource saving technologies at industrial companies. A review of resource saving purposes and methods is given. For accounting purposes, innovations in resource saving are recorded now as intangible assets. Recording of resource saving innovations and technologies at industrial companies is confined to recording of transactions on creation or acquisition of patent rights objects and intellectual property objects. The author’s approach to organization of audit by the conformity of resource saving innovations with M. Porter’s test is proposed. Data showing success story of a Ukrainian company manufacturing polyurethane foam sealant PENADO in the aerosol dispenser is used to confirm that Ukraine does have potentials to introduce and utilize resource saving technologies, including energy saving ones. The proposed model for recording and audit of resource saving innovations should be used in strategic planning of resource saving innovations at the companies incorporated in industrial groups or holdings. Using this model, a company can reveal and assess the mismatch between amounts of resources that can be allocated in innovation and real capacities for introducing innovative resource saving technologies, and factors having the strongest impact on recourse saving innovations at companies incorporated in one financial and industrial group or holding. The proposed model accounts for the specific operative conditions in holdings and tough conditions for business operation of industrial companies in Ukraine.

Cross-Country Private Saving Heterogeneity and Culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Castro Campos, M.; Kool, C.J.M.; Muysken, J.

2013-01-01

Motivated by the dominant role of cross-country heterogeneity in private saving in the creation of Eurozone imbalances over the past decade, we empirically investigate the determinants of private saving for a sample of 30 OECD countries over the period 1990-2010. In addition to standard

Rules of Thumb in Life-Cycle Saving Decisions

OpenAIRE

Winter, Joachim; Schlafmann, Kathrin; Rodepeter, Ralf

2011-01-01

We analyse life-cycle saving decisions when households use simple heuristics, or rules of thumb, rather than solve the underlying intertemporal optimization problem. We simulate life-cycle saving decisions using three simple rules and compute utility losses relative to the solution of the optimization problem. Our simulations suggest that utility losses induced by following simple decision rules are relatively low. Moreover, the two main saving motives re ected by the canonical life-cyc...

Liquidity in Retirement Savings Systems: An International Comparison

OpenAIRE

Beshears, John Leonard; Choi, James J.; Hurwitz, Joshua Bayard; Laibson, David I.; Madrian, Brigitte

2015-01-01

What is the socially optimal level of liquidity in a retirement savings system? Liquid retirement savings are desirable because liquidity enables agents to flexibly respond to pre-retirement events that raise the marginal utility of consumption. On the other hand, pre-retirement liquidity is undesirable when it leads to under-saving arising from, for example, planning mistakes or self-control problems. This paper compares the liquidity that six developed economies have built into their employ...

Application of enhanced electronegative multimodal chromatography as the primary capture step for immunoglobulin G purification.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yanli; Chen, Quan; Xian, Mo; Nian, Rui; Xu, Fei

2018-06-01

In recent studies, electronegative multimodal chromatography with Eshmuno HCX was demonstrated to be a highly promising recovery step for direct immunoglobulin G (IgG) capture from undiluted cell culture fluid. In this study, the binding properties of HCX to IgG at different pH/salt combinations were systematically studied, and its purification performance was significantly enhanced by lowering the washing pH and conductivity after high capacity binding of IgG under its optimal conditions. A single polishing step gave an end-product with non-histone host cell protein (nh-HCP) below 1 ppm, DNA less than 1 ppb, which aggregates less than 0.5% and an overall IgG recovery of 86.2%. The whole non-affinity chromatography based two-column-step process supports direct feed loading without buffer adjustment, thus extraordinarily boosting the overall productivity and cost-savings.

Estimates of Savings Achievable from Irrigation Controller

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Alison; Fuchs, Heidi; Whitehead, Camilla Dunham

2014-03-28

This paper performs a literature review and meta-analysis of water savings from several types of advanced irrigation controllers: rain sensors (RS), weather-based irrigation controllers (WBIC), and soil moisture sensors (SMS).The purpose of this work is to derive average water savings per controller type, based to the extent possible on all available data. After a preliminary data scrubbing, we utilized a series of analytical filters to develop our best estimate of average savings. We applied filters to remove data that might bias the sample such as data self-reported by manufacturers, data resulting from studies focusing on high-water users, or data presented in a non-comparable format such as based on total household water use instead of outdoor water use. Because the resulting number of studies was too small to be statistically significant when broken down by controller type, this paper represents a survey and synthesis of available data rather than a definitive statement regarding whether the estimated water savings are representative.

Long-run savings and investment strategy optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerrard, Russell; Guillén, Montserrat; Nielsen, Jens Perch; Pérez-Marín, Ana M

2014-01-01

We focus on automatic strategies to optimize life cycle savings and investment. Classical optimal savings theory establishes that, given the level of risk aversion, a saver would keep the same relative amount invested in risky assets at any given time. We show that, when optimizing lifecycle investment, performance and risk assessment have to take into account the investor's risk aversion and the maximum amount the investor could lose, simultaneously. When risk aversion and maximum possible loss are considered jointly, an optimal savings strategy is obtained, which follows from constant rather than relative absolute risk aversion. This result is fundamental to prove that if risk aversion and the maximum possible loss are both high, then holding a constant amount invested in the risky asset is optimal for a standard lifetime saving/pension process and outperforms some other simple strategies. Performance comparisons are based on downside risk-adjusted equivalence that is used in our illustration.

Long-Run Savings and Investment Strategy Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Russell Gerrard

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We focus on automatic strategies to optimize life cycle savings and investment. Classical optimal savings theory establishes that, given the level of risk aversion, a saver would keep the same relative amount invested in risky assets at any given time. We show that, when optimizing lifecycle investment, performance and risk assessment have to take into account the investor’s risk aversion and the maximum amount the investor could lose, simultaneously. When risk aversion and maximum possible loss are considered jointly, an optimal savings strategy is obtained, which follows from constant rather than relative absolute risk aversion. This result is fundamental to prove that if risk aversion and the maximum possible loss are both high, then holding a constant amount invested in the risky asset is optimal for a standard lifetime saving/pension process and outperforms some other simple strategies. Performance comparisons are based on downside risk-adjusted equivalence that is used in our illustration.

Reported Energy and Cost Savings from the DOE ESPC Program: FY 2014

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Slattery, Bob S. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-03-01

The objective of this work was to determine the realization rate of energy and cost savings from the Department of Energy’s Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) program based on information reported by the energy services companies (ESCOs) that are carrying out ESPC projects at federal sites. Information was extracted from 156 Measurement and Verification (M&V) reports to determine reported, estimated, and guaranteed cost savings and reported and estimated energy savings for the previous contract year. Because the quality of the reports varied, it was not possible to determine all of these parameters for each project. For all 156 projects, there was sufficient information to compare estimated, reported, and guaranteed cost savings. For this group, the total estimated cost savings for the reporting periods addressed were $210.6 million, total reported cost savings were $215.1 million, and total guaranteed cost savings were $204.5 million. This means that on average: ESPC contractors guaranteed 97% of the estimated cost savings; projects reported achieving 102% of the estimated cost savings; and projects reported achieving 105% of the guaranteed cost savings. For 155 of the projects examined, there was sufficient information to compare estimated and reported energy savings. On the basis of site energy, estimated savings for those projects for the previous year totaled 11.938 million MMBtu, and reported savings were 12.138 million MMBtu, 101.7% of the estimated energy savings. On the basis of source energy, total estimated energy savings for the 155 projects were 19.052 million MMBtu, and reported saving were 19.516 million MMBtu, 102.4% of the estimated energy savings.

Social and psychological barriers to private retirement savings in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Kee-Lee; Yu, Kar-Ming; Chan, Wai-Sum; Chan, Alfred C M; Lum, Terry Y S; Zhu, Alex Y F

2014-01-01

Using a phone survey conducted among Hong Kong workers, we examined the association of institutional, social, and psychological factors with engagement in both private retirement savings and the total amount of savings. Alarmingly, this study demonstrates that approximately 42% of Hong Kong workers do not save privately for their retirement. We found that age, education, number of children, support from spouse and friends, social regulation, perceived financial knowledge, and financial management capacity are associated with engagement in private retirement savings. Among those who saved, age, education, perceived financial knowledge, and financial management capacity are related to the amount of savings. Measures that could increase the social support for retirement savings as well as enhance their financial knowledge and management ability should be developed and implemented so that more workers engage in private retirement savings. A promising policy option for the Hong Kong government is to offer a tax incentive to promote additional savings for old-age income protection.

Saving in Childhood and Adolescence: Insights from Developmental Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Annette

2013-01-01

This paper addresses variables related to child and adolescent saving and explains the development of skills and behaviors that facilitate saving from an economic socialization perspective. References are made to the differences between the economic world of children, adolescents, and adults as well as to existing theories of saving. Children's…

Saving and Habit Formation : Evidence from Dutch Panel Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alessie, R.J.M.; Teppa, F.

2002-01-01

This paper focuses on the role of habit formation in individual preferences over consumption and saving.We closely relate to Alessie and Lusardi's (1997) model as we estimate a model which is based on their closed-form solution, where saving is expressed as a function of lagged saving and other

Risk transfer via energy savings insurance

OpenAIRE

Mills, Evan

2001-01-01

Among the key barriers to investment in energy efficiency improvements are uncertainties about attaining projected energy savings and apprehension about potential disputes over these savings. The fields of energy management and risk management are thus intertwined. While many technical methods have emerged to manage performance risks (e.g. building commissioning), financial risk transfer techniques are less developed in the energy management arena than in other more mature segments of t...

Saving doses by outage planning strategy and architectural arrangements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahlstroem, B.

1993-01-01

All radiation doses come out as a result of dose rate and exposure time, and the main part of the occupational exposure is caused during outages. While every reasonable attempt should be made to lower the dose rates, the other factor, the exposure time, may not be forgotten. The paper presents possible ways of saving man-hours in the controlled zone by outage planning strategy. And every saved man-hour means a saved radiation dose. At Loviisa NPS also some special architectural arrangements contribute to shortening the outage time, thus saving doses

Saving Energy. Managing School Facilities, Guide 3.

Science.gov (United States)

Department for Education and Employment, London (England). Architects and Building Branch.

This guide offers information on how schools can implement an energy saving action plan to reduce their energy costs. Various low-cost energy-saving measures are recommended covering heating levels and heating systems, electricity demand reduction and lighting, ventilation, hot water usage, and swimming pool energy management. Additional…

Estimating the energy saving potential of telecom operators in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Tian-Jian; Zhang, Yue-Jun; Huang, Jin; Peng, Ruo-Hong

2013-01-01

A set of models are employed to estimate the potential of total energy saved of productions and segmented energy saving for telecom operators in China. During the estimation, the total energy saving is divided into that by technology and management, which are derived from technical reform and progress, and management control measures and even marketing respectively, and the estimating methodologies for energy saving potential of each segment are elaborated. Empirical results from China Mobile indicate that, first, the technical advance in communications technology accounts for the largest proportion (70%–80%) of the total energy saved of productions in telecom sector of China. Second, technical reform brings about 20%–30% of the total energy saving. Third, the proportions of energy saving brought by marketing and control measures appear relatively smaller, just less than 3%. Therefore, China's telecom operators should seize the opportunity of the revolution of communications network techniques in recent years to create an advanced network with lower energy consumption

21 Cost-Saving Measures For The Judiciary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica Vapnek

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Courts around the world are increasingly facing budget cuts and funding shortfalls. Budget problems are particularly acute in developing countries, where courts need to increase efficiency and access to justice while also managing resource limitations. International development agencies and donors expect measurable progress to justify continued funding of judicial reform projects. Yet, as rule of law efforts in developing countries improve public perception of courts and streamline court administration, more cases may be filed. Greater use of the courts puts greater strain on court resources, triggering the need to implement cost-saving measures while maintaining effective court administration.This paper outlines 21 measures that courts can implement to reduce costs. Specific examples from developing countries are presented wherever possible, with additional examples drawn from the United States and Europe. Although this paper is intended mainly for audiences in developing countries, the issues facing those courts are similar to issues addressed through court reforms in the United States over the past 50 years. For this reason, examples of cost-saving measures from developed countries such as the United States may be directly applicable or could be used as starting points to spur further cost savings innovation in the developing world.Section I of this paper explains the context for the implementation of judicial cost-saving measures, and raises some issues for reflection. Section II sets out specific judicial cost-saving measures, dividing them into three categories: measures that address court operations; measures directed at staffing and salaries; and measures that relate to court and case management. Section III discusses ways that countries and judiciaries can generate ideas for new and innovative cost-saving mechanisms.

Modelling the impact of social network on energy savings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, Feng; Zhang, Jiangfeng; Li, Hailong; Yan, Jinyue; Galloway, Stuart; Lo, Kwok L.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Energy saving propagation along a social network is modelled. • This model consists of a time evolving weighted directed network. • Network weights and information decay are applied in savings calculation. - Abstract: It is noted that human behaviour changes can have a significant impact on energy consumption, however, qualitative study on such an impact is still very limited, and it is necessary to develop the corresponding mathematical models to describe how much energy savings can be achieved through human engagement. In this paper a mathematical model of human behavioural dynamic interactions on a social network is derived to calculate energy savings. This model consists of a weighted directed network with time evolving information on each node. Energy savings from the whole network is expressed as mathematical expectation from probability theory. This expected energy savings model includes both direct and indirect energy savings of individuals in the network. The savings model is obtained by network weights and modified by the decay of information. Expected energy savings are calculated for cases where individuals in the social network are treated as a single information source or multiple sources. This model is tested on a social network consisting of 40 people. The results show that the strength of relations between individuals is more important to information diffusion than the number of connections individuals have. The expected energy savings of optimally chosen node can be 25.32% more than randomly chosen nodes at the end of the second month for the case of single information source in the network, and 16.96% more than random nodes for the case of multiple information sources. This illustrates that the model presented in this paper can be used to determine which individuals will have the most influence on the social network, which in turn provides a useful guide to identify targeted customers in energy efficiency technology rollout

Social Capital, Network Effects and Savings in Rural Vietnam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Newman, Carol; Tarp, Finn; Van Den Broeck, Katleen

social networks in rural Vietnam can play a role in increasing formal savings where knowledge gaps exist. Networks are defined as active membership of women’s unions and the quality of networks is measured by the level of formal savings observed among group members. We find that membership of high...... quality networks leads to higher levels of saving in formal financial institutions and to higher levels of saving for productive investments as compared with other precautionary or lifecycle motives. Our results suggest that transmitting financial information through formal networks could be effective...... in increasing formal savings at grassroots level. We also conclude that ensuring information disseminated by networks is both accurate and desirable as well as important given that behavioural effects are also found in low-quality networks....

Valuation of Travel Time Savings in Viewpoint of WTA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang-qiao Shao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In order to investigate the issues in measurement of value of travel time savings (VTTS, the willingness-to-accept (WTA for the private car owner is studied by using surveyed data. It is convincing that trip purpose, trip length, time savings, cost savings, income, and allowance from employee have effects on the WTA. Moreover, influences of these variables are not the same for different trip purposes. For commuting trips, effects of income and allowance from employee are significant while time savings and cost savings are dominated for leisure and shopping trips. It is also found that WTA is much higher than expected which implies that there are a group of drivers who are not prone to switching to other trip modes other than passenger car.

Saving and credit cooperatives in Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha E. Izquierdo Muciño

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The Saving service and Credit Popular (Cajas de Ahorro y Credito Popular first appeared in Mexico in 1951 at the initiative of the priest Pedro Velazquez, similar to the popular savings banks that existed in Canada, which had been founded by Alphonse Desjardins in the early XX century.These savings service (Cajas de Ahorro were developing successfully in almost all Mexican communities, most of them remained faithful to the principles and ordinances of the church that gave rise to them, without the government participate in this activity and without policies encouraging or regulatory actions. It was not until 1991 when the General Law of Organizations and Auxiliary Credit Activities (Ley General de Organizaciones y Actividades was enacted. However in 2000 they began to emerge problems arising from fraudulent activities by some people taking advantage of loopholes established irregular saving services. Consequently and in order to solve these problems was changing the law. The last of the fraud occurred with the popular financial called FICREA (2015, to which was amended regulatory law again and while thus sought to avoid another fraud, who really was affected is a large amount very poor indigenous and peasants.Received: 03.06.2015Accepted: 17.07.2015

The creation of the SAVE consortium – Saving Asia's Vultures from ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article describes the background to this problem, caused mainly by the veterinary drug diclofenac, and the establishment and structure of the SAVE consortium created to help coordinate the necessary conservation response. The lessons learnt in Asia and the working model of such a consortium are presented, which ...

Insurance choice and tax-preferred health savings accounts.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardon, James H; Showalter, Mark H

2007-03-01

We develop an infinite horizon utility maximization model of the interaction between insurance choice and tax-preferred health savings accounts. The model can be used to examine a wide range of policy options, including flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, and health reimbursement accounts. We also develop a 2-period model to simulate various implications of the model. Key results from the simulation analysis include the following: (1) with no adverse selection, use of unrestricted health savings accounts leads to modest welfare gains, after accounting for the tax revenue loss; (2) with adverse selection and an initial pooling equilibrium comprised of "sick" and "healthy" consumers, introducing HSAs can, but does not necessarily, lead to a new pooling equilibrium. The new equilibrium results in a higher coinsurance rate, an increase in expected utility for healthy consumers, and a decrease in expected utility for sick consumers; (3) with adverse selection and a separating equilibrium, both sick and healthy consumers are better off with a health savings account; (4) efficiency gains are possible when insurance contracts are explicitly linked to tax-preferred health savings accounts.

Option pricing: a flexible tool to disseminate shared savings contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedberg, Mark W; Buendia, Anthony M; Lauderdale, Katherine E; Hussey, Peter S

2013-08-01

Due to volatility in healthcare costs, shared savings contracts can create systematic financial losses for payers, especially when contracting with smaller providers. To improve the business case for shared savings, we calculated the prices of financial options that payers can "sell" to providers to offset these losses. Using 2009 to 2010 member-level total cost of care data from a large commercial health plan, we calculated option prices by applying a bootstrap simulation procedure. We repeated these simulations for providers of sizes ranging from 500 to 60,000 patients and for shared savings contracts with and without key design features (minimum savings thresholds,bonus caps, cost outlier truncation, and downside risk) and under assumptions of zero, 1%, and 2% real cost reductions due to the shared savings contracts. Assuming no real cost reduction and a 50% shared savings rate, per patient option prices ranged from $225 (3.1% of overall costs) for 500-patient providers to $23 (0.3%) for 60,000-patient providers. Introducing minimum savings thresholds, bonus caps, cost outlier truncation, and downside risk reduced these option prices. Option prices were highly sensitive to the magnitude of real cost reductions. If shared savings contracts cause 2% reductions in total costs, option prices fall to zero for all but the smallest providers. Calculating the prices of financial options that protect payers and providers from downside risk can inject flexibility into shared savings contracts, extend such contracts to smaller providers, and clarify the tradeoffs between different contract designs, potentially speeding the dissemination of shared savings.

Taxation and the household saving rate: evidence from OECD countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vito Tanzi

2000-03-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes anew the relationship between taxation and the household saving rate. On the basis of standard savings and tax revenue data from a sample of OECD countries, it provides compelling empirical evidence of a powerful impact of taxes on household savings. In particular, income taxes are shown to affect negatively the household saving rate much more than consumption taxes.

International Best Practices for Pre-Processing and Co-Processing Municipal Solid Waste and Sewage Sludge in the Cement Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hasanbeigi, Ali [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lu, Hongyou [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Williams, Christopher [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Price, Lynn [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2012-07-01

The purpose of this report is to describe international best practices for pre-processing and coprocessing of MSW and sewage sludge in cement plants, for the benefit of countries that wish to develop co-processing capacity. The report is divided into three main sections. Section 2 describes the fundamentals of co-processing, Section 3 describes exemplary international regulatory and institutional frameworks for co-processing, and Section 4 describes international best practices related to the technological aspects of co-processing.

Saving Face and Group Identity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Tor; Mao, Lei; Villeval, Marie-Claire

2015-01-01

their self- but also other group members' image. This behavior is frequent even in the absence of group identity. When group identity is more salient, individuals help regardless of whether the least performer is an in-group or an out-group. This suggests that saving others' face is a strong social norm.......Are people willing to sacrifice resources to save one's and others' face? In a laboratory experiment, we study whether individuals forego resources to avoid the public exposure of the least performer in their group. We show that a majority of individuals are willing to pay to preserve not only...

Private savings and financial modernization in Mexico, 1988-95

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julio Lopez G.

2000-09-01

Full Text Available The evolution of private savings has attracted a lot of attention in the controversy about the origins of Mexico's 1995 crisis. In this paper the authors analyze the evolution of private savings in Mexico using the theory of effective demand as a framework and making use of econometric estimates. In this context, they analyze the impact of the financial reforms, and in particular the effect of liberalization and deregulation of the financial system on private savings in Mexico from 1980 to 1995. The authors formulate an explanation of the determinants of private savingsand the impact of the strategy of "financial modernization" on private savings, by specifying a model that allows to identify the influence of monetary and credit policies on savings. Then they carry out econometric estimates that lend empirical support to the main conclusions of the theoretical analysis. Their econometric work confirm notably that private savings has been low due to a series of changes in monetary policy that favored the contraction of private demand and led to greater foreign indebtedness.

Saving water to save the environment: Contrasting the effectiveness of environmental and monetary appeals in a residential water saving intervention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tijs, M.S.; Karremans, J.C.T.M.; Veling, H.P.; Lange, M.A. de; Meegeren, P. van; Lion, R.

2017-01-01

To convince people to reduce their energy consumption, two types of persuasive appeals often are used by environmental organizations: Monetary appeals (i.e., 'conserving energy will save you money') and environmental appeals (i.e., 'conserving energy will protect the environment'). In this field

Ultrasonic transesterification of Jatrophacurcas L. oil to biodiesel by a two-step process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng, Xin; Fang, Zhen; Liu, Yun-hu [Biomass Group, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Xuefulu, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223 (China)

2010-12-15

Transesterification of high free fatty acid content Jatropha oil with methanol to biodiesel catalyzed directly by NaOH and high-concentrated H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} or by two-step process were studied in an ultrasonic reactor at 60 C. If NaOH was used as catalyst, biodiesel yield was only 47.2% with saponification problem. With H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} as catalyst, biodiesel yield was increased to 92.8%. However, longer reaction time (4 h) was needed and the biodiesel was not stable. A two-step, acid-esterification and base-transesterification process was further used for biodiesel production. It was found that after the first-step pretreatment with H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} for 1 h, the acid value of Jatropha oil was reduced from 10.45 to 1.2 mg KOH/g, and subsequently, NaOH was used for the second-step transesterification. Stable and clear yellowish biodiesel was obtained with 96.4% yield after reaction for 0.5 h. The total production time was only 1.5 h that is just half of the previous reported. The two-step process with ultrasonic radiation is effective and time-saving for biodiesel production from Jatropha oil. (author)

Ultrasonic transesterification of Jatrophacurcas L. oil to biodiesel by a two-step process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng Xin [Biomass Group, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Xuefulu, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223 (China); Fang Zhen, E-mail: zhenfang@xtbg.ac.c [Biomass Group, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Xuefulu, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223 (China); Liu Yunhu [Biomass Group, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Xuefulu, Kunming, Yunnan Province 650223 (China)

2010-12-15

Transesterification of high free fatty acid content Jatropha oil with methanol to biodiesel catalyzed directly by NaOH and high-concentrated H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} or by two-step process were studied in an ultrasonic reactor at 60 deg. C. If NaOH was used as catalyst, biodiesel yield was only 47.2% with saponification problem. With H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} as catalyst, biodiesel yield was increased to 92.8%. However, longer reaction time (4 h) was needed and the biodiesel was not stable. A two-step, acid-esterification and base-transesterification process was further used for biodiesel production. It was found that after the first-step pretreatment with H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} for 1 h, the acid value of Jatropha oil was reduced from 10.45 to 1.2 mg KOH/g, and subsequently, NaOH was used for the second-step transesterification. Stable and clear yellowish biodiesel was obtained with 96.4% yield after reaction for 0.5 h. The total production time was only 1.5 h that is just half of the previous reported. The two-step process with ultrasonic radiation is effective and time-saving for biodiesel production from Jatropha oil.

Predicting prices of agricultural commodities in Thailand using combined approach emphasizing on data pre-processing technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thoranin Sujjaviriyasup

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this research, a combined approach emphasizing on data pre-processing technique is developed to forecast prices of agricultural commodities in Thailand. The future prices play significant role in decision making to cultivate crops in next year. The proposed model takes ability of MODWT to decompose original time series data into more stable and explicit subseries, and SVR model to formulate complex function of forecasting. The experimental results indicated that the proposed model outperforms traditional forecasting models based on MAE and MAPE criteria. Furthermore, the proposed model reveals that it is able to be a useful forecasting tool for prices of agricultural commodities in Thailand

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN MANAGEMENT OF ENERGY SAVING PROJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Дмитро Валерійович МАРГАСОВ

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The information technology structure is considered of energy saving projects. The project management diagram of energy saving projects is developed, using GIS, ICS, BIM and other control and visual systems.

Comparing Sprinkler and Surface Irrigation for Wheat Using Multi-Criteria Analysis: Water Saving vs. Economic Returns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanaa Darouich

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Coping with water scarcity using supplemental irrigation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. in the semi-arid northeast Syria is a great challenge for sustainable water use in agriculture. Graded borders and set sprinkler systems were compared using multi-criteria analysis. Alternative solutions for surface irrigation and for sprinkler systems were developed with the SADREG and the PROASPER design models, respectively. For each alternative, two deficit irrigation strategies were considered, which were characterized using indicators relative to irrigation water use, yields and water productivity, including farm economic returns. Alternatives were ranked considering two contrasting priorities: economic returns and water saving. A first step in ranking led to a selection of graded borders with and without precise land levelling and of solid set and semi-permanent sprinkler systems. Precise-levelled borders were better for water saving, while non-precise ones ranked higher for economic returns. Semi-permanent set systems have been shown to be better in economic terms and similar to solid set systems when water saving is prioritized. Semi-permanent sprinkler systems rank first when comparing all type of systems together regardless of the considered deficit irrigation strategy. Likely, border irrigation is appropriate when wheat is in rotation with cotton if the latter is surface irrigated. When peace becomes effective, appropriate economic incentives and training for farmers are required to implement innovative approaches.

Penyelesaian Persoalan Transportasi Fuzzy Cost Menggunakan Pendekatan Basis Tree dan Metode Nwc-stepping Stone

OpenAIRE

Ari, Maxsi; Herman, Asep

2013-01-01

The issue of transportation is a linier program. Practically, variables of transportation problems may vary that emerges more than single. Fuzzy cost idea in transportation problems is required. The application of basis tree approach and NWC-Stepping Stone method is used to determine a minimum cost of purchase and delivery of commodity occurred for some suppliers. The company can do a cost-saving and be more effective in determining goods purchase from the supplier. The method used is quanti...

Realized Cost Savings 2016

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — This dataset is provided as a requirement of OMB’s Integrated Data Collection (IDC) and links to VA’s Realized Cost Savings and Avoidances data in JSON format. Cost...

Mission aware energy saving strategies for Army ground vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Dattathreya, Macam S.

Fuel energy is a basic necessity for this planet and the modern technology to perform many activities on earth. On the other hand, quadrupled automotive vehicle usage by the commercial industry and military has increased fuel consumption. Military readiness of Army ground vehicles is very important for a country to protect its people and resources. Fuel energy is a major requirement for Army ground vehicles. According to a report, a department of defense has spent nearly $13.6 billion on fuel and electricity to conduct ground missions. On the contrary, energy availability on this plant is slowly decreasing. Therefore, saving energy in Army ground vehicles is very important. Army ground vehicles are embedded with numerous electronic systems to conduct missions such as silent and normal stationary surveillance missions. Increasing electrical energy consumption of these systems is influencing higher fuel consumption of the vehicle. To save energy, the vehicles can use any of the existing techniques, but they require complex, expensive, and time consuming implementations. Therefore, cheaper and simpler approaches are required. In addition, the solutions have to save energy according to mission needs and also overcome size and weight constraints of the vehicle. Existing research in the current literature do not have any mission aware approaches to save energy. This dissertation research proposes mission aware online energy saving strategies for stationary Army ground vehicles to save energy as well as to meet the electrical needs of the vehicle during surveillance missions. The research also proposes theoretical models of surveillance missions, fuzzy logic models of engine and alternator efficiency data, and fuzzy logic algorithms. Based on these models, two energy saving strategies are proposed for silent and normal surveillance type of missions. During silent mission, the engine is on and batteries power the systems. During normal surveillance mission, the engine is

Crushing leads to waste disposal savings for FUSRAP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Darby, J. [Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

1997-02-01

In this article the author discusses the application of a rock crusher as a means of implementing cost savings in the remediation of FUSRAP sites. Transportation and offsite disposal costs are at present the biggest cost items in the remediation of FUSRAP sites. If these debris disposal problems can be handled in different manners, then remediation savings are available. Crushing can result in the ability to handle some wastes as soil disposal problems, which have different disposal regulations, thereby permitting cost savings.

Realization of Tip Tilting By 8-Step Line Tilting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yingtian; Zhang Yang; Lim, Boon Ham; Lim, Chen Sin; Hu Sen; Ho, Tso-Hsiu

2009-01-01

By direct calculation of rotation matrices of SO(3), we show how certain specific sequence of eight consecutive rotations of digital angles can yield a tilting of a facet mirror. We also design a detailed program specifically to tilt an array of mirrors from planar orientation to the required focusing orientation. We describe how to use the 8-step to realize the focusing of the mirror array. We have found, in our designed program, an important feature of row-sharing during the rotations for the columns and similarly the column-sharing during the rotations for the row. This feature can save a lot of operating time during the actual realization of the mechanical movements.

Public administration electricity savings. Offentlige energibesparelser; Nyere danske erfaringer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gjelstrup, G

1991-01-01

Analysis on how different types of public authorities experienced carrying out electricity savings showed that the individual public authority's internal political-administrative organizational form is of major importance for the possibilities of realizing potential electricity savings. In addition, it can be concluded that only certain public authorities have utilized external assistance in connection with effecting electricity savings. In these cases there has been some accordance between the particular authority's internal, political-administrative, organization and the organizational form presupposed in the external assistance offered. In spite of this, the public authorities in question have, in general, not progressed very far with electricity savings. Part of the reason for this lies namely in the fact that the special importance the mode of organization has for electricity savings, has been overlooked in this type of assistance. (CLS) 43 refs.

Public administration electricity savings. Offentlige energibesparelser; Nyere danske erfaringer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gjelstrup, G.

1991-01-01

Analysis on how different types of public authorities experienced carrying out electricity savings showed that the individual public authority's internal political-administrative organizational form is of major importance for the possibilities of realizing potential electricity savings. In addition, it can be concluded that only certain public authorities have utilized external assistance in connection with effecting electricity savings. In these cases there has been some accordance between the particular authority's internal, political-administrative, organization and the organizational form presupposed in the external assistance offered. In spite of this, the public authorities in question have, in general, not progressed very far with electricity savings. Part of the reason for this lies namely in the fact that the special importance the mode of organization has for electricity savings, has been overlooked in this type of assistance. (CLS) 43 refs.

INFLUENCE OF RAW IMAGE PREPROCESSING AND OTHER SELECTED PROCESSES ON ACCURACY OF CLOSE-RANGE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SYSTEMS ACCORDING TO VDI 2634

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Reznicek

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the influence of raw image preprocessing and other selected processes on the accuracy of close-range photogrammetric measurement. The examined processes and features includes: raw image preprocessing, sensor unflatness, distance-dependent lens distortion, extending the input observations (image measurements by incorporating all RGB colour channels, ellipse centre eccentricity and target detecting. The examination of each effect is carried out experimentally by performing the validation procedure proposed in the German VDI guideline 2634/1. The validation procedure is based on performing standard photogrammetric measurements of high-accurate calibrated measuring lines (multi-scale bars with known lengths (typical uncertainty = 5 μm at 2 sigma. The comparison of the measured lengths with the known values gives the maximum length measurement error LME, which characterize the accuracy of the validated photogrammetric system. For higher reliability the VDI test field was photographed ten times independently with the same configuration and camera settings. The images were acquired with the metric ALPA 12WA camera. The tests are performed on all ten measurements which gives the possibility to measure the repeatability of the estimated parameters as well. The influences are examined by comparing the quality characteristics of the reference and tested settings.

Zseq: An Approach for Preprocessing Next-Generation Sequencing Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhateeb, Abedalrhman; Rueda, Luis

2017-08-01

Next-generation sequencing technology generates a huge number of reads (short sequences), which contain a vast amount of genomic data. The sequencing process, however, comes with artifacts. Preprocessing of sequences is mandatory for further downstream analysis. We present Zseq, a linear method that identifies the most informative genomic sequences and reduces the number of biased sequences, sequence duplications, and ambiguous nucleotides. Zseq finds the complexity of the sequences by counting the number of unique k-mers in each sequence as its corresponding score and also takes into the account other factors such as ambiguous nucleotides or high GC-content percentage in k-mers. Based on a z-score threshold, Zseq sweeps through the sequences again and filters those with a z-score less than the user-defined threshold. Zseq algorithm is able to provide a better mapping rate; it reduces the number of ambiguous bases significantly in comparison with other methods. Evaluation of the filtered reads has been conducted by aligning the reads and assembling the transcripts using the reference genome as well as de novo assembly. The assembled transcripts show a better discriminative ability to separate cancer and normal samples in comparison with another state-of-the-art method. Moreover, de novo assembled transcripts from the reads filtered by Zseq have longer genomic sequences than other tested methods. Estimating the threshold of the cutoff point is introduced using labeling rules with optimistic results.

ASAP: an environment for automated preprocessing of sequencing data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torstenson Eric S

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Next-generation sequencing (NGS has yielded an unprecedented amount of data for genetics research. It is a daunting task to process the data from raw sequence reads to variant calls and manually processing this data can significantly delay downstream analysis and increase the possibility for human error. The research community has produced tools to properly prepare sequence data for analysis and established guidelines on how to apply those tools to achieve the best results, however, existing pipeline programs to automate the process through its entirety are either inaccessible to investigators, or web-based and require a certain amount of administrative expertise to set up. Findings Advanced Sequence Automated Pipeline (ASAP was developed to provide a framework for automating the translation of sequencing data into annotated variant calls with the goal of minimizing user involvement without the need for dedicated hardware or administrative rights. ASAP works both on computer clusters and on standalone machines with minimal human involvement and maintains high data integrity, while allowing complete control over the configuration of its component programs. It offers an easy-to-use interface for submitting and tracking jobs as well as resuming failed jobs. It also provides tools for quality checking and for dividing jobs into pieces for maximum throughput. Conclusions ASAP provides an environment for building an automated pipeline for NGS data preprocessing. This environment is flexible for use and future development. It is freely available at http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ASAP.

ASAP: an environment for automated preprocessing of sequencing data.

Science.gov (United States)

Torstenson, Eric S; Li, Bingshan; Li, Chun

2013-01-04

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has yielded an unprecedented amount of data for genetics research. It is a daunting task to process the data from raw sequence reads to variant calls and manually processing this data can significantly delay downstream analysis and increase the possibility for human error. The research community has produced tools to properly prepare sequence data for analysis and established guidelines on how to apply those tools to achieve the best results, however, existing pipeline programs to automate the process through its entirety are either inaccessible to investigators, or web-based and require a certain amount of administrative expertise to set up. Advanced Sequence Automated Pipeline (ASAP) was developed to provide a framework for automating the translation of sequencing data into annotated variant calls with the goal of minimizing user involvement without the need for dedicated hardware or administrative rights. ASAP works both on computer clusters and on standalone machines with minimal human involvement and maintains high data integrity, while allowing complete control over the configuration of its component programs. It offers an easy-to-use interface for submitting and tracking jobs as well as resuming failed jobs. It also provides tools for quality checking and for dividing jobs into pieces for maximum throughput. ASAP provides an environment for building an automated pipeline for NGS data preprocessing. This environment is flexible for use and future development. It is freely available at http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ASAP.

ASAP: an environment for automated preprocessing of sequencing data

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has yielded an unprecedented amount of data for genetics research. It is a daunting task to process the data from raw sequence reads to variant calls and manually processing this data can significantly delay downstream analysis and increase the possibility for human error. The research community has produced tools to properly prepare sequence data for analysis and established guidelines on how to apply those tools to achieve the best results, however, existing pipeline programs to automate the process through its entirety are either inaccessible to investigators, or web-based and require a certain amount of administrative expertise to set up. Findings Advanced Sequence Automated Pipeline (ASAP) was developed to provide a framework for automating the translation of sequencing data into annotated variant calls with the goal of minimizing user involvement without the need for dedicated hardware or administrative rights. ASAP works both on computer clusters and on standalone machines with minimal human involvement and maintains high data integrity, while allowing complete control over the configuration of its component programs. It offers an easy-to-use interface for submitting and tracking jobs as well as resuming failed jobs. It also provides tools for quality checking and for dividing jobs into pieces for maximum throughput. Conclusions ASAP provides an environment for building an automated pipeline for NGS data preprocessing. This environment is flexible for use and future development. It is freely available at http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ASAP. PMID:23289815

An efficient depth map preprocessing method based on structure-aided domain transform smoothing for 3D view generation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Liu

Full Text Available Depth image-based rendering (DIBR, which is used to render virtual views with a color image and the corresponding depth map, is one of the key techniques in the 2D to 3D conversion process. Due to the absence of knowledge about the 3D structure of a scene and its corresponding texture, DIBR in the 2D to 3D conversion process, inevitably leads to holes in the resulting 3D image as a result of newly-exposed areas. In this paper, we proposed a structure-aided depth map preprocessing framework in the transformed domain, which is inspired by recently proposed domain transform for its low complexity and high efficiency. Firstly, our framework integrates hybrid constraints including scene structure, edge consistency and visual saliency information in the transformed domain to improve the performance of depth map preprocess in an implicit way. Then, adaptive smooth localization is cooperated and realized in the proposed framework to further reduce over-smoothness and enhance optimization in the non-hole regions. Different from the other similar methods, the proposed method can simultaneously achieve the effects of hole filling, edge correction and local smoothing for typical depth maps in a united framework. Thanks to these advantages, it can yield visually satisfactory results with less computational complexity for high quality 2D to 3D conversion. Numerical experimental results demonstrate the excellent performances of the proposed method.

QSpike Tools: a Generic Framework for Parallel Batch Preprocessing of Extracellular Neuronal Signals Recorded by Substrate Microelectrode Arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mufti eMahmud

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs have emerged as a mature technique to investigate brain (dysfunctions in vivo and in in vitro animal models. Often referred to as smart Petri dishes, MEAs has demonstrated a great potential particularly for medium-throughput studies in vitro, both in academic and pharmaceutical industrial contexts. Enabling rapid comparison of ionic/pharmacological/genetic manipulations with control conditions, MEAs are often employed to screen compounds by monitoring non-invasively the spontaneous and evoked neuronal electrical activity in longitudinal studies, with relatively inexpensive equipment. However, in order to acquire sufficient statistical significance, recordings last up to tens of minutes and generate large amount of raw data (e.g., 60 channels/MEA, 16 bits A/D conversion, 20kHz sampling rate: ~8GB/MEA,h uncompressed. Thus, when the experimental conditions to be tested are numerous, the availability of fast, standardized, and automated signal preprocessing becomes pivotal for any subsequent analysis and data archiving. To this aim, we developed an in-house cloud-computing system, named QSpike Tools, where CPU-intensive operations, required for preprocessing of each recorded channel (e.g., filtering, multi-unit activity detection, spike-sorting, etc., are decomposed and batch-queued to a multi-core architecture or to computer cluster. With the commercial availability of new and inexpensive high-density MEAs, we believe that disseminating QSpike Tools might facilitate its wide adoption and customization, and possibly inspire the creation of community-supported cloud-computing facilities for MEAs users.

QSpike tools: a generic framework for parallel batch preprocessing of extracellular neuronal signals recorded by substrate microelectrode arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmud, Mufti; Pulizzi, Rocco; Vasilaki, Eleni; Giugliano, Michele

2014-01-01

Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs) have emerged as a mature technique to investigate brain (dys)functions in vivo and in in vitro animal models. Often referred to as "smart" Petri dishes, MEAs have demonstrated a great potential particularly for medium-throughput studies in vitro, both in academic and pharmaceutical industrial contexts. Enabling rapid comparison of ionic/pharmacological/genetic manipulations with control conditions, MEAs are employed to screen compounds by monitoring non-invasively the spontaneous and evoked neuronal electrical activity in longitudinal studies, with relatively inexpensive equipment. However, in order to acquire sufficient statistical significance, recordings last up to tens of minutes and generate large amount of raw data (e.g., 60 channels/MEA, 16 bits A/D conversion, 20 kHz sampling rate: approximately 8 GB/MEA,h uncompressed). Thus, when the experimental conditions to be tested are numerous, the availability of fast, standardized, and automated signal preprocessing becomes pivotal for any subsequent analysis and data archiving. To this aim, we developed an in-house cloud-computing system, named QSpike Tools, where CPU-intensive operations, required for preprocessing of each recorded channel (e.g., filtering, multi-unit activity detection, spike-sorting, etc.), are decomposed and batch-queued to a multi-core architecture or to a computers cluster. With the commercial availability of new and inexpensive high-density MEAs, we believe that disseminating QSpike Tools might facilitate its wide adoption and customization, and inspire the creation of community-supported cloud-computing facilities for MEAs users.

Consumption, Saving, Investment, and Unemployment. SVAR Tests of the Effects of Changes in the Consumption-Saving Pattern

OpenAIRE

Roberto Bande Ramudo; Manuel Fernández Grela; Mª Dolores Riveiro García

2011-01-01

In this paper we aim to provide information about the transmission mechanism at work between investment and unemployment by looking at the consumption-saving pattern as a determinant of investment behaviour. Our starting hypothesis is that permanent shifts in the consumption-saving pattern will have permanent effects on investment, with subsequent consequences for the unemployment rate. To test this hypothesis we build an SVAR model for the Spanish economy seeking information about the respon...

More than 30 per cent energy savings possible with LEDs in gerbera : substantial energy savings and little loss in production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Helm, van der F.P.M.

2015-01-01

By installing LED-lighting and limiting it to 80 instead of 100 μmol gerbera growers can save 30 per cent on energy without any great loss in production, according to research. Light integration and interlighting don’t yet deliver any savings.

Recording and Audit of Resource Saving Innovations at Modern Industrial Companies

OpenAIRE

I. M.

2017-01-01

Resource saving and energy saving are essential components of “energy security” problem in all the countries, which raises the importance of analysis and revision of approaches to organization of recording and audit of resource saving innovations at industrial companies. The article’s objective is to study organization of recording and audit of resource saving technologies at industrial companies. A review of resource saving purposes and methods is given. For accounting purposes, innovati...

The HIV Anticaptory Saving Motive : An Empirical Analysis in South Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lammers, J.; van de Kuilen, G.

2007-01-01

This paper studies the effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on saving behaviour. Two important characteristics of HIV result in opposing forces on savings: mortality increases, which reduces savings, and long-term illness risk increases, which enhances savings. We use a two period life-cycle model with

Combined data preprocessing and multivariate statistical analysis characterizes fed-batch culture of mouse hybridoma cells for rational medium design.

Science.gov (United States)

Selvarasu, Suresh; Kim, Do Yun; Karimi, Iftekhar A; Lee, Dong-Yup

2010-10-01

We present an integrated framework for characterizing fed-batch cultures of mouse hybridoma cells producing monoclonal antibody (mAb). This framework systematically combines data preprocessing, elemental balancing and statistical analysis technique. Initially, specific rates of cell growth, glucose/amino acid consumptions and mAb/metabolite productions were calculated via curve fitting using logistic equations, with subsequent elemental balancing of the preprocessed data indicating the presence of experimental measurement errors. Multivariate statistical analysis was then employed to understand physiological characteristics of the cellular system. The results from principal component analysis (PCA) revealed three major clusters of amino acids with similar trends in their consumption profiles: (i) arginine, threonine and serine, (ii) glycine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, methionine, histidine and asparagine, and (iii) lysine, valine and isoleucine. Further analysis using partial least square (PLS) regression identified key amino acids which were positively or negatively correlated with the cell growth, mAb production and the generation of lactate and ammonia. Based on these results, the optimal concentrations of key amino acids in the feed medium can be inferred, potentially leading to an increase in cell viability and productivity, as well as a decrease in toxic waste production. The study demonstrated how the current methodological framework using multivariate statistical analysis techniques can serve as a potential tool for deriving rational medium design strategies. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Non-declarative sequence learning does not show savings in relearning.

Science.gov (United States)

Keisler, Aysha; Willingham, Daniel T

2007-04-01

Researchers have utilized the savings in relearning paradigm in a variety of settings since Ebbinghaus developed the tool over a century ago. In spite of its widespread use, we do not yet understand what type(s) of memory are measurable by savings. Specifically, can savings measure both declarative and non-declarative memories? The lack of conscious recollection of the encoded material in some studies indicates that non-declarative memories may show savings effects, but as all studies to date have used declarative tasks, we cannot be certain. Here, we administer a non-declarative task and then measure savings in relearning the material declaratively. Our results show that while material outside of awareness may show savings effects, non-declarative sequence memory does not. These data highlight the important distinction between memory without awareness and non-declarative memory.

Research on test of product based on spatial sampling criteria and variable step sampling mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ruihong; Han, Yueping

2014-09-01

This paper presents an effective approach for online testing the assembly structures inside products using multiple views technique and X-ray digital radiography system based on spatial sampling criteria and variable step sampling mechanism. Although there are some objects inside one product to be tested, there must be a maximal rotary step for an object within which the least structural size to be tested is predictable. In offline learning process, Rotating the object by the step and imaging it and so on until a complete cycle is completed, an image sequence is obtained that includes the full structural information for recognition. The maximal rotary step is restricted by the least structural size and the inherent resolution of the imaging system. During online inspection process, the program firstly finds the optimum solutions to all different target parts in the standard sequence, i.e., finds their exact angles in one cycle. Aiming at the issue of most sizes of other targets in product are larger than that of the least structure, the paper adopts variable step-size sampling mechanism to rotate the product specific angles with different steps according to different objects inside the product and match. Experimental results show that the variable step-size method can greatly save time compared with the traditional fixed-step inspection method while the recognition accuracy is guaranteed.

Gaussian anamorphosis in the analysis step of the EnKF: a joint state-variable/observation approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Amezcua

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The analysis step of the (ensemble Kalman filter is optimal when (1 the distribution of the background is Gaussian, (2 state variables and observations are related via a linear operator, and (3 the observational error is of additive nature and has Gaussian distribution. When these conditions are largely violated, a pre-processing step known as Gaussian anamorphosis (GA can be applied. The objective of this procedure is to obtain state variables and observations that better fulfil the Gaussianity conditions in some sense. In this work we analyse GA from a joint perspective, paying attention to the effects of transformations in the joint state-variable/observation space. First, we study transformations for state variables and observations that are independent from each other. Then, we introduce a targeted joint transformation with the objective to obtain joint Gaussianity in the transformed space. We focus primarily in the univariate case, and briefly comment on the multivariate one. A key point of this paper is that, when (1–(3 are violated, using the analysis step of the EnKF will not recover the exact posterior density in spite of any transformations one may perform. These transformations, however, provide approximations of different quality to the Bayesian solution of the problem. Using an example in which the Bayesian posterior can be analytically computed, we assess the quality of the analysis distributions generated after applying the EnKF analysis step in conjunction with different GA options. The value of the targeted joint transformation is particularly clear for the case when the prior is Gaussian, the marginal density for the observations is close to Gaussian, and the likelihood is a Gaussian mixture.

From (c)old house to an energy-saving house. Information on the energy conservation in the old building; Vom (K)althaus zum Energiesparhaus. Wissenswertes ueber die Energieeinsparung im Altbau

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eicke-Hennig, Werner; Fey, Klaus

2013-04-01

The contribution under consideration reports on energy savings opportunities for one- and two-family houses which account for a large part of the building stock. The halving of the consumption of heating energy is a clear message. With the following six steps, an energy efficient house can be attained from each house: insulation of the roof, insulation of exterior walls, new windows with heat-insulating glass, insulating of the basement ceiling, modernization of the heating system as by condensing boilers, power-saving circulating pump, solar water heating system.

A comparative analysis of pre-processing techniques in colour retinal images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salvatelli, A; Bizai, G; Barbosa, G; Drozdowicz, B; Delrieux, C

2007-01-01

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a chronic disease of the ocular retina, which most of the times is only discovered when the disease is on an advanced stage and most of the damage is irreversible. For that reason, early diagnosis is paramount for avoiding the most severe consequences of the DR, of which complete blindness is not uncommon. Unsupervised or supervised image processing of retinal images emerges as a feasible tool for this diagnosis. The preprocessing stages are the key for any further assessment, since these images exhibit several defects, including non uniform illumination, sampling noise, uneven contrast due to pigmentation loss during sampling, and many others. Any feasible diagnosis system should work with images where these defects were compensated. In this work we analyze and test several correction techniques. Non uniform illumination is compensated using morphology and homomorphic filtering; uneven contrast is compensated using morphology and local enhancement. We tested our processing stages using Fuzzy C-Means, and local Hurst (self correlation) coefficient for unsupervised segmentation of the abnormal blood vessels. The results over a standard set of DR images are more than promising

A comparative analysis of pre-processing techniques in colour retinal images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salvatelli, A [Artificial Intelligence Group, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios (Argentina); Bizai, G [Artificial Intelligence Group, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios (Argentina); Barbosa, G [Artificial Intelligence Group, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios (Argentina); Drozdowicz, B [Artificial Intelligence Group, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios (Argentina); Delrieux, C [Electric and Computing Engineering Department, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Alem 1253, BahIa Blanca, (Partially funded by SECyT-UNS) (Argentina)], E-mail: claudio@acm.org

2007-11-15

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a chronic disease of the ocular retina, which most of the times is only discovered when the disease is on an advanced stage and most of the damage is irreversible. For that reason, early diagnosis is paramount for avoiding the most severe consequences of the DR, of which complete blindness is not uncommon. Unsupervised or supervised image processing of retinal images emerges as a feasible tool for this diagnosis. The preprocessing stages are the key for any further assessment, since these images exhibit several defects, including non uniform illumination, sampling noise, uneven contrast due to pigmentation loss during sampling, and many others. Any feasible diagnosis system should work with images where these defects were compensated. In this work we analyze and test several correction techniques. Non uniform illumination is compensated using morphology and homomorphic filtering; uneven contrast is compensated using morphology and local enhancement. We tested our processing stages using Fuzzy C-Means, and local Hurst (self correlation) coefficient for unsupervised segmentation of the abnormal blood vessels. The results over a standard set of DR images are more than promising.

zipHMMlib: a highly optimised HMM library exploiting repetitions in the input to speed up the forward algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Sand, Andreas; Kristiansen, Martin; Pedersen, Christian N S; Mailund, Thomas

2013-11-22

Hidden Markov models are widely used for genome analysis as they combine ease of modelling with efficient analysis algorithms. Calculating the likelihood of a model using the forward algorithm has worst case time complexity linear in the length of the sequence and quadratic in the number of states in the model. For genome analysis, however, the length runs to millions or billions of observations, and when maximising the likelihood hundreds of evaluations are often needed. A time efficient forward algorithm is therefore a key ingredient in an efficient hidden Markov model library. We have built a software library for efficiently computing the likelihood of a hidden Markov model. The library exploits commonly occurring substrings in the input to reuse computations in the forward algorithm. In a pre-processing step our library identifies common substrings and builds a structure over the computations in the forward algorithm which can be reused. This analysis can be saved between uses of the library and is independent of concrete hidden Markov models so one preprocessing can be used to run a number of different models.Using this library, we achieve up to 78 times shorter wall-clock time for realistic whole-genome analyses with a real and reasonably complex hidden Markov model. In one particular case the analysis was performed in less than 8 minutes compared to 9.6 hours for the previously fastest library. We have implemented the preprocessing procedure and forward algorithm as a C++ library, zipHMM, with Python bindings for use in scripts. The library is available at http://birc.au.dk/software/ziphmm/.

The effect of net foreign assets on saving rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben David Nissim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Observing empirical data we find that many countries try to delay the decision of increasing saving rate in order to avoid a decrease of the living standards. However the delay leads a deterioration of countries financial stability. We present a simple theoretical model that connects between countries' saving rate and their net foreign assets. Using cross section data set of 135 countries in 2010 we estimated the econometric relation between saving rate in 2010 as dependent variable and two explanatory variables: the current account in 2010 and the aggregated current account during 1980-2010. Our findings show that industrial countries in a bad financial state tend to decrease their saving rate as external debt is larger causing to deterioration in external debt while countries with good financial state tend to increase their saving rate and the tendency increase as financial state becomes better. Only in countries with a very large external debt saving rate tends to grow. The results point that gross foreign debt will keep increasing and will worsen world financial state causing increased risk of getting into a world crisis.

Breakthrough Energy Savings with Waterjet Technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee W. Saperstein; R. Larry Grayson; David A. Summers; Jorge Garcia-Joo; Greg Sutton; Mike Woodward; T.P. McNulty

2007-05-15

Experiments performed at the University of Missouri-Rolla's Waterjet Laboratory have demonstrated clearly the ability of waterjets to disaggregate, in a single step, four different mineral ores, including ores containing iron, lead and copper products. The study focused mainly on galena-bearing dolomite, a lead ore, and compared the new technology with that of traditional mining and milling to liberate the valuable constituent for the more voluminous host rock. The technical term for the disintegration of the ore to achieve this liberation is comminution. The potential for energy savings if this process can be improved, is immense. Further, if this separation can be made at the mining face, then the potential energy savings include avoidance of transportation (haulage and hoisting) costs to move, process and store this waste at the surface. The waste can, instead, be disposed into the available cavities within the mine. The savings also include the elimination of the comminution, crushing and grinding, stages in the processing plant. Future prototype developments are intended to determine if high-pressure waterjet mining and processing can be optimized to become cheaper than traditional fragmentation by drilling and blasting and to optimize the separation process. The basic new mining process was illustrated in tests on two local rock types, a low-strength sandstone with hematite inclusions, and a medium to high-strength dolomite commonly used for construction materials. Illustrative testing of liberation of minerals, utilized a lead-bearing dolomite, and included a parametric study of the optimal conditions needed to create a size distribution considered best for separation. The target goal was to have 50 percent of the mined material finer than 100 mesh (149 microns). Of the 21 tests that were run, five clearly achieved the target. The samples were obtained as run-of-mine lumps of ore, which exhibited a great deal of heterogeneity within the samples. This

Cost-of-illness analysis reveals potential healthcare savings with reductions in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease following recommended intakes of dietary fiber in Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, Mohammad M. H.; Gyles, Collin L.; Marinangeli, Christopher P. F.; Carlberg, Jared G.; Jones, Peter J. H.

2015-01-01

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are leading causes of mortality and two of the most costly diet-related ailments worldwide. Consumption of fiber-rich diets has been repeatedly associated with favorable impacts on these co-epidemics, however, the healthcare cost-related economic value of altered dietary fiber intakes remains poorly understood. In this study, we estimated the annual cost savings accruing to the Canadian healthcare system in association with reductions in T2D and CVD rates, separately, following increased intakes of dietary fiber by adults. Methods: A three-step cost-of-illness analysis was conducted to identify the percentage of individuals expected to consume fiber-rich diets in Canada, estimate increased fiber intakes in relation to T2D and CVD reduction rates, and independently assess the potential annual savings in healthcare costs associated with the reductions in rates of these two epidemics. The economic model employed a sensitivity analysis of four scenarios (universal, optimistic, pessimistic, and very pessimistic) to cover a range of assumptions within each step. Results: Non-trivial healthcare and related savings of CAD$35.9-$718.8 million in T2D costs and CAD$64.8 million–$1.3 billion in CVD costs were calculated under a scenario where cereal fiber was used to increase current intakes of dietary fiber to the recommended levels of 38 g per day for men and 25 g per day for women. Each 1 g per day increase in fiber consumption resulted in annual CAD$2.6 to $51.1 million savings for T2D and $4.6 to $92.1 million savings for CVD. Conclusion: Findings of this analysis shed light on the economic value of optimal dietary fiber intakes. Strategies to increase consumers’ general knowledge of the recommended intakes of dietary fiber, as part of healthy diet, and to facilitate stakeholder synergy are warranted to enable better management of healthcare and related costs associated with T2D and CVD in Canada. PMID

THE PUZZLE OF SIMULTANEOUS SAVINGS AND DEBTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RODICA IANOLE

2012-05-01

Full Text Available „Neither a borrower nor a lender be” recommends Shakespeare in Hamlet. The advice seems particularly interesting in nowadays society where a person can be easily found in both approximate situations, in the same time. It goes without saying that saving and borrowing do not describe mutually exclusive strategies of financial management and thus many people retain savings or carry on saving at the same time as having debts. We add to this fact a more pragmatically wisdom, the one of the economist Robert Solow -“We (economists think of wealth as fungible; we think a dollar is a dollar. Why don't they (the others do so?” (Solow, 1987 – and we naturally ask ourselves if the mechanism of having simultaneous savings and debts is a rational one, according to traditional economics.Making appeal to the emerging body of behavioral economics literature we reach to the mental accounting theory to see if it can explain savings inclination versus debt inclination. The main research question we want to explore is the following: if mental accounting prevents people from spending money from one „mental account” on goods belonging to another one, will people – after using all their money from a given account – be willing to go into debt to buy goods belonging to this account in a situation when they still have money in other accounts?

Non-Declarative Sequence Learning does not Show Savings in Relearning

OpenAIRE

Keisler, Aysha; Willingham, Daniel T.

2007-01-01

Researchers have utilized the savings in relearning paradigm in a variety of settings since Ebbinghaus developed the tool over a century ago. In spite of its widespread use, we do not yet understand what type(s) of memory are measurable by savings. Specifically, can savings measure both declarative and non-declarative memories? The lack of conscious recollection of the encoded material in some studies indicates that non-declarative memories may show savings effects, but as all studies to date...

Potential energy savings from cool roofs in Spain and Andalusia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boixo, Sergio; Diaz-Vicente, Marian; Colmenar, Antonio; Castro, Manuel Alonso

2012-01-01

Cool roofs are an inexpensive method to save energy and to improve the comfort level in buildings in mild and hot climates. A high scale implementation of cool roofs in Andalusia, in the south of Spain, could potentially save 295,000 kWh per year, considering only residential buildings with flat roofs using electrical heating. At the current energy prices, consumers can save 59 million euros annually in electricity costs and the emission of 136,000 metric tons of CO 2 can be directly avoided every year from the production of that electricity. If radiative forcings are considered, Andalucía can potentially offset between 9.44 and 12 Mt of CO 2 . All the provinces in the rest of Spain are also studied in this paper. The biggest savings are achieved in Gran Canaria (48%), Tenerife (48%), Cádiz (36%), Murcia (33%), Huelva (30%), Málaga (29%), Almería (29%) and Sevilla (28%), where savings are greater than 2 euros per square meter of flat roof for old buildings with dark roofs. For the biggest cities the range of savings obtained are: between 7.4% and 11% in Madrid, between 12% and 18% in Barcelona and between 14% and 20% in Valencia. -- Highlights: ► We estimate potential savings in energy, CO 2 , and money for cool roofs in Spain (residential sector with flat roofs). ► Average savings are of around one euro per square meter in the biggest cities. ► Potential savings are of more than 2 €/m 2 in the hottest cities. ► In Andalusia the potential savings are 300 MWh, 60 millions euro and 136,000 tons of CO 2 per year. ► With forcings, the CO 2 equivalence of cool roofs in Andalusia is between 9 and 12 Mt.

Individual savings accounts for social insurance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bovenberg, Lans; Hansen, Martin Ino; Sørensen, Peter Birch

2008-01-01

Using Danish data, we find that about three-fourths of the taxes levied to finance public transfers actually finance benefits that redistribute income over the life cycle of individual taxpayers rather than redistribute resources across people. This finding and similar results for other countries...... provide a rationale for financing part of social insurance via mandatory individual savings accounts. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory individual savings accounts for social insurance and survey some recent alternative proposals for such accounts...

Factors influencing energy-saving behavior of urban households in Jiangsu Province

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yue, Ting; Long, Ruyin; Chen, Hong

2013-01-01

In this research, the willingness of households to adopt different energy-saving behavior has been analyzed, and factors influencing energy-saving behavior in Jiangsu Province, China, have been examined. The study builds on a broad and practical conceptual framework that embraces three types of energy-saving behavior and four dimensions of influencing factors, including socio-demographics, energy-saving awareness, behavioral ability, and situational factors. The empirical results are based on an Internet survey that was sent out to 638 households. The results indicate that socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender, income level, household structure, and educational background, are all important factors influencing energy-saving behavior. At present, respondents adopt the usage-reduction type of behavior more often than the other two types, which require a greater capacity to pay for energy-efficient products and a higher level of energy-saving awareness. Situational factors have significant positive moderating effects when the variables of behavioral ability and energy-saving awareness act on energy-saving behavior. In addition, the results also show that spatial differences exist among the three regions of Jiangsu Province. Finally, some implications of these results for the design of future incentive policies and measures to encourage energy-saving behavior are presented. -- Highlights: •A broad and practical conceptual framework of energy-saving behaviors is built. •Socio-demographic characteristics are determinants of energy-saving behavior. •Respondents adopt the usage-reduction type more often than the other two types. •Situational factors have positive moderating effects on the other two variables. •Spatial differences exist among the three regions of Jiangsu Province

Constant time distance queries in planar unweighted graphs with subquadratic preprocessing time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wulff-Nilsen, C.

2013-01-01

Let G be an n-vertex planar, undirected, and unweighted graph. It was stated as open problems whether the Wiener index, defined as the sum of all-pairs shortest path distances, and the diameter of G can be computed in o(n(2)) time. We show that both problems can be solved in O(n(2) log log n/log n......) time with O(n) space. The techniques that we apply allow us to build, within the same time bound, an oracle for exact distance queries in G. More generally, for any parameter S is an element of [(log n/log log n)(2), n(2/5)], distance queries can be answered in O (root S log S/log n) time per query...... with O(n(2)/root S) preprocessing time and space requirement. With respect to running time, this is better than previous algorithms when log S = o(log n). All algorithms have linear space requirement. Our results generalize to a larger class of graphs including those with a fixed excluded minor. (C) 2012...

Dedicated orthogeriatric service saves the HSE a million euro

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Shanahan, E

2016-03-01

Hip fracture is common in older adults and is associated with high morbidity, mortality and significant health care costs. A pilot orthogeriatrics service was established in an acute hospital. We aimed to establish the cost effectiveness of this service. Length of hospital stay, discharge destination and rehabilitation requirements were analysed for a one year period and compared to patients who received usual care prior to the service. We calculated the costs incurred and savings produced by the orthogeriatric service. Median length of stay was reduced by 3 days (p=<0.001) saving €266,976. There was a 19% reduction in rehabilitation requirements saving €192,600. Median rehabilitation length of stay was reduced by 6.5 days saving €171,093. Reductions in long term care requirements led to savings of €10,934 per week. Costs to establish such a service amount to €171,564. The introduction of this service led to improved patient outcomes in a cost effective manner.

The influence of Multiple Goals on Driving Behavior: the case of Safety, Time Saving, and Fuel Saving

OpenAIRE

DOGAN, Ebru; STEG, Linda; DELHOMME, Patricia

2011-01-01

Due to the innate complexity of the task drivers have to manage multiple goals while driving and the importance of certain goals may vary over time leading to priority being given to different goals depending on the circumstances. This study aimed to investigate drivers' behavioral regulation while managing multiple goals during driving. To do so participants drove on urban and rural roads in a driving simulator while trying to manage fuel saving and time saving goals, besides the safety goal...

The Rhode Island Life Saving Score (RILSS)--a proposed life-saving definition for EMS and emergency medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Kenneth A; Sullivan, Francis M

2013-12-03

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Medicine staff are often described as life-saving providers, but there is no generally accepted objective definition of a life saved by these providers. Therefore, a proposed definition is described. Development of this definition began with conceptual rules, followed by a survey of physician EMS medical directors, and then by the development of a tool to implement the definition, and measure its validity and reliability through a review of 100 critical care transport EMS patient charts.

An Advanced Pre-Processing Pipeline to Improve Automated Photogrammetric Reconstructions of Architectural Scenes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Gaiani

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Automated image-based 3D reconstruction methods are more and more flooding our 3D modeling applications. Fully automated solutions give the impression that from a sample of randomly acquired images we can derive quite impressive visual 3D models. Although the level of automation is reaching very high standards, image quality is a fundamental pre-requisite to produce successful and photo-realistic 3D products, in particular when dealing with large datasets of images. This article presents an efficient pipeline based on color enhancement, image denoising, color-to-gray conversion and image content enrichment. The pipeline stems from an analysis of various state-of-the-art algorithms and aims to adjust the most promising methods, giving solutions to typical failure causes. The assessment evaluation proves how an effective image pre-processing, which considers the entire image dataset, can improve the automated orientation procedure and dense 3D point cloud reconstruction, even in the case of poor texture scenarios.

Study on Construction of a Medical X-Ray Direct Digital Radiography System and Hybrid Preprocessing Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Ren

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We construct a medical X-ray direct digital radiography (DDR system based on a CCD (charge-coupled devices camera. For the original images captured from X-ray exposure, computer first executes image flat-field correction and image gamma correction, and then carries out image contrast enhancement. A hybrid image contrast enhancement algorithm which is based on sharp frequency localization-contourlet transform (SFL-CT and contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE, is proposed and verified by the clinical DDR images. Experimental results show that, for the medical X-ray DDR images, the proposed comprehensive preprocessing algorithm can not only greatly enhance the contrast and detail information, but also improve the resolution capability of DDR system.

Do Tax Incentives for Saving in Pension Accounts Cause Debt Accumulation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yde Andersen, Henrik

2018-01-01

This paper applies a quasi-experimental research design on a Danish 2010 policy that reduced tax incentives for saving in annuity pension schemes to show significant substitution of savings from retirement accounts to gross debt repayments. We find that for every 1 Danish currency unit reduction...... in retirement savings 31 cents goes to debt repayments. Taking into account all types of savings, we find full crowding-out. Consistent with previous findings, we document that the effect is driven by a minority, about 23 percent, who actively rebalance their savings....

Step out - Step in Sequencing Games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Musegaas, M.; Borm, P.E.M.; Quant, M.

2014-01-01

In this paper a new class of relaxed sequencing games is introduced: the class of Step out - Step in sequencing games. In this relaxation any player within a coalition is allowed to step out from his position in the processing order and to step in at any position later in the processing order.

Exploring Demand Charge Savings from Commercial Solar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Darghouth, Naim [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Barbose, Galen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Mills, Andrew [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Wiser, Ryan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Gagnon, Pieter [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bird, Lori [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-07-31

Commercial retail electricity rates commonly include a demand charge component, based on some measure of the customer’s peak demand. Customer-sited solar PV can potentially reduce demand charges, but the magnitude of these savings can be difficult to predict, given variations in demand charge designs, customer loads, and PV generation profiles. Moreover, depending on the circumstances, demand charges from solar may or may not align well with associated utility cost savings. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are collaborating in a series of studies to understand how solar PV can reduce demand charge levels for a variety of customer types and demand charges designs. Previous work focused on residential customs with solar. This study, instead, focuses on commercial customers and seeks to understand the extent and conditions under which rooftop can solar reduce commercial demand charges. To answer these questions, we simulate demand charge savings for a broad range of commercial customer types, demand charge designs, locations, and PV system characteristics. This particular analysis does not include storage, but a subsequent analysis in this series will evaluate demand charge savings for commercial customers with solar and storage.

Housing-related lifestyle and energy saving: A multi-level approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thøgersen, John

2017-01-01

A new instrument for measuring housing-related lifestyle (HRL) is introduced and employed for identifying national and cross-national HRL segments in 10 European countries (N=3190). The identified HRL segments are profiled and the practical importance of HRL for everyday energy-saving efforts in the home and for the energy-consumer's openness to new energy saving opportunities (i.e., energy saving innovativeness) is investigated. The HRL instrument's 71 items load on 16 dimensions within five lifestyle elements. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis reveals that the instrument possesses metric but not scalar (measurement) invariance across the 10 countries. Multilevel latent class analysis is used to classify participants to HRL segments and the 10 countries into regions with similar segment structure. The optimal solution has seven HRL segments and three country classes, which are profiled in terms of relevant background characteristics. A multivariate GLM analysis reveals that when differences in housing-related lifestyles are controlled, neither country of residence nor the interaction between lifestyle and country of residence influence energy saving innovativeness or everyday energy-saving efforts. However, these two behavioural tendencies vary significantly and substantially between lifestyle segments. The study shows that HRL segmentation is a useful tool for creating more targeted and effective energy-saving campaigns. - Highlights: • 7 housing-related lifestyle segments identified in 10 European countries. • The 10 countries cluster in 3 regions with similar housing-related lifestyle pattern. • Lifestyle segments differ significantly with regard to energy saving efforts. • Lifestyle segments also differ with regard to energy saving innovativeness. • Housing-related lifestyle mediate all effects of country on energy saving.

Streamlined energy-savings calculations for heat-island reduction strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, Hashem; Konopacki, Steven J.

2003-03-15

We have developed summary tables (sorted by heating- and cooling-degree-days) to estimate the potential of Heat-Island Reduction (HIR) strategies (i.e., solar-reflective roofs, shade trees, reflective pavements, and urban vegetation) to reduce cooling-energy use in buildings. The tables provide estimates of savings for both direct effect (reducing heat gain through the building shell) and indirect effect (reducing the ambient air temperature). In this analysis, we considered three building types that offer the most savings potential : residences, offices, and retail stores. Each building type was characterized in detail by Pre-1980 (old) or 1980+ (new) construction vintage and with natural gas or electricity as heating fuel. We defined prototypical-building characteristics for each building type and simulated the effects of HIR strategies on building cooling and heating energy use and peak power demand using the DOE-2.1E model and weather data for about 240 locations in the U.S. A statistical analysis of previously completed simulations for five cities was used to estimate the indirect savings. Our simulations included the effect of (1) solar-reflective roofing material on building [direct effect], (2) placement of deciduous shade trees near south and west walls of building [direct effect], and (3) ambient cooling achieved by urban reforestation and reflective building surfaces and pavements [indirect effect]. Upon completion of estimating the direct and indirect energy savings for all the selected locations, we integrated the results in tables arranged by heating- and cooling-degree-days. We considered 15 bins for heating-degree-days, and 11 bins for cooling-degree-days. Energy use and savings are presented per 1000 ft2 of roof area. In residences heated with gas and in climates with greater than 1000 cooling-degree-days, the annual electricity savings in Pre-1980 stock ranged from 650 to 1300 kWh/1000ft2; for 1980+ stock savings ranged 300 to 600 kWh/1000 ft2

Barriers to investments in energy saving technologies. Case study for the industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Masselink, Dirk Jan

2007-01-01

To realise future energy saving targets, the government needs to increase energy reduction rates. One option to increase energy savings is found in removing barriers to investments in cost-effective energy saving technologies. Many technologies save energ

Step out-step in sequencing games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Musegaas, Marieke; Borm, Peter; Quant, Marieke

2015-01-01

In this paper a new class of relaxed sequencing games is introduced: the class of Step out–Step in sequencing games. In this relaxation any player within a coalition is allowed to step out from his position in the processing order and to step in at any position later in the processing order. First,

Energy-saving measures in multi-storage housing construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Мария Дмитриевна Коровина

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In this article the main directions of energy saving in multi-storey housing construction and methods for increasing energy efficiency are considered. The main problems of implementing energy-saving measures were touched; the need for their analysis during the development of each construction project with a view to choosing the most effective complex from the energy, economic, ecological and social points of view was justified. It is noted that such an approach can become an important factor of saving energy in the sphere of housing construction and reducing the energy intensity of the entire Russian economy.

Sign Up for Savings.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Mike

2002-01-01

Discusses performance service contracts between educational facilities and energy services companies, in which the company provides the money for energy-efficiency improvements and the school pays the company an annual fee. The company guarantees the savings will meet or exceed the fee. (EV)

FY 1997 cost savings report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sellards, J.B.

1998-01-01

With the end of the cold war, funding for the Environmental Management program increased rapidly as nuclear weapons production facilities were shut down, cleanup responsibilities increased, and facilities were transferred to the cleanup program. As funding for the Environmental Management (EM) program began to level off in response to Administration and Congressional efforts to balance the Federal budget, the program redoubled its efforts to increase efficiency and get more productivity out of every dollar. Cost savings and enhanced performance are an integral pair of Hanford Site operations. FY1997 was the third year of a cost savings program that was initially defined in FY 1995. The definitions and process remained virtually the same as those used in FY 1996

VA Telemedicine: An Analysis of Cost and Time Savings.

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Jack E; McCool, Ryan R; Davies, Louise

2016-03-01

The Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system provides beneficiary travel reimbursement ("travel pay") to qualifying patients for traveling to appointments. Travel pay is a large expense for the VA and hence the U.S. Government, projected to cost nearly $1 billion in 2015. Telemedicine in the VA system has the potential to save money by reducing patient travel and thus the amount of travel pay disbursed. In this study, we quantify this savings and also report trends in VA telemedicine volumes over time. All telemedicine visits based at the VA Hospital in White River Junction, VT between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed (5,695 visits). Travel distance and time saved as a result of telemedicine were calculated. Clinical volume in the mental health department, which has had the longest participation in telemedicine, was analyzed. Telemedicine resulted in an average travel savings of 145 miles and 142 min per visit. This led to an average travel payment savings of $18,555 per year. Telemedicine volume grew significantly over the study period such that by the final year the travel pay savings had increased to $63,804, or about 3.5% of the total travel pay disbursement for that year. The number of mental health telemedicine visits rose over the study period but remained small relative to the number of face-to-face visits. A higher proportion of telemedicine visits involved new patients. Telemedicine at the VA saves travel distance and time, although the reduction in travel payments remains modest at current telemedicine volumes.

Study on measuring analysis for estimating effect of energy saving policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Joong Ku; Park, Jeong Soon [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea)

1999-12-01

Since the study on measuring analysis for estimating effect of energy saving policy is too broad to implement all industries, so it limited its study only on manufacturing industry. This study is concentrated on its effort to measure energy saving using energy saving model by putting energy saving policy as an input and regarding its result as energy saving. It used B/C theory for positive analysis methodology and the result of analysis is investment effect on manufacturing industry. The total cost invested on manufacturing sector from 1982 to 1996 was 5,871 billion won based on constant cost in 1990, and the energy saving cost directly acquired from it reached 1,534.5 billion won based on constant cost in 1990, so B/C rate reached 2.56. Particularly, if you separated the amount supported by the government policy, energy saving support cost reached 3,904.2 billion won (based on constant cost in 1990) and the total benefit was 10,146.4 billion won (based on constant cost in 1990) by adding saving cost 9,997.9 billion won and environmental improvement effect 223.2 billion won. (author). 51 refs., 17 figs., 35 tabs.

76 FR 71437 - Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-17

... (MSAAC or Committee) formerly administered by the Office of Thrift Supervision, as it is necessary and in...: Timothy T. Ward, Deputy Comptroller for Thrift Supervision, 250 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20219. FOR... as federal savings associations (including federal savings banks); and (2) issue charters therefore...

casual relationship between gross domestic saving and economic

African Journals Online (AJOL)

TOSHIBA

private saving has both direct and indirect effects on economic growth. ... sector have a bigger impact on GDP than gross domestic savings. ... Development economists have been concerned for decades about the crucial role of ..... higher investment and higher economic growth is not supported by East African countries.

12 CFR 591.3 - Loans originated by Federal savings associations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Loans originated by Federal savings... PREEMPTION OF STATE DUE-ON-SALE LAWS § 591.3 Loans originated by Federal savings associations. (a) With regard to any real property loan originated or to be originated by a Federal savings association, as a...

Advanced Energy Saving and its Applications in Industry

CERN Document Server

Matsuda, Kazuo; Fushimi, Chihiro; Tsutsumi, Atsushi; Kishimoto, Akira

2013-01-01

The conventional approach for energy saving in a process system is to maximize heat recovery without changing any process conditions by using pinch technology. “Self-heat recuperation technology” was developed to achieve further energy saving in the process system by eliminating the necessity for any external heat input, such as firing or imported steam. Advanced Energy Saving and its Applications in Industry introduces the concept of self-heat recuperation and the application of such technology to a wide range of processes from heavy chemical complexes to other processes such as drying and gas separation processes, which require heating and cooling during operation.   Conventional energy saving items in a utility system are applied and implemented based on a single site approach, however, when looking at heavy chemical complexes, it was apparent that the low-grade heat discharged as waste from a refinery could also be used in an adjacent petrochemical plant. There could therefore be a large energy savin...

Nuclear recycling: costs, savings, and safeguards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spinrad, B.I.

1985-01-01

This chapter discusses the economics, physical and chemical processes, and safety of nuclear fuel recycling. The spent fuel must be chemically reprocessed in order to recover uranium and plutonium. Topics considered include indifference costs, recycling in light water reactors (LWRs), plutonium in fast reactors, the choice between recycling and storage, safeguards, and weapons proliferation. It is shown that the economics of recycling nuclear fuel involves the actual costs and savings of the recycling operation in terms of money spent, made, and saved, and the impact of the recycling on the future cost of uranium

Electricity-cost savings obtained by means of nuclear plant life extension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forest, L.; Fletcher, T.; DuCharme, A.; Harrison, D.L.

1987-01-01

This study examines savings caused by nuclear-plant life extension (NUPLEX) and describes the effects of changes in assumptions on costs and technology using an approach simpler than the large economic-model simulations used in other reports. Under the simplified approach, we estimate savings at the broad national level by comparing projected costs/kWh for the typical NUPLEX plant with those for new coal-fired plants, which seem the most likely alternative in most regions. While ignoring some complications handled by the large, regionally disaggregated econometric models, the approach used in this study has advantages in sensitivity analyses. It reveals relationships between savings and basic assumptions on costs and technology in a more transparent way than in large-model simulations. We find that, absent major technological breakthroughs for present generating options, NUPLEX saves consumers money on their electric bills under most plausible economic scenarios. Using mid-range assumptions, we find that NUPLEX saves consumers a total of about dollar 180 billion spread over the period 2010-50. Under optimistic assumptions, the savings swell to over dollar 900 billion. Under extremely pessimistic assumptions, the savings actually turn negative. This wide range of estimates largely reflects the uncertainty in cost projections. Within plausible limits, higher- or lower-than-expected load growth does not affect the savings estimates. The NUPLEX construction costs stand out as the most critical unknown. If they turn out to be 50% (dollar 500 billion) above the baseline estimate savings would fall by almost 60% (dollar 105 billion). A 50% rise in nuclear fuel costs would drop baseline savings by almost 22%. A 50% increase in nuclear-plant operations-and-maintenance costs, would cut baseline savings by about 36%. These sensitivities highlight the need for continued monitoring of economic developments

The modern water-saving agricultural technology: Progress and focus

African Journals Online (AJOL)

GREGORY

2010-09-13

Sep 13, 2010 ... saving agricultural technology, which include modern biological water-saving technology, unconventional ... and innovation, water, nutrient migration theory, regula- .... urban sewage of more than 50%; Mexico City, 90% of.

Evaluation of methods used to determine realized energy savings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boonekamp, Piet G.M.

2006-01-01

Most methods to determine realized total energy savings at national or sectoral level make choices, or neglect problems, which hamper the calculation of sound and useful energy-saving figures. Issues are the choice of the right aggregation level, the appropriate variables to construct a reference energy consumption trend, the energy quantities to be applied and interaction between various effects. Uncertainty margins for results lack in most presentations as well. This paper presents six methods, illustrates the adverse effects of certain choices and problems, and investigates how these methods deal with them. The methods are scored with respect to the issues mentioned above. Finally, a number of improvements are suggested, among which the use of final energy demand expressed in primary energy units, and bottom-up analyses at the level of real saving options. The last option is the more important, as it could provide top-down evaluation results (total savings from decomposition) as well as bottom-up policy monitoring results, both being crucial to new European energy-saving policy

Energy Savings From System Efficiency Improvements in Iowa's HVAC SAVE Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yee, S. [Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit, Chicago, IL (United States); Baker, J. [Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit, Chicago, IL (United States); Brand, L. [Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit, Chicago, IL (United States); Wells, J. [Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit, Chicago, IL (United States)

2013-08-01

The objective of this project is to explore the energy savings potential of maximizing furnace and distribution system performance by adjusting operating, installation, and distribution conditions. The goal of the Iowa HVAC System Adjusted and Verified Efficiency (SAVE) program is to train contractors to measure installed system efficiency as a diagnostic tool to ensure that the homeowner achieves the energy reduction target for the home rather than simply performing a tune-up on the furnace or having a replacement furnace added to a leaky system. The PARR research team first examined baseline energy usage from a sample of 48 existing homes, before any repairs or adjustments were made, to calculate an average energy savings potential and to determine which system deficiencies were prevalent. The results of the baseline study of these homes found that, on average, about 10% of the space heating energy available from the furnace was not reaching the conditioned space. In the second part of the project, the team examined a sample of 10 homes that had completed the initial evaluation for more in-depth study. For these homes, the diagnostic data shows that it is possible to deliver up to 23% more energy from the furnace to the conditioned space by doing system tune ups with or without upgrading the furnace. Replacing the furnace provides additional energy reduction. The results support the author's belief that residential heating and cooling equipment should be tested and improved as a system rather than a collection of individual components.

Saving, efficiency and management of electric sector demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez de Tembleque, L. J.

2007-01-01

Spanish economic model of development is based on energy consumption, and its main source is imported fossil fuels, which have some environmental and scarcity consequences in the mid term, among others. These problems could be reduced in two ways: economic activity reduction or energy efficiency improvement. In the presence of these possibilities, It may be desirable to bet for saving and energy efficiency, to maintain the economic development. This assignment analyzes the main available regulatory and social mechanisms to promote saving and energy efficiency in the power sector, like systems to internalize social costs in the electricity price, efficiency standards, and encourage the new saving culture. (Author) 15 refs

Energy Savings Potential and Research & Development Opportunities for Commercial Refrigeration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2009-09-01

This study documents the energy consumption of commercial refrigeration equipment (CRE) in the U.S. and evaluated the energy savings potential of various technologies and energy efficiency measures that could be applied to such equipment. The study provided an overview of CRE applications, assessed the energy-savings potential of CRE in the U.S., outline key barriers to adoption of energy-savings technologies, and recommended opportunities for advanced energy saving technology research. The study was modeled after an earlier 1996 report by Arthur D. Little, Inc., and updated key information, examined more equipment types, and outlined long-term research and development opportunities.

Saving Malta's music memory

OpenAIRE

Sant, Toni

2013-01-01

Maltese music is being lost. Along with it Malta loses its culture, way of life, and memories. Dr Toni Sant is trying to change this trend through the Malta Music Memory Project (M3P) http://www.um.edu.mt/think/saving-maltas-music-memory-2/

A LITERATURE SURVEY ON VARIOUS ILLUMINATION NORMALIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR FACE RECOGNITION WITH FUZZY K NEAREST NEIGHBOUR CLASSIFIER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Thamizharasi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The face recognition is popular in video surveillance, social networks and criminal identifications nowadays. The performance of face recognition would be affected by variations in illumination, pose, aging and partial occlusion of face by Wearing Hats, scarves and glasses etc. The illumination variations are still the challenging problem in face recognition. The aim is to compare the various illumination normalization techniques. The illumination normalization techniques include: Log transformations, Power Law transformations, Histogram equalization, Adaptive histogram equalization, Contrast stretching, Retinex, Multi scale Retinex, Difference of Gaussian, DCT, DCT Normalization, DWT, Gradient face, Self Quotient, Multi scale Self Quotient and Homomorphic filter. The proposed work consists of three steps. First step is to preprocess the face image with the above illumination normalization techniques; second step is to create the train and test database from the preprocessed face images and third step is to recognize the face images using Fuzzy K nearest neighbor classifier. The face recognition accuracy of all preprocessing techniques is compared using the AR face database of color images.

Savings impact of a corporate energy manager

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sikorski, B.D.; O'Donnell, B.A.

1999-01-01

This paper discusses the cost savings impact of employing an energy manager with a 16,000-employee corporation. The corporation, Canada's second largest airline, is currently operating nearly 3,000,000 ft 2 of mixed-use facilities spread across the country, with an annual energy budget for ground facilities of over Cdn $4,000,000. This paper outlines the methodology used by the energy manager to deploy an energy management program over a two-year period between April 1995 and May 1997. The paper examines the successes and the lessons learned during the period and summarizes the costs and benefits of the program. The energy manager position was responsible for developing an energy history database with more than 100 active accounts and for monitoring and verifying energy savings. The energy manager implemented many relatively low-cost energy conservation measures, as well as some capital projects, during the first two years of the program. In total, these measures provided energy cost savings of $210,000 per year, or 5% of the total budget. In each case, technologies installed as part of the energy retrofit projects provided not only cost savings but also better control, reduced maintenance, and improved working conditions for employees

A practical review of energy saving technology for ageing populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Guy; Taylor, Andrea; Whittet, Craig; Lynn, Craig; Docherty, Catherine; Stephen, Bruce; Owens, Edward; Galloway, Stuart

2017-07-01

Fuel poverty is a critical issue for a globally ageing population. Longer heating/cooling requirements combine with declining incomes to create a problem in need of urgent attention. One solution is to deploy technology to help elderly users feel informed about their energy use, and empowered to take steps to make it more cost effective and efficient. This study subjects a broad cross section of energy monitoring and home automation products to a formal ergonomic analysis. A high level task analysis was used to guide a product walk through, and a toolkit approach was used thereafter to drive out further insights. The findings reveal a number of serious usability issues which prevent these products from successfully accessing an important target demographic and associated energy saving and fuel poverty outcomes. Design principles and examples are distilled from the research to enable practitioners to translate the underlying research into high quality design-engineering solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determinants of Household Savings in Turkey Except for Income

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet ŞENGÜR

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Household has an extremely important place in the division of income for the economies. It plays a decisive role in personal consumption, investment, and savings. This study aims to identify the determinants of household savings except for income. In this study, "Household Budget Survey" conducted by Turkish Statistical Institute for the years 2002-2013 is used. Survey data has been analyzed by logistic regression models. The results of the study show that house ownership, having an extra house, having annual disposable income of over 10.000 ₺, education level also have a positive effect on household savings. On the other hand, the number of family members, car ownership, temporary or seasonal employment, and living in rural areas affect household savings in a negative way.

Money in the bank : Feeling powerful increases saving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garbinsky, E.; Klesse, A.K.; Aaker, J.

2014-01-01

Across five studies, this research reveals that feeling powerful increases saving. This effect is driven by the desire to maintain one’s current state. When the purpose of saving is no longer to accumulate money but to spend it on a status-related product, the basic effect is reversed, and those who

Planning a Sabbatical? These Tips Can Save Taxes.

Science.gov (United States)

Matoney, Joseph P., Jr.; Weston, Marilyn

1985-01-01

Information on potential tax-saving opportunities when planning a sabbatical is provided for college personnel. Advice is offered about tax savings for: rental of the academician's personal residences while away from home, the home office deduction, use of an auto, and foreign income tax exclusion. The answer to what expenses are deductible…

Quantification of energy savings from Ireland's Home Energy Saving scheme. An ex post billing analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scheer, J.; Clancy, M.; Ni Hogain, S. [Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Wilton Park House, Wilton Terrace, Dublin 2 (Ireland)

2013-02-15

This paper quantifies the energy savings realised by a sample of participants in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's Home Energy Saving (HES) residential retrofit scheme (currently branded as the Better Energy Homes scheme), through an ex post billing analysis. The billing data are used to evaluate: (1) the reduction in gas consumption of the sample between pre- (2008) and post- (2010) scheme participation when compared to the gas consumption of a control group, (2) an estimate of the shortfall when this result is compared to engineering-type ex ante savings estimates and (3) the degree to which these results may apply to the wider population. All dwellings in the study underwent energy efficiency improvements, including insulation upgrades (wall and/or roof), installation of high-efficiency boilers and/or improved heating controls, as part of the HES scheme. Metered gas use data for the 210 households were obtained from meter operators for a number of years preceding dwelling upgrades and for a post-intervention period of 1 year. Dwelling characteristics and some household behavioural data were obtained through a survey of the sample. The gas network operator provided anonymised data on gas usage for 640,000 customers collected over the same period as the HES sample. Dwelling type data provided with the population dataset enabled matching with the HES sample to increase the internal validity of the comparison between the control (matched population data) and the treatment (HES sample). Using a difference-in-difference methodology, the change in demand of the sample was compared with that of the matched population subset of gas-using customers in Ireland over the same time period. The mean reduction in gas demand as a result of energy efficiency upgrades for the HES sample is estimated as 21 % or 3,664{+-}603 kWh between 2008 and 2010. An ex ante estimate of average energy savings, based on engineering calculations (u value reductions and improved boiler

Effects of walking speed on the step-by-step control of step width.

Science.gov (United States)

Stimpson, Katy H; Heitkamp, Lauren N; Horne, Joscelyn S; Dean, Jesse C

2018-02-08

Young, healthy adults walking at typical preferred speeds use step-by-step adjustments of step width to appropriately redirect their center of mass motion and ensure mediolateral stability. However, it is presently unclear whether this control strategy is retained when walking at the slower speeds preferred by many clinical populations. We investigated whether the typical stabilization strategy is influenced by walking speed. Twelve young, neurologically intact participants walked on a treadmill at a range of prescribed speeds (0.2-1.2 m/s). The mediolateral stabilization strategy was quantified as the proportion of step width variance predicted by the mechanical state of the pelvis throughout a step (calculated as R 2 magnitude from a multiple linear regression). Our ability to accurately predict the upcoming step width increased over the course of a step. The strength of the relationship between step width and pelvis mechanics at the start of a step was reduced at slower speeds. However, these speed-dependent differences largely disappeared by the end of a step, other than at the slowest walking speed (0.2 m/s). These results suggest that mechanics-dependent adjustments in step width are a consistent component of healthy gait across speeds and contexts. However, slower walking speeds may ease this control by allowing mediolateral repositioning of the swing leg to occur later in a step, thus encouraging slower walking among clinical populations with limited sensorimotor control. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of heat and electricity saving measures in district-heated multistory residential buildings