Data based Calibration System for Radar used by Vehicle Activated Signs

The accurate measurement of a vehicle’s velocity is an essential feature in adaptive vehicle activated sign systems. Since the velocities of the vehicles are acquired from a continuous wave Doppler radar, the data collection becomes challenging. Data accuracy is sensitive to the calibration of the radar on the road. However, clear methodologies for in-field calibration have not been carefully established. The signs are often installed by subjective judgment which results in measurement errors. This paper develops a calibration method based on mining the data collected and matching individual vehicles travelling between two radars. The data was cleaned and prepared in two ways: cleaning and reconstructing. The results showed that the proposed correction factor derived from the cleaned data corresponded well with the experimental factor done on site. In addition, this proposed factor showed superior performance to the one derived from the reconstructed data.

Local politico-administrative perspectives on quality improvement based on national registry data in Sweden : a qualitative study using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

Background. Through a national policy agreement, over 167 million Euros will be invested in the Swedish National Quality Registries (NQRs) between 2012 and 2016. One of the policy agreement¿s intentions is to increase the use of NQR data for quality improvement (QI). However, the evidence is fragmented as to how the use of medical registries and the like lead to quality improvement, and little is known about non-clinical use. The aim was therefore to investigate the perspectives of Swedish politicians and administrators on quality improvement based on national registry data. Methods. Politicians and administrators from four county councils were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was performed. Results. The politicians and administrators perspectives on the use of NQR data for quality improvement were mainly assigned to three of the five CFIR domains. In the domain of intervention characteristics, data reliability and access in reasonable time were not considered entirely satisfactory, making it difficult for the politico-administrative leaderships to initiate, monitor, and support timely QI efforts. Still, politicians and administrators trusted the idea of using the NQRs as a base for quality improvement. In the domain of inner setting, the organizational structures were not sufficiently developed to utilize the advantages of the NQRs, and readiness for implementation appeared to be inadequate for two reasons. Firstly, the resources for data analysis and quality improvement were not considered sufficient at politico-administrative or clinical level. Secondly, deficiencies in leadership engagement at multiple levels were described and there was a lack of consensus on the politicians¿ role and level of involvement. Regarding the domain of outer setting, there was a lack of communication and cooperation between the county councils and the national NQR organizations. Conclusions. The Swedish experiences show that a government-supported national system of well-funded, well-managed, and reputable national quality registries needs favorable local politico-administrative conditions to be used for quality improvement; such conditions are not yet in place according to local politicians and administrators.

Using Spatiotemporal Methods to Fill Gaps In Energy Usage Interval Data

Researchers analyzing spatiotemporal or panel data, which varies both in location and over time, often find that their data has holes or gaps. This thesis explores alternative methods for filling those gaps and also suggests a set of techniques for evaluating those gap-filling methods to determine which works best.

Effective Data Management Enables Intelligent Utility Management

Instrumentation and automation plays a vital role to managing the water industry. These systems generate vast amounts of data that must be effectively managed in order to enable intelligent decision making. Time series data management software, commonly known as data historians are used for collecting and managing real-time (time series) information. More advanced software solutions provide a data infrastructure or utility wide Operations Data Management System (ODMS) that stores, manages, calculates, displays, shares, and integrates data from multiple disparate automation and business systems that are used daily in water utilities. These ODMS solutions are proven and have the ability to manage data from smart water meters to the collaboration of data across third party corporations. This paper focuses on practical, utility successes in the water industry where utility managers are leveraging instantaneous access to data from proven, commercial off-the-shelf ODMS solutions to enable better real-time decision making. Successes include saving $650,000 / year in water loss control, safeguarding water quality, saving millions of dollars in energy management and asset management. Immediate opportunities exist to integrate the research being done in academia with these ODMS solutions in the field and to leverage these successes to utilities around the world.

RWater – A Cyber Enabled Tool For Hydrologic Modeling And Analysis

Existing distributed hydrologic models are complex and computationally demanding for using as a rapid-forecasting policy-decision tool, or even as a class-room educational tool. In addition, platform dependence, specific input/output data structures and non-dynamic data-interaction with pluggable software components inside the existing proprietary frameworks make these models restrictive only to the specialized user groups. RWater is a web-based hydrologic analysis and modeling framework that utilizes the commonly used R software within the HUBzero cyber infrastructure of Purdue University. RWater is designed as an integrated framework for distributed hydrologic simulation, along with subsequent parameter optimization and visualization schemes. RWater provides platform independent web-based interface, flexible data integration capacity, grid-based simulations, and user-extensibility. RWater uses RStudio to simulate hydrologic processes on raster based data obtained through conventional GIS pre-processing. The program integrates Shuffled Complex Evolution (SCE) algorithm for parameter optimization. Moreover, RWater enables users to produce different descriptive statistics and visualization of the outputs at different temporal resolutions. The applicability of RWater will be demonstrated by application on two watersheds in Indiana for multiple rainfall events.

PDA, Circulation, and Over-Budget Requests: Harnessing Data to Inform Library Strategies

This article presents the data-rich findings of an experiment with enlisting patron-driven/demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) of ebooks in two ways. The first experiment entailed comparison of DDA eBook usage against newly ordered hardcopy materials’ circulation, both overall and ebook vs. print usage within the same subject areas. Secondly, this study experimented with DDA ebooks as a backup plan for unfunded requests left over at the end of the fiscal year.

PDA, Circulation, and Over-Budget Requests: Harnessing Data to Inform Library Strategies

This article presents the data-rich findings of an experiment with enlisting patron-driven/demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) of ebooks in two ways. The first experiment entailed comparison of DDA eBook usage against newly ordered hardcopy materials’ circulation, both overall and ebook vs. print usage within the same subject areas. Secondly, this study experimented with DDA ebooks as a backup plan for unfunded requests left over at the end of the fiscal year.

An Environmental Analysis Corroborating PDA and the Winthrop Example

Libraries seek active ways to innovate amidst macroeconomic shifts, growing online education to help alleviate ever-growing schedule conflicts as students juggle jobs and course schedules, as well as changing business models in publishing and evolving information technologies. Patron-driven acquisition (PDA), also known as demand-driven acquisition (DDA), offers numerous strengths in supporting university curricula in the context of these significant shifts. PDA is a business model centered on short-term loans and subsequent purchases of ebooks resulting directly from patrons' natural use stemming from their discovery of the ebooks in library catalogs where the ebooks' bibliographic records are loaded at regular intervals established between the library and ebook supplier. Winthrop University's PDA plan went live in October 2011, and this article chronicles the philosophical and operational considerations, the in-library collaboration, and technical preparations in concert with the library system vendor and ebook supplier. Short-term loan is invoked after a threshold is crossed, typically number of pages or time spent in the ebook. After a certain number of short-term loans negotiated between the library and ebook supplier, the next short-term loan becomes an automatic purchase after which the library owns the ebook in perpetuity. Purchasing options include single-user and multi-user licenses. Owing to high levels of need in college and university environments, Winthrop chose the multi-user license as the preferred default purchase. Only where multi-user licenses are unavailable does the automatic purchase occur with single-user title licenses. Data on initial use between October 2011 and February 2013 reveal that of all PDA ebooks viewed, only 30% crossed the threshold into short-term loans. Of all triggered short-term loans, Psychology was the highest-using. Of all ebook views too brief to trigger short-term loans, Business was the highest-using area. Although the data are still too young to draw conclusions after only a few months, thought-provoking usage differences between academic disciplines have begun to emerge. These differences should be considered in library plans for the best possible curricular support for each academic program. As higher education struggles with costs and course-delivery methods libraries have an enduring lead role.

Using Interlibrary Loan Data as a Section Tool: ILL Trails Provide Collection Clues

This article describes analyzing Interlibrary Loan data to help inform collection management decision and offers guidance for formulating policies for discerning borrowed titles indicative of gaps in the library from special-interest pursuits beyond the scope of the university curriculum.

An analysis of quit and dismissal determinants between 1988 and 1999 using the bivariate probit model

Excessive labor turnover may be considered, to a great extent, an undesirable feature of a given economy. This follows from considerations such as underinvestment in human capital by firms. Understanding the determinants and the evolution of turnover in a particular labor market is therefore of paramount importance, including policy considerations. The present paper proposes an econometric analysis of turnover in the Brazilian labor market, based on a partial observability bivariate probit model. This model considers the interdependence of decisions taken by workers and firms, helping to elucidate the causes that lead each of them to end an employment relationship. The Employment and Unemployment Survey (PED) conducted by the State System of Data Analysis (SEADE) and by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIEESE) provides data at the individual worker level, allowing for the estimation of the joint probabilities of decisions to quit or stay on the job on the worker’s side, and to maintain or fire the employee on the firm’s side, during a given time period. The estimated parameters relate these estimated probabilities to the characteristics of workers, job contracts, and to the potential macroeconomic determinants in different time periods. The results confirm the theoretical prediction that the probability of termination of an employment relationship tends to be smaller as the worker acquires specific skills. The results also show that the establishment of a formal employment relationship reduces the probability of a quit decision by the worker, and also the firm’s firing decision in non-industrial sectors. With regard to the evolution of quit probability over time, the results show that an increase in the unemployment rate inhibits quitting, although this tends to wane as the unemployment rate rises.

The Brazilian and the french private equity sectors from 2006 to present: a comparative analysis

Private equity, ou o ato de fundos ou investidores de investir em empresas não cotadas em bolsa pública, assumiu uma importância crescente no mundo financeiro nos últimos anos. De fato, enquanto o surgimento de um setor de private equity (PE) tem sido um grande fenômeno em mercados emergentes desde meados dos anos 2000, a crise financeira mundial enfraqueceu private equity no mundo desenvolvido. Assim, esta pesquisa vai se concentrar em dois países com dinâmicas supostamente muito diferentes em relação a este sector: França e Brasil. O objetivo será o de discernir padrões gerais de comportamento em ambos os sectores de PE durante todo o período compreendido 2006-2013, e tentar determinar em que medida eles são comparáveis. Utilizando a literatura como fonte conceitual para o quadro comparativo a ser desenvolvido, será analisado se as condições do mercado e do ambiente institucional evoluíram durante o período estudado na França e no Brasil, se comparar, e se eles impactaram o nível de atividade de private equity - oferta e demanda de fundos - em ambos os países. Para identificar esses padrões, a pesquisa contará com uma análise de dados exploratória qualitativa, com base em um quadro dos determinantes do setor de PE identificados e retirados da literatura acadêmica. Esta pesquisa trazera sua contribuição para o trabalho acadêmico existente sobre private equity, graças à sua natureza comparativa e para a sua conclusão sobre a relevância dos determinantes acima mencionados sobre a atividade de private equity na França e no Brasil.

Compositional nutrient diagnosis of corn using the Mahalanobis distance as nutrient imbalance index

Parent, L. E., Natale, W. and Ziadi, N. 2009. Compositional nutrient diagnosis of corn using the Mahalanobis distance as nutrient imbalance index. Can. J. Soil Sci. 89: 383-390. Compositional nutrient diagnosis (CND) provides a plant nutrient imbalance index (CND - r(2)) with assumed chi(2) distribution. The Mahalanobis distance D(2), which detects outliers in compositional data sets, also has a chi(2) distribution. The objective of this paper was to compare D(2) and CND - r(2) nutrient imbalance indexes in corn (Zea mays L.). We measured grain yield as well as N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn concentrations in the ear leaf at silk stage for 210 calibration sites in the St. Lawrence Lowlands [2300-2700 corn thermal units (CTU)] as well as 30 phosphorus (2300-2700 CTU; 10 sites) and 10 nitrogen (1900-2100 CTU; one site) replicated fertilizer treatments for validation. We derived CND norms as mean, standard deviation, and the inverse covariance matrix of centred log ratios (clr) for high yielding specimens (>= 9.0 Mg grain ha(-1) at 150 g H(2)O kg(-1) moisture content) in the 2300-2700 CTU zone. Using chi(2) = 17 (P < 0.05) with nine degrees of freedom (i.e., nine nutrients) as a rejection criterion for outliers and a yield threshold of 8.6 Mg ha(-1) after Cate-Nelson partitioning between low- and high-yielders in the P validation data set, D(2) misclassified two specimens compared with nine for CND -r(2). The D(2) classification was not significantly different from a chi(2) classification (P > 0.05), but the CND - r(2) classification differed significantly from chi(2) or D(2) (P < 0.001). A threshold value for nutrient imbalance could thus be derived probabilistically for conducting D(2) diagnosis, while the CND - r(2) nutrient imbalance threshold must be calibrated using fertilizer trials. In the proposed CND - D(2) procedure, D(2) is first computed to classify the specimen as possible outlier. Thereafter, nutrient indices are ranked in their order of limitation. The D(2) norms appeared less effective in the 1900-2100 CTU zone.

Influence of data structure on the estimation of the additive genetic direct and maternal covariance for early growth traits in Nellore cattle

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of data structure on estimated genetic parameters and predicted breeding values of direct and maternal genetic effects for weaning weight (WW) and weight gain from birth to weaning (BWG), including or not the genetic covariance between direct and maternal effects. Records of 97,490 Nellore animals born between 1993 and 2006, from the Jacarezinho cattle raising farm, were used. Two different data sets were analyzed: DI_all, which included all available progenies of dams without their own performance; DII_all, which included DI_all + 20% of recorded progenies with maternal phenotypes. Two subsets were obtained from each data set (DI_all and DII_all): DI_1 and DII_1, which included only dams with three or fewer progenies; DI_5 and DII_5, which included only dams with five or more progenies. (Co)variance components and heritabilities were estimated by Bayesian inference through Gibbs sampling using univariate animal models. In general, for the population and traits studied, the proportion of dams with known phenotypic information and the number of progenies per dam influenced direct and maternal heritabilities, as well as the contribution of maternal permanent environmental variance to phenotypic variance. Only small differences were observed in the genetic and environmental parameters when the genetic covariance between direct and maternal effects was set to zero in the data sets studied. Thus, the inclusion or not of the genetic covariance between direct and maternal effects had little effect on the ranking of animals according to their breeding values for WW and BWG. Accurate estimation of genetic correlations between direct and maternal genetic effects depends on the data structure. Thus, this covariance should be set to zero in Nellore data sets in which the proportion of dams with phenotypic information is low, the number of progenies per dam is small, and pedigree relationships are poorly known. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of the Polar S810i monitor and the ECG for the analysis of heart rate variability in the time and frequency domains

The aim of the present study was to compare heart rate variability (HRV) at rest and during exercise using a temporal series obtained with the Polar S810i monitor and a signal from a LYNX® signal conditioner (BIO EMG 1000 model) with a channel configured for the acquisition of ECG signals. Fifteen healthy subjects aged 20.9 ± 1.4 years were analyzed. The subjects remained at rest for 20 min and performed exercise for another 20 min with the workload selected to achieve 60% of submaximal heart rate. RR series were obtained for each individual with a Polar S810i instrument and with an ECG analyzed with a biological signal conditioner. The HRV indices (rMSSD, pNN50, LFnu, HFnu, and LF/HF) were calculated after signal processing and analysis. The unpaired Student t-test and intraclass correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. No statistically significant differences were observed when comparing the values analyzed by means of the two devices for HRV at rest and during exercise. The intraclass correlation coefficient demonstrated satisfactory correlation between the values obtained by the devices at rest (pNN50 = 0.994; rMSSD = 0.995; LFnu = 0.978; HFnu = 0.978; LF/HF = 0.982) and during exercise (pNN50 = 0.869; rMSSD = 0.929; LFnu = 0.973; HFnu = 0.973; LF/HF = 0.942). The calculation of HRV values by means of temporal series obtained from the Polar S810i instrument appears to be as reliable as those obtained by processing the ECG signal captured with a signal conditioner.

Análise textual dos discursos: responsabilidade enunciativa no texto jurídico

This investigation aims at describing, analyzing and interpreting the Commitment in Initial Petitions, which is a genre circumscribed in the judicial domain. For this purpose, we have chosen sections, facts as found and relevant law , sections of the petition, with the understanding that, in this way, respectively, the narration of events, which gives margin to the propositioning to the judicial action, and the exposition of the law that upholds the author s intention. We base our discussion on the field of Linguistics, more precisely, Textual Discourse Analysis (TDA), whose theoretical basis is derived from Textual Linguistics (TL) and Enunciative Linguistics. We foreground, particularly, the way in which the author of texts, objects of analysis, use discursive strategies that evidence ER. The relevance of this study, then, is in the formation of a critique of the judicial text, as it conceives of a dialogical approach to the point of view, raising not only questions about the way in which a linguistic instance conceives an object of discourse, but also considering questions of language inherent to technical writing and, in this aspect, contributing to the work of those operating in Law about the many ways ER is formed in the body of a petition. We selected two categories to analyze that, according to Adam (2011), characterize the degree of ER in the textual material of the propositional enunciations: the different types of representation of speech and the indications of profile of mediators. In this sense, with this task as an objective, we base our study regarding point of view on Rabatel (2003, 2009a, 2010) with relation to the enunciative approach, including the study of PDV in polyphonic and dialogical theoretical framework to study the ER from different types of speech representations that conceive forms of transmission of discourse and the role of the enunciating subject, mainly the responsibility and the prerogative by the propositional contents. In the same way, intending to study the indications of the mediator profiles, we observed the postulations of Guentchéva (1994, 1996), which develop the notion of mediative grammatical categories, of which permit the linguistic marking of distance and engagement of the enunciator with regard to the information expressed. The methodology we adopted was based on qualitative research, of an interpretive and introspective nature, in light of the fact that his study focuses on processes and strategies underlying language use. The corpus of the research is comprised of Initial Petitions, which gave rise to actions originating in the Civil Court of Currais Novos County RN. The data analysis shows that an object of discourse is always perspective oriented and presents the point of view of one or more enunciators. Consequently, the producer of a text, using the PDV of other enunciators, influences and establishes the argumentative orientation of the text. In the same way, it evidences the relevance of the use of mediated constructions in the judicial text, as they function as strategies attenuated to the responsibility of the producer of the text with what is said, and at the same time points to a discourse of authority through the entrance of the sources of law. Moreover, it reveals the documental and international importance of this practice, at the same time that it exposes the compositional and normative difficulties with regard to legal and linguistic aspects