Improving probabilistic prediction of daily streamflow by identifying Pareto optimal approaches for modelling heteroscedastic residual errors

Science.gov (United States)

David, McInerney; Mark, Thyer; Dmitri, Kavetski; George, Kuczera

2017-04-01

This study provides guidance to hydrological researchers which enables them to provide probabilistic predictions of daily streamflow with the best reliability and precision for different catchment types (e.g. high/low degree of ephemerality). Reliable and precise probabilistic prediction of daily catchment-scale streamflow requires statistical characterization of residual errors of hydrological models. It is commonly known that hydrological model residual errors are heteroscedastic, i.e. there is a pattern of larger errors in higher streamflow predictions. Although multiple approaches exist for representing this heteroscedasticity, few studies have undertaken a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of these approaches. This study fills this research gap by evaluating 8 common residual error schemes, including standard and weighted least squares, the Box-Cox transformation (with fixed and calibrated power parameter, lambda) and the log-sinh transformation. Case studies include 17 perennial and 6 ephemeral catchments in Australia and USA, and two lumped hydrological models. We find the choice of heteroscedastic error modelling approach significantly impacts on predictive performance, though no single scheme simultaneously optimizes all performance metrics. The set of Pareto optimal schemes, reflecting performance trade-offs, comprises Box-Cox schemes with lambda of 0.2 and 0.5, and the log scheme (lambda=0, perennial catchments only). These schemes significantly outperform even the average-performing remaining schemes (e.g., across ephemeral catchments, median precision tightens from 105% to 40% of observed streamflow, and median biases decrease from 25% to 4%). Theoretical interpretations of empirical results highlight the importance of capturing the skew/kurtosis of raw residuals and reproducing zero flows. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners seeking robust residual error schemes for practical work are provided.

Residual-based a posteriori error estimation for multipoint flux mixed finite element methods

KAUST Repository

Du, Shaohong; Sun, Shuyu; Xie, Xiaoping

2015-01-01

A novel residual-type a posteriori error analysis technique is developed for multipoint flux mixed finite element methods for flow in porous media in two or three space dimensions. The derived a posteriori error estimator for the velocity and pressure error in L-norm consists of discretization and quadrature indicators, and is shown to be reliable and efficient. The main tools of analysis are a locally postprocessed approximation to the pressure solution of an auxiliary problem and a quadrature error estimate. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the competitive behavior of the estimator.

Residual-based a posteriori error estimation for multipoint flux mixed finite element methods

KAUST Repository

Du, Shaohong

2015-10-26

A novel residual-type a posteriori error analysis technique is developed for multipoint flux mixed finite element methods for flow in porous media in two or three space dimensions. The derived a posteriori error estimator for the velocity and pressure error in L-norm consists of discretization and quadrature indicators, and is shown to be reliable and efficient. The main tools of analysis are a locally postprocessed approximation to the pressure solution of an auxiliary problem and a quadrature error estimate. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the competitive behavior of the estimator.

Specialist Physicians' Attitudes and Practice Patterns Regarding Disclosure of Pre-referral Medical Errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Dossett, Lesly A; Kauffmann, Rondi M; Lee, Jay S; Singh, Harkamal; Lee, M Catherine; Morris, Arden M; Jagsi, Reshma; Quinn, Gwendolyn P; Dimick, Justin B

2018-06-01

Our objective was to determine specialist physicians' attitudes and practices regarding disclosure of pre-referral errors. Physicians are encouraged to disclose their own errors to patients. However, no clear professional norms exist regarding disclosure when physicians discover errors in diagnosis or treatment that occurred at other institutions before referral. We conducted semistructured interviews of cancer specialists from 2 National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers. We purposively sampled specialists by discipline, sex, and experience-level who self-described a >50% reliance on external referrals (n = 30). Thematic analysis of verbatim interview transcripts was performed to determine physician attitudes regarding disclosure of pre-referral medical errors; whether and how physicians disclose these errors; and barriers to providing full disclosure. Participants described their experiences identifying different types of pre-referral errors including errors of diagnosis, staging and treatment resulting in adverse events ranging from decreased quality of life to premature death. The majority of specialists expressed the belief that disclosure provided no benefit to patients, and might unnecessarily add to their anxiety about their diagnoses or prognoses. Specialists had varying practices of disclosure including none, non-verbal, partial, event-dependent, and full disclosure. They identified a number of barriers to disclosure, including medicolegal implications and damage to referral relationships, the profession's reputation, and to patient-physician relationships. Specialist physicians identify pre-referral errors but struggle with whether and how to provide disclosure, even when clinical circumstances force disclosure. Education- or communication-based interventions that overcome barriers to disclosing pre-referral errors warrant development.

A vignette study to examine health care professionals' attitudes towards patient involvement in error prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwappach, David L B; Frank, Olga; Davis, Rachel E

2013-10-01

Various authorities recommend the participation of patients in promoting patient safety, but little is known about health care professionals' (HCPs') attitudes towards patients' involvement in safety-related behaviours. To investigate how HCPs evaluate patients' behaviours and HCP responses to patient involvement in the behaviour, relative to different aspects of the patient, the involved HCP and the potential error. Cross-sectional fractional factorial survey with seven factors embedded in two error scenarios (missed hand hygiene, medication error). Each survey included two randomized vignettes that described the potential error, a patient's reaction to that error and the HCP response to the patient. Twelve hospitals in Switzerland. A total of 1141 HCPs (response rate 45%). Approval of patients' behaviour, HCP response to the patient, anticipated effects on the patient-HCP relationship, HCPs' support for being asked the question, affective response to the vignettes. Outcomes were measured on 7-point scales. Approval of patients' safety-related interventions was generally high and largely affected by patients' behaviour and correct identification of error. Anticipated effects on the patient-HCP relationship were much less positive, little correlated with approval of patients' behaviour and were mainly determined by the HCP response to intervening patients. HCPs expressed more favourable attitudes towards patients intervening about a medication error than about hand sanitation. This study provides the first insights into predictors of HCPs' attitudes towards patient engagement in safety. Future research is however required to assess the generalizability of the findings into practice before training can be designed to address critical issues. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Residual rotational set-up errors after daily cone-beam CT image guided radiotherapy of locally advanced cervical cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laursen, Louise Vagner; Elstrøm, Ulrik Vindelev; Vestergaard, Anne; Muren, Ludvig P.; Petersen, Jørgen Baltzer; Lindegaard, Jacob Christian; Grau, Cai; Tanderup, Kari

2012-01-01

Purpose: Due to the often quite extended treatment fields in cervical cancer radiotherapy, uncorrected rotational set-up errors result in a potential risk of target miss. This study reports on the residual rotational set-up error after using daily cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) to position cervical cancer patients for radiotherapy treatment. Methods and materials: Twenty-five patients with locally advanced cervical cancer had daily CBCT scans (650 CBCTs in total) prior to treatment delivery. We retrospectively analyzed the translational shifts made in the clinic prior to each treatment fraction as well as the residual rotational errors remaining after translational correction. Results: The CBCT-guided couch movement resulted in a mean translational 3D vector correction of 7.4 mm. Residual rotational error resulted in a target shift exceeding 5 mm in 57 of the 650 treatment fractions. Three patients alone accounted for 30 of these fractions. Nine patients had no shifts exceeding 5 mm and 13 patients had 5 or less treatment fractions with such shifts. Conclusion: Twenty-two of the 25 patients have none or few treatment fractions with target shifts larger than 5 mm due to residual rotational error. However, three patients display a significant number of shifts suggesting a more systematic set-up error.

Improving probabilistic prediction of daily streamflow by identifying Pareto optimal approaches for modeling heteroscedastic residual errors

Science.gov (United States)

McInerney, David; Thyer, Mark; Kavetski, Dmitri; Lerat, Julien; Kuczera, George

2017-03-01

Reliable and precise probabilistic prediction of daily catchment-scale streamflow requires statistical characterization of residual errors of hydrological models. This study focuses on approaches for representing error heteroscedasticity with respect to simulated streamflow, i.e., the pattern of larger errors in higher streamflow predictions. We evaluate eight common residual error schemes, including standard and weighted least squares, the Box-Cox transformation (with fixed and calibrated power parameter λ) and the log-sinh transformation. Case studies include 17 perennial and 6 ephemeral catchments in Australia and the United States, and two lumped hydrological models. Performance is quantified using predictive reliability, precision, and volumetric bias metrics. We find the choice of heteroscedastic error modeling approach significantly impacts on predictive performance, though no single scheme simultaneously optimizes all performance metrics. The set of Pareto optimal schemes, reflecting performance trade-offs, comprises Box-Cox schemes with λ of 0.2 and 0.5, and the log scheme (λ = 0, perennial catchments only). These schemes significantly outperform even the average-performing remaining schemes (e.g., across ephemeral catchments, median precision tightens from 105% to 40% of observed streamflow, and median biases decrease from 25% to 4%). Theoretical interpretations of empirical results highlight the importance of capturing the skew/kurtosis of raw residuals and reproducing zero flows. Paradoxically, calibration of λ is often counterproductive: in perennial catchments, it tends to overfit low flows at the expense of abysmal precision in high flows. The log-sinh transformation is dominated by the simpler Pareto optimal schemes listed above. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners seeking robust residual error schemes for practical work are provided.

Residual translational and rotational errors after kV X-ray image-guided correction of prostate location using implanted fiducials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wust, Peter; Graf, Reinhold; Boehmer, Dirk; Budach, Volker

2010-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the residual errors and required safety margins after stereoscopic kilovoltage (kV) X-ray target localization of the prostate in image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) using internal fiducials. Patients and Methods: Radiopaque fiducial markers (FMs) have been inserted into the prostate in a cohort of 33 patients. The ExacTrac/Novalis Body trademark X-ray 6d image acquisition system (BrainLAB AG, Feldkirchen, Germany) was used. Corrections were performed in left-right (LR), anterior-posterior (AP), and superior-inferior (SI) direction. Rotational errors around LR (x-axis), AP (y) and SI (z) have been recorded for the first series of nine patients, and since 2007 for the subsequent 24 patients in addition corrected in each fraction by using the Robotic Tilt Module trademark and Varian Exact Couch trademark. After positioning, a second set of X-ray images was acquired for verification purposes. Residual errors were registered and again corrected. Results: Standard deviations (SD) of residual translational random errors in LR, AP, and SI coordinates were 1.3, 1.7, and 2.2 mm. Residual random rotation errors were found for lateral (around x, tilt), vertical (around y, table), and longitudinal (around z, roll) and of 3.2 , 1.8 , and 1.5 . Planning target volume (PTV)-clinical target volume (CTV) margins were calculated in LR, AP, and SI direction to 2.3, 3.0, and 3.7 mm. After a second repositioning, the margins could be reduced to 1.8, 2.1, and 1.8 mm. Conclusion: On the basis of the residual setup error measurements, the margin required after one to two online X-ray corrections for the patients enrolled in this study would be at minimum 2 mm. The contribution of intrafractional motion to residual random errors has to be evaluated. (orig.)

Residual translational and rotational errors after kV X-ray image-guided correction of prostate location using implanted fiducials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wust, Peter [Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Charite - Univ. Medicine Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin (Germany); Graf, Reinhold; Boehmer, Dirk; Budach, Volker

2010-10-15

Purpose: To evaluate the residual errors and required safety margins after stereoscopic kilovoltage (kV) X-ray target localization of the prostate in image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) using internal fiducials. Patients and Methods: Radiopaque fiducial markers (FMs) have been inserted into the prostate in a cohort of 33 patients. The ExacTrac/Novalis Body trademark X-ray 6d image acquisition system (BrainLAB AG, Feldkirchen, Germany) was used. Corrections were performed in left-right (LR), anterior-posterior (AP), and superior-inferior (SI) direction. Rotational errors around LR (x-axis), AP (y) and SI (z) have been recorded for the first series of nine patients, and since 2007 for the subsequent 24 patients in addition corrected in each fraction by using the Robotic Tilt Module trademark and Varian Exact Couch trademark. After positioning, a second set of X-ray images was acquired for verification purposes. Residual errors were registered and again corrected. Results: Standard deviations (SD) of residual translational random errors in LR, AP, and SI coordinates were 1.3, 1.7, and 2.2 mm. Residual random rotation errors were found for lateral (around x, tilt), vertical (around y, table), and longitudinal (around z, roll) and of 3.2 , 1.8 , and 1.5 . Planning target volume (PTV)-clinical target volume (CTV) margins were calculated in LR, AP, and SI direction to 2.3, 3.0, and 3.7 mm. After a second repositioning, the margins could be reduced to 1.8, 2.1, and 1.8 mm. Conclusion: On the basis of the residual setup error measurements, the margin required after one to two online X-ray corrections for the patients enrolled in this study would be at minimum 2 mm. The contribution of intrafractional motion to residual random errors has to be evaluated. (orig.)

A Simultaneously Calibration Approach for Installation and Attitude Errors of an INS/GPS/LDS Target Tracker

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhua Cheng

2015-02-01

Full Text Available To obtain the absolute position of a target is one of the basic topics for non-cooperated target tracking problems. In this paper, we present a simultaneously calibration method for an Inertial navigation system (INS/Global position system (GPS/Laser distance scanner (LDS integrated system based target positioning approach. The INS/GPS integrated system provides the attitude and position of observer, and LDS offers the distance between the observer and the target. The two most significant errors are taken into jointly consideration and analyzed: (1 the attitude measure error of INS/GPS; (2 the installation error between INS/GPS and LDS subsystems. Consequently, a INS/GPS/LDS based target positioning approach considering these two errors is proposed. In order to improve the performance of this approach, a novel calibration method is designed to simultaneously estimate and compensate these two main errors. Finally, simulations are conducted to access the performance of the proposed target positioning approach and the designed simultaneously calibration method.

A simultaneously calibration approach for installation and attitude errors of an INS/GPS/LDS target tracker.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Jianhua; Chen, Daidai; Sun, Xiangyu; Wang, Tongda

2015-02-04

To obtain the absolute position of a target is one of the basic topics for non-cooperated target tracking problems. In this paper, we present a simultaneously calibration method for an Inertial navigation system (INS)/Global position system (GPS)/Laser distance scanner (LDS) integrated system based target positioning approach. The INS/GPS integrated system provides the attitude and position of observer, and LDS offers the distance between the observer and the target. The two most significant errors are taken into jointly consideration and analyzed: (1) the attitude measure error of INS/GPS; (2) the installation error between INS/GPS and LDS subsystems. Consequently, a INS/GPS/LDS based target positioning approach considering these two errors is proposed. In order to improve the performance of this approach, a novel calibration method is designed to simultaneously estimate and compensate these two main errors. Finally, simulations are conducted to access the performance of the proposed target positioning approach and the designed simultaneously calibration method.

Residual setup errors caused by rotation and non-rigid motion in prone-treated cervical cancer patients after online CBCT image-guidance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, Rozilawati; Hoogeman, Mischa S.; Quint, Sandra; Mens, Jan Willem; Osorio, Eliana M. Vásquez; Heijmen, Ben J.M.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To quantify the impact of uncorrected or partially corrected pelvis rotation and spine bending on region-specific residual setup errors in prone-treated cervical cancer patients. Methods and materials: Fifteen patients received an in-room CBCT scan twice a week. CBCT scans were registered to the planning CT-scan using a pelvic clip box and considering both translations and rotations. For daily correction of the detected translational pelvis setup errors by couch shifts, residual setup errors were determined for L5, L4 and seven other points of interest (POIs). The same was done for a procedure with translational corrections and limited rotational correction (±3°) by a 6D positioning device. Results: With translational correction only, residual setup errors were large especially for L5/L4 in AP direction (Σ = 5.1/5.5 mm). For the 7 POIs the residual setup errors ranged from 1.8 to 5.6 mm (AP). Using the 6D positioning device, the errors were substantially smaller (for L5/L4 in AP direction Σ = 2.7/2.2 mm). Using this device, the percentage of fractions with a residual AP displacement for L4 > 5 mm reduced from 47% to 9%. Conclusions: Setup variations caused by pelvis rotations are large and cannot be ignored in prone treatment of cervical cancer patients. Corrections with a 6D positioning device may considerably reduce resulting setup errors, but the residual setup errors should still be accounted for by appropriate CTV-to-PTV margins.

[The effectiveness of error reporting promoting strategy on nurse's attitude, patient safety culture, intention to report and reporting rate].

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Myoungsoo

2010-04-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of strategies to promote reporting of errors on nurses' attitude to reporting errors, organizational culture related to patient safety, intention to report and reporting rate in hospital nurses. A nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design was used for this study. The program was developed and then administered to the experimental group for 12 weeks. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, X(2)-test, t-test, and ANCOVA with the SPSS 12.0 program. After the intervention, the experimental group showed significantly higher scores for nurses' attitude to reporting errors (experimental: 20.73 vs control: 20.52, F=5.483, p=.021) and reporting rate (experimental: 3.40 vs control: 1.33, F=1998.083, porganizational culture and intention to report. The study findings indicate that strategies that promote reporting of errors play an important role in producing positive attitudes to reporting errors and improving behavior of reporting. Further advanced strategies for reporting errors that can lead to improved patient safety should be developed and applied in a broad range of hospitals.

GEOS-C altimeter attitude bias error correction. [gate-tracking radar

Science.gov (United States)

Marini, J. W.

1974-01-01

A pulse-limited split-gate-tracking radar altimeter was flown on Skylab and will be used aboard GEOS-C. If such an altimeter were to employ a hypothetical isotropic antenna, the altimeter output would be independent of spacecraft orientation. To reduce power requirements the gain of the altimeter antenna proposed is increased to the point where its beamwidth is only a few degrees. The gain of the antenna consequently varies somewhat over the pulse-limited illuminated region of the ocean below the altimeter, and the altimeter output varies with antenna orientation. The error introduced into the altimeter data is modeled empirically, but close agreements with the expected errors was not realized. The attitude error effects expected with the GEOS-C altimeter are modelled using a form suggested by an analytical derivation. The treatment is restricted to the case of a relatively smooth sea, where the height of the ocean waves are small relative to the spatial length (pulse duration times speed of light) of the transmitted pulse.

A method for the estimation of the residual error in the SALP approach for fault tree analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astolfi, M.; Contini, S.

1980-01-01

The aim of this report is the illustration of the algorithms implemented in the SALP-MP code for the estimation of the residual error. These algorithms are of more general use, and it would be possible to implement them on all codes of the series SALP previously developed, as well as, with minor modifications, to analysis procedures based on 'top-down' approaches. At the time, combined 'top-down' - 'bottom up' procedures are being studied in order to take advantage from both approaches for further reduction of computer time and better estimation of the residual error, for which the developed algorithms are still applicable

Differential Effects of Visual-Acoustic Biofeedback Intervention for Residual Speech Errors

Science.gov (United States)

McAllister Byun, Tara; Campbell, Heather

2016-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that the incorporation of visual biofeedback technologies may enhance response to treatment in individuals with residual speech errors. However, there is a need for controlled research systematically comparing biofeedback versus non-biofeedback intervention approaches. This study implemented a single-subject experimental design with a crossover component to investigate the relative efficacy of visual-acoustic biofeedback and traditional articulatory treatment for residual rhotic errors. Eleven child/adolescent participants received ten sessions of visual-acoustic biofeedback and 10 sessions of traditional treatment, with the order of biofeedback and traditional phases counterbalanced across participants. Probe measures eliciting untreated rhotic words were administered in at least three sessions prior to the start of treatment (baseline), between the two treatment phases (midpoint), and after treatment ended (maintenance), as well as before and after each treatment session. Perceptual accuracy of rhotic production was assessed by outside listeners in a blinded, randomized fashion. Results were analyzed using a combination of visual inspection of treatment trajectories, individual effect sizes, and logistic mixed-effects regression. Effect sizes and visual inspection revealed that participants could be divided into categories of strong responders (n = 4), mixed/moderate responders (n = 3), and non-responders (n = 4). Individual results did not reveal a reliable pattern of stronger performance in biofeedback versus traditional blocks, or vice versa. Moreover, biofeedback versus traditional treatment was not a significant predictor of accuracy in the logistic mixed-effects model examining all within-treatment word probes. However, the interaction between treatment condition and treatment order was significant: biofeedback was more effective than traditional treatment in the first phase of treatment, and traditional treatment was more effective

Nurses' Perceived Skills and Attitudes About Updated Safety Concepts: Impact on Medication Administration Errors and Practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, Gail E; Dietrich, Mary; Norman, Linda; Barnsteiner, Jane; Mion, Lorraine

Approximately a quarter of medication errors in the hospital occur at the administration phase, which is solely under the purview of the bedside nurse. The purpose of this study was to assess bedside nurses' perceived skills and attitudes about updated safety concepts and examine their impact on medication administration errors and adherence to safe medication administration practices. Findings support the premise that medication administration errors result from an interplay among system-, unit-, and nurse-level factors.

Correcting the Standard Errors of 2-Stage Residual Inclusion Estimators for Mendelian Randomization Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Tom M; Holmes, Michael V; Keating, Brendan J; Sheehan, Nuala A

2017-11-01

Mendelian randomization studies use genotypes as instrumental variables to test for and estimate the causal effects of modifiable risk factors on outcomes. Two-stage residual inclusion (TSRI) estimators have been used when researchers are willing to make parametric assumptions. However, researchers are currently reporting uncorrected or heteroscedasticity-robust standard errors for these estimates. We compared several different forms of the standard error for linear and logistic TSRI estimates in simulations and in real-data examples. Among others, we consider standard errors modified from the approach of Newey (1987), Terza (2016), and bootstrapping. In our simulations Newey, Terza, bootstrap, and corrected 2-stage least squares (in the linear case) standard errors gave the best results in terms of coverage and type I error. In the real-data examples, the Newey standard errors were 0.5% and 2% larger than the unadjusted standard errors for the linear and logistic TSRI estimators, respectively. We show that TSRI estimators with modified standard errors have correct type I error under the null. Researchers should report TSRI estimates with modified standard errors instead of reporting unadjusted or heteroscedasticity-robust standard errors. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Perceptions and Attitudes towards Medication Error Reporting in Primary Care Clinics: A Qualitative Study in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Samsiah, A; Othman, Noordin; Jamshed, Shazia; Hassali, Mohamed Azmi

2016-01-01

To explore and understand participants' perceptions and attitudes towards the reporting of medication errors (MEs). A qualitative study using in-depth interviews of 31 healthcare practitioners from nine publicly funded, primary care clinics in three states in peninsular Malaysia was conducted for this study. The participants included family medicine specialists, doctors, pharmacists, pharmacist assistants, nurses and assistant medical officers. The interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Analysis of the data was guided by the framework approach. Six themes and 28 codes were identified. Despite the availability of a reporting system, most of the participants agreed that MEs were underreported. The nature of the error plays an important role in determining the reporting. The reporting system, organisational factors, provider factors, reporter's burden and benefit of reporting also were identified. Healthcare practitioners in primary care clinics understood the importance of reporting MEs to improve patient safety. Their perceptions and attitudes towards reporting of MEs were influenced by many factors which affect the decision-making process of whether or not to report. Although the process is complex, it primarily is determined by the severity of the outcome of the errors. The participants voluntarily report the errors if they are familiar with the reporting system, what error to report, when to report and what form to use.

Fibonacci collocation method with a residual error Function to solve linear Volterra integro differential equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salih Yalcinbas

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new collocation method based on the Fibonacci polynomials is introduced to solve the high-order linear Volterra integro-differential equations under the conditions. Numerical examples are included to demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed method and comparisons are made with the existing results. In addition, an error estimation based on the residual functions is presented for this method. The approximate solutions are improved by using this error estimation.

Knowledge, attitude and associated factors among primary school teachers regarding refractive error in school children in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alemayehu, Abiy Maru; Belete, Gizchewu Tilahun; Adimassu, Nebiyat Feleke

2018-01-01

Refractive error is an important cause of correctable visual impairment in the worldwide with a global distribution of 1.75% to 20.7% among schoolchildren. Teacher's knowledge about refractive error play an important role in encouraging students to seek treatment that helps in reducing the burden of visual impairment. To determine knowledge, attitude and associated factors among primary school teachers regarding refractive error in school children in Gondar city. Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted on 565 primary school teachers in Gondar city using pretested and structured self-administered questionnaire. For processing and analysis, SPSS version 20 was used and variables which had a P value of attitude towards refractive error. History of spectacle use [AOR = 2.13 (95% CI: 1.32, 3.43)], history of eye examination [AOR = 1.67 (95% CI: 1.19, 2.34)], training on eye health [AOR = 1.94 (95% CI; 1.09, 3.43)] and 11-20 years of experience [AOR = 2.53 (95% CI: 1.18, 5.43)] were positively associated with knowledge. Whereas being male [AOR = 2.03 (95% CI: 1.37, 3.01)], older age [AOR = 3.05 (95% CI: 1.07, 8.72)], 31-40 years of experience [AOR = 0.23 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.72)], private school type [AOR = 1.76 (95% CI: 1.06, 2.93)] and 5th -8th teaching category [AOR = 1.54 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.24)] were associated with attitude. Knowledge and attitude of study subjects were low which needs training of teachers about the refractive error.

A residual-based a posteriori error estimator for single-phase Darcy flow in fractured porous media

KAUST Repository

Chen, Huangxin

2016-12-09

In this paper we develop an a posteriori error estimator for a mixed finite element method for single-phase Darcy flow in a two-dimensional fractured porous media. The discrete fracture model is applied to model the fractures by one-dimensional fractures in a two-dimensional domain. We consider Raviart–Thomas mixed finite element method for the approximation of the coupled Darcy flows in the fractures and the surrounding porous media. We derive a robust residual-based a posteriori error estimator for the problem with non-intersecting fractures. The reliability and efficiency of the a posteriori error estimator are established for the error measured in an energy norm. Numerical results verifying the robustness of the proposed a posteriori error estimator are given. Moreover, our numerical results indicate that the a posteriori error estimator also works well for the problem with intersecting fractures.

Comparison of community and hospital pharmacists' attitudes and behaviors on medication error disclosure to the patient: A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, ChungYun; Mazan, Jennifer L; Quiñones-Boex, Ana C

To determine pharmacists' attitudes and behaviors on medication errors and their disclosure and to compare community and hospital pharmacists on such views. An online questionnaire was developed from previous studies on physicians' disclosure of errors. Questionnaire items included demographics, environment, personal experiences, and attitudes on medication errors and the disclosure process. An invitation to participate along with the link to the questionnaire was electronically distributed to members of two Illinois pharmacy associations. A follow-up reminder was sent 4 weeks after the original message. Data were collected for 3 months, and statistical analyses were performed with the use of IBM SPSS version 22.0. The overall response rate was 23.3% (n = 422). The average employed respondent was a 51-year-old white woman with a BS Pharmacy degree working in a hospital pharmacy as a clinical staff member. Regardless of practice settings, pharmacist respondents agreed that medication errors were inevitable and that a disclosure process is necessary. Respondents from community and hospital settings were further analyzed to assess any differences. Community pharmacist respondents were more likely to agree that medication errors were inevitable and that pharmacists should address the patient's emotions when disclosing an error. Community pharmacist respondents were also more likely to agree that the health care professional most closely involved with the error should disclose the error to the patient and thought that it was the pharmacists' responsibility to disclose the error. Hospital pharmacist respondents were more likely to agree that it was important to include all details in a disclosure process and more likely to disagree on putting a "positive spin" on the event. Regardless of practice setting, responding pharmacists generally agreed that errors should be disclosed to patients. There were, however, significant differences in their attitudes and behaviors

Identification of factors which affect the tendency towards and attitudes of emergency unit nurses to make medical errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiymaz, Dilek; Koç, Zeliha

2018-03-01

To determine individual and professional factors affecting the tendency of emergency unit nurses to make medical errors and their attitudes towards these errors in Turkey. Compared with other units, the emergency unit is an environment where there is an increased tendency for making medical errors due to its intensive and rapid pace, noise and complex and dynamic structure. A descriptive cross-sectional study. The study was carried out from 25 July 2014-16 September 2015 with the participation of 284 nurses who volunteered to take part in the study. Data were gathered using the data collection survey for nurses, the Medical Error Tendency Scale and the Medical Error Attitude Scale. It was determined that 40.1% of the nurses previously witnessed medical errors, 19.4% made a medical error in the last year, 17.6% of medical errors were caused by medication errors where the wrong medication was administered in the wrong dose, and none of the nurses filled out a case report form about the medical errors they made. Regarding the factors that caused medical errors in the emergency unit, 91.2% of the nurses stated excessive workload as a cause; 85.1% stated an insufficient number of nurses; and 75.4% stated fatigue, exhaustion and burnout. The study showed that nurses who loved their job were satisfied with their unit and who always worked during day shifts had a lower medical error tendency. It is suggested to consider the following actions: increase awareness about medical errors, organise training to reduce errors in medication administration, develop procedures and protocols specific to the emergency unit health care and create an environment which is not punitive wherein nurses can safely report medical errors. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Linearizing feedforward/feedback attitude control

Science.gov (United States)

Paielli, Russell A.; Bach, Ralph E.

1991-01-01

An approach to attitude control theory is introduced in which a linear form is postulated for the closed-loop rotation error dynamics, then the exact control law required to realize it is derived. The nonminimal (four-component) quaternion form is used to attitude because it is globally nonsingular, but the minimal (three-component) quaternion form is used for attitude error because it has no nonlinear constraints to prevent the rotational error dynamics from being linearized, and the definition of the attitude error is based on quaternion algebra. This approach produces an attitude control law that linearizes the closed-loop rotational error dynamics exactly, without any attitude singularities, even if the control errors become large.

Knowledge, attitude and associated factors among primary school teachers regarding refractive error in school children in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Introduction Refractive error is an important cause of correctable visual impairment in the worldwide with a global distribution of 1.75% to 20.7% among schoolchildren. Teacher’s knowledge about refractive error play an important role in encouraging students to seek treatment that helps in reducing the burden of visual impairment. Objective To determine knowledge, attitude and associated factors among primary school teachers regarding refractive error in school children in Gondar city. Methods Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted on 565 primary school teachers in Gondar city using pretested and structured self-administered questionnaire. For processing and analysis, SPSS version 20 was used and variables which had a P value of attitude towards refractive error. History of spectacle use [AOR = 2.13 (95% CI: 1.32, 3.43)], history of eye examination [AOR = 1.67 (95% CI: 1.19, 2.34)], training on eye health [AOR = 1.94 (95% CI; 1.09, 3.43)] and 11–20 years of experience [AOR = 2.53 (95% CI: 1.18, 5.43)] were positively associated with knowledge. Whereas being male [AOR = 2.03 (95% CI: 1.37, 3.01)], older age [AOR = 3.05 (95% CI: 1.07, 8.72)], 31–40 years of experience [AOR = 0.23 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.72)], private school type [AOR = 1.76 (95% CI: 1.06, 2.93)] and 5th -8th teaching category [AOR = 1.54 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.24)] were associated with attitude. Conclusion Knowledge and attitude of study subjects were low which needs training of teachers about the refractive error. PMID:29447172

Pesticide Residues in Food: Attitudes, Beliefs, and Misconceptions among Conventional and Organic Consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Severine; Epp, Astrid; Lohmann, Mark; Böl, Gaby-Fleur

2017-12-01

Pesticide use and pesticide residues in foods have been the subject of controversial public discussions and media coverage in Germany. Against this background, a better understanding of public risk perceptions is needed to promote efficient public health communication. To this end, this study captures the German public's perception of pesticide residues in foods. A representative sample of the population aged 14 years and older (n = 1,004) was surveyed via computer-assisted telephone interviewing on their attitudes and knowledge with regard to pesticide residues. Based on questions regarding their typical consumer behavior, respondents were classified into conventional and organic consumers to identify differences as well as similarities between these two consumer types. As assessed with an open-ended question, both organic and conventional consumers viewed pesticides, chemicals, and toxins as the greatest threats to food quality and safety. Evaluating the risks and benefits of pesticide use, more than two-thirds of organic consumers (70%) rated the risks as greater than the benefits, compared with just over one-half of conventional consumers (53%). Concern about the detection of pesticide residues in the food chain and bodily fluids was significantly higher among organic compared with conventional consumers. Only a minority of respondents was aware that legal limits for pesticide residues (referred to as maximum residue levels) exist, with 69% of organic and 61% of conventional consumers believing that the presence of pesticide residues in foods is generally not permitted. A lack of awareness of maximum residue levels was associated with heightened levels of concern about pesticide residues. Finally, general exposure to media reporting on pesticide residues was associated with more frequent knowledge of legal limits for pesticide residues, whereas actively seeking information on pesticide residues was not. The possible mechanisms underlying these findings are

Enhancing Intervention for Residual Rhotic Errors Via App-Delivered Biofeedback: A Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Byun, Tara McAllister; Campbell, Heather; Carey, Helen; Liang, Wendy; Park, Tae Hong; Svirsky, Mario

2017-06-22

Recent research suggests that visual-acoustic biofeedback can be an effective treatment for residual speech errors, but adoption remains limited due to barriers including high cost and lack of familiarity with the technology. This case study reports results from the first participant to complete a course of visual-acoustic biofeedback using a not-for-profit iOS app, Speech Therapist's App for /r/ Treatment. App-based biofeedback treatment for rhotic misarticulation was provided in weekly 30-min sessions for 20 weeks. Within-treatment progress was documented using clinician perceptual ratings and acoustic measures. Generalization gains were assessed using acoustic measures of word probes elicited during baseline, treatment, and maintenance sessions. Both clinician ratings and acoustic measures indicated that the participant significantly improved her rhotic production accuracy in trials elicited during treatment sessions. However, these gains did not transfer to generalization probes. This study provides a proof-of-concept demonstration that app-based biofeedback is a viable alternative to costlier dedicated systems. Generalization of gains to contexts without biofeedback remains a challenge that requires further study. App-delivered biofeedback could enable clinician-research partnerships that would strengthen the evidence base while providing enhanced treatment for children with residual rhotic errors. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5116318.

An Experimental Study of Medical Error Explanations: Do Apology, Empathy, Corrective Action, and Compensation Alter Intentions and Attitudes?

Science.gov (United States)

Nazione, Samantha; Pace, Kristin

2015-01-01

Medical malpractice lawsuits are a growing problem in the United States, and there is much controversy regarding how to best address this problem. The medical error disclosure framework suggests that apologizing, expressing empathy, engaging in corrective action, and offering compensation after a medical error may improve the provider-patient relationship and ultimately help reduce the number of medical malpractice lawsuits patients bring to medical providers. This study provides an experimental examination of the medical error disclosure framework and its effect on amount of money requested in a lawsuit, negative intentions, attitudes, and anger toward the provider after a medical error. Results suggest empathy may play a large role in providing positive outcomes after a medical error.

A discontinuous Poisson-Boltzmann equation with interfacial jump: homogenisation and residual error estimate.

Science.gov (United States)

Fellner, Klemens; Kovtunenko, Victor A

2016-01-01

A nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation with inhomogeneous Robin type boundary conditions at the interface between two materials is investigated. The model describes the electrostatic potential generated by a vector of ion concentrations in a periodic multiphase medium with dilute solid particles. The key issue stems from interfacial jumps, which necessitate discontinuous solutions to the problem. Based on variational techniques, we derive the homogenisation of the discontinuous problem and establish a rigorous residual error estimate up to the first-order correction.

Effect of heteroscedasticity treatment in residual error models on model calibration and prediction uncertainty estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ruochen; Yuan, Huiling; Liu, Xiaoli

2017-11-01

The heteroscedasticity treatment in residual error models directly impacts the model calibration and prediction uncertainty estimation. This study compares three methods to deal with the heteroscedasticity, including the explicit linear modeling (LM) method and nonlinear modeling (NL) method using hyperbolic tangent function, as well as the implicit Box-Cox transformation (BC). Then a combined approach (CA) combining the advantages of both LM and BC methods has been proposed. In conjunction with the first order autoregressive model and the skew exponential power (SEP) distribution, four residual error models are generated, namely LM-SEP, NL-SEP, BC-SEP and CA-SEP, and their corresponding likelihood functions are applied to the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model over the Huaihe River basin, China. Results show that the LM-SEP yields the poorest streamflow predictions with the widest uncertainty band and unrealistic negative flows. The NL and BC methods can better deal with the heteroscedasticity and hence their corresponding predictive performances are improved, yet the negative flows cannot be avoided. The CA-SEP produces the most accurate predictions with the highest reliability and effectively avoids the negative flows, because the CA approach is capable of addressing the complicated heteroscedasticity over the study basin.

Analyzing the knowledge and attitude of nurses regarding medication error and its prophylactic ways in educational and therapeutic hospitals of Khorramabad

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

fatemeh Ghasemi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Ghasemi SF¹, Valizadeh F¹, Moemen Nasab M2 1. Instructor, Department of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences 2. Instructor, Department of Internal and Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences Abstract Background: Medication errors are the most common avoidable causes of iatrogenic injuries in patients. One out of every three medication errors occurs when a nurse prescribes drug to a patient. Since medication instructions are among the most important parts in the patients treatment process, their inappropriate application can lead to many serious consequences such as incomplete or incorrect therapy, as well as legal problems. The present study was carried out to verify the knowledge and attitude of nurses regarding medication error, and its prophylactic ways in educational and therapeutic hospitals of Khorramabad in 2005. Materials and methods: The samples of this descriptive cross-sectional study included 86 randomly selected nurses who worked in educational and therapeutic hospitals of Khorramabad in 2005. Data collection instruments were a questionnaire and the structured interview. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 13, Chi-square and descriptive statistic test. Results: Analyzing the data indicated that the nurses stated the moot important causes of medication errors as follows: inadequate number of nurses (100%, night and repeated long shifts (83.7%, personal problems of the nurses (79.9%, presence of the patients’ attendants and crowded wards (79.9%, and inappropriate environmental conditions of the wards (73.3%. Fear of receiving reprimands and punishment (88.4%, triviality of errors (57%, and unsupportive attitude of the nursing officials (50% were the most frequently cited reasons for not reporting the medication errors. Moreover, adequate nurse to patient ratio (98.8%, staff continuing education (96

Shifted Legendre method with residual error estimation for delay linear Fredholm integro-differential equations

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Şuayip Yüzbaşı

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we suggest a matrix method for obtaining the approximate solutions of the delay linear Fredholm integro-differential equations with constant coefficients using the shifted Legendre polynomials. The problem is considered with mixed conditions. Using the required matrix operations, the delay linear Fredholm integro-differential equation is transformed into a matrix equation. Additionally, error analysis for the method is presented using the residual function. Illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the efficiency of the method. The results obtained in this study are compared with the known results.

Kalman Filter for Spinning Spacecraft Attitude Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Markley, F. Landis; Sedlak, Joseph E.

2008-01-01

This paper presents a Kalman filter using a seven-component attitude state vector comprising the angular momentum components in an inertial reference frame, the angular momentum components in the body frame, and a rotation angle. The relatively slow variation of these parameters makes this parameterization advantageous for spinning spacecraft attitude estimation. The filter accounts for the constraint that the magnitude of the angular momentum vector is the same in the inertial and body frames by employing a reduced six-component error state. Four variants of the filter, defined by different choices for the reduced error state, are tested against a quaternion-based filter using simulated data for the THEMIS mission. Three of these variants choose three of the components of the error state to be the infinitesimal attitude error angles, facilitating the computation of measurement sensitivity matrices and causing the usual 3x3 attitude covariance matrix to be a submatrix of the 6x6 covariance of the error state. These variants differ in their choice for the other three components of the error state. The variant employing the infinitesimal attitude error angles and the angular momentum components in an inertial reference frame as the error state shows the best combination of robustness and efficiency in the simulations. Attitude estimation results using THEMIS flight data are also presented.

Impacts of Random Attitude Measurement Errors on Airborne Laser Scanning Image%姿态角随机测量误差对机载激光扫描成像的影响

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王建军; 徐立军; 李小路

2011-01-01

The impacts of random attitude measurement errors on the positioning accuracy of laser footprints and digital surface model (DSM) accuracy of airborne lidar are studied. The principle of airborne lidar is analyzed. The transformation formulas between the random attitude measurement errors and the positioning errors of laser footprints are derived. Three terrains are simulated and the impacts of the random attitude measurement errors on laser point clouds and the corresponding DSM of the three terrains are analyzed. A semi-physical simulation experiment is carried out. The impacts of the random attitude measurement errors on the positioning accuracy of laser footprints and the DSM accuracy are quantitatively evaluated. The simulation and experimental results show that the random attitude measurement errors decrease the accuracy of laser point cloud and DSM. With the parameters used in this research, the horizontal coordinate errors caused by the random attitude measurement errors are about 4～ 5 times higher of the vertical coordinate error. In addition, when the random attitude measurement errors increase 10 times, the coordinate errors of laser point cloud increase about 10 times, while the error of the DSM increases by about 40 times statistically.%研究了姿态角随机测量误差对机载激光雷达激光脚点定位精度和数字表面模型(DSM)精度的影响.分析了机载激光雷达的工作原理,推导了姿态角随机测量误差与激光脚点定位误差之间的传递关系.通过数值仿真,模拟了3种地形,研究了姿态角随机测量误差对点云及DSM的影响规律.通过半实物仿真实验,定最评价了姿态角随机测量误差对激光脚点定位精度和DSM精度的影响.仿真和实验结果表明,姿态角随机测量误差造成激光脚点定位精度和DSM精度降低.姿态角随机测量误差造成激光脚点平面坐标误差增加较大,是高程误差的4～5倍;当姿态角随机测量误差增大10�

Impact of residual and intrafractional errors on strategy of correction for image-guided accelerated partial breast irradiation

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Guo Xiao-Mao

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The cone beam CT (CBCT guided radiation can reduce the systematic and random setup errors as compared to the skin-mark setup. However, the residual and intrafractional (RAIF errors are still unknown. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the magnitude of RAIF errors and correction action levels needed in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT guided accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI. Methods Ten patients were enrolled in the prospective study of CBCT guided APBI. The postoperative tumor bed was irradiated with 38.5 Gy in 10 fractions over 5 days. Two cone-beam CT data sets were obtained with one before and one after the treatment delivery. The CBCT images were registered online to the planning CT images using the automatic algorithm followed by a fine manual adjustment. An action level of 3 mm, meaning that corrections were performed for translations exceeding 3 mm, was implemented in clinical treatments. Based on the acquired data, different correction action levels were simulated, and random RAIF errors, systematic RAIF errors and related margins before and after the treatments were determined for varying correction action levels. Results A total of 75 pairs of CBCT data sets were analyzed. The systematic and random setup errors based on skin-mark setup prior to treatment delivery were 2.1 mm and 1.8 mm in the lateral (LR, 3.1 mm and 2.3 mm in the superior-inferior (SI, and 2.3 mm and 2.0 mm in the anterior-posterior (AP directions. With the 3 mm correction action level, the systematic and random RAIF errors were 2.5 mm and 2.3 mm in the LR direction, 2.3 mm and 2.3 mm in the SI direction, and 2.3 mm and 2.2 mm in the AP direction after treatments delivery. Accordingly, the margins for correction action levels of 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm and no correction were 7.9 mm, 8.0 mm, 8.0 mm, 7.9 mm and 8.0 mm in the LR direction; 6.4 mm, 7.1 mm, 7.9 mm, 9.2 mm and 10.5 mm in the SI direction; 7.6 mm, 7.9 mm, 9.4 mm, 10

Impact of residual and intrafractional errors on strategy of correction for image-guided accelerated partial breast irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Gang; Hu, Wei-Gang; Chen, Jia-Yi; Yu, Xiao-Li; Pan, Zi-Qiang; Yang, Zhao-Zhi; Guo, Xiao-Mao; Shao, Zhi-Min; Jiang, Guo-Liang

2010-01-01

The cone beam CT (CBCT) guided radiation can reduce the systematic and random setup errors as compared to the skin-mark setup. However, the residual and intrafractional (RAIF) errors are still unknown. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the magnitude of RAIF errors and correction action levels needed in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) guided accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). Ten patients were enrolled in the prospective study of CBCT guided APBI. The postoperative tumor bed was irradiated with 38.5 Gy in 10 fractions over 5 days. Two cone-beam CT data sets were obtained with one before and one after the treatment delivery. The CBCT images were registered online to the planning CT images using the automatic algorithm followed by a fine manual adjustment. An action level of 3 mm, meaning that corrections were performed for translations exceeding 3 mm, was implemented in clinical treatments. Based on the acquired data, different correction action levels were simulated, and random RAIF errors, systematic RAIF errors and related margins before and after the treatments were determined for varying correction action levels. A total of 75 pairs of CBCT data sets were analyzed. The systematic and random setup errors based on skin-mark setup prior to treatment delivery were 2.1 mm and 1.8 mm in the lateral (LR), 3.1 mm and 2.3 mm in the superior-inferior (SI), and 2.3 mm and 2.0 mm in the anterior-posterior (AP) directions. With the 3 mm correction action level, the systematic and random RAIF errors were 2.5 mm and 2.3 mm in the LR direction, 2.3 mm and 2.3 mm in the SI direction, and 2.3 mm and 2.2 mm in the AP direction after treatments delivery. Accordingly, the margins for correction action levels of 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm and no correction were 7.9 mm, 8.0 mm, 8.0 mm, 7.9 mm and 8.0 mm in the LR direction; 6.4 mm, 7.1 mm, 7.9 mm, 9.2 mm and 10.5 mm in the SI direction; 7.6 mm, 7.9 mm, 9.4 mm, 10.1 mm and 12.7 mm in the AP direction

A Dynamic Attitude Measurement System Based on LINS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanzhou Li

2014-08-01

Full Text Available A dynamic attitude measurement system (DAMS is developed based on a laser inertial navigation system (LINS. Three factors of the dynamic attitude measurement error using LINS are analyzed: dynamic error, time synchronization and phase lag. An optimal coning errors compensation algorithm is used to reduce coning errors, and two-axis wobbling verification experiments are presented in the paper. The tests indicate that the attitude accuracy is improved 2-fold by the algorithm. In order to decrease coning errors further, the attitude updating frequency is improved from 200 Hz to 2000 Hz. At the same time, a novel finite impulse response (FIR filter with three notches is designed to filter the dither frequency of the ring laser gyro (RLG. The comparison tests suggest that the new filter is five times more effective than the old one. The paper indicates that phase-frequency characteristics of FIR filter and first-order holder of navigation computer constitute the main sources of phase lag in LINS. A formula to calculate the LINS attitude phase lag is introduced in the paper. The expressions of dynamic attitude errors induced by phase lag are derived. The paper proposes a novel synchronization mechanism that is able to simultaneously solve the problems of dynamic test synchronization and phase compensation. A single-axis turntable and a laser interferometer are applied to verify the synchronization mechanism. The experiments results show that the theoretically calculated values of phase lag and attitude error induced by phase lag can both match perfectly with testing data. The block diagram of DAMS and physical photos are presented in the paper. The final experiments demonstrate that the real-time attitude measurement accuracy of DAMS can reach up to 20″ (1σ and the synchronization error is less than 0.2 ms on the condition of three axes wobbling for 10 min.

A Dynamic Attitude Measurement System Based on LINS

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hanzhou; Pan, Quan; Wang, Xiaoxu; Zhang, Juanni; Li, Jiang; Jiang, Xiangjun

2014-01-01

A dynamic attitude measurement system (DAMS) is developed based on a laser inertial navigation system (LINS). Three factors of the dynamic attitude measurement error using LINS are analyzed: dynamic error, time synchronization and phase lag. An optimal coning errors compensation algorithm is used to reduce coning errors, and two-axis wobbling verification experiments are presented in the paper. The tests indicate that the attitude accuracy is improved 2-fold by the algorithm. In order to decrease coning errors further, the attitude updating frequency is improved from 200 Hz to 2000 Hz. At the same time, a novel finite impulse response (FIR) filter with three notches is designed to filter the dither frequency of the ring laser gyro (RLG). The comparison tests suggest that the new filter is five times more effective than the old one. The paper indicates that phase-frequency characteristics of FIR filter and first-order holder of navigation computer constitute the main sources of phase lag in LINS. A formula to calculate the LINS attitude phase lag is introduced in the paper. The expressions of dynamic attitude errors induced by phase lag are derived. The paper proposes a novel synchronization mechanism that is able to simultaneously solve the problems of dynamic test synchronization and phase compensation. A single-axis turntable and a laser interferometer are applied to verify the synchronization mechanism. The experiments results show that the theoretically calculated values of phase lag and attitude error induced by phase lag can both match perfectly with testing data. The block diagram of DAMS and physical photos are presented in the paper. The final experiments demonstrate that the real-time attitude measurement accuracy of DAMS can reach up to 20″ (1σ) and the synchronization error is less than 0.2 ms on the condition of three axes wobbling for 10 min. PMID:25177802

Use of Earth's magnetic field for mitigating gyroscope errors regardless of magnetic perturbation.

Science.gov (United States)

Afzal, Muhammad Haris; Renaudin, Valérie; Lachapelle, Gérard

2011-01-01

Most portable systems like smart-phones are equipped with low cost consumer grade sensors, making them useful as Pedestrian Navigation Systems (PNS). Measurements of these sensors are severely contaminated by errors caused due to instrumentation and environmental issues rendering the unaided navigation solution with these sensors of limited use. The overall navigation error budget associated with pedestrian navigation can be categorized into position/displacement errors and attitude/orientation errors. Most of the research is conducted for tackling and reducing the displacement errors, which either utilize Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) or special constraints like Zero velocity UPdaTes (ZUPT) and Zero Angular Rate Updates (ZARU). This article targets the orientation/attitude errors encountered in pedestrian navigation and develops a novel sensor fusion technique to utilize the Earth's magnetic field, even perturbed, for attitude and rate gyroscope error estimation in pedestrian navigation environments where it is assumed that Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) navigation is denied. As the Earth's magnetic field undergoes severe degradations in pedestrian navigation environments, a novel Quasi-Static magnetic Field (QSF) based attitude and angular rate error estimation technique is developed to effectively use magnetic measurements in highly perturbed environments. The QSF scheme is then used for generating the desired measurements for the proposed Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) based attitude estimator. Results indicate that the QSF measurements are capable of effectively estimating attitude and gyroscope errors, reducing the overall navigation error budget by over 80% in urban canyon environment.

Estima de error residual explícita para cantidades de interés utilizando funciones burbuja

OpenAIRE

Rosales, R.; Díez, P.

2009-01-01

En este trabajo se introduce un nuevo estimador de error residual explícito a posteriori para problemas elípticos orientado a cantidades de interés. Se propone utilizar funciones burbuja sobre elementos y sobre aristas. Se parte de la solución de elementos finitos del problema primal y de la de un problema junto (o dual), asociado a una cantidad de interés definida por el usuario. Por ejemplo, la variación de temperatura o el desplazamiento de un punto del dominio. La estima se calcula en...

Friendship at work and error disclosure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsiao-Yen Mao

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Organizations rely on contextual factors to promote employee disclosure of self-made errors, which induces a resource dilemma (i.e., disclosure entails costing one's own resources to bring others resources and a friendship dilemma (i.e., disclosure is seemingly easier through friendship, yet the cost of friendship is embedded. This study proposes that friendship at work enhances error disclosure and uses conservation of resources theory as underlying explanation. A three-wave survey collected data from 274 full-time employees with a variety of occupational backgrounds. Empirical results indicated that friendship enhanced error disclosure partially through relational mechanisms of employees’ attitudes toward coworkers (i.e., employee engagement and of coworkers’ attitudes toward employees (i.e., perceived social worth. Such effects hold when controlling for established predictors of error disclosure. This study expands extant perspectives on employee error and the theoretical lenses used to explain the influence of friendship at work. We propose that, while promoting error disclosure through both contextual and relational approaches, organizations should be vigilant about potential incongruence.

Residual position errors of lymph node surrogates in breast cancer adjuvant radiotherapy: Comparison of two arm fixation devices and the effect of arm position correction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapanen, Mika; Laaksomaa, Marko; Skyttä, Tanja; Haltamo, Mikko; Pehkonen, Jani; Lehtonen, Turkka; Kellokumpu-Lehtinen, Pirkko-Liisa; Hyödynmaa, Simo

2016-01-01

Residual position errors of the lymph node (LN) surrogates and humeral head (HH) were determined for 2 different arm fixation devices in radiotherapy (RT) of breast cancer: a standard wrist-hold (WH) and a house-made rod-hold (RH). The effect of arm position correction (APC) based on setup images was also investigated. A total of 113 consecutive patients with early-stage breast cancer with LN irradiation were retrospectively analyzed (53 and 60 using the WH and RH, respectively). Residual position errors of the LN surrogates (Th1-2 and clavicle) and the HH were investigated to compare the 2 fixation devices. The position errors and setup margins were determined before and after the APC to investigate the efficacy of the APC in the treatment situation. A threshold of 5 mm was used for the residual errors of the clavicle and Th1-2 to perform the APC, and a threshold of 7 mm was used for the HH. The setup margins were calculated with the van Herk formula. Irradiated volumes of the HH were determined from RT treatment plans. With the WH and the RH, setup margins up to 8.1 and 6.7 mm should be used for the LN surrogates, and margins up to 4.6 and 3.6 mm should be used to spare the HH, respectively, without the APC. After the APC, the margins of the LN surrogates were equal to or less than 7.5/6.0 mm with the WH/RH, but margins up to 4.2/2.9 mm were required for the HH. The APC was needed at least once with both the devices for approximately 60% of the patients. With the RH, irradiated volume of the HH was approximately 2 times more than with the WH, without any dose constraints. Use of the RH together with the APC resulted in minimal residual position errors and setup margins for all the investigated bony landmarks. Based on the obtained results, we prefer the house-made RH. However, more attention should be given to minimize the irradiation of the HH with the RH than with the WH.

Attitudes of Mashhad Public Hospital's Nurses and Midwives toward the Causes and Rates of Medical Errors Reporting.

Science.gov (United States)

Mobarakabadi, Sedigheh Sedigh; Ebrahimipour, Hosein; Najar, Ali Vafaie; Janghorban, Roksana; Azarkish, Fatemeh

2017-03-01

Patient's safety is one of the main objective in healthcare services; however medical errors are a prevalent potential occurrence for the patients in treatment systems. Medical errors lead to an increase in mortality rate of the patients and challenges such as prolonging of the inpatient period in the hospitals and increased cost. Controlling the medical errors is very important, because these errors besides being costly, threaten the patient's safety. To evaluate the attitudes of nurses and midwives toward the causes and rates of medical errors reporting. It was a cross-sectional observational study. The study population was 140 midwives and nurses employed in Mashhad Public Hospitals. The data collection was done through Goldstone 2001 revised questionnaire. SPSS 11.5 software was used for data analysis. To analyze data, descriptive and inferential analytic statistics were used. Standard deviation and relative frequency distribution, descriptive statistics were used for calculation of the mean and the results were adjusted as tables and charts. Chi-square test was used for the inferential analysis of the data. Most of midwives and nurses (39.4%) were in age range of 25 to 34 years and the lowest percentage (2.2%) were in age range of 55-59 years. The highest average of medical errors was related to employees with three-four years of work experience, while the lowest average was related to those with one-two years of work experience. The highest average of medical errors was during the evening shift, while the lowest were during the night shift. Three main causes of medical errors were considered: illegibile physician prescription orders, similarity of names in different drugs and nurse fatigueness. The most important causes for medical errors from the viewpoints of nurses and midwives are illegible physician's order, drug name similarity with other drugs, nurse's fatigueness and damaged label or packaging of the drug, respectively. Head nurse feedback, peer

Effects of Target Positioning Error on Motion Compensation for Airborne Interferometric SAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Yin-wei

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The measurement inaccuracies of Inertial Measurement Unit/Global Positioning System (IMU/GPS as well as the positioning error of the target may contribute to the residual uncompensated motion errors in the MOtion COmpensation (MOCO approach based on the measurement of IMU/GPS. Aiming at the effects of target positioning error on MOCO for airborne interferometric SAR, the paper firstly deduces a mathematical model of residual motion error bring out by target positioning error under the condition of squint. And the paper analyzes the effects on the residual motion error caused by system sampling delay error, the Doppler center frequency error and reference DEM error which result in target positioning error based on the model. Then, the paper discusses the effects of the reference DEM error on the interferometric SAR image quality, the interferometric phase and the coherent coefficient. The research provides theoretical bases for the MOCO precision in signal processing of airborne high precision SAR and airborne repeat-pass interferometric SAR.

Event-triggered attitude control of spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Baolin; Shen, Qiang; Cao, Xibin

2018-02-01

The problem of spacecraft attitude stabilization control system with limited communication and external disturbances is investigated based on an event-triggered control scheme. In the proposed scheme, information of attitude and control torque only need to be transmitted at some discrete triggered times when a defined measurement error exceeds a state-dependent threshold. The proposed control scheme not only guarantees that spacecraft attitude control errors converge toward a small invariant set containing the origin, but also ensures that there is no accumulation of triggering instants. The performance of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated through numerical simulation.

Particle Filter with Novel Nonlinear Error Model for Miniature Gyroscope-Based Measurement While Drilling Navigation

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Tao Li

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The derivation of a conventional error model for the miniature gyroscope-based measurement while drilling (MGWD system is based on the assumption that the errors of attitude are small enough so that the direction cosine matrix (DCM can be approximated or simplified by the errors of small-angle attitude. However, the simplification of the DCM would introduce errors to the navigation solutions of the MGWD system if the initial alignment cannot provide precise attitude, especially for the low-cost microelectromechanical system (MEMS sensors operated in harsh multilateral horizontal downhole drilling environments. This paper proposes a novel nonlinear error model (NNEM by the introduction of the error of DCM, and the NNEM can reduce the propagated errors under large-angle attitude error conditions. The zero velocity and zero position are the reference points and the innovations in the states estimation of particle filter (PF and Kalman filter (KF. The experimental results illustrate that the performance of PF is better than KF and the PF with NNEM can effectively restrain the errors of system states, especially for the azimuth, velocity, and height in the quasi-stationary condition.

Particle Filter with Novel Nonlinear Error Model for Miniature Gyroscope-Based Measurement While Drilling Navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tao; Yuan, Gannan; Li, Wang

2016-03-15

The derivation of a conventional error model for the miniature gyroscope-based measurement while drilling (MGWD) system is based on the assumption that the errors of attitude are small enough so that the direction cosine matrix (DCM) can be approximated or simplified by the errors of small-angle attitude. However, the simplification of the DCM would introduce errors to the navigation solutions of the MGWD system if the initial alignment cannot provide precise attitude, especially for the low-cost microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensors operated in harsh multilateral horizontal downhole drilling environments. This paper proposes a novel nonlinear error model (NNEM) by the introduction of the error of DCM, and the NNEM can reduce the propagated errors under large-angle attitude error conditions. The zero velocity and zero position are the reference points and the innovations in the states estimation of particle filter (PF) and Kalman filter (KF). The experimental results illustrate that the performance of PF is better than KF and the PF with NNEM can effectively restrain the errors of system states, especially for the azimuth, velocity, and height in the quasi-stationary condition.

A Nonlinear Attitude Estimator for Attitude and Heading Reference Systems Based on MEMS Sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yunlong; Soltani, Mohsen; Hussain, Dil muhammed Akbar

2016-01-01

In this paper, a nonlinear attitude estimator is designed for an Attitude Heading and Reference System (AHRS) based on Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors. The design process of the attitude estimator is stated with detail, and the equilibrium point of the estimator error model...... the problems in previous research works. Moreover, the estimation of MEMS gyroscope bias is also inclueded in this estimator. The designed nonlinear attitude estimator is firstly tested in simulation environment and then implemented in an AHRS hardware for further experiments. Finally, the attitude estimation...

Diffraction grating strain gauge method: error analysis and its application for the residual stress measurement in thermal barrier coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yuanjie; Fan, Bozhao; He, Wei; Dai, Xianglu; Guo, Baoqiao; Xie, Huimin

2018-03-01

Diffraction grating strain gauge (DGSG) is an optical strain measurement method. Based on this method, a six-spot diffraction grating strain gauge (S-DGSG) system has been developed with the advantages of high and adjustable sensitivity, compact structure, and non-contact measurement. In this study, this system is applied for the residual stress measurement in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) combining the hole-drilling method. During the experiment, the specimen’s location is supposed to be reset accurately before and after the hole-drilling, however, it is found that the rigid body displacements from the resetting process could seriously influence the measurement accuracy. In order to understand and eliminate the effects from the rigid body displacements, such as the three-dimensional (3D) rotations and the out-of-plane displacement of the grating, the measurement error of this system is systematically analyzed, and an optimized method is proposed. Moreover, a numerical experiment and a verified tensile test are conducted, and the results verify the applicability of this optimized method successfully. Finally, combining this optimized method, a residual stress measurement experiment is conducted, and the results show that this method can be applied to measure the residual stress in TBCs.

Evaluating and improving the representation of heteroscedastic errors in hydrological models

Science.gov (United States)

McInerney, D. J.; Thyer, M. A.; Kavetski, D.; Kuczera, G. A.

2013-12-01

Appropriate representation of residual errors in hydrological modelling is essential for accurate and reliable probabilistic predictions. In particular, residual errors of hydrological models are often heteroscedastic, with large errors associated with high rainfall and runoff events. Recent studies have shown that using a weighted least squares (WLS) approach - where the magnitude of residuals are assumed to be linearly proportional to the magnitude of the flow - captures some of this heteroscedasticity. In this study we explore a range of Bayesian approaches for improving the representation of heteroscedasticity in residual errors. We compare several improved formulations of the WLS approach, the well-known Box-Cox transformation and the more recent log-sinh transformation. Our results confirm that these approaches are able to stabilize the residual error variance, and that it is possible to improve the representation of heteroscedasticity compared with the linear WLS approach. We also find generally good performance of the Box-Cox and log-sinh transformations, although as indicated in earlier publications, the Box-Cox transform sometimes produces unrealistically large prediction limits. Our work explores the trade-offs between these different uncertainty characterization approaches, investigates how their performance varies across diverse catchments and models, and recommends practical approaches suitable for large-scale applications.

Attitude Control Subsystem for the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Hewston, Alan W.; Mitchell, Kent A.; Sawicki, Jerzy T.

1996-01-01

This paper provides an overview of the on-orbit operation of the Attitude Control Subsystem (ACS) for the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). The three ACTS control axes are defined, including the means for sensing attitude and determining the pointing errors. The desired pointing requirements for various modes of control as well as the disturbance torques that oppose the control are identified. Finally, the hardware actuators and control loops utilized to reduce the attitude error are described.

SPACE-BORNE LASER ALTIMETER GEOLOCATION ERROR ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Wang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the development of space-borne laser altimetry technology over the past 40 years. Taking the ICESAT satellite as an example, a rigorous space-borne laser altimeter geolocation model is studied, and an error propagation equation is derived. The influence of the main error sources, such as the platform positioning error, attitude measurement error, pointing angle measurement error and range measurement error, on the geolocation accuracy of the laser spot are analysed by simulated experiments. The reasons for the different influences on geolocation accuracy in different directions are discussed, and to satisfy the accuracy of the laser control point, a design index for each error source is put forward.

The error model and experiment of measuring angular position error based on laser collimation

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yangyang; Yang, Jing; Li, Jiakun; Feng, Qibo

2018-01-01

Rotary axis is the reference component of rotation motion. Angular position error is the most critical factor which impair the machining precision among the six degree-of-freedom (DOF) geometric errors of rotary axis. In this paper, the measuring method of angular position error of rotary axis based on laser collimation is thoroughly researched, the error model is established and 360 ° full range measurement is realized by using the high precision servo turntable. The change of space attitude of each moving part is described accurately by the 3×3 transformation matrices and the influences of various factors on the measurement results is analyzed in detail. Experiments results show that the measurement method can achieve high measurement accuracy and large measurement range.

Feedback attitude sliding mode regulation control of spacecraft using arm motion

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Ye; Liang, Bin; Xu, Dong; Wang, Xueqian; Xu, Wenfu

2013-09-01

The problem of spacecraft attitude regulation based on the reaction of arm motion has attracted extensive attentions from both engineering and academic fields. Most of the solutions of the manipulator’s motion tracking problem just achieve asymptotical stabilization performance, so that these controllers cannot realize precise attitude regulation because of the existence of non-holonomic constraints. Thus, sliding mode control algorithms are adopted to stabilize the tracking error with zero transient process. Due to the switching effects of the variable structure controller, once the tracking error reaches the designed hyper-plane, it will be restricted to this plane permanently even with the existence of external disturbances. Thus, precise attitude regulation can be achieved. Furthermore, taking the non-zero initial tracking errors and chattering phenomenon into consideration, saturation functions are used to replace sign functions to smooth the control torques. The relations between the upper bounds of tracking errors and the controller parameters are derived to reveal physical characteristic of the controller. Mathematical models of free-floating space manipulator are established and simulations are conducted in the end. The results show that the spacecraft’s attitude can be regulated to the position as desired by using the proposed algorithm, the steady state error is 0.000 2 rad. In addition, the joint tracking trajectory is smooth, the joint tracking errors converges to zero quickly with a satisfactory continuous joint control input. The proposed research provides a feasible solution for spacecraft attitude regulation by using arm motion, and improves the precision of the spacecraft attitude regulation.

Attitude Estimation of Skis in Ski Jumping Using Low-Cost Inertial Measurement Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Fang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an approach to estimate the attitude of skis for an entire ski jump using wearable, MEMS-based, low-cost Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs. First of all, a kinematic attitude model based on rigid-body dynamics and a sensor error model considering bias and scale factor error are established. Then, an extended Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS smoother is used to combine measurement data provided by both gyroscope and magnetometer to achieve an attitude estimation. Moreover, parameters for the bias and scale factor error in the sensor error model and the initial attitude are determined via a maximum-likelihood principle based parameter estimation algorithm. By implementing this approach, an attitude estimation of skis is achieved without further sensor calibration. Finally, results based on both the simulated reference data and the real experimental measurement data are presented, which proves the practicability and the validity of the proposed approach.

DOA estimation for attitude determination on communication satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Bin

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In order to determine an appropriate attitude of three-axis stabilized communication satellites, this paper describes a novel attitude determination method using direction of arrival (DOA estimation of a ground signal source. It differs from optical measurement, magnetic field measurement, inertial measurement, and global positioning system (GPS attitude determination. The proposed method is characterized by taking the ground signal source as the attitude reference and acquiring attitude information from DOA estimation. Firstly, an attitude measurement equation with DOA estimation is derived in detail. Then, the error of the measurement equation is analyzed. Finally, an attitude determination algorithm is presented using a dynamic model, the attitude measurement equation, and measurement errors. A developing low Earth orbit (LEO satellite which tests mobile communication technology with smart antennas can be stabilized in three axes by corporately using a magnetometer, reaction wheels, and three-axis magnetorquer rods. Based on the communication satellite, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. The method could be a backup of attitude determination to prevent a system failure on the satellite. Its precision depends on the number of snapshots and the input signal-to-noise ratio (SNR with DOA estimation.

Errors in Computing the Normalized Protein Catabolic Rate due to Use of Single-pool Urea Kinetic Modeling or to Omission of the Residual Kidney Urea Clearance.

Science.gov (United States)

Daugirdas, John T

2017-07-01

The protein catabolic rate normalized to body size (PCRn) often is computed in dialysis units to obtain information about protein ingestion. However, errors can manifest when inappropriate modeling methods are used. We used a variable volume 2-pool urea kinetic model to examine the percent errors in PCRn due to use of a 1-pool urea kinetic model or after omission of residual urea clearance (Kru). When a single-pool model was used, 2 sources of errors were identified. The first, dependent on the ratio of dialyzer urea clearance to urea distribution volume (K/V), resulted in a 7% inflation of the PCRn when K/V was in the range of 6 mL/min per L. A second, larger error appeared when Kt/V values were below 1.0 and was related to underestimation of urea distribution volume (due to overestimation of effective clearance) by the single-pool model. A previously reported prediction equation for PCRn was valid, but data suggest that it should be modified using 2-pool eKt/V and V coefficients instead of single-pool values. A third source of error, this one unrelated to use of a single-pool model, namely omission of Kru, was shown to result in an underestimation of PCRn, such that each ml/minute Kru per 35 L of V caused a 5.6% underestimate in PCRn. Marked overestimation of PCRn can result due to inappropriate use of a single-pool urea kinetic model, particularly when Kt/V <1.0 (as in short daily dialysis), or after omission of residual native kidney clearance. Copyright © 2017 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Error floor behavior study of LDPC codes for concatenated codes design

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Weigang; Yin, Liuguo; Lu, Jianhua

2007-11-01

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

Spacecraft Attitude Determination

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bak, Thomas

This thesis describes the development of an attitude determination system for spacecraft based only on magnetic field measurements. The need for such system is motivated by the increased demands for inexpensive, lightweight solutions for small spacecraft. These spacecraft demands full attitude...... determination based on simple, reliable sensors. Meeting these objectives with a single vector magnetometer is difficult and requires temporal fusion of data in order to avoid local observability problems. In order to guaranteed globally nonsingular solutions, quaternions are generally the preferred attitude...... is a detailed study of the influence of approximations in the modeling of the system. The quantitative effects of errors in the process and noise statistics are discussed in detail. The third contribution is the introduction of these methods to the attitude determination on-board the Ørsted satellite...

Attitude and Trajectory Estimation Using Earth Magnetic Field Data

Science.gov (United States)

Deutschmann, Julie; Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack Y.

1996-01-01

The magnetometer has long been a reliable, inexpensive sensor used in spacecraft momentum management and attitude estimation. Recent studies show an increased accuracy potential for magnetometer-only attitude estimation systems. Since the Earth's magnetic field is a function of time and position, and since time is known quite precisely, the differences between the computer and measured magnetic field components, as measured by the magnetometers throughout the entire spacecraft orbit, are a function of both the spacecraft trajectory and attitude errors. Therefore, these errors can be used to estimate both trajectory and attitude. Traditionally, satellite attitude and trajectory have been estimated with completely separate system, using different measurement data. Recently, trajectory estimation for low earth orbit satellites was successfully demonstrated in ground software using only magnetometer data. This work proposes a single augmented extended Kalman Filter to simultaneously and autonomously estimate both spacecraft trajectory and attitude with data from a magnetometer and either dynamically determined rates or gyro-measured body rates.

An Empirical State Error Covariance Matrix Orbit Determination Example

Science.gov (United States)

Frisbee, Joseph H., Jr.

2015-01-01

State estimation techniques serve effectively to provide mean state estimates. However, the state error covariance matrices provided as part of these techniques suffer from some degree of lack of confidence in their ability to adequately describe the uncertainty in the estimated states. A specific problem with the traditional form of state error covariance matrices is that they represent only a mapping of the assumed observation error characteristics into the state space. Any errors that arise from other sources (environment modeling, precision, etc.) are not directly represented in a traditional, theoretical state error covariance matrix. First, consider that an actual observation contains only measurement error and that an estimated observation contains all other errors, known and unknown. Then it follows that a measurement residual (the difference between expected and observed measurements) contains all errors for that measurement. Therefore, a direct and appropriate inclusion of the actual measurement residuals in the state error covariance matrix of the estimate will result in an empirical state error covariance matrix. This empirical state error covariance matrix will fully include all of the errors in the state estimate. The empirical error covariance matrix is determined from a literal reinterpretation of the equations involved in the weighted least squares estimation algorithm. It is a formally correct, empirical state error covariance matrix obtained through use of the average form of the weighted measurement residual variance performance index rather than the usual total weighted residual form. Based on its formulation, this matrix will contain the total uncertainty in the state estimate, regardless as to the source of the uncertainty and whether the source is anticipated or not. It is expected that the empirical error covariance matrix will give a better, statistical representation of the state error in poorly modeled systems or when sensor performance

Cost-effective improvements of a rotating platform by integration of a high-accuracy inclinometer and encoders for attitude evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, Chenyang; He, Shengyang; Hu, Peida; Bu, Changgen

2017-01-01

Attitude heading reference systems (AHRSs) based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) inertial sensors are widely used because of their low cost, light weight, and low power. However, low-cost AHRSs suffer from large inertial sensor errors. Therefore, experimental performance evaluation of MEMS-based AHRSs after system implementation is necessary. High-accuracy turntables can be used to verify the performance of MEMS-based AHRSs indoors, but they are expensive and unsuitable for outdoor tests. This study developed a low-cost two-axis rotating platform for indoor and outdoor attitude determination. A high-accuracy inclinometer and encoders were integrated into the platform to improve the achievable attitude test accuracy. An attitude error compensation method was proposed to calibrate the initial attitude errors caused by the movements and misalignment angles of the platform. The proposed attitude error determination method was examined through rotating experiments, which showed that the standard deviations of the pitch and roll errors were 0.050° and 0.090°, respectively. The pitch and roll errors both decreased to 0.024° when the proposed attitude error determination method was used. This decrease validates the effectiveness of the compensation method. Experimental results demonstrated that the integration of the inclinometer and encoders improved the performance of the low-cost, two-axis, rotating platform in terms of attitude accuracy. (paper)

A procedure for the significance testing of unmodeled errors in GNSS observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bofeng; Zhang, Zhetao; Shen, Yunzhong; Yang, Ling

2018-01-01

It is a crucial task to establish a precise mathematical model for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations in precise positioning. Due to the spatiotemporal complexity of, and limited knowledge on, systematic errors in GNSS observations, some residual systematic errors would inevitably remain even after corrected with empirical model and parameterization. These residual systematic errors are referred to as unmodeled errors. However, most of the existing studies mainly focus on handling the systematic errors that can be properly modeled and then simply ignore the unmodeled errors that may actually exist. To further improve the accuracy and reliability of GNSS applications, such unmodeled errors must be handled especially when they are significant. Therefore, a very first question is how to statistically validate the significance of unmodeled errors. In this research, we will propose a procedure to examine the significance of these unmodeled errors by the combined use of the hypothesis tests. With this testing procedure, three components of unmodeled errors, i.e., the nonstationary signal, stationary signal and white noise, are identified. The procedure is tested by using simulated data and real BeiDou datasets with varying error sources. The results show that the unmodeled errors can be discriminated by our procedure with approximately 90% confidence. The efficiency of the proposed procedure is further reassured by applying the time-domain Allan variance analysis and frequency-domain fast Fourier transform. In summary, the spatiotemporally correlated unmodeled errors are commonly existent in GNSS observations and mainly governed by the residual atmospheric biases and multipath. Their patterns may also be impacted by the receiver.

Instantaneous Attitude Determination Based on Original Multi-antenna Observations Using Adaptively Robust Kalman Filtering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GAN Yu

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Attitude determination directly by carrier phase observation makes optimal use of observation and attitude constraints. The phase models based on misalignment angle and multiplicative quaternion error are derived. The state models for attitude estimation with and without external angular rate sensors are both erected. The attitude errors are estimated by adaptively robust filtering, in which the adaptive factors of ambiguity and attitude error are decided respectively following the idea of multi adaptive factor filtering. The factor of attitude is determined by a three-section function containing Ratio. Adaptively robust filtering makes the best use of constraint and historical information, fusing them in the calculation of float solution. As the accuracy of float solution and the structure of covariance matrix are improved greatly, the fix solution can be searched efficiently using LAMBDA (least-squares ambiguity decorrelation adjustment method merely, perfectly fulfilling the real-time requirement. Field test of a ship-based three-antenna attitude system is used to validate the proposed method. It is showed that direct attitude determination based on adaptively robust filtering has obvious advantages in efficiency and reliability.

Female residents experiencing medical errors in general internal medicine: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mankaka, Cindy Ottiger; Waeber, Gérard; Gachoud, David

2014-07-10

Doctors, especially doctors-in-training such as residents, make errors. They have to face the consequences even though today's approach to errors emphasizes systemic factors. Doctors' individual characteristics play a role in how medical errors are experienced and dealt with. The role of gender has previously been examined in a few quantitative studies that have yielded conflicting results. In the present study, we sought to qualitatively explore the experience of female residents with respect to medical errors. In particular, we explored the coping mechanisms displayed after an error. This study took place in the internal medicine department of a Swiss university hospital. Within a phenomenological framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight female residents in general internal medicine. All interviews were audiotaped, fully transcribed, and thereafter analyzed. Seven main themes emerged from the interviews: (1) A perception that there is an insufficient culture of safety and error; (2) The perceived main causes of errors, which included fatigue, work overload, inadequate level of competences in relation to assigned tasks, and dysfunctional communication; (3) Negative feelings in response to errors, which included different forms of psychological distress; (4) Variable attitudes of the hierarchy toward residents involved in an error; (5) Talking about the error, as the core coping mechanism; (6) Defensive and constructive attitudes toward one's own errors; and (7) Gender-specific experiences in relation to errors. Such experiences consisted in (a) perceptions that male residents were more confident and therefore less affected by errors than their female counterparts and (b) perceptions that sexist attitudes among male supervisors can occur and worsen an already painful experience. This study offers an in-depth account of how female residents specifically experience and cope with medical errors. Our interviews with female residents convey the

The effect of errors in charged particle beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carey, D.C.

1987-01-01

Residual errors in a charged particle optical system determine how well the performance of the system conforms to the theory on which it is based. Mathematically possible optical modes can sometimes be eliminated as requiring precisions not attainable. Other plans may require introduction of means of correction for the occurrence of various errors. Error types include misalignments, magnet fabrication precision limitations, and magnet current regulation errors. A thorough analysis of a beam optical system requires computer simulation of all these effects. A unified scheme for the simulation of errors and their correction is discussed

Investigation of Primary Mirror Segment's Residual Errors for the Thirty Meter Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Byoung-Joon; Nissly, Carl; Angeli, George; MacMynowski, Doug; Sigrist, Norbert; Troy, Mitchell; Williams, Eric

2009-01-01

The primary mirror segment aberrations after shape corrections with warping harness have been identified as the single largest error term in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) image quality error budget. In order to better understand the likely errors and how they will impact the telescope performance we have performed detailed simulations. We first generated unwarped primary mirror segment surface shapes that met TMT specifications. Then we used the predicted warping harness influence functions and a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor model to determine estimates for the 492 corrected segment surfaces that make up the TMT primary mirror. Surface and control parameters, as well as the number of subapertures were varied to explore the parameter space. The corrected segment shapes were then passed to an optical TMT model built using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed Modeling and Analysis for Controlled Optical Systems (MACOS) ray-trace simulator. The generated exit pupil wavefront error maps provided RMS wavefront error and image-plane characteristics like the Normalized Point Source Sensitivity (PSSN). The results have been used to optimize the segment shape correction and wavefront sensor designs as well as provide input to the TMT systems engineering error budgets.

Error orientation questionnaire (EOQ): reliability, validity, and different language equivalence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rybowiak, V.; Garst, H.; Frese, M.; Batinic, B.

1999-01-01

An Error Orientation Questionnaire (EOQ) was developed, consisting of eight scales on attitudes to and on coping with errors at work. In Study I (representative sample of a German city, N=478) six scales were developed with the help of a confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL techniques. They

LOWER BOUNDS ON PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFT ERRORS FROM TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA TEMPLATES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asztalos, S.; Nikolaev, S.; De Vries, W.; Olivier, S.; Cook, K.; Wang, L.

2010-01-01

Cosmology with Type Ia supernova heretofore has required extensive spectroscopic follow-up to establish an accurate redshift. Though this resource-intensive approach is tolerable at the present discovery rate, the next generation of ground-based all-sky survey instruments will render it unsustainable. Photometry-based redshift determination may be a viable alternative, though the technique introduces non-negligible errors that ultimately degrade the ability to discriminate between competing cosmologies. We present a strictly template-based photometric redshift estimator and compute redshift reconstruction errors in the presence of statistical errors. Under highly degraded photometric conditions corresponding to a statistical error σ of 0.5, the residual redshift error is found to be 0.236 when assuming a nightly observing cadence and a single Large Synoptic Science Telescope (LSST) u-band filter. Utilizing all six LSST bandpass filters reduces the residual redshift error to 9.1 x 10 -3 . Assuming a more optimistic statistical error σ of 0.05, we derive residual redshift errors of 4.2 x 10 -4 , 5.2 x 10 -4 , 9.2 x 10 -4 , and 1.8 x 10 -3 for observations occuring nightly, every 5th, 20th and 45th night, respectively, in each of the six LSST bandpass filters. Adopting an observing cadence in which photometry is acquired with all six filters every 5th night and a realistic supernova distribution, binned redshift errors are combined with photometric errors with a σ of 0.17 and systematic errors with a σ∼ 0.003 to derive joint errors (σ w , σ w ' ) of (0.012, 0.066), respectively, in (w,w') with 68% confidence using Fisher matrix formalism. Though highly idealized in the present context, the methodology is nonetheless quite relevant for the next generation of ground-based all-sky surveys.

Error estimation for goal-oriented spatial adaptivity for the SN equations on triangular meshes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lathouwers, D.

2011-01-01

In this paper we investigate different error estimation procedures for use within a goal oriented adaptive algorithm for the S N equations on unstructured meshes. The method is based on a dual-weighted residual approach where an appropriate adjoint problem is formulated and solved in order to obtain the importance of residual errors in the forward problem on the specific goal of interest. The forward residuals and the adjoint function are combined to obtain both economical finite element meshes tailored to the solution of the target functional as well as providing error estimates. Various approximations made to make the calculation of the adjoint angular flux more economically attractive are evaluated by comparing the performance of the resulting adaptive algorithm and the quality of the error estimators when applied to two shielding-type test problems. (author)

Observability analysis of a MEMS INS/GPS integration system with gyroscope G-sensitivity errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Chen; Hu, Xiaoping; He, Xiaofeng; Tang, Kanghua; Luo, Bing

2014-08-28

Gyroscopes based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology suffer in high-dynamic applications due to obvious g-sensitivity errors. These errors can induce large biases in the gyroscope, which can directly affect the accuracy of attitude estimation in the integration of the inertial navigation system (INS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS). The observability determines the existence of solutions for compensating them. In this paper, we investigate the observability of the INS/GPS system with consideration of the g-sensitivity errors. In terms of two types of g-sensitivity coefficients matrix, we add them as estimated states to the Kalman filter and analyze the observability of three or nine elements of the coefficient matrix respectively. A global observable condition of the system is presented and validated. Experimental results indicate that all the estimated states, which include position, velocity, attitude, gyro and accelerometer bias, and g-sensitivity coefficients, could be made observable by maneuvering based on the conditions. Compared with the integration system without compensation for the g-sensitivity errors, the attitude accuracy is raised obviously.

Observability Analysis of a MEMS INS/GPS Integration System with Gyroscope G-Sensitivity Errors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Fan

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Gyroscopes based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS technology suffer in high-dynamic applications due to obvious g-sensitivity errors. These errors can induce large biases in the gyroscope, which can directly affect the accuracy of attitude estimation in the integration of the inertial navigation system (INS and the Global Positioning System (GPS. The observability determines the existence of solutions for compensating them. In this paper, we investigate the observability of the INS/GPS system with consideration of the g-sensitivity errors. In terms of two types of g-sensitivity coefficients matrix, we add them as estimated states to the Kalman filter and analyze the observability of three or nine elements of the coefficient matrix respectively. A global observable condition of the system is presented and validated. Experimental results indicate that all the estimated states, which include position, velocity, attitude, gyro and accelerometer bias, and g-sensitivity coefficients, could be made observable by maneuvering based on the conditions. Compared with the integration system without compensation for the g-sensitivity errors, the attitude accuracy is raised obviously.

[Medical errors: inevitable but preventable].

Science.gov (United States)

Giard, R W

2001-10-27

Medical errors are increasingly reported in the lay press. Studies have shown dramatic error rates of 10 percent or even higher. From a methodological point of view, studying the frequency and causes of medical errors is far from simple. Clinical decisions on diagnostic or therapeutic interventions are always taken within a clinical context. Reviewing outcomes of interventions without taking into account both the intentions and the arguments for a particular action will limit the conclusions from a study on the rate and preventability of errors. The interpretation of the preventability of medical errors is fraught with difficulties and probably highly subjective. Blaming the doctor personally does not do justice to the actual situation and especially the organisational framework. Attention for and improvement of the organisational aspects of error are far more important then litigating the person. To err is and will remain human and if we want to reduce the incidence of faults we must be able to learn from our mistakes. That requires an open attitude towards medical mistakes, a continuous effort in their detection, a sound analysis and, where feasible, the institution of preventive measures.

Reduction of low frequency error for SED36 and APS based HYDRA star trackers

Science.gov (United States)

Ouaknine, Julien; Blarre, Ludovic; Oddos-Marcel, Lionel; Montel, Johan; Julio, Jean-Marc

2017-11-01

In the frame of the CNES Pleiades satellite, a reduction of the star tracker low frequency error, which is the most penalizing error for the satellite attitude control, was performed. For that purpose, the SED36 star tracker was developed, with a design based on the flight qualified SED16/26. In this paper, the SED36 main features will be first presented. Then, the reduction process of the low frequency error will be developed, particularly the optimization of the optical distortion calibration. The result is an attitude low frequency error of 1.1" at 3 sigma along transverse axes. The implementation of these improvements to HYDRA, the new multi-head APS star tracker developed by SODERN, will finally be presented.

Effect of Antenna Pointing Errors on SAR Imaging Considering the Change of the Point Target Location

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xin; Liu, Shijie; Yu, Haifeng; Tong, Xiaohua; Huang, Guoman

2018-04-01

Towards spaceborne spotlight SAR, the antenna is regulated by the SAR system with specific regularity, so the shaking of the internal mechanism is inevitable. Moreover, external environment also has an effect on the stability of SAR platform. Both of them will cause the jitter of the SAR platform attitude. The platform attitude instability will introduce antenna pointing error on both the azimuth and range directions, and influence the acquisition of SAR original data and ultimate imaging quality. In this paper, the relations between the antenna pointing errors and the three-axis attitude errors are deduced, then the relations between spaceborne spotlight SAR imaging of the point target and antenna pointing errors are analysed based on the paired echo theory, meanwhile, the change of the azimuth antenna gain is considered as the spotlight SAR platform moves ahead. The simulation experiments manifest the effects on spotlight SAR imaging caused by antenna pointing errors are related to the target location, that is, the pointing errors of the antenna beam will severely influence the area far away from the scene centre of azimuth direction in the illuminated scene.

A posteriori error estimator and AMR for discrete ordinates nodal transport methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duo, Jose I.; Azmy, Yousry Y.; Zikatanov, Ludmil T.

2009-01-01

In the development of high fidelity transport solvers, optimization of the use of available computational resources and access to a tool for assessing quality of the solution are key to the success of large-scale nuclear systems' simulation. In this regard, error control provides the analyst with a confidence level in the numerical solution and enables for optimization of resources through Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR). In this paper, we derive an a posteriori error estimator based on the nodal solution of the Arbitrarily High Order Transport Method of the Nodal type (AHOT-N). Furthermore, by making assumptions on the regularity of the solution, we represent the error estimator as a function of computable volume and element-edges residuals. The global L 2 error norm is proved to be bound by the estimator. To lighten the computational load, we present a numerical approximation to the aforementioned residuals and split the global norm error estimator into local error indicators. These indicators are used to drive an AMR strategy for the spatial discretization. However, the indicators based on forward solution residuals alone do not bound the cell-wise error. The estimator and AMR strategy are tested in two problems featuring strong heterogeneity and highly transport streaming regime with strong flux gradients. The results show that the error estimator indeed bounds the global error norms and that the error indicator follows the cell-error's spatial distribution pattern closely. The AMR strategy proves beneficial to optimize resources, primarily by reducing the number of unknowns solved for to achieve prescribed solution accuracy in global L 2 error norm. Likewise, AMR achieves higher accuracy compared to uniform refinement when resolving sharp flux gradients, for the same number of unknowns

Estimation of Branch Topology Errors in Power Networks by WLAN State Estimation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hong Rae [Soonchunhyang University(Korea); Song, Kyung Bin [Kei Myoung University(Korea)

2000-06-01

The purpose of this paper is to detect and identify topological errors in order to maintain a reliable database for the state estimator. In this paper, a two stage estimation procedure is used to identify the topology errors. At the first stage, the WLAV state estimator which has characteristics to remove bad data during the estimation procedure is run for finding out the suspected branches at which topology errors take place. The resulting residuals are normalized and the measurements with significant normalized residuals are selected. A set of suspected branches is formed based on these selected measurements; if the selected measurement if a line flow, the corresponding branch is suspected; if it is an injection, then all the branches connecting the injection bus to its immediate neighbors are suspected. A new WLAV state estimator adding the branch flow errors in the state vector is developed to identify the branch topology errors. Sample cases of single topology error and topology error with a measurement error are applied to IEEE 14 bus test system. (author). 24 refs., 1 fig., 9 tabs.

Barriers to Medical Error Reporting for Physicians and Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Soydemir, Dilek; Seren Intepeler, Seyda; Mert, Hatice

2017-10-01

The purpose of the study was to determine what barriers to error reporting exist for physicians and nurses. The study, of descriptive qualitative design, was conducted with physicians and nurses working at a training and research hospital. In-depth interviews were held with eight physicians and 15 nurses, a total of 23 participants. Physicians and nurses do not choose to report medical errors that they experience or witness. When barriers to error reporting were examined, it was seen that there were four main themes involved: fear, the attitude of administration, barriers related to the system, and the employees' perceptions of error. It is important in terms of preventing medical errors to identify the barriers that keep physicians and nurses from reporting errors.

Impact of residual setup error on parotid gland dose in intensity-modulated radiation therapy with or without planning organ-at-risk margin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delana, Anna; Menegotti, Loris; Valentini, Aldo; Bolner, Andrea; Tomio, Luigi; Vanoni, Valentina; Lohr, Frank

2009-01-01

Purpose: To estimate the dosimetric impact of residual setup errors on parotid sparing in head-and-neck (H and N) intensity-modulated treatments and to evaluate the effect of employing an PRV (planning organ-at-risk volume) margin for the parotid gland. Patients and methods: Ten patients treated for H and N cancer were considered. A nine-beam intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) was planned for each patient. A second optimization was performed prescribing dose constraint to the PRV of the parotid gland. Systematic setup errors of 2 mm, 3 mm, and 5 mm were simulated. The dose-volume histograms of the shifted and reference plans were compared with regard to mean parotid gland dose (MPD), normal-tissue complication probability (NTCP), and coverage of the clinical target volume (V 95% and equivalent uniform dose [EUD]); the sensitivity of parotid sparing on setup error was evaluated with a probability-based approach. Results: MPD increased by 3.4%/mm and 3.0%/mm for displacements in the craniocaudal and lateral direction and by 0.7%/mm for displacements in the anterior-posterior direction. The probability to irradiate the parotid with a mean dose > 30 Gy was > 50%, for setup errors in cranial and lateral direction and 95% and EUD variations < 1% and < 1 Gy). Conclusion: The parotid gland is more sensitive to craniocaudal and lateral displacements. A setup error of 2 mm guarantees an MPD ≤ 30 Gy in most cases, without adding a PRV margin. If greater displacements are expected/accepted, an adequate PRV margin could be used to meet the clinical parotid gland constraint of 30 Gy, without affecting target volume coverage. (orig.)

DETECTING AND REPORTING THE FRAUDS AND ERRORS BY THE AUDITOR

OpenAIRE

Ovidiu Constantin Bunget; Alin Constantin Dumitrescu

2009-01-01

Responsibility for preventing and detecting fraud rest with management entities.Although the auditor is not and cannot be held responsible for preventing fraud and errors, in yourwork, he can have a positive role in preventing fraud and errors by deterring their occurrence. Theauditor should plan and perform the audit with an attitude of professional skepticism, recognizingthat condition or events may be found that indicate that fraud or error may exist.Based on the audit risk assessment, aud...

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention to Improve the Patient Safety Attitudes of Intern Pharmacists.

Science.gov (United States)

Walpola, Ramesh L; Fois, Romano A; McLachlan, Andrew J; Chen, Timothy F

2017-02-25

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a face-to-face educational intervention in improving the patient safety attitudes of intern pharmacists. Methods. A patient safety education program was delivered to intern pharmacists undertaking The University of Sydney Intern Training Program in 2014. Their patient safety attitudes were evaluated immediately prior to, immediately after, and three-months post-intervention. Underlying attitudinal factors were identified using exploratory factor analysis. Changes in factor scores were examined using analysis of variance. Results. Of the 120 interns enrolled, 95 (78.7%) completed all three surveys. Four underlying attitudinal factors were identified: attitudes towards addressing errors, questioning behaviors, blaming individuals, and reporting errors. Improvements in all attitudinal factors were evident immediately after the intervention. However, only improvements in attitudes towards blaming individuals involved in errors were sustained at three months post-intervention. Conclusion. The educational intervention was associated with short-term improvements in pharmacist interns' patient safety attitudes. However, other factors likely influenced their attitudes in the longer term.

Heat transfer properties of organic coolants containing high boiling residues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debbage, A.G.; Driver, M.; Waller, P.R.

1964-01-01

Heat transfer measurements were made in forced convection with Santowax R, mixtures of Santowax R and pyrolytic high boiling residue, mixtures of Santowax R and CMRE Radiolytic high boiling residue, and OMRE coolant, in the range of Reynolds number 10 4 to 10 5 . The data was correlated with the equation Nu = 0.015 Re b 0.85 Pr b 0.4 with an r.m.s. error of ± 8.5%. The total maximum error arising from the experimental method and inherent errors in the physical property data has been estimated to be less than ± 8.5%. From the correlation and physical property data, the decrease in heat transfer coefficient with increasing high boiling residue concentration has been determined. It has been shown that subcooled boiling in organic coolants containing high boiling residues is a complex phenomenon and the advantages to be gained by operating a reactor in this region may be marginal. Gas bearing pumps used initially in these experiments were found to be unsuitable; a re-designed ball bearing system lubricated with a terphenyl mixture was found to operate successfully. (author)

Analysis of translational errors in frame-based and frameless cranial radiosurgery using an anthropomorphic phantom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Almeida, Taynna Vernalha Rocha [Faculdades Pequeno Principe (FPP), Curitiba, PR (Brazil); Cordova Junior, Arno Lotar; Almeida, Cristiane Maria; Piedade, Pedro Argolo; Silva, Cintia Mara da, E-mail: taynnavra@gmail.com [Centro de Radioterapia Sao Sebastiao, Florianopolis, SC (Brazil); Brincas, Gabriela R. Baseggio [Centro de Diagnostico Medico Imagem, Florianopolis, SC (Brazil); Marins, Priscila; Soboll, Danyel Scheidegger [Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR), Curitiba, PR (Brazil)

2016-03-15

Objective: To evaluate three-dimensional translational setup errors and residual errors in image-guided radiosurgery, comparing frameless and frame-based techniques, using an anthropomorphic phantom. Materials and Methods: We initially used specific phantoms for the calibration and quality control of the image-guided system. For the hidden target test, we used an Alderson Radiation Therapy (ART)-210 anthropomorphic head phantom, into which we inserted four 5- mm metal balls to simulate target treatment volumes. Computed tomography images were the taken with the head phantom properly positioned for frameless and frame-based radiosurgery. Results: For the frameless technique, the mean error magnitude was 0.22 ± 0.04 mm for setup errors and 0.14 ± 0.02 mm for residual errors, the combined uncertainty being 0.28 mm and 0.16 mm, respectively. For the frame-based technique, the mean error magnitude was 0.73 ± 0.14 mm for setup errors and 0.31 ± 0.04 mm for residual errors, the combined uncertainty being 1.15 mm and 0.63 mm, respectively. Conclusion: The mean values, standard deviations, and combined uncertainties showed no evidence of a significant differences between the two techniques when the head phantom ART-210 was used. (author)

Modeling SMAP Spacecraft Attitude Control Estimation Error Using Signal Generation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Rizvi, Farheen

2016-01-01

Two ground simulation software are used to model the SMAP spacecraft dynamics. The CAST software uses a higher fidelity model than the ADAMS software. The ADAMS software models the spacecraft plant, controller and actuator models, and assumes a perfect sensor and estimator model. In this simulation study, the spacecraft dynamics results from the ADAMS software are used as CAST software is unavailable. The main source of spacecraft dynamics error in the higher fidelity CAST software is due to the estimation error. A signal generation model is developed to capture the effect of this estimation error in the overall spacecraft dynamics. Then, this signal generation model is included in the ADAMS software spacecraft dynamics estimate such that the results are similar to CAST. This signal generation model has similar characteristics mean, variance and power spectral density as the true CAST estimation error. In this way, ADAMS software can still be used while capturing the higher fidelity spacecraft dynamics modeling from CAST software.

An Empirical State Error Covariance Matrix for Batch State Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Frisbee, Joseph H., Jr.

2011-01-01

State estimation techniques serve effectively to provide mean state estimates. However, the state error covariance matrices provided as part of these techniques suffer from some degree of lack of confidence in their ability to adequately describe the uncertainty in the estimated states. A specific problem with the traditional form of state error covariance matrices is that they represent only a mapping of the assumed observation error characteristics into the state space. Any errors that arise from other sources (environment modeling, precision, etc.) are not directly represented in a traditional, theoretical state error covariance matrix. Consider that an actual observation contains only measurement error and that an estimated observation contains all other errors, known and unknown. It then follows that a measurement residual (the difference between expected and observed measurements) contains all errors for that measurement. Therefore, a direct and appropriate inclusion of the actual measurement residuals in the state error covariance matrix will result in an empirical state error covariance matrix. This empirical state error covariance matrix will fully account for the error in the state estimate. By way of a literal reinterpretation of the equations involved in the weighted least squares estimation algorithm, it is possible to arrive at an appropriate, and formally correct, empirical state error covariance matrix. The first specific step of the method is to use the average form of the weighted measurement residual variance performance index rather than its usual total weighted residual form. Next it is helpful to interpret the solution to the normal equations as the average of a collection of sample vectors drawn from a hypothetical parent population. From here, using a standard statistical analysis approach, it directly follows as to how to determine the standard empirical state error covariance matrix. This matrix will contain the total uncertainty in the

Research on the attitude of small UAV based on MEMS devices

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Xiaojie; Lu, Libin; Jin, Guodong; Tan, Lining

2017-05-01

This paper mainly introduces the research principle and implementation method of the small UAV navigation attitude system based on MEMS devices. The Gauss - Newton method based on least squares is used to calibrate the MEMS accelerometer and gyroscope for calibration. Improve the accuracy of the attitude by using the modified complementary filtering to correct the attitude angle error. The experimental data show that the design of the attitude and attitude system in this paper to meet the requirements of small UAV attitude accuracy to achieve a small, low cost.

Residual volume on land and when immersed in water: effect on percent body fat.

Science.gov (United States)

Demura, Shinichi; Yamaji, Shunsuke; Kitabayashi, Tamotsu

2006-08-01

There is a large residual volume (RV) error when assessing percent body fat by means of hydrostatic weighing. It has generally been measured before hydrostatic weighing. However, an individual's maximal exhalations on land and in the water may not be identical. The aims of this study were to compare residual volumes and vital capacities on land and when immersed to the neck in water, and to examine the influence of the measurement error on percent body fat. The participants were 20 healthy Japanese males and 20 healthy Japanese females. To assess the influence of the RV error on percent body fat in both conditions and to evaluate the cross-validity of the prediction equation, another 20 males and 20 females were measured using hydrostatic weighing. Residual volume was measured on land and in the water using a nitrogen wash-out technique based on an open-circuit approach. In water, residual volume was measured with the participant sitting on a chair while the whole body, except the head, was submerged . The trial-to-trial reliabilities of residual volume in both conditions were very good (intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.98). Although residual volume measured under the two conditions did not agree completely, they showed a high correlation (males: 0.880; females: 0.853; P body fat computed using residual volume measured in both conditions was very good for both sexes (males: r = 0.902; females: r = 0.869, P body fat: -3.4 to 2.2% for males; -6.3 to 4.4% for females). We conclude that if these errors are of no importance, residual volume measured on land can be used when assessing body composition.

Error Resilient Video Compression Using Behavior Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacco R. Taal

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Wireless and Internet video applications are inherently subjected to bit errors and packet errors, respectively. This is especially so if constraints on the end-to-end compression and transmission latencies are imposed. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methods to optimize the video compression parameters and the rate allocation of these applications that take into account residual channel bit errors. In this paper, we study the behavior of a predictive (interframe video encoder and model the encoders behavior using only the statistics of the original input data and of the underlying channel prone to bit errors. The resulting data-driven behavior models are then used to carry out group-of-pictures partitioning and to control the rate of the video encoder in such a way that the overall quality of the decoded video with compression and channel errors is optimized.

Solow Residuals Without Capital Stocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burda, Michael C.; Severgnini, Battista

2014-01-01

We use synthetic data generated by a prototypical stochastic growth model to assess the accuracy of the Solow residual (Solow, 1957) as a measure of total factor productivity (TFP) growth when the capital stock in use is measured with error. We propose two alternative measurements based on curren...

Spin-Stabilized Spacecrafts: Analytical Attitude Propagation Using Magnetic Torques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberta Veloso Garcia

2009-01-01

Full Text Available An analytical approach for spin-stabilized satellites attitude propagation is presented, considering the influence of the residual magnetic torque and eddy currents torque. It is assumed two approaches to examine the influence of external torques acting during the motion of the satellite, with the Earth's magnetic field described by the quadripole model. In the first approach is included only the residual magnetic torque in the motion equations, with the satellites in circular or elliptical orbit. In the second approach only the eddy currents torque is analyzed, with the satellite in circular orbit. The inclusion of these torques on the dynamic equations of spin stabilized satellites yields the conditions to derive an analytical solution. The solutions show that residual torque does not affect the spin velocity magnitude, contributing only for the precession and the drift of the spacecraft's spin axis and the eddy currents torque causes an exponential decay of the angular velocity magnitude. Numerical simulations performed with data of the Brazilian Satellites (SCD1 and SCD2 show the period that analytical solution can be used to the attitude propagation, within the dispersion range of the attitude determination system performance of Satellite Control Center of Brazil National Research Institute.

Performance analysis of a GPS Interferometric attitude determination system for a gravity gradient stabilized spacecraft. M.S. Thesis

Science.gov (United States)

Stoll, John C.

1995-01-01

The performance of an unaided attitude determination system based on GPS interferometry is examined using linear covariance analysis. The modelled system includes four GPS antennae onboard a gravity gradient stabilized spacecraft, specifically the Air Force's RADCAL satellite. The principal error sources are identified and modelled. The optimal system's sensitivities to these error sources are examined through an error budget and by varying system parameters. The effects of two satellite selection algorithms, Geometric and Attitude Dilution of Precision (GDOP and ADOP, respectively) are examined. The attitude performance of two optimal-suboptimal filters is also presented. Based on this analysis, the limiting factors in attitude accuracy are the knowledge of the relative antenna locations, the electrical path lengths from the antennae to the receiver, and the multipath environment. The performance of the system is found to be fairly insensitive to torque errors, orbital inclination, and the two satellite geometry figures-of-merit tested.

Refractive errors and school performance in Brazzaville, Congo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Wearing glasses before ten years is becoming more common in developed countries. In black Africa, for cultural or irrational reasons, this attitude remains exceptional. This situation is a source of amblyopia and learning difficulties. Objective: To determine the role of refractive errors in school performance in ...

Sensor fault detection and recovery in satellite attitude control

Science.gov (United States)

Nasrolahi, Seiied Saeed; Abdollahi, Farzaneh

2018-04-01

This paper proposes an integrated sensor fault detection and recovery for the satellite attitude control system. By introducing a nonlinear observer, the healthy sensor measurements are provided. Considering attitude dynamics and kinematic, a novel observer is developed to detect the fault in angular rate as well as attitude sensors individually or simultaneously. There is no limit on type and configuration of attitude sensors. By designing a state feedback based control signal and Lyapunov stability criterion, the uniformly ultimately boundedness of tracking errors in the presence of sensor faults is guaranteed. Finally, simulation results are presented to illustrate the performance of the integrated scheme.

The role of financial auditor in detecting and reporting fraud and error

OpenAIRE

Bunget, Ovidiu-Constantin

2009-01-01

Responsibility for preventing and detecting fraud rest with management entities. Although the auditor is not and cannot be held responsible for preventing fraud and errors, in your work, he can have a positive role in preventing fraud and errors by deterring their occurrence. The auditor should plan and perform the audit with an attitude of professional skepticism, recognizing that condition or events may be found that indicate that fraud or error may exist. Based on the audit risk asse...

The Causes of Medical Error from the Perspective of Nurses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oguz Isik

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted as a descriptive study in order to determine the medical errors in hospital services and preventive measures that could be taken to reduce these errors, from the perspective of nurses. The population of the study is composed of nurses working in 2 public hospitals in center of the province of Sakarya. We haven’t selected sample and it was aimed to reach as many nurses as possible in the study. A total of 441 questionnaires were send and 324 were returned. A questionnaire as a means of data collection was prepared and used by the authors. Structural Equation Modeling, confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistical methods, the significance control test between compared means and ANOVA test were used in statistical analysis. Physicians, nurses, work environment and lack of communication are stated as possible causes of medical error. According to nurses, the major causes of medical errors, in order of their frequency, were inadequate number of health personnel, excessive work stress, high number of patients per nurse, the weariness due to the behavior and attitudes of superiors and the pressure to care so many patients in a very short period of time, and long time of study. Compensation of medical error is very difficult in health care. A great amount of health care is provided in hospitals and medical errors in hospital services must be prevented. In order to prevent these errors which directly affect human life, it is thought that adequate number of staff should be employed in hospitals and the attitude of superiors towards the employees should be motivating. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2012; 11(4.000: 421-430

Residual-based Methods for Controlling Discretization Error in CFD

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-24

ccjccjccj iVi Jwxf V dVxf V 1 ,,, )(det)( 1)(1   . (25) where J is the Jacobian of the coordinate transformation and the weights can be found from...179. Layton, W., Lee , H.K., and Peterson, J. (2002). “A Defect-Correction Method for the Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations,” Applied Mathematics...and Computation, Vol. 129, pp. 1-19. Lee , D. and Tsuei, Y.M. (1992). “A Formula for Estimation of Truncation Errors of Convective Terms in a

Calibration Errors in Interferometric Radio Polarimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Hales, Christopher A.

2017-08-01

Residual calibration errors are difficult to predict in interferometric radio polarimetry because they depend on the observational calibration strategy employed, encompassing the Stokes vector of the calibrator and parallactic angle coverage. This work presents analytic derivations and simulations that enable examination of residual on-axis instrumental leakage and position-angle errors for a suite of calibration strategies. The focus is on arrays comprising alt-azimuth antennas with common feeds over which parallactic angle is approximately uniform. The results indicate that calibration schemes requiring parallactic angle coverage in the linear feed basis (e.g., the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) need only observe over 30°, beyond which no significant improvements in calibration accuracy are obtained. In the circular feed basis (e.g., the Very Large Array above 1 GHz), 30° is also appropriate when the Stokes vector of the leakage calibrator is known a priori, but this rises to 90° when the Stokes vector is unknown. These findings illustrate and quantify concepts that were previously obscure rules of thumb.

Satellite Attitude Control System Simulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.T. Conti

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Future space missions will involve satellites with great autonomy and stringent pointing precision, requiring of the Attitude Control Systems (ACS with better performance than before, which is function of the control algorithms implemented on board computers. The difficulties for developing experimental ACS test is to obtain zero gravity and torque free conditions similar to the SCA operate in space. However, prototypes for control algorithms experimental verification are fundamental for space mission success. This paper presents the parameters estimation such as inertia matrix and position of mass centre of a Satellite Attitude Control System Simulator (SACSS, using algorithms based on least square regression and least square recursive methods. Simulations have shown that both methods have estimated the system parameters with small error. However, the least square recursive methods have performance more adequate for the SACSS objectives. The SACSS platform model will be used to do experimental verification of fundamental aspects of the satellite attitude dynamics and design of different attitude control algorithm.

Corpus-Based Websites to Promote Learner Autonomy in Correcting Writing Collocation Errors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pham Thuy Dung

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The recent yet powerful emergence of E-learning and using online resources in learning EFL (English as a Foreign Language has helped promote learner autonomy in language acquisition including self-correcting their mistakes. This pilot study despite conducted on a modest sample of 25 second year students majoring in Business English at Hanoi Foreign Trade University is an initial attempt to investigate the feasibility of using corpus-based websites to promote learner autonomy in correcting collocation errors in EFL writing. The data is collected using a pre-questionnaire and a post-interview aiming to find out the participants’ change in belief and attitude toward learner autonomy in collocation errors in writing, the extent of their success in using the corpus-based websites to self-correct the errors and the change in their confidence in self-correcting the errors using the websites. The findings show that a significant majority of students have shifted their belief and attitude toward a more autonomous mode of learning, enjoyed a fair success of using the websites to self-correct the errors and become more confident. The study also yields an implication that a face-to-face training of how to use these online tools is vital to the later confidence and success of the learners

Prediction of the residual strength of clay using functional networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.Z. Khan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Landslides are common natural hazards occurring in most parts of the world and have considerable adverse economic effects. Residual shear strength of clay is one of the most important factors in the determination of stability of slopes or landslides. This effect is more pronounced in sensitive clays which show large changes in shear strength from peak to residual states. This study analyses the prediction of the residual strength of clay based on a new prediction model, functional networks (FN using data available in the literature. The performance of FN was compared with support vector machine (SVM and artificial neural network (ANN based on statistical parameters like correlation coefficient (R, Nash--Sutcliff coefficient of efficiency (E, absolute average error (AAE, maximum average error (MAE and root mean square error (RMSE. Based on R and E parameters, FN is found to be a better prediction tool than ANN for the given data. However, the R and E values for FN are less than SVM. A prediction equation is presented that can be used by practicing geotechnical engineers. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to ascertain the importance of various inputs in the prediction of the output.

Speed-constrained three-axes attitude control using kinematic steering

Science.gov (United States)

Schaub, Hanspeter; Piggott, Scott

2018-06-01

Spacecraft attitude control solutions typically are torque-level algorithms that simultaneously control both the attitude and angular velocity tracking errors. In contrast, robotic control solutions are kinematic steering commands where rates are treated as the control variable, and a servo-tracking control subsystem is present to achieve the desired control rates. In this paper kinematic attitude steering controls are developed where an outer control loop establishes a desired angular response history to a tracking error, and an inner control loop tracks the commanded body angular rates. The overall stability relies on the separation principle of the inner and outer control loops which must have sufficiently different response time scales. The benefit is that the outer steering law response can be readily shaped to a desired behavior, such as limiting the approach angular velocity when a large tracking error is corrected. A Modified Rodrigues Parameters implementation is presented that smoothly saturates the speed response. A robust nonlinear body rate servo loop is developed which includes integral feedback. This approach provides a convenient modular framework that makes it simple to interchange outer and inner control loops to readily setup new control implementations. Numerical simulations illustrate the expected performance for an aggressive reorientation maneuver subject to an unknown external torque.

A residual Monte Carlo method for discrete thermal radiative diffusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, T.M.; Urbatsch, T.J.; Lichtenstein, H.; Morel, J.E.

2003-01-01

Residual Monte Carlo methods reduce statistical error at a rate of exp(-bN), where b is a positive constant and N is the number of particle histories. Contrast this convergence rate with 1/√N, which is the rate of statistical error reduction for conventional Monte Carlo methods. Thus, residual Monte Carlo methods hold great promise for increased efficiency relative to conventional Monte Carlo methods. Previous research has shown that the application of residual Monte Carlo methods to the solution of continuum equations, such as the radiation transport equation, is problematic for all but the simplest of cases. However, the residual method readily applies to discrete systems as long as those systems are monotone, i.e., they produce positive solutions given positive sources. We develop a residual Monte Carlo method for solving a discrete 1D non-linear thermal radiative equilibrium diffusion equation, and we compare its performance with that of the discrete conventional Monte Carlo method upon which it is based. We find that the residual method provides efficiency gains of many orders of magnitude. Part of the residual gain is due to the fact that we begin each timestep with an initial guess equal to the solution from the previous timestep. Moreover, fully consistent non-linear solutions can be obtained in a reasonable amount of time because of the effective lack of statistical noise. We conclude that the residual approach has great potential and that further research into such methods should be pursued for more general discrete and continuum systems

Residual-driven online generalized multiscale finite element methods

KAUST Repository

Chung, Eric T.

2015-09-08

The construction of local reduced-order models via multiscale basis functions has been an area of active research. In this paper, we propose online multiscale basis functions which are constructed using the offline space and the current residual. Online multiscale basis functions are constructed adaptively in some selected regions based on our error indicators. We derive an error estimator which shows that one needs to have an offline space with certain properties to guarantee that additional online multiscale basis function will decrease the error. This error decrease is independent of physical parameters, such as the contrast and multiple scales in the problem. The offline spaces are constructed using Generalized Multiscale Finite Element Methods (GMsFEM). We show that if one chooses a sufficient number of offline basis functions, one can guarantee that additional online multiscale basis functions will reduce the error independent of contrast. We note that the construction of online basis functions is motivated by the fact that the offline space construction does not take into account distant effects. Using the residual information, we can incorporate the distant information provided the offline approximation satisfies certain properties. In the paper, theoretical and numerical results are presented. Our numerical results show that if the offline space is sufficiently large (in terms of the dimension) such that the coarse space contains all multiscale spectral basis functions that correspond to small eigenvalues, then the error reduction by adding online multiscale basis function is independent of the contrast. We discuss various ways computing online multiscale basis functions which include a use of small dimensional offline spaces.

System and method for correcting attitude estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Josselson, Robert H. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A system includes an angular rate sensor disposed in a vehicle for providing angular rates of the vehicle, and an instrument disposed in the vehicle for providing line-of-sight control with respect to a line-of-sight reference. The instrument includes an integrator which is configured to integrate the angular rates of the vehicle to form non-compensated attitudes. Also included is a compensator coupled across the integrator, in a feed-forward loop, for receiving the angular rates of the vehicle and outputting compensated angular rates of the vehicle. A summer combines the non-compensated attitudes and the compensated angular rates of the to vehicle to form estimated vehicle attitudes for controlling the instrument with respect to the line-of-sight reference. The compensator is configured to provide error compensation to the instrument free-of any feedback loop that uses an error signal. The compensator may include a transfer function providing a fixed gain to the received angular rates of the vehicle. The compensator may, alternatively, include a is transfer function providing a variable gain as a function of frequency to operate on the received angular rates of the vehicle.

Unrealized potential and residual consequences of electronic prescribing on pharmacy workflow in the outpatient pharmacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Nanji, Karen C; Rothschild, Jeffrey M; Boehne, Jennifer J; Keohane, Carol A; Ash, Joan S; Poon, Eric G

2014-01-01

Electronic prescribing systems have often been promoted as a tool for reducing medication errors and adverse drug events. Recent evidence has revealed that adoption of electronic prescribing systems can lead to unintended consequences such as the introduction of new errors. The purpose of this study is to identify and characterize the unrealized potential and residual consequences of electronic prescribing on pharmacy workflow in an outpatient pharmacy. A multidisciplinary team conducted direct observations of workflow in an independent pharmacy and semi-structured interviews with pharmacy staff members about their perceptions of the unrealized potential and residual consequences of electronic prescribing systems. We used qualitative methods to iteratively analyze text data using a grounded theory approach, and derive a list of major themes and subthemes related to the unrealized potential and residual consequences of electronic prescribing. We identified the following five themes: Communication, workflow disruption, cost, technology, and opportunity for new errors. These contained 26 unique subthemes representing different facets of our observations and the pharmacy staff's perceptions of the unrealized potential and residual consequences of electronic prescribing. We offer targeted solutions to improve electronic prescribing systems by addressing the unrealized potential and residual consequences that we identified. These recommendations may be applied not only to improve staff perceptions of electronic prescribing systems but also to improve the design and/or selection of these systems in order to optimize communication and workflow within pharmacies while minimizing both cost and the potential for the introduction of new errors.

Rotation Matrix Method Based on Ambiguity Function for GNSS Attitude Determination.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yingdong; Mao, Xuchu; Tian, Weifeng

2016-06-08

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are well suited for attitude determination. In this study, we use the rotation matrix method to resolve the attitude angle. This method achieves better performance in reducing computational complexity and selecting satellites. The condition of the baseline length is combined with the ambiguity function method (AFM) to search for integer ambiguity, and it is validated in reducing the span of candidates. The noise error is always the key factor to the success rate. It is closely related to the satellite geometry model. In contrast to the AFM, the LAMBDA (Least-squares AMBiguity Decorrelation Adjustment) method gets better results in solving the relationship of the geometric model and the noise error. Although the AFM is more flexible, it is lack of analysis on this aspect. In this study, the influence of the satellite geometry model on the success rate is analyzed in detail. The computation error and the noise error are effectively treated. Not only is the flexibility of the AFM inherited, but the success rate is also increased. An experiment is conducted in a selected campus, and the performance is proved to be effective. Our results are based on simulated and real-time GNSS data and are applied on single-frequency processing, which is known as one of the challenging case of GNSS attitude determination.

Rotation Matrix Method Based on Ambiguity Function for GNSS Attitude Determination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingdong Yang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS are well suited for attitude determination. In this study, we use the rotation matrix method to resolve the attitude angle. This method achieves better performance in reducing computational complexity and selecting satellites. The condition of the baseline length is combined with the ambiguity function method (AFM to search for integer ambiguity, and it is validated in reducing the span of candidates. The noise error is always the key factor to the success rate. It is closely related to the satellite geometry model. In contrast to the AFM, the LAMBDA (Least-squares AMBiguity Decorrelation Adjustment method gets better results in solving the relationship of the geometric model and the noise error. Although the AFM is more flexible, it is lack of analysis on this aspect. In this study, the influence of the satellite geometry model on the success rate is analyzed in detail. The computation error and the noise error are effectively treated. Not only is the flexibility of the AFM inherited, but the success rate is also increased. An experiment is conducted in a selected campus, and the performance is proved to be effective. Our results are based on simulated and real-time GNSS data and are applied on single-frequency processing, which is known as one of the challenging case of GNSS attitude determination.

Error estimation and global fitting in transverse-relaxation dispersion experiments to determine chemical-exchange parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishima, Rieko; Torchia, Dennis A.

2005-01-01

Off-resonance effects can introduce significant systematic errors in R 2 measurements in constant-time Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) transverse relaxation dispersion experiments. For an off-resonance chemical shift of 500 Hz, 15 N relaxation dispersion profiles obtained from experiment and computer simulation indicated a systematic error of ca. 3%. This error is three- to five-fold larger than the random error in R 2 caused by noise. Good estimates of total R 2 uncertainty are critical in order to obtain accurate estimates in optimized chemical exchange parameters and their uncertainties derived from χ 2 minimization of a target function. Here, we present a simple empirical approach that provides a good estimate of the total error (systematic + random) in 15 N R 2 values measured for the HIV protease. The advantage of this empirical error estimate is that it is applicable even when some of the factors that contribute to the off-resonance error are not known. These errors are incorporated into a χ 2 minimization protocol, in which the Carver-Richards equation is used fit the observed R 2 dispersion profiles, that yields optimized chemical exchange parameters and their confidence limits. Optimized parameters are also derived, using the same protein sample and data-fitting protocol, from 1 H R 2 measurements in which systematic errors are negligible. Although 1 H and 15 N relaxation profiles of individual residues were well fit, the optimized exchange parameters had large uncertainties (confidence limits). In contrast, when a single pair of exchange parameters (the exchange lifetime, τ ex , and the fractional population, p a ), were constrained to globally fit all R 2 profiles for residues in the dimer interface of the protein, confidence limits were less than 8% for all optimized exchange parameters. In addition, F-tests showed that quality of the fits obtained using τ ex , p a as global parameters were not improved when these parameters were free to fit the R

Subroutine library for error estimation of matrix computation (Ver. 1.0)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichihara, Kiyoshi; Shizawa, Yoshihisa; Kishida, Norio

1999-03-01

'Subroutine Library for Error Estimation of Matrix Computation' is a subroutine library which aids the users in obtaining the error ranges of the linear system's solutions or the Hermitian matrices' eigenvalues. This library contains routines for both sequential computers and parallel computers. The subroutines for linear system error estimation calculate norms of residual vectors, matrices's condition numbers, error bounds of solutions and so on. The subroutines for error estimation of Hermitian matrix eigenvalues derive the error ranges of the eigenvalues according to the Korn-Kato's formula. The test matrix generators supply the matrices appeared in the mathematical research, the ones randomly generated and the ones appeared in the application programs. This user's manual contains a brief mathematical background of error analysis on linear algebra and usage of the subroutines. (author)

Geostatistical methods applied to field model residuals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maule, Fox; Mosegaard, K.; Olsen, Nils

consists of measurement errors and unmodelled signal), and is typically assumed to be uncorrelated and Gaussian distributed. We have applied geostatistical methods to analyse the residuals of the Oersted(09d/04) field model [http://www.dsri.dk/Oersted/Field_models/IGRF_2005_candidates/], which is based...

Satellite Magnetic Residuals Investigated With Geostatistical Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fox Maule, Chaterine; Mosegaard, Klaus; Olsen, Nils

2005-01-01

(which consists of measurement errors and unmodeled signal), and is typically assumed to be uncorrelated and Gaussian distributed. We have applied geostatistical methods to analyze the residuals of the Oersted (09d/04) field model (www.dsri.dk/Oersted/Field models/IGRF 2005 candidates/), which is based...

A residual-based a posteriori error estimator for single-phase Darcy flow in fractured porous media

KAUST Repository

Chen, Huangxin; Sun, Shuyu

2016-01-01

for the problem with non-intersecting fractures. The reliability and efficiency of the a posteriori error estimator are established for the error measured in an energy norm. Numerical results verifying the robustness of the proposed a posteriori error estimator

Fusing metabolomics data sets with heterogeneous measurement errors

Science.gov (United States)

Waaijenborg, Sandra; Korobko, Oksana; Willems van Dijk, Ko; Lips, Mirjam; Hankemeier, Thomas; Wilderjans, Tom F.; Smilde, Age K.

2018-01-01

Combining different metabolomics platforms can contribute significantly to the discovery of complementary processes expressed under different conditions. However, analysing the fused data might be hampered by the difference in their quality. In metabolomics data, one often observes that measurement errors increase with increasing measurement level and that different platforms have different measurement error variance. In this paper we compare three different approaches to correct for the measurement error heterogeneity, by transformation of the raw data, by weighted filtering before modelling and by a modelling approach using a weighted sum of residuals. For an illustration of these different approaches we analyse data from healthy obese and diabetic obese individuals, obtained from two metabolomics platforms. Concluding, the filtering and modelling approaches that both estimate a model of the measurement error did not outperform the data transformation approaches for this application. This is probably due to the limited difference in measurement error and the fact that estimation of measurement error models is unstable due to the small number of repeats available. A transformation of the data improves the classification of the two groups. PMID:29698490

The organizational context of error tolerant interface systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sepanloo, K.; Meshkati, N.; Kozuh, M.

1995-01-01

Human error has been recognized as the main contributor to the occurrence of incidents in large technological systems such as nuclear power plants. Recent researches have concluded that human errors are unavoidable side effects of exploration of acceptable performance during adaptation to the unknown changes in the environment. To assist the operators in coping with unforeseen situations, the innovative error tolerant interface systems have been proposed to provide the operators with opportunities to make hypothetical tests without having to carry them out directly on the plant in potentially irreversible conditions. On the other hand, the degree of success of introduction of any new system into a tightly-coupled complex socio-technological system is known to be a great deal dependent upon the degree of harmony of that system with the organization s framework and attitudes. Error tolerant interface systems with features of simplicity, transparency, error detectability and recoverability provide a forgiving cognition environment where the effects of errors are observable and recoverable. The nature of these systems are likely to be more consistent with flexible and rather plain organizational structures, in which static and punitive concepts of human error are modified on the favour of dynamic and adaptive approaches. In this paper the features of error tolerant interface systems are explained and their consistent organizational structures are explored. (author)

The organizational context of error tolerant interface systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sepanloo, K [Nuclear Safety Department, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Meshkati, N [Institute of Safety and Systems Management, Los Angeles (United States); Kozuh, M [Josef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

1996-12-31

Human error has been recognized as the main contributor to the occurrence of incidents in large technological systems such as nuclear power plants. Recent researches have concluded that human errors are unavoidable side effects of exploration of acceptable performance during adaptation to the unknown changes in the environment. To assist the operators in coping with unforeseen situations, the innovative error tolerant interface systems have been proposed to provide the operators with opportunities to make hypothetical tests without having to carry them out directly on the plant in potentially irreversible conditions. On the other hand, the degree of success of introduction of any new system into a tightly-coupled complex socio-technological system is known to be a great deal dependent upon the degree of harmony of that system with the organization s framework and attitudes. Error tolerant interface systems with features of simplicity, transparency, error detectability and recoverability provide a forgiving cognition environment where the effects of errors are observable and recoverable. The nature of these systems are likely to be more consistent with flexible and rather plain organizational structures, in which static and punitive concepts of human error are modified on the favour of dynamic and adaptive approaches. In this paper the features of error tolerant interface systems are explained and their consistent organizational structures are explored. (author) 11 refs.

Error management for musicians: an interdisciplinary conceptual framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruse-Weber, Silke; Parncutt, Richard

2014-01-01

Musicians tend to strive for flawless performance and perfection, avoiding errors at all costs. Dealing with errors while practicing or performing is often frustrating and can lead to anger and despair, which can explain musicians' generally negative attitude toward errors and the tendency to aim for flawless learning in instrumental music education. But even the best performances are rarely error-free, and research in general pedagogy and psychology has shown that errors provide useful information for the learning process. Research in instrumental pedagogy is still neglecting error issues; the benefits of risk management (before the error) and error management (during and after the error) are still underestimated. It follows that dealing with errors is a key aspect of music practice at home, teaching, and performance in public. And yet, to be innovative, or to make their performance extraordinary, musicians need to risk errors. Currently, most music students only acquire the ability to manage errors implicitly - or not at all. A more constructive, creative, and differentiated culture of errors would balance error tolerance and risk-taking against error prevention in ways that enhance music practice and music performance. The teaching environment should lay the foundation for the development of such an approach. In this contribution, we survey recent research in aviation, medicine, economics, psychology, and interdisciplinary decision theory that has demonstrated that specific error-management training can promote metacognitive skills that lead to better adaptive transfer and better performance skills. We summarize how this research can be applied to music, and survey-relevant research that is specifically tailored to the needs of musicians, including generic guidelines for risk and error management in music teaching and performance. On this basis, we develop a conceptual framework for risk management that can provide orientation for further music education and

Error management for musicians: an interdisciplinary conceptual framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silke eKruse-Weber

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Musicians tend to strive for flawless performance and perfection, avoiding errors at all costs. Dealing with errors while practicing or performing is often frustrating and can lead to anger and despair, which can explain musicians’ generally negative attitude toward errors and the tendency to aim for errorless learning in instrumental music education. But even the best performances are rarely error-free, and research in general pedagogy and psychology has shown that errors provide useful information for the learning process. Research in instrumental pedagogy is still neglecting error issues; the benefits of risk management (before the error and error management (during and after the error are still underestimated. It follows that dealing with errors is a key aspect of music practice at home, teaching, and performance in public. And yet, to be innovative, or to make their performance extraordinary, musicians need to risk errors. Currently, most music students only acquire the ability to manage errors implicitly - or not at all. A more constructive, creative and differentiated culture of errors would balance error tolerance and risk-taking against error prevention in ways that enhance music practice and music performance. The teaching environment should lay the foundation for the development of these abilities. In this contribution, we survey recent research in aviation, medicine, economics, psychology, and interdisciplinary decision theory that has demonstrated that specific error-management training can promote metacognitive skills that lead to better adaptive transfer and better performance skills. We summarize how this research can be applied to music, and survey relevant research that is specifically tailored to the needs of musicians, including generic guidelines for risk and error management in music teaching and performance. On this basis, we develop a conceptual framework for risk management that can provide orientation for further

Effect of residual stress on the integrity of a branch connection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Law, M.; Kirstein, O.; Luzin, V.

2012-01-01

A new connection to an existing gas pipeline was made by hot-tapping, welding directly onto a pressurised pipeline. The welds were not post-weld heat treated, causing significant residual stresses. The critical weld had residual stresses determined by neutron diffraction using ANSTO's residual stress diffractometer, Kowari. The maximum measured residual stress (290 MPa) was 60% of the yield strength. The magnitudes of errors from a number of sources were estimated. An integrity assessment of the welded branch connection was performed with the measured residual stress values and with residual stress distributions from the BS 7910 and API 579 analysis codes. Analysis using estimates of residual stress from API 579 overestimated the critical crack size. Highlights: ► Residual stresses were measured by neutron diffraction in a thick section, non post-weld heat treated ferritic weld. ► There is little published data on these welds. ► The work compares the measured residual stresses with code-based residual stress distributions.

Residual sweeping errors in turbulent particle pair diffusion in a Lagrangian diffusion model.

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, Nadeem A

2017-01-01

Thomson, D. J. & Devenish, B. J. [J. Fluid Mech. 526, 277 (2005)] and others have suggested that sweeping effects make Lagrangian properties in Kinematic Simulations (KS), Fung et al [Fung J. C. H., Hunt J. C. R., Malik N. A. & Perkins R. J. J. Fluid Mech. 236, 281 (1992)], unreliable. However, such a conclusion can only be drawn under the assumption of locality. The major aim here is to quantify the sweeping errors in KS without assuming locality. Through a novel analysis based upon analysing pairs of particle trajectories in a frame of reference moving with the large energy containing scales of motion it is shown that the normalized integrated error [Formula: see text] in the turbulent pair diffusivity (K) due to the sweeping effect decreases with increasing pair separation (σl), such that [Formula: see text] as σl/η → ∞; and [Formula: see text] as σl/η → 0. η is the Kolmogorov turbulence microscale. There is an intermediate range of separations 1 < σl/η < ∞ in which the error [Formula: see text] remains negligible. Simulations using KS shows that in the swept frame of reference, this intermediate range is large covering almost the entire inertial subrange simulated, 1 < σl/η < 105, implying that the deviation from locality observed in KS cannot be atributed to sweeping errors. This is important for pair diffusion theory and modeling. PACS numbers: 47.27.E?, 47.27.Gs, 47.27.jv, 47.27.Ak, 47.27.tb, 47.27.eb, 47.11.-j.

Combined spacecraft orbit and attitude control through extended Kalman filtering of magnetometer, gyro, and GPS measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamer Mekky Ahmed Habib

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this research is to establish spacecraft orbit and attitude control algorithms based on extended Kalman filter which provides estimates of spacecraft orbital and attitude states. The control and estimation algorithms must be capable of dealing with the spacecraft conditions during the detumbling and attitude acquisition modes of operation. These conditions are characterized by nonlinearities represented by large initial attitude angles, large initial angular velocities, large initial attitude estimation error, and large initial position estimation error. All of the developed estimation and control algorithms are suitable for application to the next Egyptian scientific satellite, EGYPTSAT-2. The parameters of the case-study spacecraft are similar but not identical to the former Egyptian satellite EGYPTSAT-1. This is done because the parameters of EGYPTSAT-2 satellite have not been consolidated yet. The sensors utilized are gyro, magnetometer, and GPS. Gyro and magnetometer are utilized to provide measurements for the estimates of spacecraft attitude state vector where as magnetometer and GPS are utilized to provide measurements for the estimates of spacecraft orbital state vector.

Personality and attitudes as predictors of risky driving among older drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucidi, Fabio; Mallia, Luca; Lazuras, Lambros; Violani, Cristiano

2014-11-01

Although there are several studies on the effects of personality and attitudes on risky driving among young drivers, related research in older drivers is scarce. The present study assessed a model of personality-attitudes-risky driving in a large sample of active older drivers. A cross-sectional design was used, and structured and anonymous questionnaires were completed by 485 older Italian drivers (Mean age=68.1, SD=6.2, 61.2% males). The measures included personality traits, attitudes toward traffic safety, risky driving (errors, lapses, and traffic violations), and self-reported crash involvement and number of issued traffic tickets in the last 12 months. Structural equation modeling showed that personality traits predicted both directly and indirectly traffic violations, errors, and lapses. More positive attitudes toward traffic safety negatively predicted risky driving. In turn, risky driving was positively related to self-reported crash involvement and higher number of issued traffic tickets. Our findings suggest that theoretical models developed to account for risky driving of younger drivers may also apply in the older drivers, and accordingly be used to inform safe driving interventions for this age group. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A posteriori error estimates for finite volume approximations of elliptic equations on general surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ju, Lili; Tian, Li; Wang, Desheng

2008-10-31

In this paper, we present a residual-based a posteriori error estimate for the finite volume discretization of steady convection– diffusion–reaction equations defined on surfaces in R3, which are often implicitly represented as level sets of smooth functions. Reliability and efficiency of the proposed a posteriori error estimator are rigorously proved. Numerical experiments are also conducted to verify the theoretical results and demonstrate the robustness of the error estimator.

Investigation on coupling error characteristics in angular rate matching based ship deformation measurement approach

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shuai; Wu, Wei; Wang, Xingshu; Xu, Zhiguang

2018-01-01

The coupling error in the measurement of ship hull deformation can significantly influence the attitude accuracy of the shipborne weapons and equipments. It is therefore important to study the characteristics of the coupling error. In this paper, an comprehensive investigation on the coupling error is reported, which has a potential of deducting the coupling error in the future. Firstly, the causes and characteristics of the coupling error are analyzed theoretically based on the basic theory of measuring ship deformation. Then, simulations are conducted for verifying the correctness of the theoretical analysis. Simulation results show that the cross-correlation between dynamic flexure and ship angular motion leads to the coupling error in measuring ship deformation, and coupling error increases with the correlation value between them. All the simulation results coincide with the theoretical analysis.

Phase Error Modeling and Its Impact on Precise Orbit Determination of GRACE Satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Tu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Limiting factors for the precise orbit determination (POD of low-earth orbit (LEO satellite using dual-frequency GPS are nowadays mainly encountered with the in-flight phase error modeling. The phase error is modeled as a systematic and a random component each depending on the direction of GPS signal reception. The systematic part and standard deviation of random part in phase error model are, respectively, estimated by bin-wise mean and standard deviation values of phase postfit residuals computed by orbit determination. By removing the systematic component and adjusting the weight of phase observation data according to standard deviation of random component, the orbit can be further improved by POD approach. The GRACE data of 1–31 January 2006 are processed, and three types of orbit solutions, POD without phase error model correction, POD with mean value correction of phase error model, and POD with phase error model correction, are obtained. The three-dimensional (3D orbit improvements derived from phase error model correction are 0.0153 m for GRACE A and 0.0131 m for GRACE B, and the 3D influences arisen from random part of phase error model are 0.0068 m and 0.0075 m for GRACE A and GRACE B, respectively. Thus the random part of phase error model cannot be neglected for POD. It is also demonstrated by phase postfit residual analysis, orbit comparison with JPL precise science orbit, and orbit validation with KBR data that the results derived from POD with phase error model correction are better than another two types of orbit solutions generated in this paper.

ATTITUDE ASSESSMENT USING PLEIADES-HR CAPABILITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. M. Delevit

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Since SPOT1, the French national space centre (CNES has worked on improving the geometry of Earth observation spacecrafts. The accuracy of sensor calibration is one of the main key points for any Earth observation application such as orthorectification, DEM generation or surface change detection. For the last twenty years CNES has developed two families of methods: absolute methods and relative methods. These methods are used to characterize a pushbroom acquisition along the detector line and the time line. By this way, the viewing directions are measured and the residual of the spacecraft’s attitude angles (not restituted by the Attitude and Orbit Control System is estimated. This information can complete the geometric model of all the scenes acquired by the instrument and is used in all geometric applications. This paper presents new attitude assessment methods taking advantage of the capabilities of Pléiades-HR in terms of agility and focal plane arrangement – panchromatic band and multispectral (MS bands.

An adjoint-based scheme for eigenvalue error improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merton, S.R.; Smedley-Stevenson, R.P.; Pain, C.C.; El-Sheikh, A.H.; Buchan, A.G.

2011-01-01

A scheme for improving the accuracy and reducing the error in eigenvalue calculations is presented. Using a rst order Taylor series expansion of both the eigenvalue solution and the residual of the governing equation, an approximation to the error in the eigenvalue is derived. This is done using a convolution of the equation residual and adjoint solution, which is calculated in-line with the primal solution. A defect correction on the solution is then performed in which the approximation to the error is used to apply a correction to the eigenvalue. The method is shown to dramatically improve convergence of the eigenvalue. The equation for the eigenvalue is shown to simplify when certain normalizations are applied to the eigenvector. Two such normalizations are considered; the rst of these is a fission-source type of normalisation and the second is an eigenvector normalisation. Results are demonstrated on a number of demanding elliptic problems using continuous Galerkin weighted nite elements. Moreover, the correction scheme may also be applied to hyperbolic problems and arbitrary discretization. This is not limited to spatial corrections and may be used throughout the phase space of the discrete equation. The applied correction not only improves fidelity of the calculation, it allows assessment of the reliability of numerical schemes to be made and could be used to guide mesh adaption algorithms or to automate mesh generation schemes. (author)

Dosimetric Effect of Intrafraction Motion and Residual Setup Error for Hypofractionated Prostate Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy With Online Cone Beam Computed Tomography Image Guidance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamson, Justus; Wu Qiuwen; Yan Di

2011-01-01

Purpose: To quantify the dosimetric effect and margins required to account for prostate intrafractional translation and residual setup error in a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)-guided hypofractionated radiotherapy protocol. Methods and Materials: Prostate position after online correction was measured during dose delivery using simultaneous kV fluoroscopy and posttreatment CBCT in 572 fractions to 30 patients. We reconstructed the dose distribution to the clinical tumor volume (CTV) using a convolution of the static dose with a probability density function (PDF) based on the kV fluoroscopy, and we calculated the minimum dose received by 99% of the CTV (D 99 ). We compared reconstructed doses when the convolution was performed per beam, per patient, and when the PDF was created using posttreatment CBCT. We determined the minimum axis-specific margins to limit CTV D 99 reduction to 1%. Results: For 3-mm margins, D 99 reduction was ≤5% for 29/30 patients. Using post-CBCT rather than localizations at treatment delivery exaggerated dosimetric effects by ∼47%, while there was no such bias between the dose convolved with a beam-specific and patient-specific PDF. After eight fractions, final cumulative D 99 could be predicted with a root mean square error of <1%. For 90% of patients, the required margins were ≤2, 4, and 3 mm, with 70%, 40%, and 33% of patients requiring no right-left (RL), anteroposterior (AP), and superoinferior margins, respectively. Conclusions: For protocols with CBCT guidance, RL, AP, and SI margins of 2, 4, and 3 mm are sufficient to account for translational errors; however, the large variation in patient-specific margins suggests that adaptive management may be beneficial.

Dosimetric effect of intrafraction motion and residual setup error for hypofractionated prostate intensity-modulated radiotherapy with online cone beam computed tomography image guidance.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Adamson, Justus

2012-02-01

PURPOSE: To quantify the dosimetric effect and margins required to account for prostate intrafractional translation and residual setup error in a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT)-guided hypofractionated radiotherapy protocol. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Prostate position after online correction was measured during dose delivery using simultaneous kV fluoroscopy and posttreatment CBCT in 572 fractions to 30 patients. We reconstructed the dose distribution to the clinical tumor volume (CTV) using a convolution of the static dose with a probability density function (PDF) based on the kV fluoroscopy, and we calculated the minimum dose received by 99% of the CTV (D(99)). We compared reconstructed doses when the convolution was performed per beam, per patient, and when the PDF was created using posttreatment CBCT. We determined the minimum axis-specific margins to limit CTV D(99) reduction to 1%. RESULTS: For 3-mm margins, D(99) reduction was <\\/=5% for 29\\/30 patients. Using post-CBCT rather than localizations at treatment delivery exaggerated dosimetric effects by ~47%, while there was no such bias between the dose convolved with a beam-specific and patient-specific PDF. After eight fractions, final cumulative D(99) could be predicted with a root mean square error of <1%. For 90% of patients, the required margins were <\\/=2, 4, and 3 mm, with 70%, 40%, and 33% of patients requiring no right-left (RL), anteroposterior (AP), and superoinferior margins, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: For protocols with CBCT guidance, RL, AP, and SI margins of 2, 4, and 3 mm are sufficient to account for translational errors; however, the large variation in patient-specific margins suggests that adaptive management may be beneficial.

Safety culture perceptions of pharmacists in Malaysian hospitals and health clinics: a multicentre assessment using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire

Science.gov (United States)

Samsuri, Srima Elina; Pei Lin, Lua; Fahrni, Mathumalar Loganathan

2015-01-01

Objective To assess the safety attitudes of pharmacists, provide a profile of their domains of safety attitude and correlate their attitudes with self-reported rates of medication errors. Design A cross-sectional study utilising the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). Setting 3 public hospitals and 27 health clinics. Participants 117 pharmacists. Main outcome measure(s) Safety culture mean scores, variation in scores across working units and between hospitals versus health clinics, predictors of safety culture, and medication errors and their correlation. Results Response rate was 83.6% (117 valid questionnaires returned). Stress recognition (73.0±20.4) and working condition (54.8±17.4) received the highest and lowest mean scores, respectively. Pharmacists exhibited positive attitudes towards: stress recognition (58.1%), job satisfaction (46.2%), teamwork climate (38.5%), safety climate (33.3%), perception of management (29.9%) and working condition (15.4%). With the exception of stress recognition, those who worked in health clinics scored higher than those in hospitals (psafety culture. As perceptions improved, the number of medication errors reported decreased. Group-specific interventions that target specific domains are necessary to improve the safety culture. PMID:26610761

Identification of residue pairing in interacting β-strands from a predicted residue contact map.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Wenzhi; Wang, Tong; Zhang, Wenxuan; Gong, Haipeng

2018-04-19

Despite the rapid progress of protein residue contact prediction, predicted residue contact maps frequently contain many errors. However, information of residue pairing in β strands could be extracted from a noisy contact map, due to the presence of characteristic contact patterns in β-β interactions. This information may benefit the tertiary structure prediction of mainly β proteins. In this work, we propose a novel ridge-detection-based β-β contact predictor to identify residue pairing in β strands from any predicted residue contact map. Our algorithm RDb 2 C adopts ridge detection, a well-developed technique in computer image processing, to capture consecutive residue contacts, and then utilizes a novel multi-stage random forest framework to integrate the ridge information and additional features for prediction. Starting from the predicted contact map of CCMpred, RDb 2 C remarkably outperforms all state-of-the-art methods on two conventional test sets of β proteins (BetaSheet916 and BetaSheet1452), and achieves F1-scores of ~ 62% and ~ 76% at the residue level and strand level, respectively. Taking the prediction of the more advanced RaptorX-Contact as input, RDb 2 C achieves impressively higher performance, with F1-scores reaching ~ 76% and ~ 86% at the residue level and strand level, respectively. In a test of structural modeling using the top 1 L predicted contacts as constraints, for 61 mainly β proteins, the average TM-score achieves 0.442 when using the raw RaptorX-Contact prediction, but increases to 0.506 when using the improved prediction by RDb 2 C. Our method can significantly improve the prediction of β-β contacts from any predicted residue contact maps. Prediction results of our algorithm could be directly applied to effectively facilitate the practical structure prediction of mainly β proteins. All source data and codes are available at http://166.111.152.91/Downloads.html or the GitHub address of https://github.com/wzmao/RDb2C .

Using residual stacking to mitigate site-specific errors in order to improve the quality of GNSS-based coordinate time series of CORS

Science.gov (United States)

Knöpfler, Andreas; Mayer, Michael; Heck, Bernhard

2014-05-01

Within the last decades, positioning using GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems; e.g., GPS) has become a standard tool in many (geo-) sciences. The positioning methods Precise Point Positioning and differential point positioning based on carrier phase observations have been developed for a broad variety of applications with different demands for example on accuracy. In high precision applications, a lot of effort was invested to mitigate different error sources: the products for satellite orbits and satellite clocks were improved; the misbehaviour of satellite and receiver antennas compared to an ideal antenna is modelled by calibration values on absolute level, the modelling of the ionosphere and the troposphere is updated year by year. Therefore, within processing of data of CORS (continuously operating reference sites), equipped with geodetic hardware using a sophisticated strategy, the latest products and models nowadays enable positioning accuracies at low mm level. Despite the considerable improvements that have been achieved within GNSS data processing, a generally valid multipath model is still lacking. Therefore, site specific multipath still represents a major error source in precise GNSS positioning. Furthermore, the calibration information of receiving GNSS antennas, which is for instance derived by a robot or chamber calibration, is valid strictly speaking only for the location of the calibration. The calibrated antenna can show a slightly different behaviour at the CORS due to near field multipath effects. One very promising strategy to mitigate multipath effects as well as imperfectly calibrated receiver antennas is to stack observation residuals of several days, thereby, multipath-loaded observation residuals are analysed for example with respect to signal direction, to find and reduce systematic constituents. This presentation will give a short overview about existing stacking approaches. In addition, first results of the stacking approach

Peranan Konservatisme Akuntansi dan Faktor Risiko Makro dalam Model Laba Residual: Sebuah Studi di Bursa Efek Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andry Irwanto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study examines the association of accounting conservatism, growth and macro-economic risk factors and valuation error of residual income model in Indonesian Stock Exchange. We use beta, book to market ratio, and size as proxies for macro-economic risk. Using sample of 186 companies taken from LQ-45 for the year of 2001 – 2005, we find that accounting conservatism and growth, have no significant influence toward residual income model valuation error. B/M has significant influence toward valuation error and has consistent sign as predicted by theory. Beta and Size has no significant influence toward valuation error. Overall, macro-economic risk factors can explain the valuation error better than accounting-based factors.Future research is expected to find accounting variables that can represent macro-economic risk and test their ability to explain valuation error. Also, future research need to confirm the relevance of accounting conservatism in stock valuation after implementation of IFRS in Indonesia.

The Residual Setup Errors of Different IGRT Alignment Procedures for Head and Neck IMRT and the Resulting Dosimetric Impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graff, Pierre; Kirby, Neil; Weinberg, Vivian; Chen, Josephine; Yom, Sue S.; Lambert, Louise; Pouliot, Jean

2013-01-01

Purpose: To assess residual setup errors during head and neck radiation therapy and the resulting consequences for the delivered dose for various patient alignment procedures. Methods and Materials: Megavoltage cone beam computed tomography (MVCBCT) scans from 11 head and neck patients who underwent intensity modulated radiation therapy were used to assess setup errors. Each MVCBCT scan was registered to its reference planning kVCT, with seven different alignment procedures: automatic alignment and manual registration to 6 separate bony landmarks (sphenoid, left/right maxillary sinuses, mandible, cervical 1 [C1]-C2, and C7-thoracic 1 [T1] vertebrae). Shifts in the different alignments were compared with each other to determine whether there were any statistically significant differences. Then, the dose distribution was recalculated on 3 MVCBCT images per patient for every alignment procedure. The resulting dose-volume histograms for targets and organs at risk (OARs) were compared to those from the planning kVCTs. Results: The registration procedures produced statistically significant global differences in patient alignment and actual dose distribution, calling for a need for standardization of patient positioning. Vertically, the automatic, sphenoid, and maxillary sinuses alignments mainly generated posterior shifts and resulted in mean increases in maximal dose to OARs of >3% of the planned dose. The suggested choice of C1-C2 as a reference landmark appears valid, combining both OAR sparing and target coverage. Assuming this choice, relevant margins to apply around volumes of interest at the time of planning to take into account for the relative mobility of other regions are discussed. Conclusions: Use of different alignment procedures for treating head and neck patients produced variations in patient setup and dose distribution. With concern for standardizing practice, C1-C2 reference alignment with relevant margins around planning volumes seems to be a valid

Decomposition and correction overlapping peaks of LIBS using an error compensation method combined with curve fitting.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Bing; Huang, Min; Zhu, Qibing; Guo, Ya; Qin, Jianwei

2017-09-01

The laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique is an effective method to detect material composition by obtaining the plasma emission spectrum. The overlapping peaks in the spectrum are a fundamental problem in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of LIBS. Based on a curve fitting method, this paper studies an error compensation method to achieve the decomposition and correction of overlapping peaks. The vital step is that the fitting residual is fed back to the overlapping peaks and performs multiple curve fitting processes to obtain a lower residual result. For the quantitative experiments of Cu, the Cu-Fe overlapping peaks in the range of 321-327 nm obtained from the LIBS spectrum of five different concentrations of CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O solution were decomposed and corrected using curve fitting and error compensation methods. Compared with the curve fitting method, the error compensation reduced the fitting residual about 18.12-32.64% and improved the correlation about 0.86-1.82%. Then, the calibration curve between the intensity and concentration of the Cu was established. It can be seen that the error compensation method exhibits a higher linear correlation between the intensity and concentration of Cu, which can be applied to the decomposition and correction of overlapping peaks in the LIBS spectrum.

Adaptive Jacobian Fuzzy Attitude Control for Flexible Spacecraft Combined Attitude and Sun Tracking System

Science.gov (United States)

Chak, Yew-Chung; Varatharajoo, Renuganth

2016-07-01

Many spacecraft attitude control systems today use reaction wheels to deliver precise torques to achieve three-axis attitude stabilization. However, irrecoverable mechanical failure of reaction wheels could potentially lead to mission interruption or total loss. The electrically-powered Solar Array Drive Assemblies (SADA) are usually installed in the pitch axis which rotate the solar arrays to track the Sun, can produce torques to compensate for the pitch-axis wheel failure. In addition, the attitude control of a flexible spacecraft poses a difficult problem. These difficulties include the strong nonlinear coupled dynamics between the rigid hub and flexible solar arrays, and the imprecisely known system parameters, such as inertia matrix, damping ratios, and flexible mode frequencies. In order to overcome these drawbacks, the adaptive Jacobian tracking fuzzy control is proposed for the combined attitude and sun-tracking control problem of a flexible spacecraft during attitude maneuvers in this work. For the adaptation of kinematic and dynamic uncertainties, the proposed scheme uses an adaptive sliding vector based on estimated attitude velocity via approximate Jacobian matrix. The unknown nonlinearities are approximated by deriving the fuzzy models with a set of linguistic If-Then rules using the idea of sector nonlinearity and local approximation in fuzzy partition spaces. The uncertain parameters of the estimated nonlinearities and the Jacobian matrix are being adjusted online by an adaptive law to realize feedback control. The attitude of the spacecraft can be directly controlled with the Jacobian feedback control when the attitude pointing trajectory is designed with respect to the spacecraft coordinate frame itself. A significant feature of this work is that the proposed adaptive Jacobian tracking scheme will result in not only the convergence of angular position and angular velocity tracking errors, but also the convergence of estimated angular velocity to

Interfractional and intrafractional errors assessed by daily cone-beam computed tomography in nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy. A prospective study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Heming; Lin Hui; Feng Guosheng

2012-01-01

This prospective study was to assess interfractional and intrafractional errors and to estimate appropriate margins for planning target volume (PTV) by using daily cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) guidance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Daily pretreatment and post-treatment CBCT scans were acquired separately after initial patient setup and after the completion of each treatment fraction in 10 patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Online corrections were made before treatment if any translational setup error was found. Interfractional and intrafractional errors were recorded in the right-left (RL), superior-inferior (SI) and anterior-posterior (AP) directions. For the translational shifts, interfractional errors >2 mm occurred in 21.7% of measurements in the RL direction, 12.7% in the SI direction and 34.1% in the AP direction, respectively. Online correction resulted in 100% of residual errors ≤2 mm in the RL and SI directions, and 95.5% of residual errors ≤2 mm in the AP direction. No residual errors >3 mm occurred in the three directions. For the rotational shifts, a significant reduction was found in the magnitudes of residual errors compared with those of interfractional errors. A margin of 4.9 mm, 4.0 mm and 6.3 mm was required in the RL, SI and AP directions, respectively, when daily CBCT scans were not performed. With daily CBCT, the margins were reduced to 1.2 mm in all directions. In conclusion, daily CBCT guidance is an effective modality to improve the accuracy of IMRT for NPC. The online correction could result in a 70-81% reduction in margin size. (author)

Analysis of error-correction constraints in an optical disk

Science.gov (United States)

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

1996-07-01

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

Sources of medical error in refractive surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Moshirfar, Majid; Simpson, Rachel G; Dave, Sonal B; Christiansen, Steven M; Edmonds, Jason N; Culbertson, William W; Pascucci, Stephen E; Sher, Neal A; Cano, David B; Trattler, William B

2013-05-01

To evaluate the causes of laser programming errors in refractive surgery and outcomes in these cases. In this multicenter, retrospective chart review, 22 eyes of 18 patients who had incorrect data entered into the refractive laser computer system at the time of treatment were evaluated. Cases were analyzed to uncover the etiology of these errors, patient follow-up treatments, and final outcomes. The results were used to identify potential methods to avoid similar errors in the future. Every patient experienced compromised uncorrected visual acuity requiring additional intervention, and 7 of 22 eyes (32%) lost corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) of at least one line. Sixteen patients were suitable candidates for additional surgical correction to address these residual visual symptoms and six were not. Thirteen of 22 eyes (59%) received surgical follow-up treatment; nine eyes were treated with contact lenses. After follow-up treatment, six patients (27%) still had a loss of one line or more of CDVA. Three significant sources of error were identified: errors of cylinder conversion, data entry, and patient identification error. Twenty-seven percent of eyes with laser programming errors ultimately lost one or more lines of CDVA. Patients who underwent surgical revision had better outcomes than those who did not. Many of the mistakes identified were likely avoidable had preventive measures been taken, such as strict adherence to patient verification protocol or rigorous rechecking of treatment parameters. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

HIGH-PRECISION ATTITUDE ESTIMATION METHOD OF STAR SENSORS AND GYRO BASED ON COMPLEMENTARY FILTER AND UNSCENTED KALMAN FILTER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Guo

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Determining the attitude of satellite at the time of imaging then establishing the mathematical relationship between image points and ground points is essential in high-resolution remote sensing image mapping. Star tracker is insensitive to the high frequency attitude variation due to the measure noise and satellite jitter, but the low frequency attitude motion can be determined with high accuracy. Gyro, as a short-term reference to the satellite’s attitude, is sensitive to high frequency attitude change, but due to the existence of gyro drift and integral error, the attitude determination error increases with time. Based on the opposite noise frequency characteristics of two kinds of attitude sensors, this paper proposes an on-orbit attitude estimation method of star sensors and gyro based on Complementary Filter (CF and Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF. In this study, the principle and implementation of the proposed method are described. First, gyro attitude quaternions are acquired based on the attitude kinematics equation. An attitude information fusion method is then introduced, which applies high-pass filtering and low-pass filtering to the gyro and star tracker, respectively. Second, the attitude fusion data based on CF are introduced as the observed values of UKF system in the process of measurement updating. The accuracy and effectiveness of the method are validated based on the simulated sensors attitude data. The obtained results indicate that the proposed method can suppress the gyro drift and measure noise of attitude sensors, improving the accuracy of the attitude determination significantly, comparing with the simulated on-orbit attitude and the attitude estimation results of the UKF defined by the same simulation parameters.

Dosimetric implications of inter- and intrafractional prostate positioning errors during tomotherapy : Comparison of gold marker-based registrations with native MVCT.

Science.gov (United States)

Wust, Peter; Joswig, Marc; Graf, Reinhold; Böhmer, Dirk; Beck, Marcus; Barelkowski, Thomasz; Budach, Volker; Ghadjar, Pirus

2017-09-01

For high-dose radiation therapy (RT) of prostate cancer, image-guided (IGRT) and intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) approaches are standard. Less is known regarding comparisons of different IGRT techniques and the resulting residual errors, as well as regarding their influences on dose distributions. A total of 58 patients who received tomotherapy-based RT up to 84 Gy for high-risk prostate cancer underwent IGRT based either on daily megavoltage CT (MVCT) alone (n = 43) or the additional use of gold markers (n = 15) under routine conditions. Planned Adaptive (Accuray Inc., Madison, WI, USA) software was used for elaborated offline analysis to quantify residual interfractional prostate positioning errors, along with systematic and random errors and the resulting safety margins after both IGRT approaches. Dosimetric parameters for clinical target volume (CTV) coverage and exposition of organs at risk (OAR) were also analyzed and compared. Interfractional as well as intrafractional displacements were determined. Particularly in the vertical direction, residual interfractional positioning errors were reduced using the gold marker-based approach, but dosimetric differences were moderate and the clinical relevance relatively small. Intrafractional prostate motion proved to be quite high, with displacements of 1-3 mm; however, these did not result in additional dosimetric impairments. Residual interfractional positioning errors were reduced using gold marker-based IGRT; however, this resulted in only slightly different final dose distributions. Therefore, daily MVCT-based IGRT without markers might be a valid alternative.

Validity and reliability of a novel 3D scanner for assessment of the shape and volume of amputees' residual limb models.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Seminati

Full Text Available Objective assessment methods to monitor residual limb volume following lower-limb amputation are required to enhance practitioner-led prosthetic fitting. Computer aided systems, including 3D scanners, present numerous advantages and the recent Artec Eva scanner, based on laser free technology, could potentially be an effective solution for monitoring residual limb volumes.The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Artec Eva scanner (practical measurement against a high precision laser 3D scanner (criterion measurement for the determination of residual limb model shape and volume.Three observers completed three repeat assessments of ten residual limb models, using both the scanners. Validity of the Artec Eva scanner was assessed (mean percentage error <2% and Bland-Altman statistics were adopted to assess the agreement between the two scanners. Intra and inter-rater reliability (repeatability coefficient <5% of the Artec Eva scanner was calculated for measuring indices of residual limb model volume and shape (i.e. residual limb cross sectional areas and perimeters.Residual limb model volumes ranged from 885 to 4399 ml. Mean percentage error of the Artec Eva scanner (validity was 1.4% of the criterion volumes. Correlation coefficients between the Artec Eva and the Romer determined variables were higher than 0.9. Volume intra-rater and inter-rater reliability coefficients were 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively. Shape percentage maximal error was 2% at the distal end of the residual limb, with intra-rater reliability coefficients presenting the lowest errors (0.2%, both for cross sectional areas and perimeters of the residual limb models.The Artec Eva scanner is a valid and reliable method for assessing residual limb model shapes and volumes. While the method needs to be tested on human residual limbs and the results compared with the current system used in clinical practice, it has the potential to quantify shape and volume

Evaluation of rotational set-up errors in patients with thoracic neoplasms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yanyang; Fu Xiaolong; Xia Bing; Fan Min; Yang Huanjun; Ren Jun; Xu Zhiyong; Jiang Guoliang

2010-01-01

Objective: To assess the rotational set-up errors in patients with thoracic neoplasms. Methods: 224 kilovoltage cone-beam computed tomography (KVCBCT) scans from 20 thoracic tumor patients were evaluated retrospectively. All these patients were involved in the research of 'Evaluation of the residual set-up error for online kilovoltage cone-beam CT guided thoracic tumor radiation'. Rotational set-up errors, including pitch, roll and yaw, were calculated by 'aligning the KVCBCT with the planning CT, using the semi-automatic alignment method. Results: The average rotational set-up errors were -0.28 degree ±1.52 degree, 0.21 degree ± 0.91 degree and 0.27 degree ± 0.78 degree in the left-fight, superior-inferior and anterior-posterior axis, respectively. The maximal rotational errors of pitch, roll and yaw were 3.5 degree, 2.7 degree and 2.2 degree, respectively. After correction for translational set-up errors, no statistically significant changes in rotational error were observed. Conclusions: The rotational set-up errors in patients with thoracic neoplasms were all small in magnitude. Rotational errors may not change after the correction for translational set-up errors alone, which should be evaluated in a larger sample future. (authors)

A user's manual of Tools for Error Estimation of Complex Number Matrix Computation (Ver.1.0)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichihara, Kiyoshi.

1997-03-01

'Tools for Error Estimation of Complex Number Matrix Computation' is a subroutine library which aids the users in obtaining the error ranges of the complex number linear system's solutions or the Hermitian matrices' eigen values. This library contains routines for both sequential computers and parallel computers. The subroutines for linear system error estimation calulate norms of residual vectors, matrices's condition numbers, error bounds of solutions and so on. The error estimation subroutines for Hermitian matrix eigen values' derive the error ranges of the eigen values according to the Korn-Kato's formula. This user's manual contains a brief mathematical background of error analysis on linear algebra and usage of the subroutines. (author)

An Estimator for Attitude and Heading Reference Systems Based on Virtual Horizontal Reference

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yunlong; Soltani, Mohsen; Hussain, Dil muhammed Akbar

2016-01-01

makes it possible to correct the output of roll and pitch of the attitude estimator in the situations without accelerometer measurements, which cannot be achieved by the conventional nonlinear attitude estimator. The performance of VHR is tested both in simulation and hardware environment to validate......The output of the attitude determination systems suffers from large errors in case of accelerometer malfunctions. In this paper, an attitude estimator, based on Virtual Horizontal Reference (VHR), is designed for an Attitude Heading and Reference System (AHRS) to cope with this problem. The VHR...... their estimation performance. Moreover, the hardware test results are compared with that of a high-precision commercial AHRS to verify the estimation results. The implemented algorithm has shown high accuracy of attitude estimation that makes the system suitable for many applications....

How Radiation Oncologists Would Disclose Errors: Results of a Survey of Radiation Oncologists and Trainees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, Suzanne B.; Yu, James B.; Chagpar, Anees

2012-01-01

Purpose: To analyze error disclosure attitudes of radiation oncologists and to correlate error disclosure beliefs with survey-assessed disclosure behavior. Methods and Materials: With institutional review board exemption, an anonymous online survey was devised. An email invitation was sent to radiation oncologists (American Society for Radiation Oncology [ASTRO] gold medal winners, program directors and chair persons of academic institutions, and former ASTRO lecturers) and residents. A disclosure score was calculated based on the number or full, partial, or no disclosure responses chosen to the vignette-based questions, and correlation was attempted with attitudes toward error disclosure. Results: The survey received 176 responses: 94.8% of respondents considered themselves more likely to disclose in the setting of a serious medical error; 72.7% of respondents did not feel it mattered who was responsible for the error in deciding to disclose, and 3.9% felt more likely to disclose if someone else was responsible; 38.0% of respondents felt that disclosure increased the likelihood of a lawsuit, and 32.4% felt disclosure decreased the likelihood of lawsuit; 71.6% of respondents felt near misses should not be disclosed; 51.7% thought that minor errors should not be disclosed; 64.7% viewed disclosure as an opportunity for forgiveness from the patient; and 44.6% considered the patient's level of confidence in them to be a factor in disclosure. For a scenario that could be considerable, a non-harmful error, 78.9% of respondents would not contact the family. Respondents with high disclosure scores were more likely to feel that disclosure was an opportunity for forgiveness (P=.003) and to have never seen major medical errors (P=.004). Conclusions: The surveyed radiation oncologists chose to respond with full disclosure at a high rate, although ideal disclosure practices were not uniformly adhered to beyond the initial decision to disclose the occurrence of the error.

Safety culture perceptions of pharmacists in Malaysian hospitals and health clinics: a multicentre assessment using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Samsuri, Srima Elina; Pei Lin, Lua; Fahrni, Mathumalar Loganathan

2015-11-26

To assess the safety attitudes of pharmacists, provide a profile of their domains of safety attitude and correlate their attitudes with self-reported rates of medication errors. A cross-sectional study utilising the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). 3 public hospitals and 27 health clinics. 117 pharmacists. Safety culture mean scores, variation in scores across working units and between hospitals versus health clinics, predictors of safety culture, and medication errors and their correlation. Response rate was 83.6% (117 valid questionnaires returned). Stress recognition (73.0±20.4) and working condition (54.8±17.4) received the highest and lowest mean scores, respectively. Pharmacists exhibited positive attitudes towards: stress recognition (58.1%), job satisfaction (46.2%), teamwork climate (38.5%), safety climate (33.3%), perception of management (29.9%) and working condition (15.4%). With the exception of stress recognition, those who worked in health clinics scored higher than those in hospitals (pculture. As perceptions improved, the number of medication errors reported decreased. Group-specific interventions that target specific domains are necessary to improve the safety culture. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Toward Accurate On-Ground Attitude Determination for the Gaia Spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Samaan, Malak A.

2010-03-01

The work presented in this paper concerns the accurate On-Ground Attitude (OGA) reconstruction for the astrometry spacecraft Gaia in the presence of disturbance and of control torques acting on the spacecraft. The reconstruction of the expected environmental torques which influence the spacecraft dynamics will be also investigated. The telemetry data from the spacecraft will include the on-board real-time attitude, which is of order of several arcsec. This raw attitude is the starting point for the further attitude reconstruction. The OGA will use the inputs from the field coordinates of known stars (attitude stars) and also the field coordinate differences of objects on the Sky Mapper (SM) and Astrometric Field (AF) payload instruments to improve this raw attitude. The on-board attitude determination uses a Kalman Filter (KF) to minimize the attitude errors and produce a more accurate attitude estimation than the pure star tracker measurement. Therefore the first approach for the OGA will be an adapted version of KF. Furthermore, we will design a batch least squares algorithm to investigate how to obtain a more accurate OGA estimation. Finally, a comparison between these different attitude determination techniques in terms of accuracy, robustness, speed and memory required will be evaluated in order to choose the best attitude algorithm for the OGA. The expected resulting accuracy for the OGA determination will be on the order of milli-arcsec.

An Adaptive Estimation of Forecast Error Covariance Parameters for Kalman Filtering Data Assimilation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Xiaogu ZHENG

2009-01-01

An adaptive estimation of forecast error covariance matrices is proposed for Kalman filtering data assimilation. A forecast error covariance matrix is initially estimated using an ensemble of perturbation forecasts. This initially estimated matrix is then adjusted with scale parameters that are adaptively estimated by minimizing -2log-likelihood of observed-minus-forecast residuals. The proposed approach could be applied to Kalman filtering data assimilation with imperfect models when the model error statistics are not known. A simple nonlinear model (Burgers' equation model) is used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.

Positioning errors assessed with kV cone-beam CT for image-guided prostate radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jiongyan; Guo Xiaomao; Yao Weiqiang; Wang Yanyang; Ma Jinli; Chen Jiayi; Zhang Zhen; Feng Yan

2010-01-01

Objective: To assess set-up errors measured with kilovoltage cone-beam CT (KV-CBCT), and the impact of online corrections on margins required to account for set-up variability during IMRT for patients with prostate cancer. Methods: Seven patients with prostate cancer undergoing IMRT were enrolled onto the study. The KV-CBCT scans were acquired at least twice weekly. After initial set-up using the skin marks, a CBCT scan was acquired and registered with the planning CT to determine the setup errors using an auto grey-scale registration software. Corrections would be made by moving the table if the setup errors were considered clinically significant (i. e. , > 2 mm). A second CBCT scan was acquired immediately after the corrections to evaluate the residual error. PTV margins were derived to account for the measured set-up errors and residual errors determined for this group of patients. Results: 197 KV-CBCT images in total were acquired. The random and systematic positioning errors and calculated PTV margins without correction in mm were : a) Lateral 3.1, 2.1, 9.3; b) Longitudinal 1.5, 1.8, 5.1;c) Vertical 4.2, 3.7, 13.0. The random and systematic positioning errors and calculated PTV margin with correction in mm were : a) Lateral 1.1, 0.9, 3.4; b) Longitudinal 0.7, 1.1, 2.5; c) Vertical 1.1, 1.3, 3.7. Conclusions: With the guidance of online KV-CBCT, set-up errors could be reduced significantly for patients with prostate cancer receiving IMRT. The margin required after online CBCT correction for the patients enrolled in the study would be appoximatively 3-4 mm. (authors)

ANALYSIS AND CORRECTION OF SYSTEMATIC HEIGHT MODEL ERRORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Jacobsen

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The geometry of digital height models (DHM determined with optical satellite stereo combinations depends upon the image orientation, influenced by the satellite camera, the system calibration and attitude registration. As standard these days the image orientation is available in form of rational polynomial coefficients (RPC. Usually a bias correction of the RPC based on ground control points is required. In most cases the bias correction requires affine transformation, sometimes only shifts, in image or object space. For some satellites and some cases, as caused by small base length, such an image orientation does not lead to the possible accuracy of height models. As reported e.g. by Yong-hua et al. 2015 and Zhang et al. 2015, especially the Chinese stereo satellite ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3 has a limited calibration accuracy and just an attitude recording of 4 Hz which may not be satisfying. Zhang et al. 2015 tried to improve the attitude based on the color sensor bands of ZY-3, but the color images are not always available as also detailed satellite orientation information. There is a tendency of systematic deformation at a Pléiades tri-stereo combination with small base length. The small base length enlarges small systematic errors to object space. But also in some other satellite stereo combinations systematic height model errors have been detected. The largest influence is the not satisfying leveling of height models, but also low frequency height deformations can be seen. A tilt of the DHM by theory can be eliminated by ground control points (GCP, but often the GCP accuracy and distribution is not optimal, not allowing a correct leveling of the height model. In addition a model deformation at GCP locations may lead to not optimal DHM leveling. Supported by reference height models better accuracy has been reached. As reference height model the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM digital surface model (DSM or the new AW3D30 DSM, based on ALOS

Attitude and gyro bias estimation by the rotation of an inertial measurement unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Zheming; Sun, Zhenguo; Zhang, Wenzeng; Chen, Qiang

2015-01-01

In navigation applications, the presence of an unknown bias in the measurement of rate gyros is a key performance-limiting factor. In order to estimate the gyro bias and improve the accuracy of attitude measurement, we proposed a new method which uses the rotation of an inertial measurement unit, which is independent from rigid body motion. By actively changing the orientation of the inertial measurement unit (IMU), the proposed method generates sufficient relations between the gyro bias and tilt angle (roll and pitch) error via ridge body dynamics, and the gyro bias, including the bias that causes the heading error, can be estimated and compensated. The rotation inertial measurement unit method makes the gravity vector measured from the IMU continuously change in a body-fixed frame. By theoretically analyzing the mathematic model, the convergence of the attitude and gyro bias to the true values is proven. The proposed method provides a good attitude estimation using only measurements from an IMU, when other sensors such as magnetometers and GPS are unreliable. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated under realistic robotic motions and the results demonstrate an improvement in the accuracy of the attitude estimation. (paper)

Optimal full motion video registration with rigorous error propagation

Science.gov (United States)

Dolloff, John; Hottel, Bryant; Doucette, Peter; Theiss, Henry; Jocher, Glenn

2014-06-01

Optimal full motion video (FMV) registration is a crucial need for the Geospatial community. It is required for subsequent and optimal geopositioning with simultaneous and reliable accuracy prediction. An overall approach being developed for such registration is presented that models relevant error sources in terms of the expected magnitude and correlation of sensor errors. The corresponding estimator is selected based on the level of accuracy of the a priori information of the sensor's trajectory and attitude (pointing) information, in order to best deal with non-linearity effects. Estimator choices include near real-time Kalman Filters and batch Weighted Least Squares. Registration solves for corrections to the sensor a priori information for each frame. It also computes and makes available a posteriori accuracy information, i.e., the expected magnitude and correlation of sensor registration errors. Both the registered sensor data and its a posteriori accuracy information are then made available to "down-stream" Multi-Image Geopositioning (MIG) processes. An object of interest is then measured on the registered frames and a multi-image optimal solution, including reliable predicted solution accuracy, is then performed for the object's 3D coordinates. This paper also describes a robust approach to registration when a priori information of sensor attitude is unavailable. It makes use of structure-from-motion principles, but does not use standard Computer Vision techniques, such as estimation of the Essential Matrix which can be very sensitive to noise. The approach used instead is a novel, robust, direct search-based technique.

A Nonlinear Adaptive Filter for Gyro Thermal Bias Error Cancellation

Science.gov (United States)

Galante, Joseph M.; Sanner, Robert M.

2012-01-01

Deterministic errors in angular rate gyros, such as thermal biases, can have a significant impact on spacecraft attitude knowledge. In particular, thermal biases are often the dominant error source in MEMS gyros after calibration. Filters, such as J\\,fEKFs, are commonly used to mitigate the impact of gyro errors and gyro noise on spacecraft closed loop pointing accuracy, but often have difficulty in rapidly changing thermal environments and can be computationally expensive. In this report an existing nonlinear adaptive filter is used as the basis for a new nonlinear adaptive filter designed to estimate and cancel thermal bias effects. A description of the filter is presented along with an implementation suitable for discrete-time applications. A simulation analysis demonstrates the performance of the filter in the presence of noisy measurements and provides a comparison with existing techniques.

Attitude Control System Design for the Solar Dynamics Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Starin, Scott R.; Bourkland, Kristin L.; Kuo-Chia, Liu; Mason, Paul A. C.; Vess, Melissa F.; Andrews, Stephen F.; Morgenstern, Wendy M.

2005-01-01

The Solar Dynamics Observatory mission, part of the Living With a Star program, will place a geosynchronous satellite in orbit to observe the Sun and relay data to a dedicated ground station at all times. SDO remains Sun- pointing throughout most of its mission for the instruments to take measurements of the Sun. The SDO attitude control system is a single-fault tolerant design. Its fully redundant attitude sensor complement includes 16 coarse Sun sensors, a digital Sun sensor, 3 two-axis inertial reference units, 2 star trackers, and 4 guide telescopes. Attitude actuation is performed using 4 reaction wheels and 8 thrusters, and a single main engine nominally provides velocity-change thrust. The attitude control software has five nominal control modes-3 wheel-based modes and 2 thruster-based modes. A wheel-based Safehold running in the attitude control electronics box improves the robustness of the system as a whole. All six modes are designed on the same basic proportional-integral-derivative attitude error structure, with more robust modes setting their integral gains to zero. The paper details the mode designs and their uses.

Comparison of orthogonal kilovolt X-ray images and cone-beam CT matching results in setup error assessment and correction for EB-PBI during free breathing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Wei; Li Jianbin; Hu Hongguang; Ma Zhifang; Xu Min; Fan Tingyong; Shao Qian; Ding Yun

2014-01-01

Objective: To compare the differences in setup error (SE) assessment and correction between the orthogonal kilovolt X-ray images and CBCT in EB-PBI patients during free breathing. Methods: Nineteen patients after breast conserving surgery EB-PBI were recruited. Interfraction SE was acquired using orthogonal kilovolt X-ray setup images and CBCT, after on-line setup correction,calculate the residual error and compare the SE, residual error and setup margin (SM) quantified for orthogonal kilovolt X-ray images and CBCT. Wilcoxon sign-rank test was used to evaluate the differences. Results: The CBCT based SE (systematic error, ∑) was smaller than the orthogonal kilovolt X-ray images based ∑ in AP direction (-1.2 mm vs 2.00 mm; P=0.005), and there was no statistically significant differences for three dimensional directions in random error (σ) (P=0.948, 0.376, 0.314). After on-line setup correction,CBCT decreases setup residual error than the orthogonal kilovolt X-ray images in AP direction (Σ: -0.20 mm vs 0.50 mm, P=0.008; σ: 0.45 mm vs 1.34 mm, P=0.002). And also the CBCT based SM was smaller than orthogonal kilovolt X-ray images based SM in AP direction (Σ: -1.39 mm vs 5.57 mm, P=0.003; σ: 0.00 mm vs 3.2 mm, P=0.003). Conclusions: Compared with kilovolt X-ray images, CBCT underestimate the setup error in the AP direction, but decreases setup residual error significantly.An image-guided radiotherapy and setup error assessment using kilovolt X-ray images for EB-PBI plans was feasible. (authors)

ATTITUDES TOWARD ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irem ERDEM AYDIN

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This article intended to reveal the results of a survey study in which the students’ attitudes toward online communication in open and distance learning were investigated. In the study, affects of the students’ gender and computer experience on their attitudes were also examined. A total of 626 subjects participated in the study and ‘Online Communication Attitude Scale’, developed by Ledbetter, was adapted as the data collection instrument. Mean, standard deviation, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey HSD tests were used to analyze the data gathered. The results of the study indicated that students have in general positive attitudes toward online communication in ODL. Also, it showed that there is a significant difference in ‘miscommunication’, ‘social connection’ and ‘ease’ dimensions of online communication between the males and the female students. The female students see online environments as open to communication errors. On the other hand, the study supported the literature about the affect of the students’ computer experience and their attitudes toward online communication in ODL.

Measuring depth profiles of residual stress with Raman spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Enloe, W.S.; Sparks, R.G.; Paesler, M.A.

1988-12-01

Knowledge of the variation of residual stress is a very important factor in understanding the properties of machined surfaces. The nature of the residual stress can determine a part`s susceptibility to wear deformation, and cracking. Raman spectroscopy is known to be a very useful technique for measuring residual stress in many materials. These measurements are routinely made with a lateral resolution of 1{mu}m and an accuracy of 0.1 kbar. The variation of stress with depth; however, has not received much attention in the past. A novel technique has been developed that allows quantitative measurement of the variation of the residual stress with depth with an accuracy of 10nm in the z direction. Qualitative techniques for determining whether the stress is varying with depth are presented. It is also demonstrated that when the stress is changing over the volume sampled, errors can be introduced if the variation of the stress with depth is ignored. Computer aided data analysis is used to determine the depth dependence of the residual stress.

Measurement properties and usability of non-contact scanners for measuring transtibial residual limb volume.

Science.gov (United States)

Kofman, Rianne; Beekman, Anna M; Emmelot, Cornelis H; Geertzen, Jan H B; Dijkstra, Pieter U

2018-06-01

Non-contact scanners may have potential for measurement of residual limb volume. Different non-contact scanners have been introduced during the last decades. Reliability and usability (practicality and user friendliness) should be assessed before introducing these systems in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to analyze the measurement properties and usability of four non-contact scanners (TT Design, Omega Scanner, BioSculptor Bioscanner, and Rodin4D Scanner). Quasi experimental. Nine (geometric and residual limb) models were measured on two occasions, each consisting of two sessions, thus in total 4 sessions. In each session, four observers used the four systems for volume measurement. Mean for each model, repeatability coefficients for each system, variance components, and their two-way interactions of measurement conditions were calculated. User satisfaction was evaluated with the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire. Systematic differences between the systems were found in volume measurements. Most of the variances were explained by the model (97%), while error variance was 3%. Measurement system and the interaction between system and model explained 44% of the error variance. Repeatability coefficient of the systems ranged from 0.101 (Omega Scanner) to 0.131 L (Rodin4D). Differences in Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire scores between the systems were small and not significant. The systems were reliable in determining residual limb volume. Measurement systems and the interaction between system and residual limb model explained most of the error variances. The differences in repeatability coefficient and usability between the four CAD/CAM systems were small. Clinical relevance If accurate measurements of residual limb volume are required (in case of research), modern non-contact scanners should be taken in consideration nowadays.

Development and Psychometric Analysis of a Nurses' Attitudes and Skills Safety Scale: Initial Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, Gail E; Dietrich, Mary; Norman, Linda; Barnsteiner, Jane; Mion, Lorraine

Health care organizations have incorporated updated safety principles in the analysis of errors and in norms and standards. Yet no research exists that assesses bedside nurses' perceived skills or attitudes toward updated safety concepts. The aims of this study were to develop a scale assessing nurses' perceived skills and attitudes toward updated safety concepts, determine content validity, and examine internal consistency of the scale and subscales. Understanding nurses' perceived skills and attitudes about safety concepts can be used in targeting strategies to enhance their safety practices.

Impact of error management culture on knowledge performance in professional service firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tabea Scheel

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Knowledge is the most crucial resource of the 21st century. For professional service firms (PSFs, knowledge represents the input as well as the output, and thus the fundamental base for performance. As every organization, PSFs have to deal with errors – and how they do that indicates their error culture. Considering the positive potential of errors (e.g., innovation, error management culture is positively related to organizational performance. This longitudinal quantitative study investigates the impact of error management culture on knowledge performance in four waves. The study was conducted in 131 PSFs, i.e. tax accounting offices. As a standard quality management system (QMS was assumed to moderate the relationship between error management culture and knowledge performance, offices' ISO 9000 certification was assessed. Error management culture correlated positively with knowledge performance at a significant level and predicted knowledge performance one year later. While the ISO 9000 certification correlated positively with knowledge performance, its assumed moderation of the relationship between error management culture and knowledge performance was not consistent. The process-oriented QMS seems to function as facilitator for the more behavior-oriented error management culture. However, the benefit of ISO 9000 certification for tax accounting remains to be proven. Given the impact of error management culture on knowledge performance, PSFs should focus on actively promoting positive attitudes towards errors.

Goal-oriented error estimation for Cahn-Hilliard models of binary phase transition

KAUST Repository

van der Zee, Kristoffer G.

2010-10-27

A posteriori estimates of errors in quantities of interest are developed for the nonlinear system of evolution equations embodied in the Cahn-Hilliard model of binary phase transition. These involve the analysis of wellposedness of dual backward-in-time problems and the calculation of residuals. Mixed finite element approximations are developed and used to deliver numerical solutions of representative problems in one- and two-dimensional domains. Estimated errors are shown to be quite accurate in these numerical examples. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Positioning accuracy analysis of adjusting target mechanism of three-dimensional attitude

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Li; Wang Kun; Sun Linzhi; Zhou Shasha

2012-01-01

A novel adjusting target mechanism of three-dimensional attitude is presented according to the characteristics of the target transport subsystem in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The mechanism consists of a tangent mechanism adjusting rotation angle and a set of orthogonal tangent mechanism adjusting two-dimensional deflection angles. The structural parameters of the adjusting target mechanism are analyzed according to principle errors, structure errors and motion errors of following. The analysis results indicate that the system error of the adjusting target mechanism is influenced by the displacement of the linear actuators, the actuator ball radius, the working radius of the tangent mechanism, the angle error of the inclined installation hole, the centralization error of the actuators, the orthogonal error of the two tangent mechanism, and the angle errors of the inclined target rod inclined rotation shaft. The errors of the inclined target rod and inclined rotation shaft are the two greatest impact factors, the spherical contact error is the next. By means of precise assembly and control system compensation, the accuracy of the adjusting target mechanism can be less than 0.1 mrad. (authors)

Development and Psychometric Analysis of a Nurses’ Attitudes and Skills Safety Scale: Initial Results

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, Gail E.; Dietrich, Mary; Norman, Linda; Barnsteiner, Jane; Mion, Lorraine

2016-01-01

Health care organizations have incorporated updated safety principles in the analysis of errors and in norms and standards. Yet no research exists that assesses bedside nurses’ perceived skills or attitudes toward updated safety concepts. The aims of this study were to develop a scale assessing nurses’ perceived skills and attitudes toward updated safety concepts, determine content validity, and examine internal consistency of the scale and subscales. Understanding nurses’ perceived skills and attitudes about safety concepts can be used in targeting strategies to enhance their safety practices. PMID:27479518

Intergenerational continuity in attitudes: A latent variable family fixed-effects approach.

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Schofield, Thomas J; Abraham, W Todd

2017-12-01

Attitudes are associated with behavior. Adolescents raised by parents who endorse particular attitudes are relatively more likely to endorse those same attitudes. The present study addresses conditions that would moderate intergenerational continuity in attitudes across 6 domains: authoritative parenting, conventional life goals, gender egalitarianism, deviancy, abortion, and sexual permissiveness. Hypothesized moderators included the attitudes of the other parent, and adolescent sex. Data come from a 2-generation study of a cohort of 451 adolescents (52% female), a close-aged sibling, and their parents. After employing a novel specification in which family fixed-effect models partitioned out variation at the between-family level, hypotheses were tested on the within-family variance. Unlike typical family fixed-effect models, this specification accounted for measurement error. Intergenerational continuity was not significant (deviancy), negative (sexual permissiveness), and conditional on the attitudes of the coparent (authoritative parenting, conventional life goals, and gender egalitarianism). Adolescent age, sex, and conscientiousness were accounted for in all analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Attitudes and attitude change.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohner, Gerd; Dickel, Nina

2011-01-01

Attitudes and attitude change remain core topics of contemporary social psychology. This selective review emphasizes work published from 2005 to 2009. It addresses constructionist and stable-entity conceptualizations of attitude, the distinction between implicit and explicit measures of attitude, and implications of the foregoing for attitude change. Associative and propositional processes in attitude change are considered at a general level and in relation to evaluative conditioning. The role of bodily states and physical perceptions in attitude change is reviewed. This is followed by an integrative perspective on processing models of persuasion and the consideration of meta-cognitions in persuasion. Finally, effects of attitudes on information processing, social memory, and behavior are highlighted. Core themes cutting across the areas reviewed are attempts at integrative theorizing bringing together formerly disparate phenomena and viewpoints.

Investigation of Diesel’s Residual Noise on Predictive Vehicles Noise Cancelling using LMS Adaptive Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Arttini Dwi Prasetyowati, Sri; Susanto, Adhi; Widihastuti, Ida

2017-04-01

Every noise problems require different solution. In this research, the noise that must be cancelled comes from roadway. Least Mean Square (LMS) adaptive is one of the algorithm that can be used to cancel that noise. Residual noise always appears and could not be erased completely. This research aims to know the characteristic of residual noise from vehicle’s noise and analysis so that it is no longer appearing as a problem. LMS algorithm was used to predict the vehicle’s noise and minimize the error. The distribution of the residual noise could be observed to determine the specificity of the residual noise. The statistic of the residual noise close to normal distribution with = 0,0435, = 1,13 and the autocorrelation of the residual noise forming impulse. As a conclusion the residual noise is insignificant.

Effects of Shame and Guilt on Error Reporting Among Obstetric Clinicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Zabari, Mara Lynne; Southern, Nancy L

2018-04-17

To understand how the experiences of shame and guilt, coupled with organizational factors, affect error reporting by obstetric clinicians. Descriptive cross-sectional. A sample of 84 obstetric clinicians from three maternity units in Washington State. In this quantitative inquiry, a variant of the Test of Self-Conscious Affect was used to measure proneness to guilt and shame. In addition, we developed questions to assess attitudes regarding concerns about damaging one's reputation if an error was reported and the choice to keep an error to oneself. Both assessments were analyzed separately and then correlated to identify relationships between constructs. Interviews were used to identify organizational factors that affect error reporting. As a group, mean scores indicated that obstetric clinicians would not choose to keep errors to themselves. However, bivariate correlations showed that proneness to shame was positively correlated to concerns about one's reputation if an error was reported, and proneness to guilt was negatively correlated with keeping errors to oneself. Interview data analysis showed that Past Experience with Responses to Errors, Management and Leadership Styles, Professional Hierarchy, and Relationships With Colleagues were influential factors in error reporting. Although obstetric clinicians want to report errors, their decisions to report are influenced by their proneness to guilt and shame and perceptions of the degree to which organizational factors facilitate or create barriers to restore their self-images. Findings underscore the influence of the organizational context on clinicians' decisions to report errors. Copyright © 2018 AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Optical System Error Analysis and Calibration Method of High-Accuracy Star Trackers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng You

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The star tracker is a high-accuracy attitude measurement device widely used in spacecraft. Its performance depends largely on the precision of the optical system parameters. Therefore, the analysis of the optical system parameter errors and a precise calibration model are crucial to the accuracy of the star tracker. Research in this field is relatively lacking a systematic and universal analysis up to now. This paper proposes in detail an approach for the synthetic error analysis of the star tracker, without the complicated theoretical derivation. This approach can determine the error propagation relationship of the star tracker, and can build intuitively and systematically an error model. The analysis results can be used as a foundation and a guide for the optical design, calibration, and compensation of the star tracker. A calibration experiment is designed and conducted. Excellent calibration results are achieved based on the calibration model. To summarize, the error analysis approach and the calibration method are proved to be adequate and precise, and could provide an important guarantee for the design, manufacture, and measurement of high-accuracy star trackers.

Optical system error analysis and calibration method of high-accuracy star trackers.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ting; Xing, Fei; You, Zheng

2013-04-08

The star tracker is a high-accuracy attitude measurement device widely used in spacecraft. Its performance depends largely on the precision of the optical system parameters. Therefore, the analysis of the optical system parameter errors and a precise calibration model are crucial to the accuracy of the star tracker. Research in this field is relatively lacking a systematic and universal analysis up to now. This paper proposes in detail an approach for the synthetic error analysis of the star tracker, without the complicated theoretical derivation. This approach can determine the error propagation relationship of the star tracker, and can build intuitively and systematically an error model. The analysis results can be used as a foundation and a guide for the optical design, calibration, and compensation of the star tracker. A calibration experiment is designed and conducted. Excellent calibration results are achieved based on the calibration model. To summarize, the error analysis approach and the calibration method are proved to be adequate and precise, and could provide an important guarantee for the design, manufacture, and measurement of high-accuracy star trackers.

Students' Preferences and Attitude toward Oral Error Correction Techniques at Yanbu University College, Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Alamri, Bushra; Fawzi, Hala Hassan

2016-01-01

Error correction has been one of the core areas in the field of English language teaching. It is "seen as a form of feedback given to learners on their language use" (Amara, 2015). Many studies investigated the use of different techniques to correct students' oral errors. However, only a few focused on students' preferences and attitude…

In the Aftermath: Attitudes of Anesthesiologists to Supportive Strategies After an Unexpected Intraoperative Patient Death.

Science.gov (United States)

Heard, Gaylene C; Thomas, Rowan D; Sanderson, Penelope M

2016-05-01

Although most anesthesiologists will have 1 catastrophic perioperative event or more during their careers, there has been little research on their attitudes to assistive strategies after the event. There are wide-ranging emotional consequences for anesthesiologists involved in an unexpected intraoperative patient death, particularly if the anesthesiologist made an error. We used a between-groups survey study design to ask whether there are different attitudes to assistive strategies when a hypothetical patient death is caused by a drug error versus not caused by an error. First, we explored attitudes to generalized supportive strategies. Second, we examined our hypothesis that the presence of an error causing the hypothetical patient death would increase the perceived social stigma and self-stigma of help-seeking. Finally, we examined the strategies to assist help-seeking. An anonymous, mailed, self-administered survey was conducted with 1600 consultant anesthesiologists in Australia on the mailing list of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. The participants were randomized into "error" versus "no-error" groups for the hypothetical scenario of patient death due to anaphylaxis. Nonparametric, descriptive, parametric, and inferential tests were used for data analysis. P' is used where P values were corrected for multiple comparisons. There was a usable response rate of 48.9%. When an error had caused the hypothetical patient death, participants were more likely to agree with 4 of the 5 statements about support, including need for time off (P' = 0.003), counseling (P' self-stigma (P = 0.98) or social stigma (P = 0.15) of seeking counseling, whether or not an error had caused the hypothetical patient death. Finally, when an error had caused the patient death, participants were more likely to agree with 2 of the 5 statements about help-seeking, including the need for a formal, hospital-based process that provides information on where to obtain

Baseline configuration for GNSS attitude determination with an analytical least-squares solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Guobin; Wang, Qianxin; Xu, Tianhe

2016-01-01

The GNSS attitude determination using carrier phase measurements with 4 antennas is studied on condition that the integer ambiguities have been resolved. The solution to the nonlinear least-squares is often obtained iteratively, however an analytical solution can exist for specific baseline configurations. The main aim of this work is to design this class of configurations. Both single and double difference measurements are treated which refer to the dedicated and non-dedicated receivers respectively. More realistic error models are employed in which the correlations between different measurements are given full consideration. The desired configurations are worked out. The configurations are rotation and scale equivariant and can be applied to both the dedicated and non-dedicated receivers. For these configurations, the analytical and optimal solution for the attitude is also given together with its error variance–covariance matrix. (paper)

Mapping the N-Z plane: residual mass regularities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirsch, J.G.; Frank, A.; Velazquez, V.

2004-01-01

A new development in the study of the deviations between experimental nuclear masses and those calculated in the framework of the Finite Range Droplet Model is introduced. Some frequencies are isolated and used in a simple fit to reduce significantly the error width. The presence of this regular residual correlations suggests that the Strutinsky method of including microscopic fluctuations in nuclear masses could be improved. (Author)

Optics for five-dimensional measurement for correction of vertical displacement error due to attitude of floating body in superconducting magnetic levitation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiota, Fuyuhiko; Morokuma, Tadashi

2006-01-01

An improved optical system for five-dimensional measurement has been developed for the correction of vertical displacement error due to the attitude change of a superconducting floating body that shows five degrees of freedom besides a vertical displacement of 10 mm. The available solid angle for the optical measurement is extremely limited because of the cryogenic laser interferometer sharing the optical window of a vacuum chamber in addition to the basic structure of the cryogenic vessel for liquid helium. The aim of the design was to develop a more practical as well as better optical system compared with the prototype system. Various artifices were built into this optical system and the result shows a satisfactory performance and easy operation overcoming the extremely severe spatial difficulty in the levitation system. Although the system described here is specifically designed for our magnetic levitation system, the concept and each artifice will be applicable to the optical measurement system for an object in a high-vacuum chamber and/or cryogenic vessel where the available solid angle for an optical path is extremely limited

Effect of residual patient motion on dose distribution during image-guided robotic radiosurgery for skull tracking based on log file analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, Mitsuhiro; Shiomi, Hiroya; Sato, Kengo

2014-01-01

The present study aimed to assess the effect of residual patient motion on dose distribution during intracranial image-guided robotic radiosurgery by analyzing the system log files. The dosimetric effect was analyzed according to the difference between the original and estimated dose distributions, including targeting error, caused by residual patient motion between two successive image acquisitions. One hundred twenty-eight treatments were analyzed. Forty-two patients were treated using the isocentric plan, and 86 patients were treated using the conformal (non-isocentric) plan. The median distance from the imaging center to the target was 55 mm, and the median interval between the acquisitions of sequential images was 79 s. The median translational residual patient motion was 0.1 mm for each axis, and the rotational residual patient motion was 0.1 deg for Δpitch and Δroll and 0.2 deg for Δyaw. The dose error for D 95 was within 1% in more than 95% of cases. The maximum dose error for D 10 to D 90 was within 2%. None of the studied parameters, including the interval between the acquisitions of sequential images, was significantly related to the dosimetric effect. The effect of residual patient motion on dose distribution was minimal. (author)

Attitudes and attitude change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholderer, Joachim

2010-01-01

An attitude can be defined as the evaluation of an object as positive or negative. The term "object" in this definition should be understood in a broad sense; an attitude object may be any concrete or abstract entity that is in some way represented in our thoughts and memory. In other words......, attitude objects are simply the things we like or dislike. Consumer researchers are mainly interested in attitude objects of two classes, products and services, including the attributes, issues, persons, communications, situations, and behaviours related to them. Research on consumer attitudes takes two...... perspectives: Understanding attitude structure: how is an attitude cognitively represented in a consumer's mind, including its components (intra-attitudinal structure) and its associations with other psychological variables (inter-attitudinal structure)? Understanding information processing: what...

Attitudes and Attitude Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Albarracin, Dolores; Shavitt, Sharon

2018-01-04

This review covers research on attitudes and attitude change published between 2010 and 2017. We characterize this period as one of significant progress toward an understanding of how attitudes form and change in three critical contexts. The first context is the person, as attitudes change in connection to values, general goals, language, emotions, and human development. The second context is social relationships, which link attitude change to the communicator of persuasive messages, social media, and culture. The third context is sociohistorical and highlights the influence of unique events, including sociopolitical, economic, and climatic occurrences. In conclusion, many important recent findings reflect the fact that holism, with a focus on situating attitudes within their personal, social, and historical contexts, has become the zeitgeist of attitude research during this period.

Application of square-root filtering for spacecraft attitude control

Science.gov (United States)

Sorensen, J. A.; Schmidt, S. F.; Goka, T.

1978-01-01

Suitable digital algorithms are developed and tested for providing on-board precision attitude estimation and pointing control for potential use in the Landsat-D spacecraft. These algorithms provide pointing accuracy of better than 0.01 deg. To obtain necessary precision with efficient software, a six state-variable square-root Kalman filter combines two star tracker measurements to update attitude estimates obtained from processing three gyro outputs. The validity of the estimation and control algorithms are established, and the sensitivity of their performance to various error sources and software parameters are investigated by detailed digital simulation. Spacecraft computer memory, cycle time, and accuracy requirements are estimated.

Error-related brain activity and error awareness in an error classification paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Gregorio, Francesco; Steinhauser, Marco; Maier, Martin E

2016-10-01

Error-related brain activity has been linked to error detection enabling adaptive behavioral adjustments. However, it is still unclear which role error awareness plays in this process. Here, we show that the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN), an event-related potential reflecting early error monitoring, is dissociable from the degree of error awareness. Participants responded to a target while ignoring two different incongruent distractors. After responding, they indicated whether they had committed an error, and if so, whether they had responded to one or to the other distractor. This error classification paradigm allowed distinguishing partially aware errors, (i.e., errors that were noticed but misclassified) and fully aware errors (i.e., errors that were correctly classified). The Ne/ERN was larger for partially aware errors than for fully aware errors. Whereas this speaks against the idea that the Ne/ERN foreshadows the degree of error awareness, it confirms the prediction of a computational model, which relates the Ne/ERN to post-response conflict. This model predicts that stronger distractor processing - a prerequisite of error classification in our paradigm - leads to lower post-response conflict and thus a smaller Ne/ERN. This implies that the relationship between Ne/ERN and error awareness depends on how error awareness is related to response conflict in a specific task. Our results further indicate that the Ne/ERN but not the degree of error awareness determines adaptive performance adjustments. Taken together, we conclude that the Ne/ERN is dissociable from error awareness and foreshadows adaptive performance adjustments. Our results suggest that the relationship between the Ne/ERN and error awareness is correlative and mediated by response conflict. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spinning projectile's attitude measurement with LW infrared radiation under sea-sky background

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Miaomiao; Bu, Xiongzhu; Yu, Jing; He, Zilu

2018-05-01

With the further development of infrared radiation research in sea-sky background and the requirement of spinning projectile's attitude measurement, the sea-sky infrared radiation field is used to carry out spinning projectile's attitude angle instead of inertial sensors. Firstly, the generation mechanism of sea-sky infrared radiation is analysed. The mathematical model of sea-sky infrared radiation is deduced in LW (long wave) infrared 8 ∼ 14 μm band by calculating the sea surface and sky infrared radiation. Secondly, according to the movement characteristics of spinning projectile, the attitude measurement model of infrared sensors on projectile's three axis is established. And the feasibility of the model is analysed by simulation. Finally, the projectile's attitude calculation algorithm is designed to improve the attitude angle estimation accuracy. The results of semi-physical experiments show that the segmented interactive algorithm estimation error of pitch and roll angle is within ±1.5°. The attitude measurement method is effective and feasible, and provides accurate measurement basis for the guidance of spinning projectile.

Comprehensive evaluation of attitude and orbit estimation using real earth magnetic field data

Science.gov (United States)

Deutschmann, Julie; Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack

1997-01-01

A single, augmented extended Kalman filter (EKF) which simultaneously and autonomously estimates spacecraft attitude and orbit was developed and tested with simulated and real magnetometer and rate data. Since the earth's magnetic field is a function of time and position, and since time is accurately known, the differences between the computed and measured magnetic field components, as measured by the magnetometers throughout the entire spacecraft's orbit, are a function of orbit and attitude errors. These differences can be used to estimate the orbit and attitude. The test results of the EKF with magnetometer and gyro data from three NASA satellites are presented and evaluated.

Inexpensive CubeSat attitude estimation using COTS components and Unscented Kalman Filtering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jesper Abildgaard; Vinther, Kasper

2011-01-01

computational cost of estimating bias in measurements is worthwhile. The simulations where performed in a simulation environment for the CubeSat AAUSAT3, where robustness has been an important factor during tuning of the attitude estimators. The results indicate that it is possible to achieve acceptable Cube......This paper describes a quaternion implementation of an Unscented Kalman Filter for attitude estimation on CubeSats using measurements of a sun vector, a magnetic field vector and angular velocity. Using unit quaternions provides a singularity free attitude parameterization. However, the unity...... constraint requires a redesign of the Unscented Kalman Filter. Therefore, a quaternion error state is introduced. Emphasis has been put in making the implementation accessible to other CubeSat by using realistic models of COTS components used for attitude sensing and simulations have shown that the extra...

Estimating Attitude, Trajectory, and Gyro Biases in an Extended Kalman Filter using Earth Magnetic Field Data from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer

Science.gov (United States)

Deutschmann, Julie; Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack

1997-01-01

Traditionally satellite attitude and trajectory have been estimated with completely separate systems, using different measurement data. The estimation of both trajectory and attitude for low earth orbit satellites has been successfully demonstrated in ground software using magnetometer and gyroscope data. Since the earth's magnetic field is a function of time and position, and since time is known quite precisely, the differences between the computed and measured magnetic field components, as measured by the magnetometers throughout the entire spacecraft orbit, are a function of both the spacecraft trajectory and attitude errors. Therefore, these errors can be used to estimate both trajectory and attitude. This work further tests the single augmented Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) which simultaneously and autonomously estimates spacecraft trajectory and attitude with data from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) magnetometer and gyro-measured body rates. In addition, gyro biases are added to the state and the filter's ability to estimate them is presented.

Predictors of Attitudes Toward Non-Technical Skills in Farming.

Science.gov (United States)

Irwin, Amy; Poots, Jill

2018-01-01

Farming is a high-risk sector with up to 170,000 worldwide fatalities reported per year; it is therefore vital to identify methods of mitigating the dangers of this industry. Research within high-risk industries, such as aviation, shipping, and agriculture, has identified the importance of non-technical skills (NTS) in maintaining effective, safe performance and reducing error and injury. However, there is a lack of research evaluating factors that may contribute to NTS attitudes and behaviors. As a first step to address this literature gap, the current study evaluated a range of individual and environmental factors as potential predictors of attitudes toward NTS in agriculture. A sample of 170 farmers from within the United Kingdom and Ireland were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included measures of personality, stress, attitudes toward safety (safety climate, motivation, and risk), environmental stressors (workload, work-life imbalance), and non-technical skills (team and lone worker). Attitudes toward safety climate, compliance, and motivation showed a significant association with both team-based and lone worker NTS. Conscientiousness correlated positively with the majority of the NTS elements. Multiple regression analysis indicated neuroticism and conscientiousness demonstrated capacity to predict NTS attitudes. Concerns about costs and equipment, attitudes toward safety climate, and safety motivation were also found to be significant predictors of NTS attitudes. The results indicate the utility of individual characteristics and environmental factors when predicting farming NTS attitudes. As a result, these elements could be important when evaluating engagement with NTS and developing NTS training initiatives in agriculture.

Velocity-Aided Attitude Estimation for Helicopter Aircraft Using Microelectromechanical System Inertial-Measurement Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sang Cheol Lee

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an algorithm for velocity-aided attitude estimation for helicopter aircraft using a microelectromechanical system inertial-measurement unit. In general, high- performance gyroscopes are used for estimating the attitude of a helicopter, but this type of sensor is very expensive. When designing a cost-effective attitude system, attitude can be estimated by fusing a low cost accelerometer and a gyro, but the disadvantage of this method is its relatively low accuracy. The accelerometer output includes a component that occurs primarily as the aircraft turns, as well as the gravitational acceleration. When estimating attitude, the accelerometer measurement terms other than gravitational ones can be considered as disturbances. Therefore, errors increase in accordance with the flight dynamics. The proposed algorithm is designed for using velocity as an aid for high accuracy at low cost. It effectively eliminates the disturbances of accelerometer measurements using the airspeed. The algorithm was verified using helicopter experimental data. The algorithm performance was confirmed through a comparison with an attitude estimate obtained from an attitude heading reference system based on a high accuracy optic gyro, which was employed as core attitude equipment in the helicopter.

Velocity-Aided Attitude Estimation for Helicopter Aircraft Using Microelectromechanical System Inertial-Measurement Units

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang Cheol; Hong, Sung Kyung

2016-01-01

This paper presents an algorithm for velocity-aided attitude estimation for helicopter aircraft using a microelectromechanical system inertial-measurement unit. In general, high- performance gyroscopes are used for estimating the attitude of a helicopter, but this type of sensor is very expensive. When designing a cost-effective attitude system, attitude can be estimated by fusing a low cost accelerometer and a gyro, but the disadvantage of this method is its relatively low accuracy. The accelerometer output includes a component that occurs primarily as the aircraft turns, as well as the gravitational acceleration. When estimating attitude, the accelerometer measurement terms other than gravitational ones can be considered as disturbances. Therefore, errors increase in accordance with the flight dynamics. The proposed algorithm is designed for using velocity as an aid for high accuracy at low cost. It effectively eliminates the disturbances of accelerometer measurements using the airspeed. The algorithm was verified using helicopter experimental data. The algorithm performance was confirmed through a comparison with an attitude estimate obtained from an attitude heading reference system based on a high accuracy optic gyro, which was employed as core attitude equipment in the helicopter. PMID:27973429

Technical Note: Interference errors in infrared remote sounding of the atmosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Sussmann

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Classical error analysis in remote sounding distinguishes between four classes: "smoothing errors," "model parameter errors," "forward model errors," and "retrieval noise errors". For infrared sounding "interference errors", which, in general, cannot be described by these four terms, can be significant. Interference errors originate from spectral residuals due to "interfering species" whose spectral features overlap with the signatures of the target species. A general method for quantification of interference errors is presented, which covers all possible algorithmic implementations, i.e., fine-grid retrievals of the interfering species or coarse-grid retrievals, and cases where the interfering species are not retrieved. In classical retrieval setups interference errors can exceed smoothing errors and can vary by orders of magnitude due to state dependency. An optimum strategy is suggested which practically eliminates interference errors by systematically minimizing the regularization strength applied to joint profile retrieval of the interfering species. This leads to an interfering-species selective deweighting of the retrieval. Details of microwindow selection are no longer critical for this optimum retrieval and widened microwindows even lead to reduced overall (smoothing and interference errors. Since computational power will increase, more and more operational algorithms will be able to utilize this optimum strategy in the future. The findings of this paper can be applied to soundings of all infrared-active atmospheric species, which include more than two dozen different gases relevant to climate and ozone. This holds for all kinds of infrared remote sounding systems, i.e., retrievals from ground-based, balloon-borne, airborne, or satellite spectroradiometers.

Adaptive compensation control for attitude adjustment of quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zhankui; Sun, Kaibiao

2017-07-01

A compensation control strategy based on adaptive back-stepping technique is presented to address the problem of attitude adjustment for a quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (QR- UAV) with inertia parameter uncertainties, the limited airflow disturbance and the partial loss of rotation speed effectiveness. In the design process of control system, adaptive estimation technique is introduced into the closed loop system in order to compensate the lumped disturbance term. More specifically, the designed controller utilizes "prescribed performance bounds" method, and therefore guarantees the transient performance of tracking errors, even in the presence of the lumped disturbance. Adaptive compensation algorithms under the proposed closed loop system structure are derived in the sense of Lyapunov stability analysis such that the attitude tracking error converge to a small neighborhood of equilibrium point. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ties that bind: revisiting context, identity, and attitudes

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James S. Krueger

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on group-based features of issue publics and advances the concept of residual group saliency as a way to organize members of issue publics. We accord veterans exemplar or prototype status, and civilians as periphery members of this issue public. As issue public exemplars, veterans anchor the “right” attitudes and behaviors for the veteran issue public, and civilians, especially those with family ties to veterans, gravitate toward those exemplar attitudes. We argue that pressure to conform to these “right” attitudes among civilians who are connected to a veteran is greater when there are more veterans in their environment. However, veterans and civilians who are not connected to a veteran are not responsive to such contextual effects, the former because they are already exemplars, and the latter because there is no motivation to evaluate the self in relation to veterans. We test and find support for these claims using data from the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study. We conclude with an evaluative discussion and suggestions for future research.

Improvement of the physically-based groundwater model simulations through complementary correction of its errors

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Jorge Mauricio Reyes Alcalde

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Physically-Based groundwater Models (PBM, such MODFLOW, are used as groundwater resources evaluation tools supposing that the produced differences (residuals or errors are white noise. However, in the facts these numerical simulations usually show not only random errors but also systematic errors. For this work it has been developed a numerical procedure to deal with PBM systematic errors, studying its structure in order to model its behavior and correct the results by external and complementary means, trough a framework called Complementary Correction Model (CCM. The application of CCM to PBM shows a decrease in local biases, better distribution of errors and reductions in its temporal and spatial correlations, with 73% of reduction in global RMSN over an original PBM. This methodology seems an interesting chance to update a PBM avoiding the work and costs of interfere its internal structure.

Evaluation of Analysis by Cross-Validation, Part II: Diagnostic and Optimization of Analysis Error Covariance

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Richard Ménard

2018-02-01

Full Text Available We present a general theory of estimation of analysis error covariances based on cross-validation as well as a geometric interpretation of the method. In particular, we use the variance of passive observation-minus-analysis residuals and show that the true analysis error variance can be estimated, without relying on the optimality assumption. This approach is used to obtain near optimal analyses that are then used to evaluate the air quality analysis error using several different methods at active and passive observation sites. We compare the estimates according to the method of Hollingsworth-Lönnberg, Desroziers et al., a new diagnostic we developed, and the perceived analysis error computed from the analysis scheme, to conclude that, as long as the analysis is near optimal, all estimates agree within a certain error margin.

Residual power series method for fractional Sharma-Tasso-Olever equation

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Amit Kumar

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce a modified analytical approximate technique to obtain solution of time fractional Sharma-Tasso-Olever equation. First, we present an alternative framework of the Residual power series method (RPSM which can be used simply and effectively to handle nonlinear fractional differential equations arising in several physical phenomena. This method is basically based on the generalized Taylor series formula and residual error function. A good result is found between our solution and the given solution. It is shown that the proposed method is reliable, efficient and easy to implement on all kinds of fractional nonlinear problems arising in science and technology.

Seeing the Errors You Feel Enhances Locomotor Performance but Not Learning.

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Roemmich, Ryan T; Long, Andrew W; Bastian, Amy J

2016-10-24

In human motor learning, it is thought that the more information we have about our errors, the faster we learn. Here, we show that additional error information can lead to improved motor performance without any concomitant improvement in learning. We studied split-belt treadmill walking that drives people to learn a new gait pattern using sensory prediction errors detected by proprioceptive feedback. When we also provided visual error feedback, participants acquired the new walking pattern far more rapidly and showed accelerated restoration of the normal walking pattern during washout. However, when the visual error feedback was removed during either learning or washout, errors reappeared with performance immediately returning to the level expected based on proprioceptive learning alone. These findings support a model with two mechanisms: a dual-rate adaptation process that learns invariantly from sensory prediction error detected by proprioception and a visual-feedback-dependent process that monitors learning and corrects residual errors but shows no learning itself. We show that our voluntary correction model accurately predicted behavior in multiple situations where visual feedback was used to change acquisition of new walking patterns while the underlying learning was unaffected. The computational and behavioral framework proposed here suggests that parallel learning and error correction systems allow us to rapidly satisfy task demands without necessarily committing to learning, as the relative permanence of learning may be inappropriate or inefficient when facing environments that are liable to change. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Virtual TeamSTEPPS(®) Simulations Produce Teamwork Attitude Changes Among Health Professions Students.

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Sweigart, Linda I; Umoren, Rachel A; Scott, Patrician J; Carlton, Kay Hodson; Jones, James A; Truman, Barbara; Gossett, Evalyn J

2016-01-01

The majority of the estimated 400,000 or more patient deaths per year in the United States are from preventable medical errors due to poor communication. Team training programs have been established to teach teamwork skills to health professions students. However, it is often challenging to provide this training at a physical site. A brief intervention using a virtual learning environment with TeamSTEPPS(®)-based scenarios is described. Using a pretest-posttest design, the effects on teamwork attitudes in 109 health professional students from two institutions and multiple disciplines were measured using the TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Attitudes questionnaire. Participants showed significant attitude changes in the categories of leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication (p ⩽ .05), with significance in four of the six indicator attitudes in the communication section at the p ⩽ .001 level. These findings indicate the potential impact that virtual learning experiences may have on teamwork attitudes in learners across professions on multiple campuses. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Piggyback intraocular lens implantation to correct pseudophakic refractive error after segmental multifocal intraocular lens implantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Venter, Jan A; Oberholster, Andre; Schallhorn, Steven C; Pelouskova, Martina

2014-04-01

To evaluate refractive and visual outcomes of secondary piggyback intraocular lens implantation in patients diagnosed as having residual ametropia following segmental multifocal lens implantation. Data of 80 pseudophakic eyes with ametropia that underwent Sulcoflex aspheric 653L intraocular lens implantation (Rayner Intraocular Lenses Ltd., East Sussex, United Kingdom) to correct residual refractive error were analyzed. All eyes previously had in-the-bag zonal refractive multifocal intraocular lens implantation (Lentis Mplus MF30, models LS-312 and LS-313; Oculentis GmbH, Berlin, Germany) and required residual refractive error correction. Outcome measurements included uncorrected distance visual acuity, corrected distance visual acuity, uncorrected near visual acuity, distance-corrected near visual acuity, manifest refraction, and complications. One-year data are presented in this study. The mean spherical equivalent ranged from -1.75 to +3.25 diopters (D) preoperatively (mean: +0.58 ± 1.15 D) and reduced to -1.25 to +0.50 D (mean: -0.14 ± 0.28 D; P < .01). Postoperatively, 93.8% of eyes were within ±0.50 D and 98.8% were within ±1.00 D of emmetropia. The mean uncorrected distance visual acuity improved significantly from 0.28 ± 0.16 to 0.01 ± 0.10 logMAR and 78.8% of eyes achieved 6/6 (Snellen 20/20) or better postoperatively. The mean uncorrected near visual acuity changed from 0.43 ± 0.28 to 0.19 ± 0.15 logMAR. There was no significant change in corrected distance visual acuity or distance-corrected near visual acuity. No serious intraoperative or postoperative complications requiring secondary intraocular lens removal occurred. Sulcoflex lenses proved to be a predictable and safe option for correcting residual refractive error in patients diagnosed as having pseudophakia. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

(Biased) Grading of Students’ Performance: Students’ Names, Performance Level, and Implicit Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Bonefeld, Meike; Dickhäuser, Oliver

2018-01-01

Biases in pre-service teachers’ evaluations of students’ performance may arise due to stereotypes (e.g., the assumption that students with a migrant background have lower potential). This study examines the effects of a migrant background, performance level, and implicit attitudes toward individuals with a migrant background on performance assessment (assigned grades and number of errors counted in a dictation). Pre-service teachers (N = 203) graded the performance of a student who appeared to have a migrant background statistically significantly worse than that of a student without a migrant background. The differences were more pronounced when the performance level was low and when the pre-service teachers held relatively positive implicit attitudes toward individuals with a migrant background. Interestingly, only performance level had an effect on the number of counted errors. Our results support the assumption that pre-service teachers exhibit bias when grading students with a migrant background in a third-grade level dictation assignment. PMID:29867618

(Biased Grading of Students’ Performance: Students’ Names, Performance Level, and Implicit Attitudes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meike Bonefeld

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Biases in pre-service teachers’ evaluations of students’ performance may arise due to stereotypes (e.g., the assumption that students with a migrant background have lower potential. This study examines the effects of a migrant background, performance level, and implicit attitudes toward individuals with a migrant background on performance assessment (assigned grades and number of errors counted in a dictation. Pre-service teachers (N = 203 graded the performance of a student who appeared to have a migrant background statistically significantly worse than that of a student without a migrant background. The differences were more pronounced when the performance level was low and when the pre-service teachers held relatively positive implicit attitudes toward individuals with a migrant background. Interestingly, only performance level had an effect on the number of counted errors. Our results support the assumption that pre-service teachers exhibit bias when grading students with a migrant background in a third-grade level dictation assignment.

Varying coefficients model with measurement error.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liang; Greene, Tom

2008-06-01

We propose a semiparametric partially varying coefficient model to study the relationship between serum creatinine concentration and the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) among kidney donors and patients with chronic kidney disease. A regression model is used to relate serum creatinine to GFR and demographic factors in which coefficient of GFR is expressed as a function of age to allow its effect to be age dependent. GFR measurements obtained from the clearance of a radioactively labeled isotope are assumed to be a surrogate for the true GFR, with the relationship between measured and true GFR expressed using an additive error model. We use locally corrected score equations to estimate parameters and coefficient functions, and propose an expected generalized cross-validation (EGCV) method to select the kernel bandwidth. The performance of the proposed methods, which avoid distributional assumptions on the true GFR and residuals, is investigated by simulation. Accounting for measurement error using the proposed model reduced apparent inconsistencies in the relationship between serum creatinine and GFR among different clinical data sets derived from kidney donor and chronic kidney disease source populations.

Action errors, error management, and learning in organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Frese, Michael; Keith, Nina

2015-01-03

Every organization is confronted with errors. Most errors are corrected easily, but some may lead to negative consequences. Organizations often focus on error prevention as a single strategy for dealing with errors. Our review suggests that error prevention needs to be supplemented by error management--an approach directed at effectively dealing with errors after they have occurred, with the goal of minimizing negative and maximizing positive error consequences (examples of the latter are learning and innovations). After defining errors and related concepts, we review research on error-related processes affected by error management (error detection, damage control). Empirical evidence on positive effects of error management in individuals and organizations is then discussed, along with emotional, motivational, cognitive, and behavioral pathways of these effects. Learning from errors is central, but like other positive consequences, learning occurs under certain circumstances--one being the development of a mind-set of acceptance of human error.

On the effect of systematic errors in near real time accountancy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avenhaus, R.

1987-01-01

Systematic measurement errors have a decisive impact on nuclear materials accountancy. This has been demonstrated at various occasions for a fixed number of inventory periods, i.e. for situations where the overall probability of detection is taken as the measure of effectiveness. In the framework of Near Real Time Accountancy (NRTA), however, such analyses have not yet been performed. In this paper sequential test procedures are considered which are based on the so-called MUF-Residuals. It is shown that, if the decision maker does not know the systematic error variance, the average run lengths tend towards infinity if this variance is equal or longer than that of the random error. Furthermore, if the decision maker knows this invariance, the average run length for constant loss or diversion is not shorter than that without loss or diversion. These results cast some doubt on the present practice of data evaluation where systematic errors are tacitly assumed to persist for an infinite time. In fact, information about the time dependence of the variances of these errors has to be gathered in order that the efficiency of NRTA evaluation methods can be estimated realistically

Evaluation of geomagnetic field models using magnetometer measurements for satellite attitude determination system at low earth orbits: Case studies

Science.gov (United States)

Cilden-Guler, Demet; Kaymaz, Zerefsan; Hajiyev, Chingiz

2018-01-01

In this study, different geomagnetic field models are compared in order to study the errors resulting from the representation of magnetic fields that affect the satellite attitude system. For this purpose, we used magnetometer data from two Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft and the geomagnetic models IGRF-12 (Thébault et al., 2015) and T89 (Tsyganenko, 1989) models to study the differences between the magnetic field components, strength and the angle between the predicted and observed vector magnetic fields. The comparisons were made during geomagnetically active and quiet days to see the effects of the geomagnetic storms and sub-storms on the predicted and observed magnetic fields and angles. The angles, in turn, are used to estimate the spacecraft attitude and hence, the differences between model and observations as well as between two models become important to determine and reduce the errors associated with the models under different space environment conditions. We show that the models differ from the observations even during the geomagnetically quiet times but the associated errors during the geomagnetically active times increase. We find that the T89 model gives closer predictions to the observations, especially during active times and the errors are smaller compared to the IGRF-12 model. The magnitude of the error in the angle under both environmental conditions was found to be less than 1°. For the first time, the geomagnetic models were used to address the effects of the near Earth space environment on the satellite attitude.

Modeling coherent errors in quantum error correction

Science.gov (United States)

Greenbaum, Daniel; Dutton, Zachary

2018-01-01

Analysis of quantum error correcting codes is typically done using a stochastic, Pauli channel error model for describing the noise on physical qubits. However, it was recently found that coherent errors (systematic rotations) on physical data qubits result in both physical and logical error rates that differ significantly from those predicted by a Pauli model. Here we examine the accuracy of the Pauli approximation for noise containing coherent errors (characterized by a rotation angle ɛ) under the repetition code. We derive an analytic expression for the logical error channel as a function of arbitrary code distance d and concatenation level n, in the small error limit. We find that coherent physical errors result in logical errors that are partially coherent and therefore non-Pauli. However, the coherent part of the logical error is negligible at fewer than {ε }-({dn-1)} error correction cycles when the decoder is optimized for independent Pauli errors, thus providing a regime of validity for the Pauli approximation. Above this number of correction cycles, the persistent coherent logical error will cause logical failure more quickly than the Pauli model would predict, and this may need to be combated with coherent suppression methods at the physical level or larger codes.

The aspect of personnel metal attitude in the production safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joyosukarto, Priyanto M.

2002-01-01

The occurrence of an accident could always be traced to component/system failures and/or human error. The two factors are closely related to competency of the personnel's involved, in which mental attitude is a decisive factor. Furthermore mental attitude could be viewed as an element of Safety (S) Culture. Consequently, S. Culture could might created or at lea ts, be enhanced by the introduction of appropriate values, norms, as well as attitudes. The ABC and TBC of safety norm have been discussed briefly. Whereas mental attitude has been defined and discussed in detail and graded into six levels, namely: attending, responding, complying, accepting, preferring, and integrating. To assure highest level of safety, personnel must achieve integrating level of attitude, in the sense that he would merely do an action on the basis of safety values and/or norms prevailing in the system, not due to external pressure. Furthermore, considering the work as a physical and an emotional activity resulting in stress and strain on the body, Karate exercises have been promoted as an alternative for enhancing mental attitude by means of reducing personnel vulnerability to strain and stress. This method is accomplished by exploiting Roux's Low of conditioning effect and by implementation of an in-depth understanding on the spiritual aspect of Karate. It is concluded that in the field of production safety, there is a positive correlation between Karate, mental attitude, competence, performance, quality, and safety

Design and Integration of an All-Magnetic Attitude Control System for FASTSAT-HSV01's Multiple Pointing Objectives

Science.gov (United States)

DeKock, Brandon; Sanders, Devon; Vanzwieten, Tannen; Capo-Lugo, Pedro

2011-01-01

The FASTSAT-HSV01 spacecraft is a microsatellite with magnetic torque rods as it sole attitude control actuator. FASTSAT s multiple payloads and mission functions require the Attitude Control System (ACS) to maintain Local Vertical Local Horizontal (LVLH)-referenced attitudes without spin-stabilization, while the pointing errors for some attitudes be significantly smaller than the previous best-demonstrated for this type of control system. The mission requires the ACS to hold multiple stable, unstable, and non-equilibrium attitudes, as well as eject a 3U CubeSat from an onboard P-POD and recover from the ensuing tumble. This paper describes the Attitude Control System, the reasons for design choices, how the ACS integrates with the rest of the spacecraft, and gives recommendations for potential future applications of the work.

Performance of muon reconstruction including Alignment Position Errors for 2016 Collision Data

CERN Document Server

CMS Collaboration

2016-01-01

From 2016 Run muon reconstruction is using non-zero Alignment Position Errors to account for the residual uncertainties of muon chambers' positions. Significant improvements are obtained in particular for the startup phase after opening/closing the muon detector. Performance results are presented for real data and MC simulations, related to both the offline reconstruction and the High-Level Trigger.

Determining The Factors Causing Human Error Deficiencies At A Public Utility Company

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F. W. Badenhorst

2004-11-01

Full Text Available According to Neff (1977, as cited by Bergh (1995, the westernised culture considers work important for industrial mental health. Most individuals experience work positively, which creates a positive attitude. Should this positive attitude be inhibited, workers could lose concentration and become bored, potentially resulting in some form of human error. The aim of this research was to determine the factors responsible for human error events, which lead to power supply failures at Eskom power stations. Proposals were made for the reduction of these contributing factors towards improving plant performance. The target population was 700 panel operators in Eskom’s Power Generation Group. The results showed that factors leading to human error can be reduced or even eliminated. Opsomming Neff (1977 soos aangehaal deur Bergh (1995, skryf dat in die westerse kultuur werk belangrik vir bedryfsgeestesgesondheid is. Die meeste persone ervaar werk as positief, wat ’n positiewe gesindheid kweek. Indien hierdie positiewe gesindheid geïnhibeer word, kan dit lei tot ’n gebrek aan konsentrasie by die werkers. Werkers kan verveeld raak en dit kan weer lei tot menslike foute. Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om die faktore vas te stel wat tot menslike foute lei, en wat bydra tot onderbrekings in kragvoorsiening by Eskom kragstasies. Voorstelle is gemaak vir die vermindering van hierdie bydraende faktore ten einde die kragaanleg se prestasie te verbeter. Die teiken-populasie was 700 paneel-operateurs in die Kragopwekkingsgroep by Eskom. Die resultate dui daarop dat die faktore wat aanleiding gee tot menslike foute wel verminder, of geëlimineer kan word.

Residual stress measurement in a metal microdevice by micro Raman spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Chang; Du, Liqun; Qi, Leijie; Li, Yu; Li, Xiaojun; Li, Yuanqi

2017-01-01

Large residual stress induced during the electroforming process cannot be ignored to fabricate reliable metal microdevices. Accurate measurement is the basis for studying the residual stress. Influenced by the topological feature size of micron scale in the metal microdevice, residual stress in it can hardly be measured by common methods. In this manuscript, a methodology is proposed to measure the residual stress in the metal microdevice using micro Raman spectroscopy (MRS). To estimate the residual stress in metal materials, micron sized β -SiC particles were mixed in the electroforming solution for codeposition. First, the calculated expression relating the Raman shifts to the induced biaxial stress for β -SiC was derived based on the theory of phonon deformation potentials and Hooke’s law. Corresponding micro electroforming experiments were performed and the residual stress in Ni–SiC composite layer was both measured by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and MRS methods. Then, the validity of the MRS measurements was verified by comparing with the residual stress measured by XRD method. The reliability of the MRS method was further validated by the statistical student’s t -test. The MRS measurements were found to have no systematic error in comparison with the XRD measurements, which confirm that the residual stresses measured by the MRS method are reliable. Besides that, the MRS method, by which the residual stress in a micro inertial switch was measured, has been confirmed to be a convincing experiment tool for estimating the residual stress in metal microdevice with micron order topological feature size. (paper)

Residual stress measurement in a metal microdevice by micro Raman spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Chang; Du, Liqun; Qi, Leijie; Li, Yu; Li, Xiaojun; Li, Yuanqi

2017-10-01

Large residual stress induced during the electroforming process cannot be ignored to fabricate reliable metal microdevices. Accurate measurement is the basis for studying the residual stress. Influenced by the topological feature size of micron scale in the metal microdevice, residual stress in it can hardly be measured by common methods. In this manuscript, a methodology is proposed to measure the residual stress in the metal microdevice using micro Raman spectroscopy (MRS). To estimate the residual stress in metal materials, micron sized β-SiC particles were mixed in the electroforming solution for codeposition. First, the calculated expression relating the Raman shifts to the induced biaxial stress for β-SiC was derived based on the theory of phonon deformation potentials and Hooke’s law. Corresponding micro electroforming experiments were performed and the residual stress in Ni-SiC composite layer was both measured by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and MRS methods. Then, the validity of the MRS measurements was verified by comparing with the residual stress measured by XRD method. The reliability of the MRS method was further validated by the statistical student’s t-test. The MRS measurements were found to have no systematic error in comparison with the XRD measurements, which confirm that the residual stresses measured by the MRS method are reliable. Besides that, the MRS method, by which the residual stress in a micro inertial switch was measured, has been confirmed to be a convincing experiment tool for estimating the residual stress in metal microdevice with micron order topological feature size.

Errors in causal inference: an organizational schema for systematic error and random error.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Etsuji; Tsuda, Toshihide; Mitsuhashi, Toshiharu; Mansournia, Mohammad Ali; Yamamoto, Eiji

2016-11-01

To provide an organizational schema for systematic error and random error in estimating causal measures, aimed at clarifying the concept of errors from the perspective of causal inference. We propose to divide systematic error into structural error and analytic error. With regard to random error, our schema shows its four major sources: nondeterministic counterfactuals, sampling variability, a mechanism that generates exposure events and measurement variability. Structural error is defined from the perspective of counterfactual reasoning and divided into nonexchangeability bias (which comprises confounding bias and selection bias) and measurement bias. Directed acyclic graphs are useful to illustrate this kind of error. Nonexchangeability bias implies a lack of "exchangeability" between the selected exposed and unexposed groups. A lack of exchangeability is not a primary concern of measurement bias, justifying its separation from confounding bias and selection bias. Many forms of analytic errors result from the small-sample properties of the estimator used and vanish asymptotically. Analytic error also results from wrong (misspecified) statistical models and inappropriate statistical methods. Our organizational schema is helpful for understanding the relationship between systematic error and random error from a previously less investigated aspect, enabling us to better understand the relationship between accuracy, validity, and precision. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How to Avoid Errors in Error Propagation: Prediction Intervals and Confidence Intervals in Forest Biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Lilly, P.; Yanai, R. D.; Buckley, H. L.; Case, B. S.; Woollons, R. C.; Holdaway, R. J.; Johnson, J.

2016-12-01

Calculations of forest biomass and elemental content require many measurements and models, each contributing uncertainty to the final estimates. While sampling error is commonly reported, based on replicate plots, error due to uncertainty in the regression used to estimate biomass from tree diameter is usually not quantified. Some published estimates of uncertainty due to the regression models have used the uncertainty in the prediction of individuals, ignoring uncertainty in the mean, while others have propagated uncertainty in the mean while ignoring individual variation. Using the simple case of the calcium concentration of sugar maple leaves, we compare the variation among individuals (the standard deviation) to the uncertainty in the mean (the standard error) and illustrate the declining importance in the prediction of individual concentrations as the number of individuals increases. For allometric models, the analogous statistics are the prediction interval (or the residual variation in the model fit) and the confidence interval (describing the uncertainty in the best fit model). The effect of propagating these two sources of error is illustrated using the mass of sugar maple foliage. The uncertainty in individual tree predictions was large for plots with few trees; for plots with 30 trees or more, the uncertainty in individuals was less important than the uncertainty in the mean. Authors of previously published analyses have reanalyzed their data to show the magnitude of these two sources of uncertainty in scales ranging from experimental plots to entire countries. The most correct analysis will take both sources of uncertainty into account, but for practical purposes, country-level reports of uncertainty in carbon stocks, as required by the IPCC, can ignore the uncertainty in individuals. Ignoring the uncertainty in the mean will lead to exaggerated estimates of confidence in estimates of forest biomass and carbon and nutrient contents.

Crash risk and aberrant driving behaviors among bus drivers: the role of personality and attitudes towards traffic safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallia, Luca; Lazuras, Lambros; Violani, Cristiano; Lucidi, Fabio

2015-06-01

Several studies have shown that personality traits and attitudes toward traffic safety predict aberrant driving behaviors and crash involvement. However, this process has not been adequately investigated in professional drivers, such as bus drivers. The present study used a personality-attitudes model to assess whether personality traits predicted aberrant self-reported driving behaviors (driving violations, lapses, and errors) both directly and indirectly, through the effects of attitudes towards traffic safety in a large sample of bus drivers. Additionally, the relationship between aberrant self-reported driving behaviors and crash risk was also assessed. Three hundred and one bus drivers (mean age=39.1, SD=10.7 years) completed a structured and anonymous questionnaire measuring personality traits, attitudes toward traffic safety, self-reported aberrant driving behaviors (i.e., errors, lapses, and traffic violations), and accident risk in the last 12 months. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that personality traits were associated to aberrant driving behaviors both directly and indirectly. In particular altruism, excitement seeking, and normlessness directly predicted bus drivers' attitudes toward traffic safety which, in turn, were negatively associated with the three types of self-reported aberrant driving behaviors. Personality traits relevant to emotionality directly predicted bus drivers' aberrant driving behaviors, without any mediation of attitudes. Finally, only self-reported violations were related to bus drivers' accident risk. The present findings suggest that the hypothesized personality-attitudes model accounts for aberrant driving behaviors in bus drivers, and provide the empirical basis for evidence-based road safety interventions in the context of public transport. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A New Method to Detect and Correct the Critical Errors and Determine the Software-Reliability in Critical Software-System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krini, Ossmane; Börcsök, Josef

2012-01-01

In order to use electronic systems comprising of software and hardware components in safety related and high safety related applications, it is necessary to meet the Marginal risk numbers required by standards and legislative provisions. Existing processes and mathematical models are used to verify the risk numbers. On the hardware side, various accepted mathematical models, processes, and methods exist to provide the required proof. To this day, however, there are no closed models or mathematical procedures known that allow for a dependable prediction of software reliability. This work presents a method that makes a prognosis on the residual critical error number in software. Conventional models lack this ability and right now, there are no methods that forecast critical errors. The new method will show that an estimate of the residual error number of critical errors in software systems is possible by using a combination of prediction models, a ratio of critical errors, and the total error number. Subsequently, the critical expected value-function at any point in time can be derived from the new solution method, provided the detection rate has been calculated using an appropriate estimation method. Also, the presented method makes it possible to make an estimate on the critical failure rate. The approach is modelled on a real process and therefore describes two essential processes - detection and correction process.

Residual nilpotence and residual solubility of groups

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikhailov, R V

2005-01-01

The properties of the residual nilpotence and the residual solubility of groups are studied. The main objects under investigation are the class of residually nilpotent groups such that each central extension of these groups is also residually nilpotent and the class of residually soluble groups such that each Abelian extension of these groups is residually soluble. Various examples of groups not belonging to these classes are constructed by homological methods and methods of the theory of modules over group rings. Several applications of the theory under consideration are presented and problems concerning the residual nilpotence of one-relator groups are considered.

Attitude angular measurement system based on MEMS accelerometer

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Lei

2014-09-01

For the purpose of monitoring the attitude of aircraft, an angular measurement system using a MEMS heat convection accelerometer is presented in this study. A double layers conditioning circuit that center around the single chip processor is designed and built. Professional display software with the RS232 standard is used to communicate between the sensor and the computer. Calibration experiments were carried out to characterize the measuring system with the range of - 90°to +90°. The curves keep good linearity with the practical angle. The maximum deviation occurs at the 90°where the value is 2.8°.The maximum error is 1.6% and the repeatability is measured to be 2.1%. Experiments proved that the developed measurement system is capable of measuring attitude angle.

A Sequential Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter for Attitude Estimation Using Vector Observations

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Qin, Fangjun; Jiang, Sai; Zha, Feng

2018-01-01

In this paper, a sequential multiplicative extended Kalman filter (SMEKF) is proposed for attitude estimation using vector observations. In the proposed SMEKF, each of the vector observations is processed sequentially to update the attitude, which can make the measurement model linearization more accurate for the next vector observation. This is the main difference to Murrell’s variation of the MEKF, which does not update the attitude estimate during the sequential procedure. Meanwhile, the covariance is updated after all the vector observations have been processed, which is used to account for the special characteristics of the reset operation necessary for the attitude update. This is the main difference to the traditional sequential EKF, which updates the state covariance at each step of the sequential procedure. The numerical simulation study demonstrates that the proposed SMEKF has more consistent and accurate performance in a wide range of initial estimate errors compared to the MEKF and its traditional sequential forms. PMID:29751538

A Sequential Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter for Attitude Estimation Using Vector Observations

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Fangjun Qin

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a sequential multiplicative extended Kalman filter (SMEKF is proposed for attitude estimation using vector observations. In the proposed SMEKF, each of the vector observations is processed sequentially to update the attitude, which can make the measurement model linearization more accurate for the next vector observation. This is the main difference to Murrell’s variation of the MEKF, which does not update the attitude estimate during the sequential procedure. Meanwhile, the covariance is updated after all the vector observations have been processed, which is used to account for the special characteristics of the reset operation necessary for the attitude update. This is the main difference to the traditional sequential EKF, which updates the state covariance at each step of the sequential procedure. The numerical simulation study demonstrates that the proposed SMEKF has more consistent and accurate performance in a wide range of initial estimate errors compared to the MEKF and its traditional sequential forms.

ISS Contingency Attitude Control Recovery Method for Loss of Automatic Thruster Control

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Bedrossian, Nazareth; Bhatt, Sagar; Alaniz, Abran; McCants, Edward; Nguyen, Louis; Chamitoff, Greg

2008-01-01

In this paper, the attitude control issues associated with International Space Station (ISS) loss of automatic thruster control capability are discussed and methods for attitude control recovery are presented. This scenario was experienced recently during Shuttle mission STS-117 and ISS Stage 13A in June 2007 when the Russian GN&C computers, which command the ISS thrusters, failed. Without automatic propulsive attitude control, the ISS would not be able to regain attitude control after the Orbiter undocked. The core issues associated with recovering long-term attitude control using CMGs are described as well as the systems engineering analysis to identify recovery options. It is shown that the recovery method can be separated into a procedure for rate damping to a safe harbor gravity gradient stable orientation and a capability to maneuver the vehicle to the necessary initial conditions for long term attitude hold. A manual control option using Soyuz and Progress vehicle thrusters is investigated for rate damping and maneuvers. The issues with implementing such an option are presented and the key issue of closed-loop stability is addressed. A new non-propulsive alternative to thruster control, Zero Propellant Maneuver (ZPM) attitude control method is introduced and its rate damping and maneuver performance evaluated. It is shown that ZPM can meet the tight attitude and rate error tolerances needed for long term attitude control. A combination of manual thruster rate damping to a safe harbor attitude followed by a ZPM to Stage long term attitude control orientation was selected by the Anomaly Resolution Team as the alternate attitude control method for such a contingency.

Docking Offset Between the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station and Resulting Impacts to the Transfer of Attitude Reference and Control

Science.gov (United States)

Helms, W. Jason; Pohlkamp, Kara M.

2011-01-01

The Space Shuttle does not dock at an exact 90 degrees to the International Space Station (ISS) x-body axis. This offset from 90 degrees, along with error sources within their respective attitude knowledge, causes the two vehicles to never completely agree on their attitude, even though they operate as a single, mated stack while docked. The docking offset can be measured in flight when both vehicles have good attitude reference and is a critical component in calculations to transfer attitude reference from one vehicle to another. This paper will describe how the docking offset and attitude reference errors between both vehicles are measured and how this information would be used to recover Shuttle attitude reference from ISS in the event of multiple failures. During STS-117, ISS on-board Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) computers began having problems and after several continuous restarts, the systems failed. The failure took the ability for ISS to maintain attitude knowledge. This paper will also demonstrate how with knowledge of the docking offset, the contingency procedure to recover Shuttle attitude reference from ISS was reversed in order to provide ISS an attitude reference from Shuttle. Finally, this paper will show how knowledge of the docking offset can be used to speed up attitude control handovers from Shuttle to ISS momentum management. By taking into account the docking offset, Shuttle can be commanded to hold a more precise attitude which better agrees with the ISS commanded attitude such that start up transients with the ISS momentum management controllers are reduced. By reducing start-up transients, attitude control can be transferred from Shuttle to ISS without the use of ISS thrusters saving precious on-board propellant, crew time and minimizing loads placed upon the mated stack.

Analysis of ionospheric structure influences on residual ionospheric errors in GNSS radio occultation bending angles based on ray tracing simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Congliang; Kirchengast, Gottfried; Sun, Yueqiang; Zhang, Kefei; Norman, Robert; Schwaerz, Marc; Bai, Weihua; Du, Qifei; Li, Ying

2018-04-01

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) technique is widely used to observe the atmosphere for applications such as numerical weather prediction and global climate monitoring. The ionosphere is a major error source to RO at upper stratospheric altitudes, and a linear dual-frequency bending angle correction is commonly used to remove the first-order ionospheric effect. However, the higher-order residual ionospheric error (RIE) can still be significant, so it needs to be further mitigated for high-accuracy applications, especially from 35 km altitude upward, where the RIE is most relevant compared to the decreasing magnitude of the atmospheric bending angle. In a previous study we quantified RIEs using an ensemble of about 700 quasi-realistic end-to-end simulated RO events, finding typical RIEs at the 0.1 to 0.5 µrad noise level, but were left with 26 exceptional events with anomalous RIEs at the 1 to 10 µrad level that remained unexplained. In this study, we focused on investigating the causes of the high RIE of these exceptional events, employing detailed along-ray-path analyses of atmospheric and ionospheric refractivities, impact parameter changes, and bending angles and RIEs under asymmetric and symmetric ionospheric structures. We found that the main causes of the high RIEs are a combination of physics-based effects - where asymmetric ionospheric conditions play the primary role, more than the ionization level driven by solar activity - and technical ray tracer effects due to occasions of imperfect smoothness in ionospheric refractivity model derivatives. We also found that along-ray impact parameter variations of more than 10 to 20 m are possible due to ionospheric asymmetries and, depending on prevailing horizontal refractivity gradients, are positive or negative relative to the initial impact parameter at the GNSS transmitter. Furthermore, mesospheric RIEs are found generally higher than upper-stratospheric ones, likely due to

Comprehensive Evaluation of Attitude and Orbit Estimation Using Actual Earth Magnetic Field Data

Science.gov (United States)

Deutschmann, Julie K.; Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack Y.

2000-01-01

A single, augmented Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), which simultaneously and autonomously estimates spacecraft attitude and orbit has been developed and successfully tested with real magnetometer and gyro data only. Because the earth magnetic field is a function of time and position, and because time is known quite precisely, the differences between the computed and measured magnetic field components, as measured by the magnetometers throughout the entire spacecraft orbit, are a function of both orbit and attitude errors. Thus, conceivably these differences could be used to estimate both orbit and attitude; an observability study validated this assumption. The results of testing the EKF with actual magnetometer and gyro data, from four satellites supported by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Guidance, Navigation, and Control Center, are presented and evaluated. They confirm the assumption that a single EKF can estimate both attitude and orbit when using gyros and magnetometers only.

New error calibration tests for gravity models using subset solutions and independent data - Applied to GEM-T3

Science.gov (United States)

Lerch, F. J.; Nerem, R. S.; Chinn, D. S.; Chan, J. C.; Patel, G. B.; Klosko, S. M.

1993-01-01

A new method has been developed to provide a direct test of the error calibrations of gravity models based on actual satellite observations. The basic approach projects the error estimates of the gravity model parameters onto satellite observations, and the results of these projections are then compared with data residual computed from the orbital fits. To allow specific testing of the gravity error calibrations, subset solutions are computed based on the data set and data weighting of the gravity model. The approach is demonstrated using GEM-T3 to show that the gravity error estimates are well calibrated and that reliable predictions of orbit accuracies can be achieved for independent orbits.

Preliminary Test of Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System Controller for Spacecraft Attitude Control

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Sung-Woo Kim

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The problem of spacecraft attitude control is solved using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS. An ANFIS produces a control signal for one of the three axes of a spacecraft’s body frame, so in total three ANFISs are constructed for 3-axis attitude control. The fuzzy inference system of the ANFIS is initialized using a subtractive clustering method. The ANFIS is trained by a hybrid learning algorithm using the data obtained from attitude control simulations using state-dependent Riccati equation controller. The training data set for each axis is composed of state errors for 3 axes (roll, pitch, and yaw and a control signal for one of the 3 axes. The stability region of the ANFIS controller is estimated numerically based on Lyapunov stability theory using a numerical method to calculate Jacobian matrix. To measure the performance of the ANFIS controller, root mean square error and correlation factor are used as performance indicators. The performance is tested on two ANFIS controllers trained in different conditions. The test results show that the performance indicators are proper in the sense that the ANFIS controller with the larger stability region provides better performance according to the performance indicators.

ADRC for spacecraft attitude and position synchronization in libration point orbits

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Chen; Yuan, Jianping; Zhao, Yakun

2018-04-01

This paper addresses the problem of spacecraft attitude and position synchronization in libration point orbits between a leader and a follower. Using dual quaternion, the dimensionless relative coupled dynamical model is derived considering computation efficiency and accuracy. Then a model-independent dimensionless cascade pose-feedback active disturbance rejection controller is designed to spacecraft attitude and position tracking control problems considering parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. Numerical simulations for the final approach phase in spacecraft rendezvous and docking and formation flying are done, and the results show high-precision tracking errors and satisfactory convergent rates under bounded control torque and force which validate the proposed approach.

Small Satellite Passive Magnetic Attitude Control

Science.gov (United States)

Gerhardt, David T.

Passive Magnetic Attitude Control (PMAC) is capable of aligning a satellite within 5 degrees of the local magnetic field at low resource cost, making it ideal for a small satellite. However, simulation attempts to date have not been able to predict the attitude dynamics at a level sufficient for mission design. Also, some satellites have suffered from degraded performance due to an incomplete understanding of PMAC system design. This dissertation alleviates these issues by discussing the design, inputs, and validation of PMAC systems for small satellites. Design rules for a PMAC system are defined using the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE) CubeSat as an example. A Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter (MEKF) is defined for the attitude determination of a PMAC satellite without a rate gyro. After on-orbit calibration of the off-the-shelf magnetometer and photodiodes and an on-orbit fit to the satellite magnetic moment, the MEKF regularly achieves a three sigma attitude uncertainty of 4 degrees or less. CSSWE is found to settle to the magnetic field in seven days, verifying its attitude design requirement. A Helmholtz cage is constructed and used to characterize the CSSWE bar magnet and hysteresis rods both individually and in the flight configuration. Fitted parameters which govern the magnetic material behavior are used as input to a PMAC dynamics simulation. All components of this simulation are described and defined. Simulation-based dynamics analysis shows that certain initial conditions result in abnormally decreased settling times; these cases may be identified by their dynamic response. The simulation output is compared to the MEKF output; the true dynamics are well modeled and the predicted settling time is found to possess a 20 percent error, a significant improvement over prior simulation.

Setup errors and effectiveness of Optical Laser 3D Surface imaging system (Sentinel) in postoperative radiotherapy of breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Xiaobo; Liu, Mengjiao; Ding, Yun; Li, Qilin; Cheng, Changhai; Zong, Xian; Yin, Wenming; Chen, Jie; Gu, Wendong

2018-05-08

Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) plus postoperative radiotherapy has become the standard treatment for early-stage breast cancer. The aim of this study was to compare the setup accuracy of optical surface imaging by the Sentinel system with cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) imaging currently used in our clinic for patients received BCS. Two optical surface scans were acquired before and immediately after couch movement correction. The correlation between the setup errors as determined by the initial optical surface scan and CBCT was analyzed. The deviation of the second optical surface scan from the reference planning CT was considered an estimate for the residual errors for the new method for patient setup correction. The consequences in terms for necessary planning target volume (PTV) margins for treatment sessions without setup correction applied. We analyzed 145 scans in 27 patients treated for early stage breast cancer. The setup errors of skin marker based patient alignment by optical surface scan and CBCT were correlated, and the residual setup errors as determined by the optical surface scan after couch movement correction were reduced. Optical surface imaging provides a convenient method for improving the setup accuracy for breast cancer patient without unnecessary imaging dose.

Prevention of prescription errors by computerized, on-line, individual patient related surveillance of drug order entry.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliven, A; Zalman, D; Shilankov, Y; Yeshurun, D; Odeh, M

2002-01-01

Computerized prescription of drugs is expected to reduce the number of many preventable drug ordering errors. In the present study we evaluated the usefullness of a computerized drug order entry (CDOE) system in reducing prescription errors. A department of internal medicine using a comprehensive CDOE, which included also patient-related drug-laboratory, drug-disease and drug-allergy on-line surveillance was compared to a similar department in which drug orders were handwritten. CDOE reduced prescription errors to 25-35%. The causes of errors remained similar, and most errors, on both departments, were associated with abnormal renal function and electrolyte balance. Residual errors remaining on the CDOE-using department were due to handwriting on the typed order, failure to feed patients' diseases, and system failures. The use of CDOE was associated with a significant reduction in mean hospital stay and in the number of changes performed in the prescription. The findings of this study both quantity the impact of comprehensive CDOE on prescription errors and delineate the causes for remaining errors.

Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication PrinciplesJoint Redundant Residue Number Systems and Module Isolation for Mitigating Single Event Multiple Bit Upsets in Datapath

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lei; Hu, Jianhao

2010-12-01

Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication Principles"Joint Redundant Residue Number Systems and Module Isolation for Mitigating Single Event Multiple Bit Upsets in Datapath"by Lei Li and Jianhao Hu,in the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, vol.57, no.6, Dec. 2010, pp. 3779-3786After careful and considered review of the content and authorship of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE's Publication Principles.This paper contains substantial duplication of original text from the paper cited below. The original text was copied without attribution (including appropriate references to the original author(s) and/or paper title) and without permission.Due to the nature of this violation, reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper, and future references should be made to the following articles:"Multiple Error Detection and Correction Based on Redundant Residue Number Systems"by Vik Tor Goh and M.U. Siddiqi,in the IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol.56, no.3, March 2008, pp.325-330"A Coding Theory Approach to Error Control in Redundant Residue Number Systems. I: Theory and Single Error Correction"by H. Krishna, K-Y. Lin, and J-D. Sun, in the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Analog and Digital Signal Processing, vol.39, no.1, Jan 1992, pp.8-17In this paper, we propose a joint scheme which combines redundant residue number systems (RRNS) with module isolation (MI) for mitigating single event multiple bit upsets (SEMBUs) in datapath. The proposed hardening scheme employs redundant residues to improve the fault tolerance for datapath and module spacings to guarantee that SEMBUs caused by charge sharing do not propagate among the operation channels of different moduli. The features of RRNS, such as independence, parallel and error correction, are exploited to establish the radiation hardening architecture for the datapath in radiation environments. In the proposed

Sun drying of residual annatto seed powder

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Dyego da Costa Santos

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Residual annatto seeds are waste from bixin extraction in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Most of this by-product is currently discarded; however, the use of these seeds in human foods through the elaboration of powder added to other commercial powders is seen as a viable option. This study aimed at drying of residual annatto powder, with and without the oil layer derived from the industrial extraction of bixin, fitting different mathematical models to experimental data and calculating the effective moisture diffusivity of the samples. Powder containing oil exhibited the shortest drying time, highest drying rate (≈ 5.0 kg kg-1 min-1 and highest effective diffusivity (6.49 × 10-12 m2 s-1. All mathematical models assessed were a suitable representation of the drying kinetics of powders with and without oil, with R2 above 0.99 and root mean square error values lower than 1.0.

ERRORS AND CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN WRITING: IMPLICATIONS TO OUR CLASSROOM PRACTICES

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Maria Corazon Saturnina A Castro

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Error correction is one of the most contentious and misunderstood issues in both foreign and second language teaching. Despite varying positions on the effectiveness of error correction or the lack of it, corrective feedback remains an institution in the writing classes. Given this context, this action research endeavors to survey prevalent attitudes of teachers and students toward corrective feedback and examine their implications to classroom practices.  This paper poses the major problem:  How do teachers’ perspectives on corrective feedback match the students’ views and expectations about error treatment in their writing? Professors of the University of the Philippines who teach composition classes and over a hundred students enrolled in their classes were surveyed.  Results showed that there are differing perceptions of teachers and students regarding corrective feedback. These oppositions must be addressed as they have implications to current pedagogical practices which include constructing and establishing appropriate lesson goals, using alternative corrective strategies, teaching grammar points in class even in the tertiary level, and further understanding the learning process.

Error begat error: design error analysis and prevention in social infrastructure projects.

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Love, Peter E D; Lopez, Robert; Edwards, David J; Goh, Yang M

2012-09-01

Design errors contribute significantly to cost and schedule growth in social infrastructure projects and to engineering failures, which can result in accidents and loss of life. Despite considerable research that has addressed their error causation in construction projects they still remain prevalent. This paper identifies the underlying conditions that contribute to design errors in social infrastructure projects (e.g. hospitals, education, law and order type buildings). A systemic model of error causation is propagated and subsequently used to develop a learning framework for design error prevention. The research suggests that a multitude of strategies should be adopted in congruence to prevent design errors from occurring and so ensure that safety and project performance are ameliorated. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

I trust it, but I don't know why: effects of implicit attitudes toward automation on trust in an automated system.

Science.gov (United States)

Merritt, Stephanie M; Heimbaugh, Heather; LaChapell, Jennifer; Lee, Deborah

2013-06-01

This study is the first to examine the influence of implicit attitudes toward automation on users' trust in automation. Past empirical work has examined explicit (conscious) influences on user level of trust in automation but has not yet measured implicit influences. We examine concurrent effects of explicit propensity to trust machines and implicit attitudes toward automation on trust in an automated system. We examine differential impacts of each under varying automation performance conditions (clearly good, ambiguous, clearly poor). Participants completed both a self-report measure of propensity to trust and an Implicit Association Test measuring implicit attitude toward automation, then performed an X-ray screening task. Automation performance was manipulated within-subjects by varying the number and obviousness of errors. Explicit propensity to trust and implicit attitude toward automation did not significantly correlate. When the automation's performance was ambiguous, implicit attitude significantly affected automation trust, and its relationship with propensity to trust was additive: Increments in either were related to increases in trust. When errors were obvious, a significant interaction between the implicit and explicit measures was found, with those high in both having higher trust. Implicit attitudes have important implications for automation trust. Users may not be able to accurately report why they experience a given level of trust. To understand why users trust or fail to trust automation, measurements of implicit and explicit predictors may be necessary. Furthermore, implicit attitude toward automation might be used as a lever to effectively calibrate trust.

Discontinuous Galerkin methods and a posteriori error analysis for heterogenous diffusion problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stephansen, A.F.

2007-12-01

In this thesis we analyse a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method and two computable a posteriori error estimators for the linear and stationary advection-diffusion-reaction equation with heterogeneous diffusion. The DG method considered, the SWIP method, is a variation of the Symmetric Interior Penalty Galerkin method. The difference is that the SWIP method uses weighted averages with weights that depend on the diffusion. The a priori analysis shows optimal convergence with respect to mesh-size and robustness with respect to heterogeneous diffusion, which is confirmed by numerical tests. Both a posteriori error estimators are of the residual type and control the energy (semi-)norm of the error. Local lower bounds are obtained showing that almost all indicators are independent of heterogeneities. The exception is for the non-conforming part of the error, which has been evaluated using the Oswald interpolator. The second error estimator is sharper in its estimate with respect to the first one, but it is slightly more costly. This estimator is based on the construction of an H(div)-conforming Raviart-Thomas-Nedelec flux using the conservativeness of DG methods. Numerical results show that both estimators can be used for mesh-adaptation. (author)

A Nonlinear Multiparameters Temperature Error Modeling and Compensation of POS Applied in Airborne Remote Sensing System

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Jianli Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The position and orientation system (POS is a key equipment for airborne remote sensing systems, which provides high-precision position, velocity, and attitude information for various imaging payloads. Temperature error is the main source that affects the precision of POS. Traditional temperature error model is single temperature parameter linear function, which is not sufficient for the higher accuracy requirement of POS. The traditional compensation method based on neural network faces great problem in the repeatability error under different temperature conditions. In order to improve the precision and generalization ability of the temperature error compensation for POS, a nonlinear multiparameters temperature error modeling and compensation method based on Bayesian regularization neural network was proposed. The temperature error of POS was analyzed and a nonlinear multiparameters model was established. Bayesian regularization method was used as the evaluation criterion, which further optimized the coefficients of the temperature error. The experimental results show that the proposed method can improve temperature environmental adaptability and precision. The developed POS had been successfully applied in airborne TSMFTIS remote sensing system for the first time, which improved the accuracy of the reconstructed spectrum by 47.99%.

The attitude inversion method of geostationary satellites based on unscented particle filter

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Xiaoping; Wang, Yang; Hu, Heng; Gou, Ruixin; Liu, Hao

2018-04-01

The attitude information of geostationary satellites is difficult to be obtained since they are presented in non-resolved images on the ground observation equipment in space object surveillance. In this paper, an attitude inversion method for geostationary satellite based on Unscented Particle Filter (UPF) and ground photometric data is presented. The inversion algorithm based on UPF is proposed aiming at the strong non-linear feature in the photometric data inversion for satellite attitude, which combines the advantage of Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and Particle Filter (PF). This update method improves the particle selection based on the idea of UKF to redesign the importance density function. Moreover, it uses the RMS-UKF to partially correct the prediction covariance matrix, which improves the applicability of the attitude inversion method in view of UKF and the particle degradation and dilution of the attitude inversion method based on PF. This paper describes the main principles and steps of algorithm in detail, correctness, accuracy, stability and applicability of the method are verified by simulation experiment and scaling experiment in the end. The results show that the proposed method can effectively solve the problem of particle degradation and depletion in the attitude inversion method on account of PF, and the problem that UKF is not suitable for the strong non-linear attitude inversion. However, the inversion accuracy is obviously superior to UKF and PF, in addition, in the case of the inversion with large attitude error that can inverse the attitude with small particles and high precision.

Effects of Measurement Error on the Output Gap in Japan

OpenAIRE

Koichiro Kamada; Kazuto Masuda

2000-01-01

Potential output is the largest amount of products that can be produced by fully utilizing available labor and capital stock; the output gap is defined as the discrepancy between actual and potential output. If data on production factors contain measurement errors, total factor productivity (TFP) cannot be estimated accurately from the Solow residual(i.e., the portion of output that is not attributable to labor and capital inputs). This may give rise to distortions in the estimation of potent...

A new calibration model for pointing a radio telescope that considers nonlinear errors in the azimuth axis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kong De-Qing; Wang Song-Gen; Zhang Hong-Bo; Wang Jin-Qing; Wang Min

2014-01-01

A new calibration model of a radio telescope that includes pointing error is presented, which considers nonlinear errors in the azimuth axis. For a large radio telescope, in particular for a telescope with a turntable, it is difficult to correct pointing errors using a traditional linear calibration model, because errors produced by the wheel-on-rail or center bearing structures are generally nonlinear. Fourier expansion is made for the oblique error and parameters describing the inclination direction along the azimuth axis based on the linear calibration model, and a new calibration model for pointing is derived. The new pointing model is applied to the 40m radio telescope administered by Yunnan Observatories, which is a telescope that uses a turntable. The results show that this model can significantly reduce the residual systematic errors due to nonlinearity in the azimuth axis compared with the linear model

Attitude estimation from magnetometer and earth-albedo-corrected coarse sun sensor measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Appel, Pontus

2005-01-01

For full 3-axes attitude determination the magnetic field vector and the Sun vector can be used. A Coarse Sun Sensor consisting of six solar cells placed on each of the six outer surfaces of the satellite is used for Sun vector determination. This robust and low cost setup is sensitive to surrounding light sources as it sees the whole sky. To compensate for the largest error source, the Earth, an albedo model is developed. The total albedo light vector has contributions from the Earth surface which is illuminated by the Sun and visible from the satellite. Depending on the reflectivity of the Earth surface, the satellite's position and the Sun's position the albedo light changes. This cannot be calculated analytically and hence a numerical model is developed. For on-board computer use the Earth albedo model consisting of data tables is transferred into polynomial functions in order to save memory space. For an absolute worst case the attitude determination error can be held below 2∘. In a nominal case it is better than 1∘.

Using incident reports to inform the prevention of medication administration errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Härkänen, Marja; Saano, Susanna; Vehviläinen-Julkunen, Katri

2017-11-01

To describe ways of preventing medication administration errors based on reporters' views expressed in medication administration incident reports. Medication administration errors are very common, and nurses play important roles in committing and in preventing such errors. Thus far, incident reporters' perceptions of how to prevent medication administration errors have rarely been analysed. This is a qualitative, descriptive study using an inductive content analysis of the incident reports related to medication administration errors (n = 1012). These free-text descriptions include reporters' views on preventing the reoccurrence of medication administration errors. The data were collected from two hospitals in Finland and pertain to incidents that were reported between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2014. Reporters' views on preventing medication administration errors were divided into three main categories related to individuals (health professionals), teams and organisations. The following categories related to individuals in preventing medication administration errors were identified: (1) accuracy and preciseness; (2) verification; and (3) following the guidelines, responsibility and attitude towards work. The team categories were as follows: (1) distribution of work; (2) flow of information and cooperation; and (3) documenting and marking the drug information. The categories related to organisation were as follows: (1) work environment; (2) resources; (3) training; (4) guidelines; and (5) development of the work. Health professionals should administer medication with a high moral awareness and an attempt to concentrate on the task. Nonetheless, the system should support health professionals by providing a reasonable work environment and encouraging collaboration among the providers to facilitate the safe administration of medication. Although there are numerous approaches to supporting medication safety, approaches that support the ability of individual health

Error Correction of Measured Unstructured Road Profiles Based on Accelerometer and Gyroscope Data

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Jinhua Han

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a noncontact acquisition system composed of several time synchronized laser height sensors, accelerometers, gyroscope, and so forth in order to collect the road profiles of vehicle riding on the unstructured roads. A method of correcting road profiles based on the accelerometer and gyroscope data is proposed to eliminate the adverse impacts of vehicle vibration and attitudes change. Because the power spectral density (PSD of gyro attitudes concentrates in the low frequency band, a method called frequency division is presented to divide the road profiles into two parts: high frequency part and low frequency part. The vibration error of road profiles is corrected by displacement data obtained through two times integration of measured acceleration data. After building the mathematical model between gyro attitudes and road profiles, the gyro attitudes signals are separated from low frequency road profile by the method of sliding block overlap based on correlation analysis. The accuracy and limitations of the system have been analyzed, and its validity has been verified by implementing the system on wheeled equipment for road profiles’ measuring of vehicle testing ground. The paper offers an accurate and practical approach to obtaining unstructured road profiles for road simulation test.

Why do adult dogs (Canis familiaris) commit the A-not-B search error?

Science.gov (United States)

Sümegi, Zsófia; Kis, Anna; Miklósi, Ádám; Topál, József

2014-02-01

It has been recently reported that adult domestic dogs, like human infants, tend to commit perseverative search errors; that is, they select the previously rewarded empty location in Piagetian A-not-B search task because of the experimenter's ostensive communicative cues. There is, however, an ongoing debate over whether these findings reveal that dogs can use the human ostensive referential communication as a source of information or the phenomenon can be accounted for by "more simple" explanations like insufficient attention and learning based on local enhancement. In 2 experiments the authors systematically manipulated the type of human cueing (communicative or noncommunicative) adjacent to the A hiding place during both the A and B trials. Results highlight 3 important aspects of the dogs' A-not-B error: (a) search errors are influenced to a certain extent by dogs' motivation to retrieve the toy object; (b) human communicative and noncommunicative signals have different error-inducing effects; and (3) communicative signals presented at the A hiding place during the B trials but not during the A trials play a crucial role in inducing the A-not-B error and it can be induced even without demonstrating repeated hiding events at location A. These findings further confirm the notion that perseverative search error, at least partially, reflects a "ready-to-obey" attitude in the dog rather than insufficient attention and/or working memory.

Calibration of the century, apsim and ndicea models of decomposition and n mineralization of plant residues in the humid tropics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre Ferreira do Nascimento

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to calibrate the CENTURY, APSIM and NDICEA simulation models for estimating decomposition and N mineralization rates of plant organic materials (Arachis pintoi, Calopogonium mucunoides, Stizolobium aterrimum, Stylosanthes guyanensis for 360 days in the Atlantic rainforest bioma of Brazil. The models´ default settings overestimated the decomposition and N-mineralization of plant residues, underlining the fact that the models must be calibrated for use under tropical conditions. For example, the APSIM model simulated the decomposition of the Stizolobium aterrimum and Calopogonium mucunoides residues with an error rate of 37.62 and 48.23 %, respectively, by comparison with the observed data, and was the least accurate model in the absence of calibration. At the default settings, the NDICEA model produced an error rate of 10.46 and 14.46 % and the CENTURY model, 21.42 and 31.84 %, respectively, for Stizolobium aterrimum and Calopogonium mucunoides residue decomposition. After calibration, the models showed a high level of accuracy in estimating decomposition and N- mineralization, with an error rate of less than 20 %. The calibrated NDICEA model showed the highest level of accuracy, followed by the APSIM and CENTURY. All models performed poorly in the first few months of decomposition and N-mineralization, indicating the need of an additional parameter for initial microorganism growth on the residues that would take the effect of leaching due to rainfall into account.

Estimates of Single Sensor Error Statistics for the MODIS Matchup Database Using Machine Learning

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Kumar, C.; Podesta, G. P.; Minnett, P. J.; Kilpatrick, K. A.

2017-12-01

Sea surface temperature (SST) is a fundamental quantity for understanding weather and climate dynamics. Although sensors aboard satellites provide global and repeated SST coverage, a characterization of SST precision and bias is necessary for determining the suitability of SST retrievals in various applications. Guidance on how to derive meaningful error estimates is still being developed. Previous methods estimated retrieval uncertainty based on geophysical factors, e.g. season or "wet" and "dry" atmospheres, but the discrete nature of these bins led to spatial discontinuities in SST maps. Recently, a new approach clustered retrievals based on the terms (excluding offset) in the statistical algorithm used to estimate SST. This approach resulted in over 600 clusters - too many to understand the geophysical conditions that influence retrieval error. Using MODIS and buoy SST matchups (2002 - 2016), we use machine learning algorithms (recursive and conditional trees, random forests) to gain insight into geophysical conditions leading to the different signs and magnitudes of MODIS SST residuals (satellite SSTs minus buoy SSTs). MODIS retrievals were first split into three categories: 0.4 C. These categories are heavily unbalanced, with residuals > 0.4 C being much less frequent. Performance of classification algorithms is affected by imbalance, thus we tested various rebalancing algorithms (oversampling, undersampling, combinations of the two). We consider multiple features for the decision tree algorithms: regressors from the MODIS SST algorithm, proxies for temperature deficit, and spatial homogeneity of brightness temperatures (BTs), e.g., the range of 11 μm BTs inside a 25 km2 area centered on the buoy location. These features and a rebalancing of classes led to an 81.9% accuracy when classifying SST retrievals into the cloud contamination still is one of the causes leading to negative SST residuals. Precision and accuracy of error estimates from our decision tree

Quadratic residues and non-residues selected topics

CERN Document Server

Wright, Steve

2016-01-01

This book offers an account of the classical theory of quadratic residues and non-residues with the goal of using that theory as a lens through which to view the development of some of the fundamental methods employed in modern elementary, algebraic, and analytic number theory. The first three chapters present some basic facts and the history of quadratic residues and non-residues and discuss various proofs of the Law of Quadratic Reciprosity in depth, with an emphasis on the six proofs that Gauss published. The remaining seven chapters explore some interesting applications of the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity, prove some results concerning the distribution and arithmetic structure of quadratic residues and non-residues, provide a detailed proof of Dirichlet’s Class-Number Formula, and discuss the question of whether quadratic residues are randomly distributed. The text is a valuable resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as for mathematicians interested in number theory.

Errors, error detection, error correction and hippocampal-region damage: data and theories.

Science.gov (United States)

MacKay, Donald G; Johnson, Laura W

2013-11-01

This review and perspective article outlines 15 observational constraints on theories of errors, error detection, and error correction, and their relation to hippocampal-region (HR) damage. The core observations come from 10 studies with H.M., an amnesic with cerebellar and HR damage but virtually no neocortical damage. Three studies examined the detection of errors planted in visual scenes (e.g., a bird flying in a fish bowl in a school classroom) and sentences (e.g., I helped themselves to the birthday cake). In all three experiments, H.M. detected reliably fewer errors than carefully matched memory-normal controls. Other studies examined the detection and correction of self-produced errors, with controls for comprehension of the instructions, impaired visual acuity, temporal factors, motoric slowing, forgetting, excessive memory load, lack of motivation, and deficits in visual scanning or attention. In these studies, H.M. corrected reliably fewer errors than memory-normal and cerebellar controls, and his uncorrected errors in speech, object naming, and reading aloud exhibited two consistent features: omission and anomaly. For example, in sentence production tasks, H.M. omitted one or more words in uncorrected encoding errors that rendered his sentences anomalous (incoherent, incomplete, or ungrammatical) reliably more often than controls. Besides explaining these core findings, the theoretical principles discussed here explain H.M.'s retrograde amnesia for once familiar episodic and semantic information; his anterograde amnesia for novel information; his deficits in visual cognition, sentence comprehension, sentence production, sentence reading, and object naming; and effects of aging on his ability to read isolated low frequency words aloud. These theoretical principles also explain a wide range of other data on error detection and correction and generate new predictions for future test. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ERROR DISTRIBUTION EVALUATION OF THE THIRD VANISHING POINT BASED ON RANDOM STATISTICAL SIMULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Li

2012-07-01

Full Text Available POS, integrated by GPS / INS (Inertial Navigation Systems, has allowed rapid and accurate determination of position and attitude of remote sensing equipment for MMS (Mobile Mapping Systems. However, not only does INS have system error, but also it is very expensive. Therefore, in this paper error distributions of vanishing points are studied and tested in order to substitute INS for MMS in some special land-based scene, such as ground façade where usually only two vanishing points can be detected. Thus, the traditional calibration approach based on three orthogonal vanishing points is being challenged. In this article, firstly, the line clusters, which parallel to each others in object space and correspond to the vanishing points, are detected based on RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus and parallelism geometric constraint. Secondly, condition adjustment with parameters is utilized to estimate nonlinear error equations of two vanishing points (VX, VY. How to set initial weights for the adjustment solution of single image vanishing points is presented. Solving vanishing points and estimating their error distributions base on iteration method with variable weights, co-factor matrix and error ellipse theory. Thirdly, under the condition of known error ellipses of two vanishing points (VX, VY and on the basis of the triangle geometric relationship of three vanishing points, the error distribution of the third vanishing point (VZ is calculated and evaluated by random statistical simulation with ignoring camera distortion. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods utilized for random statistical estimation are presented. Finally, experimental results of vanishing points coordinate and their error distributions are shown and analyzed.

Error Distribution Evaluation of the Third Vanishing Point Based on Random Statistical Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Li, C.

2012-07-01

POS, integrated by GPS / INS (Inertial Navigation Systems), has allowed rapid and accurate determination of position and attitude of remote sensing equipment for MMS (Mobile Mapping Systems). However, not only does INS have system error, but also it is very expensive. Therefore, in this paper error distributions of vanishing points are studied and tested in order to substitute INS for MMS in some special land-based scene, such as ground façade where usually only two vanishing points can be detected. Thus, the traditional calibration approach based on three orthogonal vanishing points is being challenged. In this article, firstly, the line clusters, which parallel to each others in object space and correspond to the vanishing points, are detected based on RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus) and parallelism geometric constraint. Secondly, condition adjustment with parameters is utilized to estimate nonlinear error equations of two vanishing points (VX, VY). How to set initial weights for the adjustment solution of single image vanishing points is presented. Solving vanishing points and estimating their error distributions base on iteration method with variable weights, co-factor matrix and error ellipse theory. Thirdly, under the condition of known error ellipses of two vanishing points (VX, VY) and on the basis of the triangle geometric relationship of three vanishing points, the error distribution of the third vanishing point (VZ) is calculated and evaluated by random statistical simulation with ignoring camera distortion. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods utilized for random statistical estimation are presented. Finally, experimental results of vanishing points coordinate and their error distributions are shown and analyzed.

Covariance Analysis Tool (G-CAT) for Computing Ascent, Descent, and Landing Errors

Science.gov (United States)

Boussalis, Dhemetrios; Bayard, David S.

2013-01-01

G-CAT is a covariance analysis tool that enables fast and accurate computation of error ellipses for descent, landing, ascent, and rendezvous scenarios, and quantifies knowledge error contributions needed for error budgeting purposes. Because GCAT supports hardware/system trade studies in spacecraft and mission design, it is useful in both early and late mission/ proposal phases where Monte Carlo simulation capability is not mature, Monte Carlo simulation takes too long to run, and/or there is a need to perform multiple parametric system design trades that would require an unwieldy number of Monte Carlo runs. G-CAT is formulated as a variable-order square-root linearized Kalman filter (LKF), typically using over 120 filter states. An important property of G-CAT is that it is based on a 6-DOF (degrees of freedom) formulation that completely captures the combined effects of both attitude and translation errors on the propagated trajectories. This ensures its accuracy for guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) analysis. G-CAT provides the desired fast turnaround analysis needed for error budgeting in support of mission concept formulations, design trade studies, and proposal development efforts. The main usefulness of a covariance analysis tool such as G-CAT is its ability to calculate the performance envelope directly from a single run. This is in sharp contrast to running thousands of simulations to obtain similar information using Monte Carlo methods. It does this by propagating the "statistics" of the overall design, rather than simulating individual trajectories. G-CAT supports applications to lunar, planetary, and small body missions. It characterizes onboard knowledge propagation errors associated with inertial measurement unit (IMU) errors (gyro and accelerometer), gravity errors/dispersions (spherical harmonics, masscons), and radar errors (multiple altimeter beams, multiple Doppler velocimeter beams). G-CAT is a standalone MATLAB- based tool intended to

Attitude Strength.

Science.gov (United States)

Howe, Lauren C; Krosnick, Jon A

2017-01-03

Attitude strength has been the focus of a huge volume of research in psychology and related sciences for decades. The insights offered by this literature have tremendous value for understanding attitude functioning and structure and for the effective application of the attitude concept in applied settings. This is the first Annual Review of Psychology article on the topic, and it offers a review of theory and evidence regarding one of the most researched strength-related attitude features: attitude importance. Personal importance is attached to an attitude when the attitude is perceived to be relevant to self-interest, social identification with reference groups or reference individuals, and values. Attaching personal importance to an attitude causes crystallizing of attitudes (via enhanced resistance to change), effortful gathering and processing of relevant information, accumulation of a large store of well-organized relevant information in long-term memory, enhanced attitude extremity and accessibility, enhanced attitude impact on the regulation of interpersonal attraction, energizing of emotional reactions, and enhanced impact of attitudes on behavioral intentions and action. Thus, important attitudes are real and consequential psychological forces, and their study offers opportunities for addressing behavioral change.

A Posteriori Error Estimation for Finite Element Methods and Iterative Linear Solvers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melboe, Hallgeir

2001-10-01

This thesis addresses a posteriori error estimation for finite element methods and iterative linear solvers. Adaptive finite element methods have gained a lot of popularity over the last decades due to their ability to produce accurate results with limited computer power. In these methods a posteriori error estimates play an essential role. Not only do they give information about how large the total error is, they also indicate which parts of the computational domain should be given a more sophisticated treatment in order to reduce the error. A posteriori error estimates are traditionally aimed at estimating the global error, but more recently so called goal oriented error estimators have been shown a lot of interest. The name reflects the fact that they estimate the error in user-defined local quantities. In this thesis the main focus is on global error estimators for highly stretched grids and goal oriented error estimators for flow problems on regular grids. Numerical methods for partial differential equations, such as finite element methods and other similar techniques, typically result in a linear system of equations that needs to be solved. Usually such systems are solved using some iterative procedure which due to a finite number of iterations introduces an additional error. Most such algorithms apply the residual in the stopping criterion, whereas the control of the actual error may be rather poor. A secondary focus in this thesis is on estimating the errors that are introduced during this last part of the solution procedure. The thesis contains new theoretical results regarding the behaviour of some well known, and a few new, a posteriori error estimators for finite element methods on anisotropic grids. Further, a goal oriented strategy for the computation of forces in flow problems is devised and investigated. Finally, an approach for estimating the actual errors associated with the iterative solution of linear systems of equations is suggested. (author)

Measurement Error and Bias in Value-Added Models. Research Report. ETS RR-17-25

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Michael T.

2017-01-01

By aggregating residual gain scores (the differences between each student's current score and a predicted score based on prior performance) for a school or a teacher, value-added models (VAMs) can be used to generate estimates of school or teacher effects. It is known that random errors in the prior scores will introduce bias into predictions of…

Integrated orbit and attitude hardware-in-the-loop simulations for autonomous satellite formation flying

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Han-Earl; Park, Sang-Young; Kim, Sung-Woo; Park, Chandeok

2013-12-01

Development and experiment of an integrated orbit and attitude hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator for autonomous satellite formation flying are presented. The integrated simulator system consists of an orbit HIL simulator for orbit determination and control, and an attitude HIL simulator for attitude determination and control. The integrated simulator involves four processes (orbit determination, orbit control, attitude determination, and attitude control), which interact with each other in the same way as actual flight processes do. Orbit determination is conducted by a relative navigation algorithm using double-difference GPS measurements based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF). Orbit control is performed by a state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) technique that is utilized as a nonlinear controller for the formation control problem. Attitude is determined from an attitude heading reference system (AHRS) sensor, and a proportional-derivative (PD) feedback controller is used to control the attitude HIL simulator using three momentum wheel assemblies. Integrated orbit and attitude simulations are performed for a formation reconfiguration scenario. By performing the four processes adequately, the desired formation reconfiguration from a baseline of 500-1000 m was achieved with meter-level position error and millimeter-level relative position navigation. This HIL simulation demonstrates the performance of the integrated HIL simulator and the feasibility of the applied algorithms in a real-time environment. Furthermore, the integrated HIL simulator system developed in the current study can be used as a ground-based testing environment to reproduce possible actual satellite formation operations.

Attitudes and perceived barriers influencing incident reporting by nurses and their correlation with reported incidents: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Fung, Wing Mei; Koh, Serena Siew Lin; Chow, Yeow Leng

Clinical incident reporting is an integral feature of risk management system in the healthcare sector. By reporting clinical incidents, nurses allow for learning from errors, identification of error patterns and development of error preventive strategies. The need to understand attitudes to reporting, perceived barriers and incident reporting patterns by nurses are the core highlights of this review. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review considered descriptive quantitative studies that examined nurses' attitudes or perceived barriers towards incident reporting.The participants in this review were nurses working in acute care settings or step-down care settings. Studies that included non-nursing healthcare personnel were excluded.This review considered studies which examined nurses' attitudes towards incident reporting, perceived barriers and incident reporting practices.The outcomes of interest were the attitudes that nurses have towards incident reporting, perceived barriers and the types of reported incidents in correlation with nurses' attitudes and barriers. A three-step search strategy was utilised in this review. An initial limited search of CINAHL and MEDLINE was undertaken. Search strategies were then developed using identified keywords and index terms. Lastly, the reference lists of all identified articles were examined. All searches were limited to studies published in English, between 1991 and 2010. The studies were independently assessed by two reviewers using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Descriptive/ Case Series studies. The reviewers extracted data independently from included studies using the Joanna Briggs Institute Data Extraction Form for Descriptive/ Case Series studies. Due to the descriptive nature of the study designs, statistical pooling was not possible. Therefore, the findings of this systematic review are presented in a narrative summary. Fifty-five papers were identified from the searches based on their titles and

Nonlinear bias compensation of ZiYuan-3 satellite imagery with cubic splines

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Jinshan; Fu, Jianhong; Yuan, Xiuxiao; Gong, Jianya

2017-11-01

Like many high-resolution satellites such as the ALOS, MOMS-2P, QuickBird, and ZiYuan1-02C satellites, the ZiYuan-3 satellite suffers from different levels of attitude oscillations. As a result of such oscillations, the rational polynomial coefficients (RPCs) obtained using a terrain-independent scenario often have nonlinear biases. In the sensor orientation of ZiYuan-3 imagery based on a rational function model (RFM), these nonlinear biases cannot be effectively compensated by an affine transformation. The sensor orientation accuracy is thereby worse than expected. In order to eliminate the influence of attitude oscillations on the RFM-based sensor orientation, a feasible nonlinear bias compensation approach for ZiYuan-3 imagery with cubic splines is proposed. In this approach, no actual ground control points (GCPs) are required to determine the cubic splines. First, the RPCs are calculated using a three-dimensional virtual control grid generated based on a physical sensor model. Second, one cubic spline is used to model the residual errors of the virtual control points in the row direction and another cubic spline is used to model the residual errors in the column direction. Then, the estimated cubic splines are used to compensate the nonlinear biases in the RPCs. Finally, the affine transformation parameters are used to compensate the residual biases in the RPCs. Three ZiYuan-3 images were tested. The experimental results showed that before the nonlinear bias compensation, the residual errors of the independent check points were nonlinearly biased. Even if the number of GCPs used to determine the affine transformation parameters was increased from 4 to 16, these nonlinear biases could not be effectively compensated. After the nonlinear bias compensation with the estimated cubic splines, the influence of the attitude oscillations could be eliminated. The RFM-based sensor orientation accuracies of the three ZiYuan-3 images reached 0.981 pixels, 0.890 pixels, and 1

Learning time-dependent noise to reduce logical errors: real time error rate estimation in quantum error correction

Science.gov (United States)

Huo, Ming-Xia; Li, Ying

2017-12-01

Quantum error correction is important to quantum information processing, which allows us to reliably process information encoded in quantum error correction codes. Efficient quantum error correction benefits from the knowledge of error rates. We propose a protocol for monitoring error rates in real time without interrupting the quantum error correction. Any adaptation of the quantum error correction code or its implementation circuit is not required. The protocol can be directly applied to the most advanced quantum error correction techniques, e.g. surface code. A Gaussian processes algorithm is used to estimate and predict error rates based on error correction data in the past. We find that using these estimated error rates, the probability of error correction failures can be significantly reduced by a factor increasing with the code distance.

A New Quaternion-Based Kalman Filter for Real-Time Attitude Estimation Using the Two-Step Geometrically-Intuitive Correction Algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Kaiqiang; Li, Jie; Zhang, Xiaoming; Shen, Chong; Bi, Yu; Zheng, Tao; Liu, Jun

2017-09-19

In order to reduce the computational complexity, and improve the pitch/roll estimation accuracy of the low-cost attitude heading reference system (AHRS) under conditions of magnetic-distortion, a novel linear Kalman filter, suitable for nonlinear attitude estimation, is proposed in this paper. The new algorithm is the combination of two-step geometrically-intuitive correction (TGIC) and the Kalman filter. In the proposed algorithm, the sequential two-step geometrically-intuitive correction scheme is used to make the current estimation of pitch/roll immune to magnetic distortion. Meanwhile, the TGIC produces a computed quaternion input for the Kalman filter, which avoids the linearization error of measurement equations and reduces the computational complexity. Several experiments have been carried out to validate the performance of the filter design. The results demonstrate that the mean time consumption and the root mean square error (RMSE) of pitch/roll estimation under magnetic disturbances are reduced by 45.9% and 33.8%, respectively, when compared with a standard filter. In addition, the proposed filter is applicable for attitude estimation under various dynamic conditions.

Statistical evaluation of major human errors during the development of new technological systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, G; Ott, K.O.

1979-01-01

Statistical procedures are presented to evaluate major human errors during the development of a new system, errors that have led or can lead to accidents or major failures. The first procedure aims at estimating the average residual occurrence rate for s or major failures after several have occurred. The procedure is solely based on the historical record. Certain idealizations are introduced that allow the application of a sound statistical evaluation procedure. These idealizations are practically realized to a sufficient degree such that the proposed estimation procedure yields meaningful results, even for situations with a sparse data base, represented by very few accidents. Under the assumption that the possible human-error-related failure times have exponential distributions, the statistical technique of isotonic regression is proposed to estimate the failure rates due to human design error at the failure times of the system. The last value in the sequence of estimates gives the residual accident chance. In addition, theactual situation is tested against the hypothesis that the failure rate of the system remains constant over time. This test determines the chance for a decreasing failure rate being incidental, rather than an indication of an actual learning process. Both techniques can be applied not merely to a single system but to an entire series of similar systems that a technology would generate, enabling the assessment of technological improvement. For the purpose of illustration, the nuclear decay of isotopes was chosen as an example, since the assumptions of the model are rigorously satisfied in this case. This application shows satisfactory agreement of the estimated and actual failure rates (which are exactly known in this example), although the estimation was deliberately based on a sparse historical record

Medication errors: prescribing faults and prescription errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Velo, Giampaolo P; Minuz, Pietro

2009-06-01

1. Medication errors are common in general practice and in hospitals. Both errors in the act of writing (prescription errors) and prescribing faults due to erroneous medical decisions can result in harm to patients. 2. Any step in the prescribing process can generate errors. Slips, lapses, or mistakes are sources of errors, as in unintended omissions in the transcription of drugs. Faults in dose selection, omitted transcription, and poor handwriting are common. 3. Inadequate knowledge or competence and incomplete information about clinical characteristics and previous treatment of individual patients can result in prescribing faults, including the use of potentially inappropriate medications. 4. An unsafe working environment, complex or undefined procedures, and inadequate communication among health-care personnel, particularly between doctors and nurses, have been identified as important underlying factors that contribute to prescription errors and prescribing faults. 5. Active interventions aimed at reducing prescription errors and prescribing faults are strongly recommended. These should be focused on the education and training of prescribers and the use of on-line aids. The complexity of the prescribing procedure should be reduced by introducing automated systems or uniform prescribing charts, in order to avoid transcription and omission errors. Feedback control systems and immediate review of prescriptions, which can be performed with the assistance of a hospital pharmacist, are also helpful. Audits should be performed periodically.

Statistical evaluation of design-error related accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ott, K.O.; Marchaterre, J.F.

1980-01-01

In a recently published paper (Campbell and Ott, 1979), a general methodology was proposed for the statistical evaluation of design-error related accidents. The evaluation aims at an estimate of the combined residual frequency of yet unknown types of accidents lurking in a certain technological system. Here, the original methodology is extended, as to apply to a variety of systems that evolves during the development of large-scale technologies. A special categorization of incidents and accidents is introduced to define the events that should be jointly analyzed. The resulting formalism is applied to the development of the nuclear power reactor technology, considering serious accidents that involve in the accident-progression a particular design inadequacy

FIB-based measurement of local residual stresses on microsystems

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Dietmar; Sabate, Neus; Gollhardt, Astrid; Keller, Juergen; Auersperg, Juergen; Michel, Bernd

2006-03-01

The paper comprises research results obtained for stress determination on micro and nanotechnology components. It meets the concern of controlling stresses introduced to sensors, MEMS and electronics devices during different micromachining processes. The method bases on deformation measurement options made available inside focused ion beam equipment. Removing locally material by ion beam milling existing stresses / residual stresses lead to deformation fields around the milled feature. Digital image correlation techniques are used to extract deformation values from micrographs captured before and after milling. In the paper, two main milling features have been analyzed - through hole and through slit milling. Analytical solutions for stress release fields of in-plane stresses have been derived and compared to respective experimental findings. Their good agreement allows to settle a method for determination of residual stress values, which is demonstrated for thin membranes manufactured by silicon micro technology. Some emphasis is made on the elimination of main error sources for stress determination, like rigid body object displacements and rotations due to drifts of experimental conditions under FIB imaging. In order to illustrate potential application areas of the method residual stress suppression by ion implantation is evaluated by the method and reported here.

Scout fourth stage attitude and velocity control (AVC) system feasibility study

Science.gov (United States)

Byars, L. B.

1975-01-01

The feasibility of incorporating a guidance system in the Scout fourth stage to achieve a significant improvement in expected payload delivery accuracy is studied. The technical investigations included the determination of the AVC equipment performance requirements, establishment of qualification and acceptance test levels, generation of layouts illustrating design approaches for the upper D and payload transition sections to incorporate the hardware, and the preparation of a vendor bid package. Correction concepts, utilizing inertial velocity and attitude, were identified and evaluated. Fourth stage attitude adjustments as determined from inertial velocity variation through the first three stages and a final velocity correction based upon the measured in-plane component errors at injection were employed. Results show radical reductions in apogee-perigee deviations.

Residual diesel measurement in sand columns after surfactant/alcohol washing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martel, R.; Gelinas, P.J.

1996-01-01

A new simple gravimetric technique has been designed to determine residual oil saturation of complex hydrocarbon mixtures (e.g., diesel) in sand column experiments because reliable methods are lacking. The He/N 2 technique is based on drying of sand columns by circulating helium gas to drag oil droplets in a cold trap (liquid nitrogen). With this technique, residual diesel measurement can be performed easily immediately after alcohol/surfactant washing and in the same lab. For high residual diesel content in Ottawa sand (25 to 30 g/kg), the technique is much more accurate (± 2% or 600 mg/kg) than the standard analytical methods for the determination of mineral oil and grease. The average relative error on partial diesel dissolution in sand column estimated after alcohol/surfactant flooding (residual saturation of 10 to 15 g/kg) is as low as 5%. The precision of the He/N 2 technique is adequate to compare relative efficiency of washing solutions when partial extraction of residual oil in Ottawa sand columns is performed. However, this technique is not adapted for determination of traces of oil in sediment or for environmental control of contaminated soils. Each diesel determination by the He/N 2 technique costs less than $8 in chemical products (helium and liquid nitrogen). A simple laboratory drying setup can be built for less than $400 which makes this technique valuable for diesel analyses when a large number of tests are required

Accounting for measurement error: a critical but often overlooked process.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Edward F; Smith, Richard N

2009-12-01

Due to instrument imprecision and human inconsistencies, measurements are not free of error. Technical error of measurement (TEM) is the variability encountered between dimensions when the same specimens are measured at multiple sessions. A goal of a data collection regimen is to minimise TEM. The few studies that actually quantify TEM, regardless of discipline, report that it is substantial and can affect results and inferences. This paper reviews some statistical approaches for identifying and controlling TEM. Statistically, TEM is part of the residual ('unexplained') variance in a statistical test, so accounting for TEM, which requires repeated measurements, enhances the chances of finding a statistically significant difference if one exists. The aim of this paper was to review and discuss common statistical designs relating to types of error and statistical approaches to error accountability. This paper addresses issues of landmark location, validity, technical and systematic error, analysis of variance, scaled measures and correlation coefficients in order to guide the reader towards correct identification of true experimental differences. Researchers commonly infer characteristics about populations from comparatively restricted study samples. Most inferences are statistical and, aside from concerns about adequate accounting for known sources of variation with the research design, an important source of variability is measurement error. Variability in locating landmarks that define variables is obvious in odontometrics, cephalometrics and anthropometry, but the same concerns about measurement accuracy and precision extend to all disciplines. With increasing accessibility to computer-assisted methods of data collection, the ease of incorporating repeated measures into statistical designs has improved. Accounting for this technical source of variation increases the chance of finding biologically true differences when they exist.

Accuracy of crystal structure error estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, R.; Kennard, O.

1986-01-01

A statistical analysis of 100 crystal structures retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database is reported. Each structure has been determined independently by two different research groups. Comparison of the independent results leads to the following conclusions: (a) The e.s.d.'s of non-hydrogen-atom positional parameters are almost invariably too small. Typically, they are underestimated by a factor of 1.4-1.45. (b) The extent to which e.s.d.'s are underestimated varies significantly from structure to structure and from atom to atom within a structure. (c) Errors in the positional parameters of atoms belonging to the same chemical residue tend to be positively correlated. (d) The e.s.d.'s of heavy-atom positions are less reliable than those of light-atom positions. (e) Experimental errors in atomic positional parameters are normally, or approximately normally, distributed. (f) The e.s.d.'s of cell parameters are grossly underestimated, by an average factor of about 5 for cell lengths and 2.5 for cell angles. There is marginal evidence that the accuracy of atomic-coordinate e.s.d.'s also depends on diffractometer geometry, refinement procedure, whether or not the structure has a centre of symmetry, and the degree of precision attained in the structure determination. (orig.)

Measuring the residual stress of transparent conductive oxide films on PET by the double-beam shadow Moiré interferometer

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hsi-Chao; Huang, Kuo-Ting; Lo, Yen-Ming; Chiu, Hsuan-Yi; Chen, Guan-Jhen

2011-09-01

The purpose of this research was to construct a measurement system which can fast and accurately analyze the residual stress of the flexible electronics. The transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films, tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering using corresponding oxide targets on PET substrate. As we know that the shadow Moiré interferometry is a useable way to measure the large deformation. So we set up a double beam shadow Moiré interferometer to measure and analyze the residual stress of TCO films on PET. The feature was to develop a mathematical model and combine the image processing software. By the LabVIEW graphical software, we could measure the distance which is between the left and right fringe on the pattern to solve the curvature of deformed surface. Hence, the residual stress could calculate by the Stoney correction formula for the flexible electronics. By combining phase shifting method with shadow Moiré, the measurement resolution and accuracy have been greatly improved. We also had done the error analysis for the system whose relative error could be about 2%. Therefore, shadow Moiré interferometer is a non-destructive, fast, and simple system for the residual stress on TCO/PET films.

High-Precision Attitude Post-Processing and Initial Verification for the ZY-3 Satellite

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinming Tang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Attitude data, which is the important data strongly correlated with the geometric accuracy of optical remote sensing satellite images, are generally obtained using a real-time Extended Kalman Filter (EKF with star-tracker and gyro data for current high-resolution satellites, such as Orb-view, IKONOS, Quickbird,Pleiades, and ZY-3.We propose a forward-backward Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF for post-processing, and the proposed method employs UKF to suppress noise by using an unscented transformation (UT rather than an EKF in a nonlinear attitude system. Moreover, this method makes full use of the collected data in the fixed-interval and computational resources on the ground, and it determines optimal attitude results by forward-backward filtering and weighted smoothing with the raw star-tracker and gyro data collected for a fixed period. In this study, the principle and implementation of the proposed method are described. The post-processed attitude was compared with the on-board attitude, and the absolute accuracy was evaluated by the two methods. One method compares the positioning accuracy of the object space coordinates with the post-processed and on-board attitude data without using ground control points (GCPs. The other method compares the tie-point residuals of the image coordinates after a free net adjustment. In addition, the internal and external parameters of the camera were accurately calibrated before use for an objective evaluation of the attitude accuracy. The experimental results reveal that the accuracy of the post-processed attitude is superior to the accuracy of the on-board processed attitude. This method has been applied to the ZiYuan-3 satellite system for processing the raw star-tracker and gyro data daily.

UKF-based attitude determination method for gyroless satellite

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张红梅; 邓正隆

2004-01-01

UKF (unscented Kalman filtering) is a new filtering method suitable to nonlinear systems. The method need not linearize nonlinear systems at the prediction stage of filtering, which is indispensable in EKF (extended Kalman filtering). As a result, the linearization error is avoided, and the filtering accuracy is greatly improved. UKF is applied to the attitude determination for gyroless satellite. Simulations are made to compare the new filter with the traditional EKF.The results indicate that under same conditions, compared with EKF, UKF has faster convergence speed, higher filtering accuracy and more stable estimation performance.

Prediction of Active Site and Distal Residues in E. coli DNA Polymerase III alpha Polymerase Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Parasuram, Ramya; Coulther, Timothy A; Hollander, Judith M; Keston-Smith, Elise; Ondrechen, Mary Jo; Beuning, Penny J

2018-02-20

The process of DNA replication is carried out with high efficiency and accuracy by DNA polymerases. The replicative polymerase in E. coli is DNA Pol III, which is a complex of 10 different subunits that coordinates simultaneous replication on the leading and lagging strands. The 1160-residue Pol III alpha subunit is responsible for the polymerase activity and copies DNA accurately, making one error per 10 5 nucleotide incorporations. The goal of this research is to determine the residues that contribute to the activity of the polymerase subunit. Homology modeling and the computational methods of THEMATICS and POOL were used to predict functionally important amino acid residues through their computed chemical properties. Site-directed mutagenesis and biochemical assays were used to validate these predictions. Primer extension, steady-state single-nucleotide incorporation kinetics, and thermal denaturation assays were performed to understand the contribution of these residues to the function of the polymerase. This work shows that the top 15 residues predicted by POOL, a set that includes the three previously known catalytic aspartate residues, seven remote residues, plus five previously unexplored first-layer residues, are important for function. Six previously unidentified residues, R362, D405, K553, Y686, E688, and H760, are each essential to Pol III activity; three additional residues, Y340, R390, and K758, play important roles in activity.

Adaptive framework to better characterize errors of apriori fluxes and observational residuals in a Bayesian setup for the urban flux inversions.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, S.; Lopez-Coto, I.; Prasad, K.; Karion, A.; Mueller, K.; Gourdji, S.; Martin, C.; Whetstone, J. R.

2017-12-01

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) supports the North-East Corridor Baltimore Washington (NEC-B/W) project and Indianapolis Flux Experiment (INFLUX) aiming to quantify sources of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions as well as their uncertainties. These projects employ different flux estimation methods including top-down inversion approaches. The traditional Bayesian inversion method estimates emission distributions by updating prior information using atmospheric observations of Green House Gases (GHG) coupled to an atmospheric and dispersion model. The magnitude of the update is dependent upon the observed enhancement along with the assumed errors such as those associated with prior information and the atmospheric transport and dispersion model. These errors are specified within the inversion covariance matrices. The assumed structure and magnitude of the specified errors can have large impact on the emission estimates from the inversion. The main objective of this work is to build a data-adaptive model for these covariances matrices. We construct a synthetic data experiment using a Kalman Filter inversion framework (Lopez et al., 2017) employing different configurations of transport and dispersion model and an assumed prior. Unlike previous traditional Bayesian approaches, we estimate posterior emissions using regularized sample covariance matrices associated with prior errors to investigate whether the structure of the matrices help to better recover our hypothetical true emissions. To incorporate transport model error, we use ensemble of transport models combined with space-time analytical covariance to construct a covariance that accounts for errors in space and time. A Kalman Filter is then run using these covariances along with Maximum Likelihood Estimates (MLE) of the involved parameters. Preliminary results indicate that specifying sptio-temporally varying errors in the error covariances can improve the flux estimates and uncertainties. We

A multi-sensor burned area algorithm for crop residue burning in northwestern India: validation and sources of error

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, T.; Marlier, M. E.; Karambelas, A. N.; Jain, M.; DeFries, R. S.

2017-12-01

A leading source of outdoor emissions in northwestern India comes from crop residue burning after the annual monsoon (kharif) and winter (rabi) crop harvests. Agricultural burned area, from which agricultural fire emissions are often derived, can be poorly quantified due to the mismatch between moderate-resolution satellite sensors and the relatively small size and short burn period of the fires. Many previous studies use the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED), which is based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burned area product MCD64A1, as an outdoor fires emissions dataset. Correction factors with MODIS active fire detections have previously attempted to account for small fires. We present a new burned area classification algorithm that leverages more frequent MODIS observations (500 m x 500 m) with higher spatial resolution Landsat (30 m x 30 m) observations. Our approach is based on two-tailed Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) thresholds, abbreviated as ModL2T NBR, and results in an estimated 104 ± 55% higher burned area than GFEDv4.1s (version 4, MCD64A1 + small fires correction) in northwestern India during the 2003-2014 winter (October to November) burning seasons. Regional transport of winter fire emissions affect approximately 63 million people downwind. The general increase in burned area (+37% from 2003-2007 to 2008-2014) over the study period also correlates with increased mechanization (+58% in combine harvester usage from 2001-2002 to 2011-2012). Further, we find strong correlation between ModL2T NBR-derived burned area and results of an independent survey (r = 0.68) and previous studies (r = 0.92). Sources of error arise from small median landholding sizes (1-3 ha), heterogeneous spatial distribution of two dominant burning practices (partial and whole field), coarse spatio-temporal satellite resolution, cloud and haze cover, and limited Landsat scene availability. The burned area estimates of this study can be used to build

Indirect Adaptive Attitude Control for a Ducted Fan Vertical Takeoff and Landing Microaerial Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shouzhao Sheng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The present paper addresses an attitude tracking control problem of a ducted fan microaerial vehicle. The proposed indirect adaptive controller can greatly reduce tracking error in the initial stage of the adaptive learning process by using an error compensation strategy and can achieve good capability to eliminate the adverse effect of measurement noises on the convergence of adjustable parameters. Moreover, the learning rate adaptation strategy is proposed to further minimize the adverse effect of large learning rates on the convergence of adjustable parameters. The experimental tests have illustrated the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive controller.

Challenge and Error: Critical Events and Attention-Related Errors

Science.gov (United States)

Cheyne, James Allan; Carriere, Jonathan S. A.; Solman, Grayden J. F.; Smilek, Daniel

2011-01-01

Attention lapses resulting from reactivity to task challenges and their consequences constitute a pervasive factor affecting everyday performance errors and accidents. A bidirectional model of attention lapses (error [image omitted] attention-lapse: Cheyne, Solman, Carriere, & Smilek, 2009) argues that errors beget errors by generating attention…

Error forecasting schemes of error correction at receiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhunia, C.T.

2007-08-01

To combat error in computer communication networks, ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) techniques are used. Recently Chakraborty has proposed a simple technique called the packet combining scheme in which error is corrected at the receiver from the erroneous copies. Packet Combining (PC) scheme fails: (i) when bit error locations in erroneous copies are the same and (ii) when multiple bit errors occur. Both these have been addressed recently by two schemes known as Packet Reversed Packet Combining (PRPC) Scheme, and Modified Packet Combining (MPC) Scheme respectively. In the letter, two error forecasting correction schemes are reported, which in combination with PRPC offer higher throughput. (author)

Measurement of plutonium and americium in molten salt residues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haas, F.X.; Lawless, J.L.; Herren, W.E.; Hughes, M.E.

1979-01-01

The measurement of plutonium and americium in molten salt residues using a segmented gamma-ray scanning device is described. This system was calibrated using artificially fabricated as well as process generated samples. All samples were calorimetered and the americium to plutonium content of the samples determined by gamma-ray spectroscopy. For the nine samples calorimetered thus far, no significant biases are present in the comparison of the segmented gamma-ray assay and the calorimetric assay. Estimated errors are of the order of 10 percent and is dependent on the americium to plutonium ratio determination

Does the professional attitude of physicians always affect their professional behaviour? A survey in tertiary hospitals in Nanchang City, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xuan; Wang, Xuan; Du, Xin; Du, Xin; Liu, Chenxi; Liu, Chenxi; Zhang, Xinping; Zhang, Xinping

2018-03-23

Objective Understanding the effect of professional attitude on professional behaviour is conducive to the development of targeted measures to promote professionalism. The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of professional attitude on professional behaviour. Methods Using a self-reported questionnaire, 212 physicians were surveyed using quota sampling in six tertiary hospitals in Nanchang City. The effect of professional attitude on professional behaviour was analysed through logistic regression analysis. Results Providing necessary care regardless of a patient's ability to pay, working on quality improvement initiatives, informing patients of medical errors and reporting incompetent colleagues had significant positive effects on corresponding professional behaviour (odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) 11.06 (3.78, 32.40), 9.42 (1.93, 46.01), 4.04 (1.29, 12.63) and 5.51 (1.26, 24.08) respectively). However, attitudes towards minimising disparities in care, undergoing periodic recertification examinations and reporting medical errors did not significantly affect corresponding professional behaviour. Conclusions Professional attitude affects professional behaviour, but such an effect varies with different professional norms. These findings imply that improving the professional attitude is useful but insufficient to promote medical professionalism. A management system conducive to the conversion of professional attitude to professional behaviour should be established. What is known about the topic? Several studies have affirmed that Chinese physicians accept most areas of medical professionalism embodied in the Charter on Medical Professionalism. However, only a few published studies have examined the effect of professional attitude on professional behaviour. Understanding the effect of professional attitude on professional behaviour is conducive to the development of targeted measures to promote professionalism. The present study attempted to fill

Canadian drivers' attitudes regarding preventative responses to driving while impaired by alcohol.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanlaar, Ward; Nadeau, Louise; McKiernan, Anna; Hing, Marisela M; Ouimet, Marie Claude; Brown, Thomas G

2017-09-01

In many jurisdictions, a risk assessment following a first driving while impaired (DWI) offence is used to guide administrative decision making regarding driver relicensing. Decision error in this process has important consequences for public security on one hand, and the social and economic well being of drivers on the other. Decision theory posits that consideration of the costs and benefits of decision error is needed, and in the public health context, this should include community attitudes. The objective of the present study was to clarify whether Canadians prefer decision error that: i) better protects the public (i.e., false positives); or ii) better protects the offender (i.e., false negatives). A random sample of male and female adult drivers (N=1213) from the five most populated regions of Canada was surveyed on drivers' preference for a protection of the public approach versus a protection of DWI drivers approach in resolving assessment decision error, and the relative value (i.e., value ratio) they imparted to both approaches. The role of region, sex and age on drivers' value ratio were also appraised. Seventy percent of Canadian drivers preferred a protection of the public from DWI approach, with the overall relative ratio given to this preference, compared to the alternative protection of the driver approach, being 3:1. Females expressed a significantly higher value ratio (M=3.4, SD=3.5) than males (M=3.0, SD=3.4), pvalue ratios, R 2 (adj.)=0.014, pAccounting for community attitudes concerning DWI prevention and the individual differences that influence them could contribute to more informed, coherent and effective regional policies and prevention program development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Machine and component residual life estimation through the application of neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herzog, M.A.; Marwala, T.; Heyns, P.S.

2009-01-01

This paper concerns the use of neural networks for predicting the residual life of machines and components. In addition, the advantage of using condition-monitoring data to enhance the predictive capability of these neural networks was also investigated. A number of neural network variations were trained and tested with the data of two different reliability-related datasets. The first dataset represents the renewal case where the failed unit is repaired and restored to a good-as-new condition. Data were collected in the laboratory by subjecting a series of similar test pieces to fatigue loading with a hydraulic actuator. The average prediction error of the various neural networks being compared varied from 431 to 841 s on this dataset, where test pieces had a characteristic life of 8971 s. The second dataset were collected from a group of pumps used to circulate a water and magnetite solution within a plant. The data therefore originated from a repaired system affected by reliability degradation. When optimized, the multi-layer perceptron neural networks trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm and the general regression neural network produced a sum-of-squares error within 11.1% of each other for the renewal dataset. The small number of inputs and poorly mapped input space on the second dataset meant that much larger errors were recorded on some of the test data. The potential for using neural networks for residual life prediction and the advantage of incorporating condition-based data into the model was nevertheless proven for both examples

A formal likelihood function for parameter and predictive inference of hydrologic models with correlated, heteroscedastic, and non-Gaussian errors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoups, G.; Vrugt, J.A.

2010-01-01

Estimation of parameter and predictive uncertainty of hydrologic models has traditionally relied on several simplifying assumptions. Residual errors are often assumed to be independent and to be adequately described by a Gaussian probability distribution with a mean of zero and a constant variance.

Operator errors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knuefer; Lindauer

1980-01-01

Besides that at spectacular events a combination of component failure and human error is often found. Especially the Rasmussen-Report and the German Risk Assessment Study show for pressurised water reactors that human error must not be underestimated. Although operator errors as a form of human error can never be eliminated entirely, they can be minimized and their effects kept within acceptable limits if a thorough training of personnel is combined with an adequate design of the plant against accidents. Contrary to the investigation of engineering errors, the investigation of human errors has so far been carried out with relatively small budgets. Intensified investigations in this field appear to be a worthwhile effort. (orig.)

Multilevel models for multiple-baseline data: modeling across-participant variation in autocorrelation and residual variance.

Science.gov (United States)

Baek, Eun Kyeng; Ferron, John M

2013-03-01

Multilevel models (MLM) have been used as a method for analyzing multiple-baseline single-case data. However, some concerns can be raised because the models that have been used assume that the Level-1 error covariance matrix is the same for all participants. The purpose of this study was to extend the application of MLM of single-case data in order to accommodate across-participant variation in the Level-1 residual variance and autocorrelation. This more general model was then used in the analysis of single-case data sets to illustrate the method, to estimate the degree to which the autocorrelation and residual variances differed across participants, and to examine whether inferences about treatment effects were sensitive to whether or not the Level-1 error covariance matrix was allowed to vary across participants. The results from the analyses of five published studies showed that when the Level-1 error covariance matrix was allowed to vary across participants, some relatively large differences in autocorrelation estimates and error variance estimates emerged. The changes in modeling the variance structure did not change the conclusions about which fixed effects were statistically significant in most of the studies, but there was one exception. The fit indices did not consistently support selecting either the more complex covariance structure, which allowed the covariance parameters to vary across participants, or the simpler covariance structure. Given the uncertainty in model specification that may arise when modeling single-case data, researchers should consider conducting sensitivity analyses to examine the degree to which their conclusions are sensitive to modeling choices.

Spacecraft attitude and velocity control system

Science.gov (United States)

Paluszek, Michael A. (Inventor); Piper, Jr., George E. (Inventor)

1992-01-01

A spacecraft attitude and/or velocity control system includes a controller which responds to at least attitude errors to produce command signals representing a force vector F and a torque vector T, each having three orthogonal components, which represent the forces and torques which are to be generated by the thrusters. The thrusters may include magnetic torquer or reaction wheels. Six difference equations are generated, three having the form ##EQU1## where a.sub.j is the maximum torque which the j.sup.th thruster can produce, b.sub.j is the maximum force which the j.sup.th thruster can produce, and .alpha..sub.j is a variable representing the throttling factor of the j.sup.th thruster, which may range from zero to unity. The six equations are summed to produce a single scalar equation relating variables .alpha..sub.j to a performance index Z: ##EQU2## Those values of .alpha. which maximize the value of Z are determined by a method for solving linear equations, such as a linear programming method. The Simplex method may be used. The values of .alpha..sub.j are applied to control the corresponding thrusters.

It's all in the attitude: The role of job attitude strength in job attitude-outcome relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Schleicher, Deidra J; Smith, Troy A; Casper, Wendy J; Watt, John D; Greguras, Gary J

2015-07-01

Integrating attitude theory with the job attitudes literature, we position job attitude strength (JAS) as a missing yet important theoretical concept in the study of job attitudes. We examine JAS as a moderator of the relationship between job satisfaction and several criteria of interest to organizational scholars (job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, withdrawal). We also examine multiple relevant indicators of JAS (i.e., attitude certainty, attitude extremity, latitude of rejection, and structural consistency), both to shed light on its conceptual nature and to provide meaningful practical direction to researchers interested in incorporating JAS into job attitude research. Data were collected in five field samples (total N = 816). Results support our hypotheses: JAS moderates the relationships between job satisfaction and performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intentions; in each case, these relationships are significantly stronger for employees with stronger job satisfaction attitudes. However, as expected, not all JAS indicators are equally effective as moderators. We discuss our findings in terms of their theoretical, empirical, and practical implications for the future study of job attitudes. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Analysis and Compensation of Modulation Angular Rate Error Based on Missile-Borne Rotation Semi-Strapdown Inertial Navigation System

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Jiayu Zhang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The Semi-Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (SSINS provides a new solution to attitude measurement of a high-speed rotating missile. However, micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS inertial measurement unit (MIMU outputs are corrupted by significant sensor errors. In order to improve the navigation precision, a rotation modulation technology method called Rotation Semi-Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (RSSINS is introduced into SINS. In fact, the stability of the modulation angular rate is difficult to achieve in a high-speed rotation environment. The changing rotary angular rate has an impact on the inertial sensor error self-compensation. In this paper, the influence of modulation angular rate error, including acceleration-deceleration process, and instability of the angular rate on the navigation accuracy of RSSINS is deduced and the error characteristics of the reciprocating rotation scheme are analyzed. A new compensation method is proposed to remove or reduce sensor errors so as to make it possible to maintain high precision autonomous navigation performance by MIMU when there is no external aid. Experiments have been carried out to validate the performance of the method. In addition, the proposed method is applicable for modulation angular rate error compensation under various dynamic conditions.

Spacecraft attitude control using neuro-fuzzy approximation of the optimal controllers

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sung-Woo; Park, Sang-Young; Park, Chandeok

2016-01-01

In this study, a neuro-fuzzy controller (NFC) was developed for spacecraft attitude control to mitigate large computational load of the state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) controller. The NFC was developed by training a neuro-fuzzy network to approximate the SDRE controller. The stability of the NFC was numerically verified using a Lyapunov-based method, and the performance of the controller was analyzed in terms of approximation ability, steady-state error, cost, and execution time. The simulations and test results indicate that the developed NFC efficiently approximates the SDRE controller, with asymptotic stability in a bounded region of angular velocity encompassing the operational range of rapid-attitude maneuvers. In addition, it was shown that an approximated optimal feedback controller can be designed successfully through neuro-fuzzy approximation of the optimal open-loop controller.

An Application of UAV Attitude Estimation Using a Low-Cost Inertial Navigation System

Science.gov (United States)

Eure, Kenneth W.; Quach, Cuong Chi; Vazquez, Sixto L.; Hogge, Edward F.; Hill, Boyd L.

2013-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are playing an increasing role in aviation. Various methods exist for the computation of UAV attitude based on low cost microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. There has been a recent increase in UAV autonomy as sensors are becoming more compact and onboard processing power has increased significantly. Correct UAV attitude estimation will play a critical role in navigation and separation assurance as UAVs share airspace with civil air traffic. This paper describes attitude estimation derived by post-processing data from a small low cost Inertial Navigation System (INS) recorded during the flight of a subscale commercial off the shelf (COTS) UAV. Two discrete time attitude estimation schemes are presented here in detail. The first is an adaptation of the Kalman Filter to accommodate nonlinear systems, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The EKF returns quaternion estimates of the UAV attitude based on MEMS gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer, and pitot tube inputs. The second scheme is the complementary filter which is a simpler algorithm that splits the sensor frequency spectrum based on noise characteristics. The necessity to correct both filters for gravity measurement errors during turning maneuvers is demonstrated. It is shown that the proposed algorithms may be used to estimate UAV attitude. The effects of vibration on sensor measurements are discussed. Heuristic tuning comments pertaining to sensor filtering and gain selection to achieve acceptable performance during flight are given. Comparisons of attitude estimation performance are made between the EKF and the complementary filter.

On the generalization of attitude accessibility after repeated attitude expression

Science.gov (United States)

Spruyt, Adriaan; Fazio, Russell H.; Hermans, Dirk

2016-01-01

Abstract The more accessible an attitude is, the stronger is its influence on information processing and behavior. Accessibility can be increased through attitude rehearsal, but it remains unknown whether attitude rehearsal also affects the accessibility of related attitudes. To investigate this hypothesis, participants in an experimental condition repeatedly expressed their attitudes towards exemplars of several semantic categories during an evaluative categorization task. Participants in a control condition performed a non‐evaluative task with the same exemplars and evaluated unrelated attitude objects. After a 30‐minute interval, participants in the experimental condition were faster than controls to evaluate not only the original exemplars but also novel exemplars of the same categories. This finding suggests that the effect of attitude rehearsal on accessibility generalizes to attitudes towards untrained but semantically related attitude objects. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:28701803

The Effect of Advertising on Attitude Accessibility, Attitude Confidence, and the Attitude-Behavior Relationship.

OpenAIRE

Berger, Ida E; Mitchell, Andrew A

1989-01-01

The influence of advertising repetition on several non-evaluative dimensions of attitudes and the strength of the relationship between attitudes and behavior are examined. The results indicate that attitudes formed on the basis of repeated ad exposure are similar to those formed on the basis of direct experience in that they are more accessible from memory, held with more confidence, and are more predictive of subsequent behavior than are attitudes based on a single ad exposure. The results a...

Predictive Sliding Mode Control for Attitude Tracking of Hypersonic Vehicles Using Fuzzy Disturbance Observer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianlei Cheng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a predictive sliding mode control (PSMC scheme for attitude control of hypersonic vehicle (HV with system uncertainties and external disturbances based on an improved fuzzy disturbance observer (IFDO. First, for a class of uncertain affine nonlinear systems with system uncertainties and external disturbances, we propose a predictive sliding mode control based on fuzzy disturbance observer (FDO-PSMC, which is used to estimate the composite disturbances containing system uncertainties and external disturbances. Afterward, to enhance the composite disturbances rejection performance, an improved FDO-PSMC (IFDO-PSMC is proposed by incorporating a hyperbolic tangent function with FDO to compensate for the approximate error of FDO. Finally, considering the actuator dynamics, the proposed IFDO-PSMC is applied to attitude control system design for HV to track the guidance commands with high precision and strong robustness. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed attitude control scheme.

Statistical errors in Monte Carlo estimates of systematic errors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roe, Byron P. [Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)]. E-mail: byronroe@umich.edu

2007-01-01

For estimating the effects of a number of systematic errors on a data sample, one can generate Monte Carlo (MC) runs with systematic parameters varied and examine the change in the desired observed result. Two methods are often used. In the unisim method, the systematic parameters are varied one at a time by one standard deviation, each parameter corresponding to a MC run. In the multisim method (see ), each MC run has all of the parameters varied; the amount of variation is chosen from the expected distribution of each systematic parameter, usually assumed to be a normal distribution. The variance of the overall systematic error determination is derived for each of the two methods and comparisons are made between them. If one focuses not on the error in the prediction of an individual systematic error, but on the overall error due to all systematic errors in the error matrix element in data bin m, the number of events needed is strongly reduced because of the averaging effect over all of the errors. For simple models presented here the multisim model was far better if the statistical error in the MC samples was larger than an individual systematic error, while for the reverse case, the unisim model was better. Exact formulas and formulas for the simple toy models are presented so that realistic calculations can be made. The calculations in the present note are valid if the errors are in a linear region. If that region extends sufficiently far, one can have the unisims or multisims correspond to k standard deviations instead of one. This reduces the number of events required by a factor of k{sup 2}.

Statistical errors in Monte Carlo estimates of systematic errors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roe, Byron P.

2007-01-01

For estimating the effects of a number of systematic errors on a data sample, one can generate Monte Carlo (MC) runs with systematic parameters varied and examine the change in the desired observed result. Two methods are often used. In the unisim method, the systematic parameters are varied one at a time by one standard deviation, each parameter corresponding to a MC run. In the multisim method (see ), each MC run has all of the parameters varied; the amount of variation is chosen from the expected distribution of each systematic parameter, usually assumed to be a normal distribution. The variance of the overall systematic error determination is derived for each of the two methods and comparisons are made between them. If one focuses not on the error in the prediction of an individual systematic error, but on the overall error due to all systematic errors in the error matrix element in data bin m, the number of events needed is strongly reduced because of the averaging effect over all of the errors. For simple models presented here the multisim model was far better if the statistical error in the MC samples was larger than an individual systematic error, while for the reverse case, the unisim model was better. Exact formulas and formulas for the simple toy models are presented so that realistic calculations can be made. The calculations in the present note are valid if the errors are in a linear region. If that region extends sufficiently far, one can have the unisims or multisims correspond to k standard deviations instead of one. This reduces the number of events required by a factor of k 2

A heteroskedastic error covariance matrix estimator using a first-order conditional autoregressive Markov simulation for deriving asympotical efficient estimates from ecological sampled Anopheles arabiensis aquatic habitat covariates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Githure John I

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Autoregressive regression coefficients for Anopheles arabiensis aquatic habitat models are usually assessed using global error techniques and are reported as error covariance matrices. A global statistic, however, will summarize error estimates from multiple habitat locations. This makes it difficult to identify where there are clusters of An. arabiensis aquatic habitats of acceptable prediction. It is therefore useful to conduct some form of spatial error analysis to detect clusters of An. arabiensis aquatic habitats based on uncertainty residuals from individual sampled habitats. In this research, a method of error estimation for spatial simulation models was demonstrated using autocorrelation indices and eigenfunction spatial filters to distinguish among the effects of parameter uncertainty on a stochastic simulation of ecological sampled Anopheles aquatic habitat covariates. A test for diagnostic checking error residuals in an An. arabiensis aquatic habitat model may enable intervention efforts targeting productive habitats clusters, based on larval/pupal productivity, by using the asymptotic distribution of parameter estimates from a residual autocovariance matrix. The models considered in this research extends a normal regression analysis previously considered in the literature. Methods Field and remote-sampled data were collected during July 2006 to December 2007 in Karima rice-village complex in Mwea, Kenya. SAS 9.1.4® was used to explore univariate statistics, correlations, distributions, and to generate global autocorrelation statistics from the ecological sampled datasets. A local autocorrelation index was also generated using spatial covariance parameters (i.e., Moran's Indices in a SAS/GIS® database. The Moran's statistic was decomposed into orthogonal and uncorrelated synthetic map pattern components using a Poisson model with a gamma-distributed mean (i.e. negative binomial regression. The eigenfunction

Residual stresses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahotra, I.M.

2006-01-01

The principal effect of unloading a material strained into the plastic range is to create a permanent set (plastic deformation), which if restricted somehow, gives rise to a system of self-balancing within the same member or reaction balanced by other members of the structure., known as residual stresses. These stresses stay there as locked-in stresses, in the body or a part of it in the absence of any external loading. Residual stresses are induced during hot-rolling and welding differential cooling, cold-forming and extruding: cold straightening and spot heating, fabrication and forced fitting of components constraining the structure to a particular geometry. The areas which cool more quickly develop residual compressive stresses, while the slower cooling areas develop residual tensile stresses, and a self-balancing or reaction balanced system of residual stresses is formed. The phenomenon of residual stresses is the most challenging in its application in surface modification techniques determining endurance mechanism against fracture and fatigue failures. This paper discusses the mechanism of residual stresses, that how the residual stresses are fanned and what their behavior is under the action of external forces. Such as in the case of a circular bar under limit torque, rectangular beam under limt moment, reclaiming of shafts welds and peening etc. (author)

Computation of a Reference Model for Robust Fault Detection and Isolation Residual Generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel Mazars

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers matrix inequality procedures to address the robust fault detection and isolation (FDI problem for linear time-invariant systems subject to disturbances, faults, and polytopic or norm-bounded uncertainties. We propose a design procedure for an FDI filter that aims to minimize a weighted combination of the sensitivity of the residual signal to disturbances and modeling errors, and the deviation of the faults to residual dynamics from a fault to residual reference model, using the ℋ∞-norm as a measure. A key step in our procedure is the design of an optimal fault reference model. We show that the optimal design requires the solution of a quadratic matrix inequality (QMI optimization problem. Since the solution of the optimal problem is intractable, we propose a linearization technique to derive a numerically tractable suboptimal design procedure that requires the solution of a linear matrix inequality (LMI optimization. A jet engine example is employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Model predictive and reallocation problem for CubeSat fault recovery and attitude control

Science.gov (United States)

Franchi, Loris; Feruglio, Lorenzo; Mozzillo, Raffaele; Corpino, Sabrina

2018-01-01

In recent years, thanks to the increase of the know-how on machine-learning techniques and the advance of the computational capabilities of on-board processing, expensive computing algorithms, such as Model Predictive Control, have begun to spread in space applications even on small on-board processor. The paper presents an algorithm for an optimal fault recovery of a 3U CubeSat, developed in MathWorks Matlab & Simulink environment. This algorithm involves optimization techniques aiming at obtaining the optimal recovery solution, and involves a Model Predictive Control approach for the attitude control. The simulated system is a CubeSat in Low Earth Orbit: the attitude control is performed with three magnetic torquers and a single reaction wheel. The simulation neglects the errors in the attitude determination of the satellite, and focuses on the recovery approach and control method. The optimal recovery approach takes advantage of the properties of magnetic actuation, which gives the possibility of the redistribution of the control action when a fault occurs on a single magnetic torquer, even in absence of redundant actuators. In addition, the paper presents the results of the implementation of Model Predictive approach to control the attitude of the satellite.

Attitudes toward clinical autopsy in unexpected patient deaths in Japan: a nation-wide survey of the general public and physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamishiraki, Etsuko; Maeda, Shoichi; Starkey, Jay; Ikeda, Noriaki

2012-12-01

Autopsy is a useful tool for understanding the cause and manner of unexpected patient death. However, the attitudes of the general public and physicians in Japan about clinical autopsy are limited. To describe the beliefs of the general public about whether autopsy should be performed and ascertain if they would actually request one given specific clinical situations where patient death occurred with the additional variable of medical error. To compare these attitudes with previously obtained attitudes of physicians practising at Japanese teaching hospitals. We conducted a cross-sectional study of the general public. We sent standardised questionnaires in 2010 to a randomly selected non-physician adult population using a survey company for participant selection. Respondents gave their opinions about the necessity of autopsy and how they might act given various clinical scenarios of patient death. We compared these results with those of a previous survey of Japanese physicians conducted in 2009. Of the 2300 eligible general adult population, 1575 (68.5%) responded. The majority of the general public indicated they believed an autopsy was necessary. However, in cases of unclear medical error or unclear cause and effect relationship of medical care and patient death, the general public were much less likely to indicate they would actually request an autopsy than were physicians (pcase of error related to death is underway. The results from this study will be important in informing related decisions.

Field error lottery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, C.J.; McVey, B. (Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)); Quimby, D.C. (Spectra Technology, Inc., Bellevue, WA (USA))

1990-01-01

The level of field errors in an FEL is an important determinant of its performance. We have computed 3D performance of a large laser subsystem subjected to field errors of various types. These calculations have been guided by simple models such as SWOOP. The technique of choice is utilization of the FELEX free electron laser code that now possesses extensive engineering capabilities. Modeling includes the ability to establish tolerances of various types: fast and slow scale field bowing, field error level, beam position monitor error level, gap errors, defocusing errors, energy slew, displacement and pointing errors. Many effects of these errors on relative gain and relative power extraction are displayed and are the essential elements of determining an error budget. The random errors also depend on the particular random number seed used in the calculation. The simultaneous display of the performance versus error level of cases with multiple seeds illustrates the variations attributable to stochasticity of this model. All these errors are evaluated numerically for comprehensive engineering of the system. In particular, gap errors are found to place requirements beyond mechanical tolerances of {plus minus}25{mu}m, and amelioration of these may occur by a procedure utilizing direct measurement of the magnetic fields at assembly time. 4 refs., 12 figs.

Statistical evaluation of design-error related nuclear reactor accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ott, K.O.; Marchaterre, J.F.

1981-01-01

In this paper, general methodology for the statistical evaluation of design-error related accidents is proposed that can be applied to a variety of systems that evolves during the development of large-scale technologies. The evaluation aims at an estimate of the combined ''residual'' frequency of yet unknown types of accidents ''lurking'' in a certain technological system. A special categorization in incidents and accidents is introduced to define the events that should be jointly analyzed. The resulting formalism is applied to the development of U.S. nuclear power reactor technology, considering serious accidents (category 2 events) that involved, in the accident progression, a particular design inadequacy. 9 refs

Errors in clinical laboratories or errors in laboratory medicine?

Science.gov (United States)

Plebani, Mario

2006-01-01

Laboratory testing is a highly complex process and, although laboratory services are relatively safe, they are not as safe as they could or should be. Clinical laboratories have long focused their attention on quality control methods and quality assessment programs dealing with analytical aspects of testing. However, a growing body of evidence accumulated in recent decades demonstrates that quality in clinical laboratories cannot be assured by merely focusing on purely analytical aspects. The more recent surveys on errors in laboratory medicine conclude that in the delivery of laboratory testing, mistakes occur more frequently before (pre-analytical) and after (post-analytical) the test has been performed. Most errors are due to pre-analytical factors (46-68.2% of total errors), while a high error rate (18.5-47% of total errors) has also been found in the post-analytical phase. Errors due to analytical problems have been significantly reduced over time, but there is evidence that, particularly for immunoassays, interference may have a serious impact on patients. A description of the most frequent and risky pre-, intra- and post-analytical errors and advice on practical steps for measuring and reducing the risk of errors is therefore given in the present paper. Many mistakes in the Total Testing Process are called "laboratory errors", although these may be due to poor communication, action taken by others involved in the testing process (e.g., physicians, nurses and phlebotomists), or poorly designed processes, all of which are beyond the laboratory's control. Likewise, there is evidence that laboratory information is only partially utilized. A recent document from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recommends a new, broader definition of the term "laboratory error" and a classification of errors according to different criteria. In a modern approach to total quality, centered on patients' needs and satisfaction, the risk of errors and mistakes

ERF/ERFC, Calculation of Error Function, Complementary Error Function, Probability Integrals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogel, J.E.

1983-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: ERF and ERFC are used to compute values of the error function and complementary error function for any real number. They may be used to compute other related functions such as the normal probability integrals. 4. Method of solution: The error function and complementary error function are approximated by rational functions. Three such rational approximations are used depending on whether - x .GE.4.0. In the first region the error function is computed directly and the complementary error function is computed via the identity erfc(x)=1.0-erf(x). In the other two regions the complementary error function is computed directly and the error function is computed from the identity erf(x)=1.0-erfc(x). The error function and complementary error function are real-valued functions of any real argument. The range of the error function is (-1,1). The range of the complementary error function is (0,2). 5. Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: The user is cautioned against using ERF to compute the complementary error function by using the identity erfc(x)=1.0-erf(x). This subtraction may cause partial or total loss of significance for certain values of x

Residual stresses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macherauch, E.

1978-01-01

Residual stresses are stresses which exist in a material without the influence of external powers and moments. They come into existence when the volume of a material constantly changes its form as a consequence of mechanical, thermal, and/or chemical processes and is hindered by neighbouring volumes. Bodies with residual stress are in mechanical balance. These residual stresses can be manifested by means of all mechanical interventions disturbing this balance. Acoustical, optical, radiological, and magnetical methods involving material changes caused by residual stress can also serve for determining residual stress. Residual stresses have an ambivalent character. In technical practice, they are feared and liked at the same time. They cause trouble because they can be the cause for unexpected behaviour of construction elements. They are feared since they can cause failure, in the worst case with catastrophical consequences. They are appreciated, on the other hand, because, in many cases, they can contribute to improvements of the material behaviour under certain circumstances. But they are especially liked for their giving convenient and (this is most important) mostly uncontrollable explanations. For only in very few cases we have enough knowledge and possibilities for the objective evaluation of residual stresses. (orig.) [de

Mistakes, Errors and Foul-Ups: Practice-Based Evidence for Evidence Based Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Turner

2016-11-01

events: alterations to a standard anaesthetic protocol in light of a clinical audit led to a demonstrable improvement in one North American university hospital (Hofmeister et al. 2014.Research into the progenitors of mistakes in practice reveal the effect of poor communication and a lack of team work (Kinnison et al. 2015. Research has also investigated vets’ attitudes toward error and their experiences of it. The psychological precursors to error in our industry seem to mirror those found in human medicine (Oxtoby et al. 2015. The evidence supporting a new attitude and approach to veterinary patient safety is growing.

A methodology for translating positional error into measures of attribute error, and combining the two error sources

Science.gov (United States)

Yohay Carmel; Curtis Flather; Denis Dean

2006-01-01

This paper summarizes our efforts to investigate the nature, behavior, and implications of positional error and attribute error in spatiotemporal datasets. Estimating the combined influence of these errors on map analysis has been hindered by the fact that these two error types are traditionally expressed in different units (distance units, and categorical units,...

Roll Attitude Determination of Spin Projectile Based on GPS and Magnetoresistive Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dandan Yuan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Improvement in attack accuracy of the spin projectiles is a very significant objective, which increases the overall combat efficiency of projectiles. The accurate determination of the projectile roll attitude is the recent objective of the efficient guidance and control. The roll measurement system for the spin projectile is commonly based on the magnetoresistive sensor. It is well known that the magnetoresistive sensor produces a sinusoidally oscillating signal whose frequency slowly decays with time, besides the possibility of blind spot. On the other hand, absolute sensors such as GPS have fixed errors even though the update rates are generally low. To earn the benefit while eliminating weaknesses from both types of sensors, a mathematical model using filtering technique can be designed to integrate the magnetoresistive sensor and GPS measurements. In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to integrate the magnetoresistive sensor and GPS measurements in order to get an accurate prediction of projectile roll attitude in a real flight time. The proposed model is verified using numerical simulations, which illustrated that the accuracy of the roll attitude measurement is improved.

Attitudes of second language students towards self-editing their own written texts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Kasule

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Recognizing students’ deliberate e!orts to minimize errors in their written texts is valuable in seeing them as responsible active agents in text creation. This paper reports on a brief survey of the attitudes towards self-editing of seventy university students using a questionnaire and class discussion. The context of the study is characterized by its emphasis on evaluating the finished written product. Findings show that students appreciate the role of self-editing in minimizing errors in their texts and that it helps in eventually producing well-written texts. Conceptualizing writing as discourse and therefore as social practice leads to an understanding of writers as socially-situated actors; repositions the student writer as an active agent in text creation; and is central to student-centred pedagogy. We recommend the recognition of self-editing as a vital element in the writing process and that additional error detection mechanisms namely peers, the lecturer, and the computer, increase student autonomy.

Rigid Body Attitude Control Based on a Manifold Representation of Direction Cosine Matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakath, David; Clemens, Joachim; Rachuy, Carsten

2017-01-01

Autonomous systems typically actively observe certain aspects of their surroundings, which makes them dependent on a suitable controller. However, building an attitude controller for three degrees of freedom is a challenging task, mainly due to singularities in the different parametrizations of the three dimensional rotation group SO (3). Thus, we propose an attitude controller based on a manifold representation of direction cosine matrices: In state space, the attitude is globally and uniquely represented as a direction cosine matrix R ∈ SO (3). However, differences in the state space, i.e., the attitude errors, are exposed to the controller in the vector space ℝ 3 . This is achieved by an operator, which integrates the matrix logarithm mapping from SO (3) to so(3) and the map from so(3) to ℝ 3 . Based on this representation, we derive a proportional and derivative feedback controller, whose output has an upper bound to prevent actuator saturation. Additionally, the feedback is preprocessed by a particle filter to account for measurement and state transition noise. We evaluate our approach in a simulator in three different spacecraft maneuver scenarios: (i) stabilizing, (ii) rest-to-rest, and (iii) nadir-pointing. The controller exhibits stable behavior from initial attitudes near and far from the setpoint. Furthermore, it is able to stabilize a spacecraft and can be used for nadir-pointing maneuvers. (paper)

Retraction: Adyel et al. Health Risk Assessment of Pesticide Residues via Dietary Intake of Market Vegetables from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Foods 2013, 2, 64–75

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Shakhaoat Hossain

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The following article [1], doi: 10.3390/foods2010064, website: http://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/2/1/64, has been retracted by the authors because of some major errors in broad field of pesticide residues identification and concentrations. During random cross check retention time of pesticides by HPLC did not match with the standards of detected pesticides. As a result concentration of all detected pesticides, maximum residue limits (MRLs and health risk assessments were changed. All these errors made the article [1] as a wrong one. All authors have confirmed that the reported results produced using quite inappropriate procedures. As first author herein, I take full responsibility for the retraction of our experiments and any other errors in its contents, and would like to offer my apologies on behalf of my co-authors to the readership of Foods for any inconveniences caused by this retraction.

Residual stresses in a weldment of pressure vessel steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gott, K.E.

1978-01-01

A study was made of the distribution of residual stresses around a typical weld from a light water reactor pressure vessel by an X-ray double-exposure camera technique. So that the magnitude, sign, and distribution of the residual stresses were as similar as possible to those found in practice, a wide, full-thickness specimen of A533B Cl 1 steel containing a submerged-arc weld was stress-relief annealed. To obtain a three-dimensional distribution of the stresses the specimen was examined at different levels through the thickness. Following the removal of material by milling, the specimen surface was electropolished to free it from cold work. Corrections have been made to take into account specimen relaxation. To completely define the original stress system it is desirable also to measure the change in curvature on removing a layer of material. Unless this is done assumptions must be made which complicate the calculations unnecessarily. This became apparent after the experimental work was completed. In the centre of the plate the methods of correction which can be used are sensitive to errors in the measurements. The corrected results show that the dominant residual stress is perpendicular to the weld. It is positive at the surfaces and negative in the centre of the plate. The maximum value can reach the yield stress. The residual stresses in the weld metal can locally vary considerably: from 100 to 350N/mm 2 over a distance of 5mm. Such large variations have been found to coincide with the heat-affected zones of the individual weld runs. (author)

Evaluation of residue-residue contact predictions in CASP9

KAUST Repository

Monastyrskyy, Bohdan

2011-01-01

This work presents the results of the assessment of the intramolecular residue-residue contact predictions submitted to CASP9. The methodology for the assessment does not differ from that used in previous CASPs, with two basic evaluation measures being the precision in recognizing contacts and the difference between the distribution of distances in the subset of predicted contact pairs versus all pairs of residues in the structure. The emphasis is placed on the prediction of long-range contacts (i.e., contacts between residues separated by at least 24 residues along sequence) in target proteins that cannot be easily modeled by homology. Although there is considerable activity in the field, the current analysis reports no discernable progress since CASP8.

A Measuring System for Well Logging Attitude and a Method of Sensor Calibration

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Yong Ren

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an approach for measuring the azimuth angle and tilt angle of underground drilling tools with a MEMS three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis fluxgate sensor. A mathematical model of well logging attitude angle is deduced based on combining space coordinate transformations and algebraic equations. In addition, a system implementation plan of the inclinometer is given in this paper, which features low cost, small volume and integration. Aiming at the sensor and assembly errors, this paper analyses the sources of errors, and establishes two mathematical models of errors and calculates related parameters to achieve sensor calibration. The results show that this scheme can obtain a stable and high precision azimuth angle and tilt angle of drilling tools, with the deviation of the former less than ±1.4° and the deviation of the latter less than ±0.1°.

A measuring system for well logging attitude and a method of sensor calibration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Yong; Wang, Yangdong; Wang, Mijian; Wu, Sheng; Wei, Biao

2014-05-23

This paper proposes an approach for measuring the azimuth angle and tilt angle of underground drilling tools with a MEMS three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis fluxgate sensor. A mathematical model of well logging attitude angle is deduced based on combining space coordinate transformations and algebraic equations. In addition, a system implementation plan of the inclinometer is given in this paper, which features low cost, small volume and integration. Aiming at the sensor and assembly errors, this paper analyses the sources of errors, and establishes two mathematical models of errors and calculates related parameters to achieve sensor calibration. The results show that this scheme can obtain a stable and high precision azimuth angle and tilt angle of drilling tools, with the deviation of the former less than ±1.4° and the deviation of the latter less than ±0.1°.

Analysis of residual toluene in food packaging via headspace extraction method using gas chromatography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Ying Chin; Mohd Marsin Sanagi

2008-01-01

Polymeric materials are used in many food contact applications as packaging material. The presence of residual toluene in this food packaging material can migrate into food and thus affect the quality of food. In this study, a manual headspace analysis was successfully designed and developed. The determination of residual toluene was carried out with standard addition method and multiple headspace extraction, MHE) method using gas chromatography-flame ionization detector, GC-FID). Identification of toluene was performed by comparison of its retention time with standard toluene and GC-MS. It was found that the suitable heating temperature was 180 degree Celsius with an optimum heating time of 10 minutes. The study also found that the concentration of residual toluene in multicolored sample was higher compared to mono colored sample whereas residual toluene in sample analyzed using standard addition method was higher compared to MHE method. However, comparison with the results obtained from De Paris laboratory, France found that MHE method gave higher accuracy for sample with low analyte concentration. On the other hand, lower accuracy was obtained for sample with high concentration of residual toluene due to systematic errors. Comparison between determination methods showed that MHE method is more precise compared to standard addition method. (author)

Statistical errors in Monte Carlo estimates of systematic errors

Science.gov (United States)

Roe, Byron P.

2007-01-01

For estimating the effects of a number of systematic errors on a data sample, one can generate Monte Carlo (MC) runs with systematic parameters varied and examine the change in the desired observed result. Two methods are often used. In the unisim method, the systematic parameters are varied one at a time by one standard deviation, each parameter corresponding to a MC run. In the multisim method (see ), each MC run has all of the parameters varied; the amount of variation is chosen from the expected distribution of each systematic parameter, usually assumed to be a normal distribution. The variance of the overall systematic error determination is derived for each of the two methods and comparisons are made between them. If one focuses not on the error in the prediction of an individual systematic error, but on the overall error due to all systematic errors in the error matrix element in data bin m, the number of events needed is strongly reduced because of the averaging effect over all of the errors. For simple models presented here the multisim model was far better if the statistical error in the MC samples was larger than an individual systematic error, while for the reverse case, the unisim model was better. Exact formulas and formulas for the simple toy models are presented so that realistic calculations can be made. The calculations in the present note are valid if the errors are in a linear region. If that region extends sufficiently far, one can have the unisims or multisims correspond to k standard deviations instead of one. This reduces the number of events required by a factor of k2. The specific terms unisim and multisim were coined by Peter Meyers and Steve Brice, respectively, for the MiniBooNE experiment. However, the concepts have been developed over time and have been in general use for some time.

Medication Errors - A Review

OpenAIRE

Vinay BC; Nikhitha MK; Patel Sunil B

2015-01-01

In this present review article, regarding medication errors its definition, medication error problem, types of medication errors, common causes of medication errors, monitoring medication errors, consequences of medication errors, prevention of medication error and managing medication errors have been explained neatly and legibly with proper tables which is easy to understand.

Spatial Variability Mapping of Crop Residue Using Hyperion (EO-1 Hyperspectral Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abderrazak Bannari

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Soil management practices that maintain crop residue cover and reduce tillage improve soil structure, increase organic matter content in the soil, positively influence water infiltration, evaporation and soil temperature, and play an important role in fixing CO2 in the soil. Consequently, good residue management practices on agricultural land have many positive impacts on soil quality, crop production quality and decrease the rate of soil erosion. Several studies have been undertaken to develop and test methods to derive information on crop residue cover and soil tillage using empirical and semi-empirical methods in combination with remote sensing data. However, these methods are generally not sufficiently rigorous and accurate for characterizing the spatial variability of crop residue cover in agricultural fields. The goal of this research is to investigate the potential of hyperspectral Hyperion (Earth Observing-1, EO-1 data and constrained linear spectral mixture analysis (CLSMA for percent crop residue cover estimation and mapping. Hyperion data were acquired together with ground-reference measurements for validation purposes at the beginning of the agricultural season (prior to spring crop planting in Saskatchewan (Canada. At this time, only bare soil and crop residue were present with no crop cover development. In order to extract the crop residue fraction, the images were preprocessed, and then unmixed considering the entire spectral range (427 nm–2355 nm and the pure spectra (endmember. The results showed that the correlation between ground-reference measurements and extracted fractions from the Hyperion data using CLMSA showed that the model was overall a very good predictor for crop residue percent cover (index of agreement (D of 0.94, coefficient of determination (R2 of 0.73 and root mean square error (RMSE of 8.7% and soil percent cover (D of 0.91, R2 of 0.68 and RMSE of 10.3%. This performance of Hyperion is mainly due to the

Error Patterns

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoede, C.; Li, Z.

2001-01-01

In coding theory the problem of decoding focuses on error vectors. In the simplest situation code words are $(0,1)$-vectors, as are the received messages and the error vectors. Comparison of a received word with the code words yields a set of error vectors. In deciding on the original code word,

Information Privacy: Culture, Legislation and User Attitudes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie Cockcroft

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Information privacy has received much public and research interest in recent years. Globally this has arisen from public anxiety following the September 11 attacks and within Australia a progressive tightening of privacy legislation in particular the privacy amendment (private sector Act of 2000 which became operative in 2001. This paper presents the results of a study into attitudes towards information privacy. Based on an instrument developed and validated by Smith et al (1996a this study sets out to measure individual concerns regarding organisational use of information along four dimensions: collection, errors, unauthorised secondary use, and improper access. The survey was completed by 67 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in an e-commerce security subject at the University of Queensland. Comparisons are drawn between the results of this study and an identical one carried out at the University of North Alabama. Whilst it is too early to draw conclusions about the impact of these attitudes on the success of e-commerce in general, the results should be of interest to those within universities seeking to expand the use of networking technologies for handling sensitive information such as enrolment and fee processing (Vanscoy & Oakleaf 2003

Dosimetric implications of inter- and intrafractional prostate positioning errors during tomotherapy. Comparison of gold marker-based registrations with native MVCT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wust, Peter; Joswig, Marc; Graf, Reinhold; Boehmer, Dirk; Beck, Marcus; Barelkowski, Thomasz; Budach, Volker; Ghadjar, Pirus [Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Department of Radiation Oncology and Radiotherapy, Berlin (Germany)

2017-09-15

For high-dose radiation therapy (RT) of prostate cancer, image-guided (IGRT) and intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) approaches are standard. Less is known regarding comparisons of different IGRT techniques and the resulting residual errors, as well as regarding their influences on dose distributions. A total of 58 patients who received tomotherapy-based RT up to 84 Gy for high-risk prostate cancer underwent IGRT based either on daily megavoltage CT (MVCT) alone (n = 43) or the additional use of gold markers (n = 15) under routine conditions. Planned Adaptive (Accuray Inc., Madison, WI, USA) software was used for elaborated offline analysis to quantify residual interfractional prostate positioning errors, along with systematic and random errors and the resulting safety margins after both IGRT approaches. Dosimetric parameters for clinical target volume (CTV) coverage and exposition of organs at risk (OAR) were also analyzed and compared. Interfractional as well as intrafractional displacements were determined. Particularly in the vertical direction, residual interfractional positioning errors were reduced using the gold marker-based approach, but dosimetric differences were moderate and the clinical relevance relatively small. Intrafractional prostate motion proved to be quite high, with displacements of 1-3 mm; however, these did not result in additional dosimetric impairments. Residual interfractional positioning errors were reduced using gold marker-based IGRT; however, this resulted in only slightly different final dose distributions. Therefore, daily MVCT-based IGRT without markers might be a valid alternative. (orig.) [German] Bei der hochdosierten Bestrahlung des Prostatakarzinoms sind die bildgesteuerte (IGRT) und die intensitaetsmodulierte Bestrahlung (IMRT) Standard. Offene Fragen gibt es beim Vergleich von IGRT-Techniken im Hinblick auf residuelle Fehler und Beeinflussungen der Dosisverteilung. Bei 58 Patienten, deren Hochrisiko-Prostatakarzinom am

Affect and Cognition in Attitude Formation toward Familiar and Unfamiliar Attitude Objects

Science.gov (United States)

van Giesen, Roxanne I.

2015-01-01

At large attitudes are built on earlier experience with the attitude object. If earlier experiences are not available, as is the case for unfamiliar attitude objects such as new technologies, no stored evaluations exist. Yet, people are still somehow able to construct attitudes on the spot. Depending on the familiarity of the attitude object, attitudes may find their basis more in affect or cognition. The current paper investigates differences in reliance on affect or cognition in attitude formation toward familiar and unfamiliar realistic attitude objects. In addition, individual differences in reliance on affect (high faith in intuition) or cognition (high need for cognition) are taken into account. In an experimental survey among Dutch consumers (N = 1870), we show that, for unfamiliar realistic attitude objects, people rely more on affect than cognition. For familiar attitude objects where both affective and cognitive evaluations are available, high need for cognition leads to more reliance on cognition, and high faith in intuition leads to more reliance on affect, reflecting the influence of individually preferred thinking style. For people with high need for cognition, cognition has a higher influence on overall attitude for both familiar and unfamiliar realistic attitude objects. On the other hand, affect is important for people with high faith in intuition for both familiar and unfamiliar attitude objects and for people with low faith in intuition for unfamiliar attitude objects; this shows that preferred thinking style is less influential for unfamiliar objects. By comparing attitude formation for familiar and unfamiliar realistic attitude objects, this research contributes to understanding situations in which affect or cognition is the better predictor of overall attitudes. PMID:26517876

Affect and Cognition in Attitude Formation toward Familiar and Unfamiliar Attitude Objects.

Science.gov (United States)

van Giesen, Roxanne I; Fischer, Arnout R H; van Dijk, Heleen; van Trijp, Hans C M

2015-01-01

At large attitudes are built on earlier experience with the attitude object. If earlier experiences are not available, as is the case for unfamiliar attitude objects such as new technologies, no stored evaluations exist. Yet, people are still somehow able to construct attitudes on the spot. Depending on the familiarity of the attitude object, attitudes may find their basis more in affect or cognition. The current paper investigates differences in reliance on affect or cognition in attitude formation toward familiar and unfamiliar realistic attitude objects. In addition, individual differences in reliance on affect (high faith in intuition) or cognition (high need for cognition) are taken into account. In an experimental survey among Dutch consumers (N = 1870), we show that, for unfamiliar realistic attitude objects, people rely more on affect than cognition. For familiar attitude objects where both affective and cognitive evaluations are available, high need for cognition leads to more reliance on cognition, and high faith in intuition leads to more reliance on affect, reflecting the influence of individually preferred thinking style. For people with high need for cognition, cognition has a higher influence on overall attitude for both familiar and unfamiliar realistic attitude objects. On the other hand, affect is important for people with high faith in intuition for both familiar and unfamiliar attitude objects and for people with low faith in intuition for unfamiliar attitude objects; this shows that preferred thinking style is less influential for unfamiliar objects. By comparing attitude formation for familiar and unfamiliar realistic attitude objects, this research contributes to understanding situations in which affect or cognition is the better predictor of overall attitudes.

On using smoothing spline and residual correction to fuse rain gauge observations and remote sensing data

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chengcheng; Zheng, Xiaogu; Tait, Andrew; Dai, Yongjiu; Yang, Chi; Chen, Zhuoqi; Li, Tao; Wang, Zhonglei

2014-01-01

Partial thin-plate smoothing spline model is used to construct the trend surface.Correction of the spline estimated trend surface is often necessary in practice.Cressman weight is modified and applied in residual correction.The modified Cressman weight performs better than Cressman weight.A method for estimating the error covariance matrix of gridded field is provided.

Component Analysis of Errors on PERSIANN Precipitation Estimates over Urmia Lake Basin, IRAN

Science.gov (United States)

Ghajarnia, N.; Daneshkar Arasteh, P.; Liaghat, A. M.; Araghinejad, S.

2016-12-01

In this study, PERSIANN daily dataset is evaluated from 2000 to 2011 in 69 pixels over Urmia Lake basin in northwest of Iran. Different analytical approaches and indexes are used to examine PERSIANN precision in detection and estimation of rainfall rate. The residuals are decomposed into Hit, Miss and FA estimation biases while continues decomposition of systematic and random error components are also analyzed seasonally and categorically. New interpretation of estimation accuracy named "reliability on PERSIANN estimations" is introduced while the changing manners of existing categorical/statistical measures and error components are also seasonally analyzed over different rainfall rate categories. This study yields new insights into the nature of PERSIANN errors over Urmia lake basin as a semi-arid region in the middle-east, including the followings: - The analyzed contingency table indexes indicate better detection precision during spring and fall. - A relatively constant level of error is generally observed among different categories. The range of precipitation estimates at different rainfall rate categories is nearly invariant as a sign for the existence of systematic error. - Low level of reliability is observed on PERSIANN estimations at different categories which are mostly associated with high level of FA error. However, it is observed that as the rate of precipitation increase, the ability and precision of PERSIANN in rainfall detection also increases. - The systematic and random error decomposition in this area shows that PERSIANN has more difficulty in modeling the system and pattern of rainfall rather than to have bias due to rainfall uncertainties. The level of systematic error also considerably increases in heavier rainfalls. It is also important to note that PERSIANN error characteristics at each season varies due to the condition and rainfall patterns of that season which shows the necessity of seasonally different approach for the calibration of

The error in total error reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Witnauer, James E; Urcelay, Gonzalo P; Miller, Ralph R

2014-02-01

Most models of human and animal learning assume that learning is proportional to the discrepancy between a delivered outcome and the outcome predicted by all cues present during that trial (i.e., total error across a stimulus compound). This total error reduction (TER) view has been implemented in connectionist and artificial neural network models to describe the conditions under which weights between units change. Electrophysiological work has revealed that the activity of dopamine neurons is correlated with the total error signal in models of reward learning. Similar neural mechanisms presumably support fear conditioning, human contingency learning, and other types of learning. Using a computational modeling approach, we compared several TER models of associative learning to an alternative model that rejects the TER assumption in favor of local error reduction (LER), which assumes that learning about each cue is proportional to the discrepancy between the delivered outcome and the outcome predicted by that specific cue on that trial. The LER model provided a better fit to the reviewed data than the TER models. Given the superiority of the LER model with the present data sets, acceptance of TER should be tempered. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of pediatric chemotherapy medication errors in a national error reporting database.

Science.gov (United States)

Rinke, Michael L; Shore, Andrew D; Morlock, Laura; Hicks, Rodney W; Miller, Marlene R

2007-07-01

Little is known regarding chemotherapy medication errors in pediatrics despite studies suggesting high rates of overall pediatric medication errors. In this study, the authors examined patterns in pediatric chemotherapy errors. The authors queried the United States Pharmacopeia MEDMARX database, a national, voluntary, Internet-accessible error reporting system, for all error reports from 1999 through 2004 that involved chemotherapy medications and patients aged error reports, 85% reached the patient, and 15.6% required additional patient monitoring or therapeutic intervention. Forty-eight percent of errors originated in the administering phase of medication delivery, and 30% originated in the drug-dispensing phase. Of the 387 medications cited, 39.5% were antimetabolites, 14.0% were alkylating agents, 9.3% were anthracyclines, and 9.3% were topoisomerase inhibitors. The most commonly involved chemotherapeutic agents were methotrexate (15.3%), cytarabine (12.1%), and etoposide (8.3%). The most common error types were improper dose/quantity (22.9% of 327 cited error types), wrong time (22.6%), omission error (14.1%), and wrong administration technique/wrong route (12.2%). The most common error causes were performance deficit (41.3% of 547 cited error causes), equipment and medication delivery devices (12.4%), communication (8.8%), knowledge deficit (6.8%), and written order errors (5.5%). Four of the 5 most serious errors occurred at community hospitals. Pediatric chemotherapy errors often reached the patient, potentially were harmful, and differed in quality between outpatient and inpatient areas. This study indicated which chemotherapeutic agents most often were involved in errors and that administering errors were common. Investigation is needed regarding targeted medication administration safeguards for these high-risk medications. Copyright (c) 2007 American Cancer Society.

Neutrino masses and cosmological parameters from a Euclid-like survey: Markov Chain Monte Carlo forecasts including theoretical errors

CERN Document Server

Audren, Benjamin; Bird, Simeon; Haehnelt, Martin G.; Viel, Matteo

2013-01-01

We present forecasts for the accuracy of determining the parameters of a minimal cosmological model and the total neutrino mass based on combined mock data for a future Euclid-like galaxy survey and Planck. We consider two different galaxy surveys: a spectroscopic redshift survey and a cosmic shear survey. We make use of the Monte Carlo Markov Chains (MCMC) technique and assume two sets of theoretical errors. The first error is meant to account for uncertainties in the modelling of the effect of neutrinos on the non-linear galaxy power spectrum and we assume this error to be fully correlated in Fourier space. The second error is meant to parametrize the overall residual uncertainties in modelling the non-linear galaxy power spectrum at small scales, and is conservatively assumed to be uncorrelated and to increase with the ratio of a given scale to the scale of non-linearity. It hence increases with wavenumber and decreases with redshift. With these two assumptions for the errors and assuming further conservat...

Generalization of positive and negative attitudes towards individuals to outgroup attitudes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stark, Tobias; Flache, Andreas; Veenstra, René

The generalization of attitudes toward individual outgroup members into attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole can affect intergroup relations. However, little is known about the relative strengths of the generalization of negative and positive interpersonal attitudes into attitudes about the

Residual strain sensor using Al-packaged optical fiber and Brillouin optical correlation domain analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Bo-Hun; Kwon, Il-Bum

2015-03-09

We propose a distributed residual strain sensor that uses an Al-packaged optical fiber for the first time. The residual strain which causes Brillouin frequency shifts in the optical fiber was measured using Brillouin optical correlation domain analysis with 2 cm spatial resolution. We quantified the Brillouin frequency shifts in the Al-packaged optical fiber by the tensile stress and compared them for a varying number of Al layers in the optical fiber. The Brillouin frequency shift of an optical fiber with one Al layer had a slope of 0.038 MHz/με with respect to tensile stress, which corresponds to 78% of that for an optical fiber without Al layers. After removal of the stress, 87% of the strain remained as residual strain. When different tensile stresses were randomly applied, the strain caused by the highest stress was the only one detected as residual strain. The residual strain was repeatedly measured for a time span of nine months for the purpose of reliability testing, and there was no change in the strain except for a 4% reduction, which is within the error tolerance of the experiment. A composite material plate equipped with our proposed Al-packaged optical fiber sensor was hammered for impact experiment and the residual strain in the plate was successfully detected. We suggest that the Al-packaged optical fiber can be adapted as a distributed strain sensor for smart structures, including aerospace structures.

Attitude determination for small satellites using GPS signal-to-noise ratio

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Daniel

An embedded system for GPS-based attitude determination (AD) using signal-to-noise (SNR) measurements was developed for CubeSat applications. The design serves as an evaluation testbed for conducting ground based experiments using various computational methods and antenna types to determine the optimum AD accuracy. Raw GPS data is also stored to non-volatile memory for downloading and post analysis. Two low-power microcontrollers are used for processing and to display information on a graphic screen for real-time performance evaluations. A new parallel inter-processor communication protocol was developed that is faster and uses less power than existing standard protocols. A shorted annular patch (SAP) antenna was fabricated for the initial ground-based AD experiments with the testbed. Static AD estimations with RMS errors in the range of 2.5° to 4.8° were achieved over a range of off-zenith attitudes.

Turkish high school students' attitudes toward addictive substances: association with perceived parental attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ustüner, Mehmet; Aksoy, Kasim; Ozer, Niyazi

2009-01-01

The aim of this research is twofold: 1) to determine attitudes of high school students toward addictive substances; and 2) to determine students' attitudes toward addictive substances in terms of some variables including gender, grade, and perceived parental attitudes. To this end, Addictive Substances Attitudes Scale and Parental Attitudes Scale were given to a sample of 745 high school students (F = 330, M = 415) chosen by purposive sampling method. Results showed that compared to the males, females had more negative attitudes toward addictive substances. And compared to students from the upper grades, students from lower grades had more negative attitudes toward addictive substances. It is also found that students' attitudes toward addictive substances correlate with perceived parental attitudes. The correlation is low and positive for perceived democratic parental attitudes (r = .29), negative and low for perceived authoritarian parental attitudes (r = -.27).

Error studies for SNS Linac. Part 1: Transverse errors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crandall, K.R.

1998-01-01

The SNS linac consist of a radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), a drift-tube linac (DTL), a coupled-cavity drift-tube linac (CCDTL) and a coupled-cavity linac (CCL). The RFQ and DTL are operated at 402.5 MHz; the CCDTL and CCL are operated at 805 MHz. Between the RFQ and DTL is a medium-energy beam-transport system (MEBT). This error study is concerned with the DTL, CCDTL and CCL, and each will be analyzed separately. In fact, the CCL is divided into two sections, and each of these will be analyzed separately. The types of errors considered here are those that affect the transverse characteristics of the beam. The errors that cause the beam center to be displaced from the linac axis are quad displacements and quad tilts. The errors that cause mismatches are quad gradient errors and quad rotations (roll)

The Relationship between EFL Teachers’ Preferences of Corrective Feedback and Their Attitudes towards Communicative Language Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Zangoei

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Despite a laissez-faire approach to errors nowadays, appropriate corrective feedback makes an educational environment more communicative and effective. The present correlational study sought to scrutinize the relationship between EFL teachers’ preferences of corrective feedback (CF and their attitudes towards principles of communicative language teaching (CLT. To do so, 108 EFL teachers completed a questionnaire containing three parts, e.g. demographic information, attitudes towards principles of CLT (24 items adopted from Chang, 2011 and CF preferences. Results of Chi Square Test confirmed the relationship between these two variables. It was also found that elicitation and metalinguistic feedback were the most frequently selected types by the participants as well as preferences of those EFL teachers who gained higher scores in CLT attitude scale. The findings can provide pedagogical implications to employ particular types of CFs in English classrooms to pave the ways for effective communication in EFL settings.

Two-dimensional errors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

This chapter addresses the extension of previous work in one-dimensional (linear) error theory to two-dimensional error analysis. The topics of the chapter include the definition of two-dimensional error, the probability ellipse, the probability circle, elliptical (circular) error evaluation, the application to position accuracy, and the use of control systems (points) in measurements

ANALISIS PENGARUH SUKU BUNGA, PENDAPATAN NASIONAL DAN INFLASI TERHADAP NILAI TUKAR NOMINAL : PENDEKATAN DENGAN COINTEGRATION DAN ERROR CORRECTION MODEL (ECM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roosaleh Laksono T.Y.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract. This study aims to analyze the effect of interest rate, inflation, and national income on rupiah exchange rate against dollar both long-term balanced relationship and short-run balance of empirical data from 1980-2015 (36 years using secondary data. The research method used is multiple linear regression methods of OLS. This research method used to approach with cointegration and error correction model (ECM by previously passing some other stages of statistical testing. The results of the study with cointegration (Johansen Cointegration test indicate that all the independent variables (inflation, national income, and interest rate and the non-free variable (exchange rate have a long-term equilibrium relationship, as evidenced by the test results Where the trace statistic value of 102.1727 is much greater than the critical value (5% of 47.85613. In addition, the result of Maximum Eigenvalue Statistic is the result of 36.7908 greater than the critical value of 5%. 27,584434. While the results of the model error correction test (ECM that only variable inflation, interest rates and residual significant, while the variable national income is not significant. This means that the inflation and interest rate variables have a short-run relationship to the exchange rate, it is seen from the Probability (Prob. Value of each variable is 0,05 (5%, besides the residual coefficient on the ECM test result is -0,732447, it shows that error correction term is 73,24% and significant. Keywords: Interest rate; Nasional income; Inflation; Exchange rate; Cointegration; Error Correction Model. Abstrak. Penelitian  ini  bertujuan  untuk  menganalisa  pengaruh  Suku  bunga,  inflasi, dan Pendapatan Nasional terhadap nilai tukar rupiah terhadap dollar baik hubungan keseimbangan jangka panjang maupun keseimbangan jangka pendek data empiris  tahun 1980-2015 (36 tahun dengan menggunakan data sekunder. Metode  penelitian  yang  digunakan adalah regresi

Quaternion-based adaptive output feedback attitude control of spacecraft using Chebyshev neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, An-Min; Dev Kumar, Krishna; Hou, Zeng-Guang

2010-09-01

This paper investigates the problem of output feedback attitude control of an uncertain spacecraft. Two robust adaptive output feedback controllers based on Chebyshev neural networks (CNN) termed adaptive neural networks (NN) controller-I and adaptive NN controller-II are proposed for the attitude tracking control of spacecraft. The four-parameter representations (quaternion) are employed to describe the spacecraft attitude for global representation without singularities. The nonlinear reduced-order observer is used to estimate the derivative of the spacecraft output, and the CNN is introduced to further improve the control performance through approximating the spacecraft attitude motion. The implementation of the basis functions of the CNN used in the proposed controllers depends only on the desired signals, and the smooth robust compensator using the hyperbolic tangent function is employed to counteract the CNN approximation errors and external disturbances. The adaptive NN controller-II can efficiently avoid the over-estimation problem (i.e., the bound of the CNNs output is much larger than that of the approximated unknown function, and hence, the control input may be very large) existing in the adaptive NN controller-I. Both adaptive output feedback controllers using CNN can guarantee that all signals in the resulting closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded. For performance comparisons, the standard adaptive controller using the linear parameterization of spacecraft attitude motion is also developed. Simulation studies are presented to show the advantages of the proposed CNN-based output feedback approach over the standard adaptive output feedback approach.

Reducing errors in the GRACE gravity solutions using regularization

Science.gov (United States)

Save, Himanshu; Bettadpur, Srinivas; Tapley, Byron D.

2012-09-01

The nature of the gravity field inverse problem amplifies the noise in the GRACE data, which creeps into the mid and high degree and order harmonic coefficients of the Earth's monthly gravity fields provided by GRACE. Due to the use of imperfect background models and data noise, these errors are manifested as north-south striping in the monthly global maps of equivalent water heights. In order to reduce these errors, this study investigates the use of the L-curve method with Tikhonov regularization. L-curve is a popular aid for determining a suitable value of the regularization parameter when solving linear discrete ill-posed problems using Tikhonov regularization. However, the computational effort required to determine the L-curve is prohibitively high for a large-scale problem like GRACE. This study implements a parameter-choice method, using Lanczos bidiagonalization which is a computationally inexpensive approximation to L-curve. Lanczos bidiagonalization is implemented with orthogonal transformation in a parallel computing environment and projects a large estimation problem on a problem of the size of about 2 orders of magnitude smaller for computing the regularization parameter. Errors in the GRACE solution time series have certain characteristics that vary depending on the ground track coverage of the solutions. These errors increase with increasing degree and order. In addition, certain resonant and near-resonant harmonic coefficients have higher errors as compared with the other coefficients. Using the knowledge of these characteristics, this study designs a regularization matrix that provides a constraint on the geopotential coefficients as a function of its degree and order. This regularization matrix is then used to compute the appropriate regularization parameter for each monthly solution. A 7-year time-series of the candidate regularized solutions (Mar 2003-Feb 2010) show markedly reduced error stripes compared with the unconstrained GRACE release 4

[Attitude change toward body image: the role of elaboration on attitude strength].

Science.gov (United States)

Gasco, Margarita; Briñol, Pablo; Horcajo, Javier

2010-02-01

Attitude change toward body image: The role of elaboration on attitude strength. Attitudes toward body image have been shown to play a central role in the understanding and treating of eating disorders. In the present research, participants' attitudes toward their body image were changed through a persuasive procedure involving high mental elaboration (self-persuasion) or through a less engaging procedure involving less active participation (passive exposure). As expected, participants in these two groups showed more favourable attitudes toward their bodies than those in the control group. Despite that both treatments were equally efficient in changing attitudes, the strength associated with those attitudes was significantly different depending on the amount of thinking involved in the process of change. Specifically, attitudes were stronger in the high rather than low thinking group of treatment. This finding is important because the strength of the attitude may determine the long-term consequences of an intervention.

Flight results of attitude matching between Space Shuttle and Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) navigation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Treder, Alfred J.; Meldahl, Keith L.

The recorded histories of Shuttle/Orbiter attitude and Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) attitude have been analyzed for all joint flights of the IUS in the Orbiter. This database was studied to determine the behavior of relative alignment between the IUS and Shuttle navigation systems. It is found that the overall accuracy of physical alignment has a Shuttle Orbiter bias component less than 5 arcmin/axis and a short-term stability upper bound of 0.5 arcmin/axis, both at 1 sigma. Summaries of the experienced physical and inertial alginment offsets are shown in this paper, together with alignment variation data, illustrated with some flight histories. Also included is a table of candidate values for some error source groups in an Orbiter/IUS attitude errror model. Experience indicates that the Shuttle is much more accurate and stable as an orbiting launch platform than has so far been advertised. This information will be valuable for future Shuttle payloads, especially those (such as the Aeroassisted Flight Experiment) which carry their own inertial navigation systems, and which could update or initialize their attitude determination systems using the Shuttle as the reference.

Error-related anterior cingulate cortex activity and the prediction of conscious error awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine eOrr

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Research examining the neural mechanisms associated with error awareness has consistently identified dorsal anterior cingulate activity (ACC as necessary but not predictive of conscious error detection. Two recent studies (Steinhauser and Yeung, 2010; Wessel et al. 2011 have found a contrary pattern of greater dorsal ACC activity (in the form of the error-related negativity during detected errors, but suggested that the greater activity may instead reflect task influences (e.g., response conflict, error probability and or individual variability (e.g., statistical power. We re-analyzed fMRI BOLD data from 56 healthy participants who had previously been administered the Error Awareness Task, a motor Go/No-go response inhibition task in which subjects make errors of commission of which they are aware (Aware errors, or unaware (Unaware errors. Consistent with previous data, the activity in a number of cortical regions was predictive of error awareness, including bilateral inferior parietal and insula cortices, however in contrast to previous studies, including our own smaller sample studies using the same task, error-related dorsal ACC activity was significantly greater during aware errors when compared to unaware errors. While the significantly faster RT for aware errors (compared to unaware was consistent with the hypothesis of higher response conflict increasing ACC activity, we could find no relationship between dorsal ACC activity and the error RT difference. The data suggests that individual variability in error awareness is associated with error-related dorsal ACC activity, and therefore this region may be important to conscious error detection, but it remains unclear what task and individual factors influence error awareness.

Residualization is not the answer: Rethinking how to address multicollinearity.

Science.gov (United States)

York, Richard

2012-11-01

Here I show that a commonly used procedure to address problems stemming from collinearity and multicollinearity among independent variables in regression analysis, "residualization", leads to biased coefficient and standard error estimates and does not address the fundamental problem of collinearity, which is a lack of information. I demonstrate this using visual representations of collinearity, hypothetical experimental designs, and analyses of both artificial and real world data. I conclude by noting the importance of examining methodological practices to ensure that their validity can be established based on rational criteria. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Errors in otology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kartush, J M

1996-11-01

Practicing medicine successfully requires that errors in diagnosis and treatment be minimized. Malpractice laws encourage litigators to ascribe all medical errors to incompetence and negligence. There are, however, many other causes of unintended outcomes. This article describes common causes of errors and suggests ways to minimize mistakes in otologic practice. Widespread dissemination of knowledge about common errors and their precursors can reduce the incidence of their occurrence. Consequently, laws should be passed to allow for a system of non-punitive, confidential reporting of errors and "near misses" that can be shared by physicians nationwide.

Hard water and old food. The freshwater reservoir effect in radiocarbon dating of food residues on pottery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bente Philippsen

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the problem of the freshwater reservoir effect in the radiocarbon dating of different sample materials, in particular food crusts on pottery. Charred food residue can be used to directly date of the use of the pottery. However, this material is highly complex, which can lead to various dating errors.  

The Impact of Error-Management Climate, Error Type and Error Originator on Auditors’ Reporting Errors Discovered on Audit Work Papers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.H. Gold-Nöteberg (Anna); U. Gronewold (Ulfert); S. Salterio (Steve)

2010-01-01

textabstractWe examine factors affecting the auditor’s willingness to report their own or their peers’ self-discovered errors in working papers subsequent to detailed working paper review. Prior research has shown that errors in working papers are detected in the review process; however, such

Learning from Errors

OpenAIRE

Martínez-Legaz, Juan Enrique; Soubeyran, Antoine

2003-01-01

We present a model of learning in which agents learn from errors. If an action turns out to be an error, the agent rejects not only that action but also neighboring actions. We find that, keeping memory of his errors, under mild assumptions an acceptable solution is asymptotically reached. Moreover, one can take advantage of big errors for a faster learning.

Epistemics and attitudes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pranav Anand

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the distribution of epistemic modals in attitude contexts in three Romance languages, as well as their potential interaction with mood selection. We show that epistemics can appear in complements of attitudes of acceptance (Stalnaker 1984, but not desideratives or directives; in addition, emotive doxastics (hope, fear and dubitatives (doubt permit epistemic possibility modals, but not their necessity counterparts. We argue that the embedding differences across attitudes indicate that epistemics are sensitive to the type of attitude an attitude predicate reports. We show that this sensitivity can be derived by adopting two types of proposals from the literature on epistemic modality and on attitude verbs: First, we assume that epistemics do not target knowledge uniformly, but rather quantify over an information state determined by the content of the embedding attitude (Hacquard 2006, 2010, Yalcin 2007. In turn, we adopt a fundamental split in the semantics of attitude verbs between ‘representational’ and ‘non-representational’ attitudes (Bolinger 1968: representational attitudes quantify over an information state (e.g., a set of beliefs for believe, which, we argue, epistemic modals can be anaphoric to. Non-representational attitudes do not quantify over an information state; instead, they combine with their complement via a comparison with contextually-provided alternatives using a logic of preference (cf. Bolinger 1968, Stalnaker 1984, Farkas 1985, Heim 1992, Villalta 2000, 2008. Finally, we argue that emotive doxastics and dubitatives have a hybrid semantics, which combines a representational component (responsible for licensing epistemic possibility modals, and a preference component (responsible for disallowing epistemic necessity modals. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/sp.6.8 BibTeX info

Magnetic dipole moment estimation and compensation for an accurate attitude control in nano-satellite missions

Science.gov (United States)

Inamori, Takaya; Sako, Nobutada; Nakasuka, Shinichi

2011-06-01

Nano-satellites provide space access to broader range of satellite developers and attract interests as an application of the space developments. These days several new nano-satellite missions are proposed with sophisticated objectives such as remote-sensing and observation of astronomical objects. In these advanced missions, some nano-satellites must meet strict attitude requirements for obtaining scientific data or images. For LEO nano-satellite, a magnetic attitude disturbance dominates over other environmental disturbances as a result of small moment of inertia, and this effect should be cancelled for a precise attitude control. This research focuses on how to cancel the magnetic disturbance in orbit. This paper presents a unique method to estimate and compensate the residual magnetic moment, which interacts with the geomagnetic field and causes the magnetic disturbance. An extended Kalman filter is used to estimate the magnetic disturbance. For more practical considerations of the magnetic disturbance compensation, this method has been examined in the PRISM (Pico-satellite for Remote-sensing and Innovative Space Missions). This method will be also used for a nano-astrometry satellite mission. This paper concludes that use of the magnetic disturbance estimation and compensation are useful for nano-satellites missions which require a high accurate attitude control.

Good people who try their best can have problems: recognition of human factors and how to minimise error.

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan, Peter A; Mitchell, David A; Holmes, Simon; Plint, Simon; Parry, David

2016-01-01

Human error is as old as humanity itself and is an appreciable cause of mistakes by both organisations and people. Much of the work related to human factors in causing error has originated from aviation where mistakes can be catastrophic not only for those who contribute to the error, but for passengers as well. The role of human error in medical and surgical incidents, which are often multifactorial, is becoming better understood, and includes both organisational issues (by the employer) and potential human factors (at a personal level). Mistakes as a result of individual human factors and surgical teams should be better recognised and emphasised. Attitudes and acceptance of preoperative briefing has improved since the introduction of the World Health Organization (WHO) surgical checklist. However, this does not address limitations or other safety concerns that are related to performance, such as stress and fatigue, emotional state, hunger, awareness of what is going on situational awareness, and other factors that could potentially lead to error. Here we attempt to raise awareness of these human factors, and highlight how they can lead to error, and how they can be minimised in our day-to-day practice. Can hospitals move from being "high risk industries" to "high reliability organisations"? Copyright © 2015 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance comparison of attitude determination, attitude estimation, and nonlinear observers algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

MOHAMMED, M. A. SI; BOUSSADIA, H.; BELLAR, A.; ADNANE, A.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a brief synthesis and useful performance analysis of different attitude filtering algorithms (attitude determination algorithms, attitude estimation algorithms, and nonlinear observers) applied to Low Earth Orbit Satellite in terms of accuracy, convergence time, amount of memory, and computation time. This latter is calculated in two ways, using a personal computer and also using On-board computer 750 (OBC 750) that is being used in many SSTL Earth observation missions. The use of this comparative study could be an aided design tool to the designer to choose from an attitude determination or attitude estimation or attitude observer algorithms. The simulation results clearly indicate that the nonlinear Observer is the more logical choice.

Lateral Attitude Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Glaser, Tina; Dickel, Nina; Liersch, Benjamin; Rees, Jonas; Süssenbach, Philipp; Bohner, Gerd

2015-08-01

The authors propose a framework distinguishing two types of lateral attitude change (LAC): (a) generalization effects, where attitude change toward a focal object transfers to related objects, and (b) displacement effects, where only related attitudes change but the focal attitude does not change. They bring together examples of LAC from various domains of research, outline the conditions and underlying processes of each type of LAC, and develop a theoretical framework that enables researchers to study LAC more systematically in the future. Compared with established theories of attitude change, the LAC framework focuses on lateral instead of focal attitude change and encompasses both generalization and displacement. Novel predictions and designs for studying LAC are presented. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

A formal statistical approach to representing uncertainty in rainfall-runoff modelling with focus on residual analysis and probabilistic output evaluation - Distinguishing simulation and prediction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breinholt, Anders; Møller, Jan Kloppenborg; Madsen, Henrik

2012-01-01

While there seems to be consensus that hydrological model outputs should be accompanied with an uncertainty estimate the appropriate method for uncertainty estimation is not agreed upon and a debate is ongoing between advocators of formal statistical methods who consider errors as stochastic...... and GLUE advocators who consider errors as epistemic, arguing that the basis of formal statistical approaches that requires the residuals to be stationary and conform to a statistical distribution is unrealistic. In this paper we take a formal frequentist approach to parameter estimation and uncertainty...... necessary but the statistical assumptions were nevertheless not 100% justified. The residual analysis showed that significant autocorrelation was present for all simulation models. We believe users of formal approaches to uncertainty evaluation within hydrology and within environmental modelling in general...

Identifying and Correcting Timing Errors at Seismic Stations in and around Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Syracuse, Ellen Marie; Phillips, William Scott; Maceira, Monica; Begnaud, Michael Lee

2017-01-01

A fundamental component of seismic research is the use of phase arrival times, which are central to event location, Earth model development, and phase identification, as well as derived products. Hence, the accuracy of arrival times is crucial. However, errors in the timing of seismic waveforms and the arrival times based on them may go unidentified by the end user, particularly when seismic data are shared between different organizations. Here, we present a method used to analyze travel-time residuals for stations in and around Iran to identify time periods that are likely to contain station timing problems. For the 14 stations with the strongest evidence of timing errors lasting one month or longer, timing corrections are proposed to address the problematic time periods. Finally, two additional stations are identified with incorrect locations in the International Registry of Seismograph Stations, and one is found to have erroneously reported arrival times in 2011.

Error Detection and Error Classification: Failure Awareness in Data Transfer Scheduling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Louisiana State University; Balman, Mehmet; Kosar, Tevfik

2010-10-27

Data transfer in distributed environment is prone to frequent failures resulting from back-end system level problems, like connectivity failure which is technically untraceable by users. Error messages are not logged efficiently, and sometimes are not relevant/useful from users point-of-view. Our study explores the possibility of an efficient error detection and reporting system for such environments. Prior knowledge about the environment and awareness of the actual reason behind a failure would enable higher level planners to make better and accurate decisions. It is necessary to have well defined error detection and error reporting methods to increase the usability and serviceability of existing data transfer protocols and data management systems. We investigate the applicability of early error detection and error classification techniques and propose an error reporting framework and a failure-aware data transfer life cycle to improve arrangement of data transfer operations and to enhance decision making of data transfer schedulers.

Toward a formalized account of attitudes: The Causal Attitude Network (CAN) model.

Science.gov (United States)

Dalege, Jonas; Borsboom, Denny; van Harreveld, Frenk; van den Berg, Helma; Conner, Mark; van der Maas, Han L J

2016-01-01

This article introduces the Causal Attitude Network (CAN) model, which conceptualizes attitudes as networks consisting of evaluative reactions and interactions between these reactions. Relevant evaluative reactions include beliefs, feelings, and behaviors toward the attitude object. Interactions between these reactions arise through direct causal influences (e.g., the belief that snakes are dangerous causes fear of snakes) and mechanisms that support evaluative consistency between related contents of evaluative reactions (e.g., people tend to align their belief that snakes are useful with their belief that snakes help maintain ecological balance). In the CAN model, the structure of attitude networks conforms to a small-world structure: evaluative reactions that are similar to each other form tight clusters, which are connected by a sparser set of "shortcuts" between them. We argue that the CAN model provides a realistic formalized measurement model of attitudes and therefore fills a crucial gap in the attitude literature. Furthermore, the CAN model provides testable predictions for the structure of attitudes and how they develop, remain stable, and change over time. Attitude strength is conceptualized in terms of the connectivity of attitude networks and we show that this provides a parsimonious account of the differences between strong and weak attitudes. We discuss the CAN model in relation to possible extensions, implication for the assessment of attitudes, and possibilities for further study. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Rapid Detection Technology for Pesticides Residues Based on Microelectrodes Impedance Immunosensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen Ping Zhao

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Compared with conventional methods, electrochemical immunosensors have many advantages, such as low cost, high sensitivity, and rapid detection, and has certain prospects for realizing real-time-monitoring. In this paper, a design of portable pesticide residues detection instrument was presented based on an electrochemical impedance immunosensor. Firstly, we studied on an impedance immunosensor based on interdigitated array microelectrode (IDAM coupled with magnetic nanobeads-antibody conjugates (MNAC for the pesticide detection. Magnetic nanobeads (diameter 150 nm coated with anti-carbofuran antibodies were used for further amplification of the binding reaction between antibody and hapten (carbofuran. Secondly, in order to develop a portable pesticide residue apparatus, we designed the impedance detection electric circuit. Main work included designing and constructing of the system circuit, designing and debugging of the system software and so on. Thirdly, the apparatus was used for the standard pesticides solutions testing combined with immunosensor to test the reliability and stability. The pesticide added standard recovery was more than 70 % and the impedance test error was less than 5 %. The results showed that the proposed instrument had a good consistence compared with the traditional analytical methods. Thus, it would be a promising rapid detection instrument for pesticide residues in agricultural products.

Residual Stress Measurement of Coarse Crystal Grain in Aluminium Casting Alloy by Neutron Diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishida, Masayuki; Watanabe, Yoshitaka; Hanabusa, Takao

2009-01-01

Full text: Neutron stress measurement can detect strain and stress information in deep region because of large penetration ability of neutron beams. The present paper describes procedure and results in the residual stress measurement of aluminium casting alloy by neutron diffraction. Usually, the aluminium casting alloy includes the large crystal grains. The existence of large crystal grains makes it difficult to estimate the residual stresses in highly accuracy. In this study, the modified three axial method using Hook's equation was employed for neutron stress measurement. These stress measurements were performed under the two kinds of new techniques. One is a rocking curve method to calculate the principal strains in three directions. The peak profiles which appear discretely on rocking curves were translated to principle stresses by the Bragg law and the basic elastic theory. Another is the consideration of measurement positions and the edge effect in the neutron irradiated area (volume gage). The edge effect generates the errors of 2θ-peak position in the neutron stress measurement. In this study, the edge effect was investigated in detail by a small bit of copper single crystal. The copper bit was moved and scanned on three dimensionally within the gage volume. Furthermore, the average strains of symmetrical positions are measure by the sample turning at 180 degrees, because the error distributions of the 2θ-peak position followed to positions inside the gage volume. Form these results of this study, the residual stresses in aluminium casting alloy which includes the large crystal grains were possible to estimate by neutron stress measurement with the rocking curve method and the correction of the edge effect. (author)

Multi-Scale Residual Convolutional Neural Network for Haze Removal of Remote Sensing Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hou Jiang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Haze removal is a pre-processing step that operates on at-sensor radiance data prior to the physically based image correction step to enhance hazy imagery visually. Most current haze removal methods focus on point-to-point operations and utilize information in the spectral domain, without taking consideration of the multi-scale spatial information of haze. In this paper, we propose a multi-scale residual convolutional neural network (MRCNN for haze removal of remote sensing images. MRCNN utilizes 3D convolutional kernels to extract spatial–spectral correlation information and abstract features from surrounding neighborhoods for haze transmission estimation. It takes advantage of dilated convolution to aggregate multi-scale contextual information for the purpose of improving its prediction accuracy. Meanwhile, residual learning is utilized to avoid the loss of weak information while deepening the network. Our experiments indicate that MRCNN performs accurately, achieving an extremely low validation error and testing error. The haze removal results of several scenes of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI data show that the visibility of the dehazed images is significantly improved, and the color of recovered surface is consistent with the actual scene. Quantitative analysis proves that the dehazed results of MRCNN are superior to the traditional methods and other networks. Additionally, a comparison to haze-free data illustrates the spectral consistency after haze removal and reveals the changes in the vegetation index.

Application of Federal Kalman Filter with Neural Networks in the Velocity and Attitude Matching of Transfer Alignment

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Lijun Song

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The centralized Kalman filter is always applied in the velocity and attitude matching of Transfer Alignment (TA. But the centralized Kalman has many disadvantages, such as large amount of calculation, poor real-time performance, and low reliability. In the paper, the federal Kalman filter (FKF based on neural networks is used in the velocity and attitude matching of TA, the Kalman filter is adjusted by the neural networks in the two subfilters, the federal filter is used to fuse the information of the two subfilters, and the global suboptimal state estimation is obtained. The result of simulation shows that the federal Kalman filter based on neural networks is better in estimating the initial attitude misalignment angle of inertial navigation system (INS when the system dynamic model and noise statistics characteristics of inertial navigation system are unclear, and the estimation error is smaller and the accuracy is higher.

Sensitivity analysis of crustal correction and its error propagation to upper mantle residual gravity and density anomalies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herceg, Matija; Artemieva, Irina; Thybo, Hans

2013-01-01

) uncertainties in the velocity-density conversion and (ii) uncertainties in knowledge of the crustal structure (thickness and average Vp velocities of individual crustal layers, including the sedimentary cover). In this study, we address both sources of possible uncertainties by applying different conversions...... from velocity to density and by introducing variations into the crustal structure which corresponds to the uncertainty of its resolution by high-quality and low-quality seismic models. We examine the propagation of these uncertainties into determinations of lithospheric mantle density. The residual...

Energy dependent mesh adaptivity of discontinuous isogeometric discrete ordinate methods with dual weighted residual error estimators

Science.gov (United States)

Owens, A. R.; Kópházi, J.; Welch, J. A.; Eaton, M. D.

2017-04-01

In this paper a hanging-node, discontinuous Galerkin, isogeometric discretisation of the multigroup, discrete ordinates (SN) equations is presented in which each energy group has its own mesh. The equations are discretised using Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS), which allows the coarsest mesh to exactly represent the geometry for a wide range of engineering problems of interest; this would not be the case using straight-sided finite elements. Information is transferred between meshes via the construction of a supermesh. This is a non-trivial task for two arbitrary meshes, but is significantly simplified here by deriving every mesh from a common coarsest initial mesh. In order to take full advantage of this flexible discretisation, goal-based error estimators are derived for the multigroup, discrete ordinates equations with both fixed (extraneous) and fission sources, and these estimators are used to drive an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) procedure. The method is applied to a variety of test cases for both fixed and fission source problems. The error estimators are found to be extremely accurate for linear NURBS discretisations, with degraded performance for quadratic discretisations owing to a reduction in relative accuracy of the "exact" adjoint solution required to calculate the estimators. Nevertheless, the method seems to produce optimal meshes in the AMR process for both linear and quadratic discretisations, and is ≈×100 more accurate than uniform refinement for the same amount of computational effort for a 67 group deep penetration shielding problem.

FAO/IAEA model protocol for the determination of bound residues in soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

A protocol for determining bound pesticide residue content in soils was developed and collaboratively tested by 11 members of the FAO/IAEA Research Co-ordination Committee. The method assumes prior incubation of soil with a radioactive pesticide or related organic compound. The major process steps of the protocol include: (a) Soxhlet extraction of air-dry soil with methanol for 24 h; (b) determination of radioactivity in unextracted soil, in methanol-extracted soil (yielding bound residue content), and in the methanol extract (yielding extractable residue content); and (c) use of triplicate samples per analysis. The participants received lysimeter soils treated six to seven years earlier with 14 C-allyl alcohol (Soil A) or 14 C-hexachloro-benzene (Soil H). The inter-laboratory results first indicated non-homogeneity of Soil A sub-samples, since the initial and bound radioactivity for four laboratories was about half of that found by the remaining seven laboratories. Intra-laboratory (in one laboratory) analyses of sub-subsamples from six 'high-group' laboratories, two 'low-group' laboratories and two additional laboratories confirmed the homogeneity of Soil A and implicated error in the combustion methods at 'low-group' laboratories. The intra- and inter-laboratory coefficients of variation for initial 14 C-content were 4.7% and 7.0%, respectively. Of the residual 14 C in Soil A, 95% was bound; in contrast, only 15% of 14 C in Soil H was bound. The coefficients of variation among ten laboratories, for Soil H, were 8.4% and 18.1% for percentage extractable residue and percentage bound residue, respectively. Some limited testing of alternative protocols, using other solvents or batch extraction, confirmed that the IAEA protocol was most efficient in the extraction of non-bound radioactivity; pre-wetting Soil A may, however, improve extraction. (author)

Generalized Gaussian Error Calculus

CERN Document Server

Grabe, Michael

2010-01-01

For the first time in 200 years Generalized Gaussian Error Calculus addresses a rigorous, complete and self-consistent revision of the Gaussian error calculus. Since experimentalists realized that measurements in general are burdened by unknown systematic errors, the classical, widespread used evaluation procedures scrutinizing the consequences of random errors alone turned out to be obsolete. As a matter of course, the error calculus to-be, treating random and unknown systematic errors side by side, should ensure the consistency and traceability of physical units, physical constants and physical quantities at large. The generalized Gaussian error calculus considers unknown systematic errors to spawn biased estimators. Beyond, random errors are asked to conform to the idea of what the author calls well-defined measuring conditions. The approach features the properties of a building kit: any overall uncertainty turns out to be the sum of a contribution due to random errors, to be taken from a confidence inter...

A survey of residual analysis and a new test of residual trend.

Science.gov (United States)

McDowell, J J; Calvin, Olivia L; Klapes, Bryan

2016-05-01

A survey of residual analysis in behavior-analytic research reveals that existing methods are problematic in one way or another. A new test for residual trends is proposed that avoids the problematic features of the existing methods. It entails fitting cubic polynomials to sets of residuals and comparing their effect sizes to those that would be expected if the sets of residuals were random. To this end, sampling distributions of effect sizes for fits of a cubic polynomial to random data were obtained by generating sets of random standardized residuals of various sizes, n. A cubic polynomial was then fitted to each set of residuals and its effect size was calculated. This yielded a sampling distribution of effect sizes for each n. To test for a residual trend in experimental data, the median effect size of cubic-polynomial fits to sets of experimental residuals can be compared to the median of the corresponding sampling distribution of effect sizes for random residuals using a sign test. An example from the literature, which entailed comparing mathematical and computational models of continuous choice, is used to illustrate the utility of the test. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

A Practical Method for Implementing an Attitude and Heading Reference System

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Rodrigo Munguía

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a practical and reliable algorithm for implementing an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS. This kind of system is essential for real time vehicle navigation, guidance and control applications. When low cost sensors are used, efficient and robust algorithms are required for performance to be acceptable. The proposed method is based on an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF in a direct configuration. In this case, the filter is explicitly derived from both the kinematic and error models. The selection of this kind of EKF configuration can help in ensuring a tight integration of the method for its use in filter-based localization and mapping systems in autonomous vehicles. Experiments with real data show that the proposed method is able to maintain an accurate and drift-free attitude and heading estimation. An additional result is to show that there is no ostensible reason for preferring that the filter have an indirect configuration over a direct configuration for implementing an AHRS system.

Adaptive twisting sliding mode algorithm for hypersonic reentry vehicle attitude control based on finite-time observer.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Zongyi; Chang, Jing; Guo, Jianguo; Zhou, Jun

2018-06-01

This paper focuses on the adaptive twisting sliding mode control for the Hypersonic Reentry Vehicles (HRVs) attitude tracking issue. The HRV attitude tracking model is transformed into the error dynamics in matched structure, whereas an unmeasurable state is redefined by lumping the existing unmatched disturbance with the angular rate. Hence, an adaptive finite-time observer is used to estimate the unknown state. Then, an adaptive twisting algorithm is proposed for systems subject to disturbances with unknown bounds. The stability of the proposed observer-based adaptive twisting approach is guaranteed, and the case of noisy measurement is analyzed. Also, the developed control law avoids the aggressive chattering phenomenon of the existing adaptive twisting approaches because the adaptive gains decrease close to the disturbance once the trajectories reach the sliding surface. Finally, numerical simulations on the attitude control of the HRV are conducted to verify the effectiveness and benefit of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predicting protein folding rate change upon point mutation using residue-level coevolutionary information.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallik, Saurav; Das, Smita; Kundu, Sudip

2016-01-01

Change in folding kinetics of globular proteins upon point mutation is crucial to a wide spectrum of biological research, such as protein misfolding, toxicity, and aggregations. Here we seek to address whether residue-level coevolutionary information of globular proteins can be informative to folding rate changes upon point mutations. Generating residue-level coevolutionary networks of globular proteins, we analyze three parameters: relative coevolution order (rCEO), network density (ND), and characteristic path length (CPL). A point mutation is considered to be equivalent to a node deletion of this network and respective percentage changes in rCEO, ND, CPL are found linearly correlated (0.84, 0.73, and -0.61, respectively) with experimental folding rate changes. The three parameters predict the folding rate change upon a point mutation with 0.031, 0.045, and 0.059 standard errors, respectively. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Hybrid Unequal Error Protection / Unequal Error Resilience ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The quality layers are then assigned an Unequal Error Resilience to synchronization loss by unequally allocating the number of headers available for synchronization to them. Following that Unequal Error Protection against channel noise is provided to the layers by the use of Rate Compatible Punctured Convolutional ...

Assessing Attitude towards Religion: The Astley-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Theistic Faith

Science.gov (United States)

Astley, Jeff; Francis, Leslie J.; Robbins, Mandy

2012-01-01

This study builds on the research tradition modelled by the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Judaism, the Sahin-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam and the Santosh-Francis Scale of Attitude towards Hinduism to propose a generic instrument concerned with attitudes towards theistic faith.…

Language arts achievement level, attitude survey format, and adolescents' attitudes towards reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, L R; Ryan, B E

1997-01-01

The joint effects of student achievement level and attitude survey format upon attitudes toward reading were investigated. Sixth-grade students completed reading attitude surveys involving a standard Likert-type format or one involving pictures of the comic strip character, Garfield. The survey items were identical for both formats; only the presentation format was varied. There was no significant main effect on attitude responses due to achievement level, but the main effect due to survey format was significant, with the Likert-type format producing significantly higher attitude responses than the Garfield format. The interaction between achievement level and format also was significant, with above average students and average students giving higher attitude responses than did below average students when the Garfield format was used. When the Likert-type format was used, average students and below average students gave higher attitude responses than did above average students. The results imply that attitude responses of adolescents can be manipulated by varying the format of the survey.

Heritability and familial aggregation of refractive error in the Old Order Amish.

Science.gov (United States)

Peet, Jon A; Cotch, Mary-Frances; Wojciechowski, Robert; Bailey-Wilson, Joan E; Stambolian, Dwight

2007-09-01

To determine the heritability of refractive error and familial aggregation of myopia and hyperopia in an elderly Old Order Amish (OOA) population. Nine hundred sixty-seven siblings (mean age, 64.2 years) in 269 families were recruited for the Amish Eye Study in the Lancaster County area of Pennsylvania. Refractive error was determined by noncycloplegic manifest refraction. Heritability of refractive error was estimated with multivariate linear regression as twice the residual sibling-sibling correlation after adjustment for age and gender. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the sibling recurrence odds ratio (OR(s)). Myopia and hyperopia were defined with five different thresholds. The age- and gender-adjusted heritability of refractive error was 70% (95% CI: 48%-92%) in the OOA. Age and gender-adjusted OR(s) and sibling recurrence risk (lambda(s)), with different thresholds defining myopia ranged from 3.03 (95% CI: 1.58-5.80) to 7.02 (95% CI: 3.41-14.46) and from 2.36 (95% CI: 1.65-3.19) to 5.61 (95% CI: 3.06-9.34). Age and gender-adjusted OR(s) and lambda(s) for different thresholds of hyperopia ranged from 2.31 (95% CI: 1.56-3.42) to 2.94 (95% CI: 2.04-4.22) and from 1.33 (95% CI: 1.22-1.43) to 1.85 (95% CI: 1.18-2.78), respectively. Women were significantly more likely than men to have hyperopia. There was no significant gender difference in the risk of myopia. In the OOA, refractive error is highly heritable. Hyperopia and myopia aggregate strongly in OOA families.

A Performance Improvement Method for Low-Cost Land Vehicle GPS/MEMS-INS Attitude Determination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Cong

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Global positioning system (GPS technology is well suited for attitude determination. However, in land vehicle application, low-cost single frequency GPS receivers which have low measurement quality are often used, and external factors such as multipath and low satellite visibility in the densely built-up urban environment further degrade the quality of the GPS measurements. Due to the low-quality receivers used and the challenging urban environment, the success rate of the single epoch ambiguity resolution for dynamic attitude determination is usually quite low. In this paper, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS—inertial navigation system (INS-aided ambiguity resolution method is proposed to improve the GPS attitude determination performance, which is particularly suitable for land vehicle attitude determination. First, the INS calculated baseline vector is augmented with the GPS carrier phase and code measurements. This improves the ambiguity dilution of precision (ADOP, resulting in better quality of the unconstrained float solution. Second, the undesirable float solutions caused by large measurement errors are further filtered and replaced using the INS-aided ambiguity function method (AFM. The fixed solutions are then obtained by the constrained least squares ambiguity decorrelation (CLAMBDA algorithm. Finally, the GPS/MEMS-INS integration is realized by the use of a Kalman filter. Theoretical analysis of the ADOP is given and experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method can significantly improve the quality of the float ambiguity solution, leading to high success rate and better accuracy of attitude determination.

A Performance Improvement Method for Low-Cost Land Vehicle GPS/MEMS-INS Attitude Determination

Science.gov (United States)

Cong, Li; Li, Ercui; Qin, Honglei; Ling, Keck Voon; Xue, Rui

2015-01-01

Global positioning system (GPS) technology is well suited for attitude determination. However, in land vehicle application, low-cost single frequency GPS receivers which have low measurement quality are often used, and external factors such as multipath and low satellite visibility in the densely built-up urban environment further degrade the quality of the GPS measurements. Due to the low-quality receivers used and the challenging urban environment, the success rate of the single epoch ambiguity resolution for dynamic attitude determination is usually quite low. In this paper, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)—inertial navigation system (INS)-aided ambiguity resolution method is proposed to improve the GPS attitude determination performance, which is particularly suitable for land vehicle attitude determination. First, the INS calculated baseline vector is augmented with the GPS carrier phase and code measurements. This improves the ambiguity dilution of precision (ADOP), resulting in better quality of the unconstrained float solution. Second, the undesirable float solutions caused by large measurement errors are further filtered and replaced using the INS-aided ambiguity function method (AFM). The fixed solutions are then obtained by the constrained least squares ambiguity decorrelation (CLAMBDA) algorithm. Finally, the GPS/MEMS-INS integration is realized by the use of a Kalman filter. Theoretical analysis of the ADOP is given and experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method can significantly improve the quality of the float ambiguity solution, leading to high success rate and better accuracy of attitude determination. PMID:25760057

Awareness of Implicit Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Adam; Judd, Charles M.; Hirsh, Holen K.; Blair, Irene V.

2013-01-01

Research on implicit attitudes has raised questions about how well people know their own attitudes. Most research on this question has focused on the correspondence between measures of implicit attitudes and measures of explicit attitudes, with low correspondence interpreted as showing that people have little awareness of their implicit attitudes. We took a different approach and directly asked participants to predict their results on upcoming IAT measures of implicit attitudes toward five different social groups. We found that participants were surprisingly accurate in their predictions. Across four studies, predictions were accurate regardless of whether implicit attitudes were described as true attitudes or culturally learned associations (Studies 1 and 2), regardless of whether predictions were made as specific response patterns (Study 1) or as conceptual responses (Studies 2–4), and regardless of how much experience or explanation participants received before making their predictions (Study 4). Study 3 further suggested that participants’ predictions reflected unique insight into their own implicit responses, beyond intuitions about how people in general might respond. Prediction accuracy occurred despite generally low correspondence between implicit and explicit measures of attitudes, as found in prior research. All together, the research findings cast doubt on the belief that attitudes or evaluations measured by the IAT necessarily reflect unconscious attitudes. PMID:24294868

Learning from prescribing errors

OpenAIRE

Dean, B

2002-01-01



 The importance of learning from medical error has recently received increasing emphasis. This paper focuses on prescribing errors and argues that, while learning from prescribing errors is a laudable goal, there are currently barriers that can prevent this occurring. Learning from errors can take place on an individual level, at a team level, and across an organisation. Barriers to learning from prescribing errors include the non-discovery of many prescribing errors, lack of feedback to th...

Attitudes without objects: evidence for a dispositional attitude, its measurement, and its consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hepler, Justin; Albarracín, Dolores

2013-06-01

We hypothesized that individuals may differ in the dispositional tendency to have positive vs. negative attitudes, a trait termed the dispositional attitude. Across 4 studies, we developed a 16-item Dispositional Attitude Measure (DAM) and investigated its internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity. DAM scores were (a) positively correlated with positive affect traits, curiosity-related traits, and individual preexisting attitudes; (b) negatively correlated with negative affect traits; and (c) uncorrelated with theoretically unrelated traits. Dispositional attitudes also significantly predicted the valence of novel attitudes while controlling for theoretically relevant traits (such as the Big 5 and optimism). The dispositional attitude construct represents a new perspective in which attitudes are not simply a function of the properties of the stimuli under consideration, but are also a function of the properties of the evaluator. We discuss the intriguing implications of dispositional attitudes for many areas of research, including attitude formation, persuasion, and behavior prediction. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

If You're House Is Still Available, Send Me an Email: Personality Influences Reactions to Written Errors in Email Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Boland, Julie E; Queen, Robin

2016-01-01

The increasing prevalence of social media means that we often encounter written language characterized by both stylistic variation and outright errors. How does the personality of the reader modulate reactions to non-standard text? Experimental participants read 'email responses' to an ad for a housemate that either contained no errors or had been altered to include either typos (e.g., teh) or homophonous grammar errors (grammos, e.g., to/too, it's/its). Participants completed a 10-item evaluation scale for each message, which measured their impressions of the writer. In addition participants completed a Big Five personality assessment and answered demographic and language attitude questions. Both typos and grammos had a negative impact on the evaluation scale. This negative impact was not modulated by age, education, electronic communication frequency, or pleasure reading time. In contrast, personality traits did modulate assessments, and did so in distinct ways for grammos and typos.

Random and Systematic Errors Share in Total Error of Probes for CNC Machine Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Wozniak

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Probes for CNC machine tools, as every measurement device, have accuracy limited by random errors and by systematic errors. Random errors of these probes are described by a parameter called unidirectional repeatability. Manufacturers of probes for CNC machine tools usually specify only this parameter, while parameters describing systematic errors of the probes, such as pre-travel variation or triggering radius variation, are used rarely. Systematic errors of the probes, linked to the differences in pre-travel values for different measurement directions, can be corrected or compensated, but it is not a widely used procedure. In this paper, the share of systematic errors and random errors in total error of exemplary probes are determined. In the case of simple, kinematic probes, systematic errors are much greater than random errors, so compensation would significantly reduce the probing error. Moreover, it shows that in the case of kinematic probes commonly specified unidirectional repeatability is significantly better than 2D performance. However, in the case of more precise strain-gauge probe systematic errors are of the same order as random errors, which means that errors correction or compensation, in this case, would not yield any significant benefits.

The power of change: interpersonal attraction as a function of attitude similarity and attitude alignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Chelsea A; Davis, Jody L; Green, Jeffrey D

2013-01-01

Does attitude alignment predict attraction? Would you like a stranger more who shifts her/his attitudes to more closely align with yours? In pairs, participants (N = 77) discussed social issues about which they disagreed and received false feedback on whether the partner engaged in attitude alignment (shifted her/his attitudes toward the participant's attitude) following discussion. Participants also received false feedback about the proportion of similarity to the partner on a set of issues (i.e., 25%, 50%, or 75%). Participants reported greater attraction to partners who engaged in attitude alignment and who were more similar. Moreover, similarity and attitude alignment interacted. Similarity predicted attraction when attitude alignment did not occur, but did not predict attraction when attitude alignment did occur. Finally, partner attitude alignment led to participant attitude alignment, and perceived reasoning ability mediated the attitude alignment-attraction relationship.

Cone-Beam CT Assessment of Interfraction and Intrafraction Setup Error of Two Head-and-Neck Cancer Thermoplastic Masks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velec, Michael; Waldron, John N.; O'Sullivan, Brian; Bayley, Andrew; Cummings, Bernard; Kim, John J.; Ringash, Jolie; Breen, Stephen L.; Lockwood, Gina A.; Dawson, Laura A.

2010-01-01

Purpose: To prospectively compare setup error in standard thermoplastic masks and skin-sparing masks (SSMs) modified with low neck cutouts for head-and-neck intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) patients. Methods and Materials: Twenty head-and-neck IMRT patients were randomized to be treated in a standard mask (SM) or SSM. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans, acquired daily after both initial setup and any repositioning, were used for initial and residual interfraction evaluation, respectively. Weekly, post-IMRT CBCT scans were acquired for intrafraction setup evaluation. The population random (σ) and systematic (Σ) errors were compared for SMs and SSMs. Skin toxicity was recorded weekly by use of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group criteria. Results: We evaluated 762 CBCT scans in 11 patients randomized to the SM and 9 to the SSM. Initial interfraction σ was 1.6 mm or less or 1.1 deg. or less for SM and 2.0 mm or less and 0.8 deg. for SSM. Initial interfraction Σ was 1.0 mm or less or 1.4 deg. or less for SM and 1.1 mm or less or 0.9 deg. or less for SSM. These errors were reduced before IMRT with CBCT image guidance with no significant differences in residual interfraction or intrafraction uncertainties between SMs and SSMs. Intrafraction σ and Σ were less than 1 mm and less than 1 deg. for both masks. Less severe skin reactions were observed in the cutout regions of the SSM compared with non-cutout regions. Conclusions: Interfraction and intrafraction setup error is not significantly different for SSMs and conventional masks in head-and-neck radiation therapy. Mask cutouts should be considered for these patients in an effort to reduce skin toxicity.

Improving primary teachers’ attitudes toward science by attitude-focused professional development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Aalderen-Smeets, Sandra; Walma van der Molen, Julie Henriëtte

2015-01-01

This article provides a description of a novel, attitude-focused, professional development intervention, and presents the results of an experimental pretest-posttest control group study investigating the effects of this intervention on primary teachers’ personal attitudes toward science, attitudes

Measurement of residual stress in a sphere by x-ray under the consideration of its penetration depth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doi, Osamu; Ukai, Takayoshi

1981-01-01

It was pointed out in the case of a plate that when stress gradient is large, the use of the X-ray with large penetration depth caused large measurement error. In this paper, the theoretical equations for measuring the residual stress in a sphere with X-ray, taking penetration depth into account, are proposed, and the example of application is shown. As the method of measuring the residual stress in a hollow sphere with X-ray, only the method of combining external surface removal and external surface irradiation is practically in use. It was assumed that a sphere is isotropic, and that the residual stress is a function of the radius only. First, the theory of measuring the residual stress in a sphere with X-ray taking penetration depth into account is explained, and the equations for calculating the residual stresses in tangential and radial directions are derived. As the example of applying this theory, the distribution of the residual stress in a steel ball for a ball bearing was measured with Cr characteristic X-ray. The ball of 30 mm diameter was made of high-carbon chromium bearing steel, grade 2, (JIS SUJ2) and quenched and tempered. The removal of the thin layer was made by chemical etching and electrolysis. The measured values and the calculated values are shown. (Kako, I.)

Evaluation of residue-residue contact predictions in CASP9

KAUST Repository

Monastyrskyy, Bohdan; Fidelis, Krzysztof; Tramontano, Anna; Kryshtafovych, Andriy

2011-01-01

This work presents the results of the assessment of the intramolecular residue-residue contact predictions submitted to CASP9. The methodology for the assessment does not differ from that used in previous CASPs, with two basic evaluation measures

A Joint Positioning and Attitude Solving Method for Shearer and Scraper Conveyor under Complex Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiacheng Xie

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In a fully mechanized coal-mining face, the positioning and attitude of the shearer and scraper conveyor are inaccurate. To overcome this problem, a joint positioning and attitude solving method that considers the effect of an uneven floor is proposed. In addition, the real-time connection and coupling relationship between the two devices is analyzed. Two types of sensors, namely, the tilt sensor and strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS, are used to measure the shearer body pitch angle and the scraper conveyor shape, respectively. To improve the accuracy, two pieces of information are fused using the adaptive information fusion algorithm. It is observed that, using a marking strategy, the shearer body pitch angle can be reversely mapped to the real-time shape of the scraper conveyor. Then, a virtual-reality (VR software that can visually simulate this entire operation process under different conditions is developed. Finally, experiments are conducted on a prototype experimental platform. The positioning error is found to be less than 0.38 times the middle trough length; moreover, no accumulated error is detected. This method can monitor the operation of the shearer and scraper conveyor in a highly dynamic and precise manner and provide strong technical support for safe and efficient operation of a fully mechanized coal-mining face.

Phase correction and error estimation in InSAR time series analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y.; Fattahi, H.; Amelung, F.

2017-12-01

During the last decade several InSAR time series approaches have been developed in response to the non-idea acquisition strategy of SAR satellites, such as large spatial and temporal baseline with non-regular acquisitions. The small baseline tubes and regular acquisitions of new SAR satellites such as Sentinel-1 allows us to form fully connected networks of interferograms and simplifies the time series analysis into a weighted least square inversion of an over-determined system. Such robust inversion allows us to focus more on the understanding of different components in InSAR time-series and its uncertainties. We present an open-source python-based package for InSAR time series analysis, called PySAR (https://yunjunz.github.io/PySAR/), with unique functionalities for obtaining unbiased ground displacement time-series, geometrical and atmospheric correction of InSAR data and quantifying the InSAR uncertainty. Our implemented strategy contains several features including: 1) improved spatial coverage using coherence-based network of interferograms, 2) unwrapping error correction using phase closure or bridging, 3) tropospheric delay correction using weather models and empirical approaches, 4) DEM error correction, 5) optimal selection of reference date and automatic outlier detection, 6) InSAR uncertainty due to the residual tropospheric delay, decorrelation and residual DEM error, and 7) variance-covariance matrix of final products for geodetic inversion. We demonstrate the performance using SAR datasets acquired by Cosmo-Skymed and TerraSAR-X, Sentinel-1 and ALOS/ALOS-2, with application on the highly non-linear volcanic deformation in Japan and Ecuador (figure 1). Our result shows precursory deformation before the 2015 eruptions of Cotopaxi volcano, with a maximum uplift of 3.4 cm on the western flank (fig. 1b), with a standard deviation of 0.9 cm (fig. 1a), supporting the finding by Morales-Rivera et al. (2017, GRL); and a post-eruptive subsidence on the same

Impact of inter- and intrafraction deviations and residual set-up errors on PTV margins. Different alignment techniques in 3D conformal prostate cancer radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langsenlehner, T.; Doeller, C.; Winkler, P.; Kapp, K.S.; Galle, G.

2013-01-01

The aim of this work was to analyze interfraction and intrafraction deviations and residual set-up errors (RSE) after online repositioning to determine PTV margins for 3 different alignment techniques in prostate cancer radiotherapy. The present prospective study included 44 prostate cancer patients with implanted fiducials treated with three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy. Daily localization was based on skin marks followed by marker detection using kilovoltage (kV) imaging and subsequent patient repositioning. Additionally, in-treatment megavoltage (MV) images were obtained for each treatment field. In an off-line analysis of 7,273 images, interfraction prostate motion, RSE after marker-based prostate localization, prostate position during each treatment session, and the effect of treatment time on intrafraction deviations were analyzed to evaluate PTV margins. Margins accounting for interfraction deviation, RSE and intrafraction motion were 14.1, 12.9, and 15.1 mm in anterior-posterior (AP), superior-inferior (SI), and left-right (LR) direction for skin mark alignment and 9.6, 8.7, and 2.6 mm for bony structure alignment, respectively. Alignment to implanted markers required margins of 4.6, 2.8, and 2.5 mm. As margins to account for intrafraction motion increased with treatment prolongation PTV margins could be reduced to 3.9, 2.6, and 2.4 mm if treatment time was ≤ 4 min. With daily online correction and repositioning based on implanted fiducials, a significant reduction of PTV margins can be achieved. The use of an optimized workflow with faster treatment techniques such as volumetric modulated arc techniques (VMAT) could allow for a further decrease. (orig.)

A Research on the Responsibility of Accounting Professionals to Determine and Prevent Accounting Errors and Frauds: Edirne Sample

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Semanur Adalı

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, the ethical dimensions of accounting professionals related to accounting errors and frauds were examined. Firstly, general and technical information about accounting were provided. Then, some terminology on error, fraud and ethics in accounting were discussed. Study also included recent statistics about accounting errors and fraud as well as presenting a literature review. As the methodology of research, a questionnaire was distributed to 36 accounting professionals residing in Edirne city of Turkey. The collected data were then entered to the SPSS package program for analysis. The study revealed very important results. Accounting professionals think that, accounting chambers do not organize enough seminars/conferences on errors and fraud. They also believe that supervision and disciplinary boards of professional accounting chambers fulfill their responsibilities partially. Attitude of professional accounting chambers in terms of errors, fraud and ethics is considered neither strict nor lenient. But, most accounting professionals are aware of colleagues who had disciplinary penalties. Most important and effective tool to prevent errors and fraud is indicated as external audit, but internal audit and internal control are valued as well. According to accounting professionals, most errors occur due to incorrect data received from clients and as a result of recording. Fraud is generally made in order to get credit from banks and for providing benefits to the organization by not showing the real situation of the firm. Finally, accounting professionals state that being honest, trustworthy and impartial is the basis of accounting profession and accountants must adhere to ethical rules.

Uncorrected refractive errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Naidoo, Kovin S; Jaggernath, Jyoti

2012-01-01

Global estimates indicate that more than 2.3 billion people in the world suffer from poor vision due to refractive error; of which 670 million people are considered visually impaired because they do not have access to corrective treatment. Refractive errors, if uncorrected, results in an impaired quality of life for millions of people worldwide, irrespective of their age, sex and ethnicity. Over the past decade, a series of studies using a survey methodology, referred to as Refractive Error Study in Children (RESC), were performed in populations with different ethnic origins and cultural settings. These studies confirmed that the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors is considerably high for children in low-and-middle-income countries. Furthermore, uncorrected refractive error has been noted to have extensive social and economic impacts, such as limiting educational and employment opportunities of economically active persons, healthy individuals and communities. The key public health challenges presented by uncorrected refractive errors, the leading cause of vision impairment across the world, require urgent attention. To address these issues, it is critical to focus on the development of human resources and sustainable methods of service delivery. This paper discusses three core pillars to addressing the challenges posed by uncorrected refractive errors: Human Resource (HR) Development, Service Development and Social Entrepreneurship.