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This project is focused on the study of some quality characteristics of robust tissue paper a product of Epesok Paper Mills using statistical quality control techniques. Three important quality characteristics are Ph, Basic weight (g/m2) and Absorbency (mm) which are all variable measures. The data used for the study is a secondary data collected from the daily laboratory records of Epesok paper Mills Company of Nigeria for a period of seven (7) months. Control chart was used to monitor the performance of each of the quality characteristics. Also correlation analysis was carried out to determine possible correlation been pairs of the quality characteristics. The results shows that each of the characteristics monitored were statistically under control. Also the results of the correlation analysis confirm significant correlations among some quality characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A current challenge regarding microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPAD) for blood plasma separation (BPS) and electrochemical immunodetection of protein biomarkers is how to achieve a µPAD that yields enough plasma to retain the biomarker for affinity biosensing in a functionalized electrode system. This paper describes the development of a BPS µPAD to detect and quantify the S100B biomarker from peripheral whole blood. The device uses NaCl functionalized VF2 filter paper as a sample collection pad, an MF1 filter paper for plasma retention, and an optimized microfluidic channel geometry. An inverted light microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and image processing software were used for visualizing BPS efficiency. A design of experiments (DOE) assessed the device's efficacy using an S100B ELISA Kit to measure clinically relevant S100B concentrations in plasma. The BPS device obtained 50 μL of plasma from 300 μL of whole blood after 3.5 min. The statistical correlation of S100B concentrations obtained using plasma from standard centrifugation and the BPS device was 0.98. The BPS device provides a simple manufacturing protocol, short fabrication time, and is capable of S100B detection using ELISA, making one step towards the integration of technologies aimed at low-cost POC testing of clinically relevant biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper is one of the most promising materials for food packaging and wrapping due to its low environmental impact, but surface treatments are often needed to improve its performance, e.g., the resistance to fats and oils. In this context, this research is focused on the formulation of a new paper bio-coating. Paper was coated with liquids containing poly(hexano-6-lactone) (PCL), glycerol and variable percentages of starch (5–10% w/w PCL dry weight), agar-agar (0–1.5% w/w PCL dry weight), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) (5% or 15% w/w PCL dry weight) to improve coating uniformity and diffusion. A design of experiments approach was implemented to find statistically reliable results in terms of the best coating formulation. Coated paper was characterized through mechanical and physical properties. Results showed that agar content (1.5% w/w PCL dry weight) has a beneficial effect on increasing the resistance to oil. Furthermore, the best coating composition has been calculated, and it is 10% w/w PCL dry weight of starch, 1.5% w/w PCL dry weight of agar, and 15% w/w PCL dry weight of PEG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses high-consistency pulp refining using a disk refiner. During the experiment, the size of the gap between the rotor and stator cutters (0.5 to 1.5 mm), rotor speed (2,000 to 2,500 rpm), pulp consistency (10 to 20%), and freeness value (15 to 60 °SR) of the pulp were varied. The refining results were characterised by changes in 10 output parameters: morphological properties of cellulose fibres (average length, width, fibrillation index, water retention value, average kink angle, and coarseness) and the physical and mechanical characteristics of handsheets (breaking length, bursting strength, tearing resistance, and folding endurance). A total of 56 observations were made on the samples. Factor and cluster analysis methods were used to study the structure of correlations between the output parameters. More than 96% of the total dispersion of all output parameters was due to a change in two latent (hidden) factors: the first one was responsible for 79.6% of the dispersion and is presumably identified as the degree of external fibre fibrillation and the second one (16.6% of the dispersion) as fibre flexibility (including coarseness and average kink angle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Screening of hemoglobin (Hb) before blood donation is one among the vital tests. It is performed to select a blood donor to prevent the collection of blood from an anemic person. However, no accurate, cost-effective, reliable, and standardized method is available to estimate Hb. OBJECTIVE: The aim is to evaluate the efficacy of filter paper cyanmethemoglobin (FPCH) method with the automated hematology analyzer in the estimation of Hb concentration for screening of a suitable donor. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional study in which the blood samples of 2000 patients visiting KLE's Dr. Prabhakar Kore Charitable Hospital, Belagavi, were collected in vials and directly estimated for Hb using automated hematology analyzer. To evaluate the efficacy of FPCH, 20 μL of blood sample was transferred onto Whatman filter paper and dried at room temperature. After drying, it was placed in 5 mL of Drabkin's solution for 30 min. Optical density was estimated by measuring the absorbance. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The correlation coefficient, paired t-test, and difference between the means of both the methods were calculated. RESULTS: The mean Hb estimated by FPCH was 11.25 g/dL and automated hematology analyzer gave 11.35 g/dL. The difference in the means of both the methods was 0.1 g/dL. Paired t-test was done to test the level of significance and the result was 8.151 (95% confidence interval: 0.08–0.13 g/dL, P < 0.001). The correlation coefficient was found to be 0.976 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: FPCH is an efficient method, which is comparable to the automated hematology analyzers for Hb estimation. It could be used as an alternative screening tool for detection of Hb in a blood donation camp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sport-related concussion is a public concern with between 1.6 and 3.8 million sport- and recreationrelated injuries occurring annually. An estimated 65% to 90% of concussed athletes show oculomotor disruption such as difficulty with saccades, accommodation, smooth pursuit, and fixation. A rapid number-naming saccade test, the King-Devick (K-D) test, has shown promising results as part of a multifaceted concussion assessment tool. Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the two versions of the K-D in collegiate aged (18-24) athletes to determine the agreement between versions. A secondary purpose was to investigate the association of K-D scores with sport, sex, use of glasses or contacts, and age of the athlete. Study design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Division 1 NCAA collegiate athletes across ten sports were recruited to participate in baseline concussion assessments at the beginning of their respective athletic season. Correlations and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association of K-D scores with sex and age. Results: One-hundred and nine athletes (69 males, 40 females; mean age =20.40±1.38 years) were baseline tested. There was excellent agreement (ICC=0.93, 95% CI: 0.90, 0.95) between the paper and computer version. Preseason K-D scores were statistically different (r2=0.873, p<0.05) with athletes scoring a mean of 37.58 seconds on the paper version (95% CI, 36.21, 38.96) and athletes scoring a mean of 41.48 seconds for the computerized tablet version (95% CI, 40.17, 42.91). There were no significant differences in sex, sport, or use of glasses noted for both versions. Age differences were identified; eighteen-year-old athletes took statistically longer than their peers for both K-D versions. Pairwise comparisons showed statistically significant differences between 18-year olds up to the age of 21-year-olds (p<0.05) for the computer version and statistically significant differences between 18-year olds up to 22-year-olds (p<0.05) for the paper version. Conclusion: This study supports the use of either version of the K-D test as a potential part of a multifaceted concussion assessment. The age of the athlete influences scores and therefore a K-D baseline should be repeated annually for collegiate athletes. Clinicians should not substitute K-D versions (computer vs. paper) in comparing baseline to a post-concussion K-D score as the scores are quite different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few biomarker-based validation studies have examined error in online self-report dietary assessment instruments, and food records (FRs) have been considered less than food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and 24-hour recalls (24HRs). We investigated measurement error in online and paper-based FFQs, online 24HRs, and paper-based FRs in 3 samples drawn primarily from 3 cohorts, comprising 1,393 women and 1,455 men aged 45–86 years. Data collection occurred from January 2011 to October 2013. Attenuation factors and correlation coefficients between reported and true usual intake for energy, protein, sodium, potassium, and respective densities were estimated using recovery biomarkers. Across studies, average attenuation factors for energy were 0.07, 0.07, and 0.19 for a single FFQ, 24HR, and FR, respectively. Correlation coefficients for energy were 0.24, 0.23, and 0.40, respectively. Excluding energy, the average attenuation factors across nutrients and studies were 0.22 for a single FFQ, 0.22 for a single 24HR, and 0.51 for a single FR. Corresponding correlation coefficients were 0.31, 0.34, and 0.53, respectively. For densities (nutrient expressed relative to energy), the average attenuation factors across studies were 0.37, 0.17, and 0.50, respectively. The findings support prior research suggesting different instruments have unique strengths that should be leveraged in epidemiologic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the total number of citations as the sole indicator of a research paper’s success is not always correct. Furthermore, considering the total number of reads (downloads, views, and usage) is not always correct either. Therefore, this paper proposes a new measure called paper impact effectiveness (PIE) that combines both indicators to evaluate the impact of research papers in order to provide a more realistic and fair indicator. Therefore, the total number of downloads for the most popular papers, selected from a single journal, in addition to total citations from Google Scholar were obtained to prove this paper’s argument. Universities, research ranking agencies, and researchers can use the PIE value to assess the impact (i.e., value) of research papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate monitoring of insulation aging of oil-paper insulation power equipment such as oil-immersed transformers is a key and difficult point in the field of high voltage research. In this paper, a method based on Raman spectroscopy to diagnose the aging degree of oil-paper insulation is discussed. Raman detections of the samples were carried out on a self-built Raman detection platform. The partial least squares method was used to extract and analyze the spectral features. The aging time of the sample was used to supervise the feature extraction of oil-paper insulation Raman data, and the intrinsic mathematical relationship between the Raman features of oil-paper insulation and the aging was excavated. Finally, a quantitative aging diagnostic model based on Raman spectral features of oil-paper insulation to predict its aging state was built with the assistance of the support vector regression method. The results of aging time prediction for 30 test samples show that the mean square error is 0.0123 and the square of correlation coefficient is 0.987. The proposed method provides a new idea for Raman aging diagnosis of oil-paper insulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulp and paper industries have provided great research opportunities to control systems. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between 80 process variables of CMP tower and stock preparation, and 17 newsprint quality properties in Mazandaran Wood and Paper Industries (MWPI). After the preparation of two suitable data series considering the time needed for pulp to paper, the relations between process dependent and newsprint independent variables were determined using partial least squares (PLS) regression. As a result, two PLS models were developed. The first model with 4 latent vectors categorized and related CMP tower variables and the second one, through 8 latent vectors connected stock preparation variables with paper properties. PLS regression coefficients determined how much the most influencing process variables impact each paper properties [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents the results of the correlation and regression of the deposition of liquid and the degree of coverage of sprayed objects. Preliminary experiments were conducted in terms of droplet size depending on liquid pressure and nozzle type. Studies on the degree of coverage and deposition of spray liquid were then carried out. The test stand consisted of a carrier of nozzles and artificial plants. Samplers were attached to the artificial plants to obtain vertical and horizontal surfaces. Water-sensitive paper and filter papers were sampled (for measurements of the degree of coverage and deposition of liquid, respectively). The results of these studies showed strong and very strong Pearson's correlation coefficients between the analyzed indicators (degree of coverage and deposition of liquid), from 0.9143 to 0.9815. Furthermore, high values of the coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.85) were obtained for linear regression. The high R2 values indicate a good match of the regression model to empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an improved method for detecting methanol and the concentration of methanol in transformer oil-paper. Acetonitrile is used as an extractant, and methanol is detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Experiments show a linear correlation coefficient of this method that reaches 0.99 and the minimum detected concentration of methanol in transformer oil can be as low as 5.57 μg/L. In order to investigate the relationship between the methanol concentration and the degree of aging of insulating paper, an oil-paper insulation simulation system is designed. The experiment shows that there is a linear relationship between the logarithm of methanol concentration and the degree of polymerization, the linear correlation coefficient is greater than 0.94. An actual oil sample from a transformer is used to show that the method can be used to further study the methanol concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The present study aims at teaching the right citation models in scientific publications by top authors from Iranian universities of medical sciences in 2017, considering the relationship between moral development and self-control variables and model of "citation to multi-authored papers" in these articles. Background: Multi-authorship increases the amount of self-citation and also increases the likelihood of being cited by others. Methods: This study is of the applied scientometrics and correlation (model presentation) studies type. The research population in the first part of this study includes all the authors who had an H-index of 10 or more in the scientific databases of 2017. The sample size at this stage was 110, selected by systematic random sampling. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Results: The results of regression analysis based on the concurrent method indicated that the regression model is significant. The coefficient of determination is 0.096 and the F ratio is 5.650, which are significant at the level of p <0.001. In this regression model, the variables of the level of moral development (β = -5.801, p <0.001) and self-control (p < 0.001, β = -0.253) have significant predictive power and can be considered as predictors of behavioral modeling in citing "multi-authored papers". Conclusion: Based on the results, teaching how to avoid blindly citing the "multi-authored papers", which is regarded as a kind of "citation deviation", can, to some extent, lead to strengthening citation indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The colorimetric method is usually used to test the concentration of substances. However, this method has a big error since different people have different sensitivities to colors. In this paper, in order to solve the identification problem of the color and the concentration of the test paper, firstly, we found out that the concentration of substance is correlated with the color reading by using the Pearson's Chi-squared test method. And by the concentration coefficient of Pearson correlation analysis, the concentration of substance and color reading is highly correlated. Secondly, according to the RGB value of the paper image, the color moments of the image are calculated as the characteristics of the image, and the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) neural network is established to classify the concentration of the substance. The accuracy of the training set model is 94.5%, and the accuracy of the test set model is 87.5%. The model precision is high, and the model has stronger generalization ability. Therefore, according to the RGB value of the test paper image, it is effective to establish the LM neural network model to identify the substance concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Expressive vocabulary plays a vital role in child language development, and its assessment can be one of the essential indicators to identify language developmental delay, especially in children with Down syndrome. We developed a list of expressive vocabulary and compared the size and class of expressive vocabularies between typically developing and Down syndrome children. Materials and Methods: Expressive vocabulary of 150 children was examined in this study. A total of 120 typically developing Farsi-speaking children (in four age Groups, with a 6-month interval) and 30 children with Down syndrome (aged 24-48 months) participated in this study. The parents of the children filled out the form that included 636 words from different vocabulary classes. These classes were based on studies that investigated language development in Farsi-speaking children. Results: The expressive vocabulary size in Farsi-speaking children was significantly higher than in Down syndrome children (P≤0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between boys and girls regarding expressive vocabulary size in two Groups of children. The size of nouns in all age Groups is more than other classes, and the size of conjunctions in all age Groups is less than the other ones. A direct correlation was found between age and the size of expressive vocabulary. Conclusion: According to the study findings, the list of expressive vocabulary can detect delays in developing expressive vocabulary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the measurement equivalence of the original paper-based vertical format of the EQ-5D visual analog scale (EQ VAS) with a touch-screen computer-based horizontal format. A total of 314 subjects were administered two modes of the EQ VAS in a randomized crossover design. One mode was the original paper-based 20 cm vertical EQ VAS; the other mode was touch-screen-based. Measurement equivalence was assessed by testing the 95% confidence interval of the mean differences from an equivalence threshold of −3 to +3 points on the VAS and evaluating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The adjusted mean (SE) EQ VAS score was 80.96 (0.87) on the paper and 79.59 (0.85) on the touch-screen. The mean (CI) difference between scores on the two formats was 1.37 with a confidence interval of 0.175–2.559, wholly contained within the equivalence interval. The ICC was 0.75, indicating acceptable agreement between the two modes. Almost a third (30.1%) of the respondents reported identical scores on both formats. These results provide evidence for the measurement equivalence of this EQ VAS touch-screen administration mode with the original paper mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We try to assess the validity of assumptions taken when deriving drift velocity. We give simple formulas for characteristics of the spatiotemporal correlation function of the observed diffraction pattern for the frozen flow and the more general Briggs model. Using Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) Cassiopeia intensity observation, we compare the experimental velocity scaling factor with a theoretical one to show that both models do not follow observations. We also give a qualitative comparison of our drift velocity estimates with SuperDARN convection maps. The article is essentially an extended version of the conference paper: "Determining ionospheric drift and anisotropy of irregularities from LOFAR core measurements", Signal Processing Symposium 2021 (SPSympo 2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging of oil-paper insulation in power transformers may cause serious power failures. Thus, effective monitoring of the condition of the transformer insulation is the key to prevent major accidents. The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of confocal laser Raman spectroscopy (CLRS) for assessing the aging condition of oil-paper insulation. Oil-paper insulation samples were subjected to thermal accelerated ageing at 120 °C for up to 160 days according to the procedure described in the IEEE Guide. Meanwhile, the dimension of the Raman spectrum of the insulation oil was reduced by principal component analysis (PCA). The 160 oil-paper insulation samples were divided into five aging stages as training samples by clustering analysis and with the use of the degree of polymerization of the insulating papers. In addition, the features of the Raman spectrum were used as the inputs of a multi-classification support vector machine. Finally, 105 oil-paper insulation testing samples aged at a temperature of 130 °C were used to further test the diagnostic capability and universality of the established algorithm. Results demonstrated that CLRS in conjunction with the PCA-SVM technique provides a new way for aging stage assessment of oil-paper insulation equipment in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the flexibility of multivariate covariance models including Linear Model of Coregionalization (LCM) and multivariate Matérn in the bivariate case. It mentions that LMC is more flexible in terms of colocated correlation coefficient and Matérn has restrictions on the colocated correlation for spatial scales and parameters.

This work investigates the spreading dynamics of three candidate sol–gel solutions, of ranging viscosities, surface tensions and densities, and compares them with water and two commercial blood substitute products. Droplets were created with different sizes (10 to75 μL) and impact velocities (1.4 to 6.0 m/s) to strike 176 gsm cardstock. Over 2200 droplets were created using the six different fluids and their final dried stain diameter was measured. Droplet spread was plotted using the Scheller and Bousfield correlation and uses effective viscosity as a parameter for non-Newtonian fluids. Comparing the results to an expected whole human blood range validated the spread of the candidate FBS sol–gel material in passive drip bloodstain pattern simulation. These findings complement the practical application of the material as a safe substitute for demonstrating droplet spread under controlled conditions on hard paper surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The Danish DANBIO registry has developed open-source software for touch screens in the waiting room. The objective was to assess the validity of outcomes from self-explanatory patient questionnaires on touch screen in comparison with the traditional paper form in routine clinical care. Methods. Fifty-two AS patients and 59 RA patients completed Visual Analogue Scales (VASs) for pain, fatigue and global health, and Bath measures on Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and Function Index (BASFI) (AS patients) or HAQs (RA patients) on touch screen and paper form in random order with a 1-h interval. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs), 95% CIs and smallest detectable differences (SDDs) were calculated. Results. ICC ranged from 0.922 to 0.988 (P < 0.001). The mean differences (95% CI) were: BASDAI [-0.5 (-14.5, 13.5) mm]; BASFI [-1.1 (-10.6, 8.4) mm]; Item 5 [-1.7 (-23.6, 20.2) mm] and Item 6 [-0.7 (-14.7, 13.3) mm] from BASDAI; HAQ score [0.023 (-0.183, 0.229)]. For VAS -0.4 to -2.8mm (no significance for all except VAS global and VAS fatigue in RA). SDD for BASDAI was 14.0 mm; BASFI 9.5 mm; Item 5 21.8 mm; Item 6 14.0mm; HAQ 0.206; VAS 11.1-18.8 mm. Conclusions. Self-explanatory touch screens based on the DANBIO open-source system generates valid results in AS and RA patients on completion of BASDAI, BASFI, HAQ and VAS scores for pain, fatigue and global health when compared with the traditional paper form. Implementation of touch screens in clinical practice is feasible and patients need no instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Noise exposures are associated with a host of adverse health effects, yet these exposures remain inadequately characterized in many industrial operations, including paper mills. We assessed noise at four paper mills using three measures: (i) personal noise dosimetry, (ii) area noise measurements, and (iii) questionnaire items addressing several different aspects of perceived noise exposure. Methods: We assessed exposures to noise characterized using the three measures and compared the relationships between them. We also estimated the validity of each of the three measures using a novel application of the Method of Triads, which does not appear to have been used previously in the occupational health literature. Results: We collected 209 valid dosimetry measurements and collected perceived noise exposure survey items from 170 workers, along with 100 area measurements. We identified exposures in excess of 85 dBA at all mills. The dosimetry and area noise measurements assigned to individual subjects generally showed good agreement, but for some operations within mill, large differences between the two measures were observed, and a substantial fraction of paired measures differed by >5 dB. Perceived noise exposures varied greatly between the mills, particularly for an item related to difficulty speaking in noise. One perceived noise exposure item related to difficulty hearing due to noise showed strong and significant correlations with both dosimetry and area measurements. The Method of Triads analysis showed that dosimetry measures had the highest estimated validity coefficient (0.70), and that the best performing perceived exposure measure had validity that exceeded that of area measurements (0.48 versus 0.40, respectively). Conclusions: Workers in Swedish pulp mills have the potential for exposures to high levels of noise. Our results suggest that, while dosimetry remains the preferred approach to exposure assessment, perceived noise exposures can be used to evaluate potential exposures to noise in epidemiological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring massive mobile data for location-based services becomes one of the key challenges in mobile data mining. In this paper, we investigate a problem of finding a correlation between the collective behavior of mobile users and the distribution of points of interest (POIs) in a city. Specifically, we use large-scale cell tower data dumps collected from cell towers and POIs extracted from a popular social network service, Weibo. Our objective is to make use of the data from these two different types of sources to build a model for predicting the POI densities of different regions in the covered area. An application domain that may benefit from our research is a business recommendation application, where a prediction result can be used as a recommendation for opening a new store/branch. The crux of our contribution is the method of representing the collective behavior of mobile users as a histogram of connection counts over a period of time in each region. This representation ultimately enables us to apply a supervised learning algorithm to our problem in order to train a POI prediction model using the POI data set as the ground truth. We studied 12 state-of-the-art classification and regression algorithms; experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chaos-based cryptography techniques are used widely to protect digital information from intruders. The chaotic systems have some of special features that make them suitable for the purpose of encryption. These systems are highly unpredictable and are highly sensitive or responsive to the initial conditions, also known as butterfly effect. This sensitive dependence on initial conditions make these systems to exhibit an intricate dynamical behaviour. However, this dynamical behaviour is not much complex in simple one-dimensional chaotic maps. Hence, it becomes easy for an intruder to predict the contents of the message being sent. The proposed work in this paper introduces an improved method for encrypting images, which uses cosine transformation of 3-D Intertwining Logistic Map (ILM). The proposed approach has been split into three major parts. In the first part, Secure Hash Function-256 (SHA-256) is used with cosine transformed ILM (CT-ILM) to generate the chaotic sequence. This chaotic sequence is used by high-efficiency scrambling to reduce the correlations between the adjacent pixels of the image. In the second part, the image is rotated to move all the pixels away from their original position. In the third part, random order substitution is applied to change the value of image pixels. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been tested on a number of standard parameters such as correlation coefficient, Entropy and Unified average change in intensity. The proposed approach has also been tested for decryption parameters like mean square error and peak signal to noise ratio. It can easily be observed from the obtained results that the proposed method of image encryption is more secure and time efficient than some earlier proposed techniques. The approach works for both color and grey scale images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper-and-pencil Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) copy task has been extensively used to assess visuo-constructional skills in children and adults. The scoring systems utilized in clinical practice provide an integrated evaluation of the drawing process, without differentiating between its visuo-constructional, organizational, and motor components. Here, a tablet-based ROCF copy task capable of providing a quantitative assessment of the drawing process, differentiating between visuo-constructional, organizational, and motor skills, is trialed in 94 healthy children, between 7 and 11 years of age. Through previously validated algorithms, 12 indices of performance in the ROCF copy task were obtained for each child. Principal component analysis of the 12 indices identified spatial, procedural, and kinematic components as distinct dimensions of the drawing process. A composite score for each dimension was determined, and correlation analysis between composite scores and conventional paper-and-pencil measures of visuo-constructional, procedural, and motor skills performed. The results obtained confirmed that the constructional, organizational, and motor dimensions underlie complex figure drawing in children; and that each dimension can be measured by a unique composite score. In addition, the composite scores here obtained from children were compared with previsions results from adults, offering a novel insight into how the interplay between the three dimensions of drawing evolves with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, economists have been trying to estimate the magnitude of the shadow economy (SE), which is not directly observable. This paper explores how the MIMIC (Multiple Indicator Multiple Cause) model can yield estimates of the SE/GDP (the proportion of the SE to the gross domestic product) below 0%, above 100%, and other implausible results. The focus is on the new calibration methods by Dell'Anno (2022) and data on the Czech Republic (1993-2021). The paper concludes that one of the leading causes of implausible results is the misalignment between the SE definition implied by the MIMIC model and that used for the exogenous estimates applied for calibration. Therefore, the authors propose testing the alignment between the SE definitions, such as assessing trends in the latent variable (first-stage scores) resulting from the MIMIC model and the exogenous estimates or applying regression or correlation analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the ambiguous synchronization problem caused by the multi-peak nature of the autocorrelation function of the modulated signal of the Multiplexed Binary Offset Carrier (MBOC) in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), a new synchronization algorithm for MBOC signals is presented in this paper, which uses a reconstruction correlation function to effectively handle synchronization ambiguities associated with multi-peak signals. The paper proposes an algorithm for reconstructing the correlation function of the MBOC signal by analyzing its characteristics. The algorithm generates three local auxiliary signals, namely, pseudo-random codes (PRN), BOC(1,1) signals, and MBOC signals, which are correlated with the received signal. By combining the three correlation functions, the algorithm produces a reconstructed correlation function based on reconstruction rules, eliminating side peaks and achieving unambiguous synchronization. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm in this paper eliminates all side peaks while maintaining a high detection probability, and its deblurring capability is optimal compared to other algorithms. In addition, the discriminant curve shows that the algorithm in this paper successfully eliminates all the mis-locked points, and the slope gain is improved by more than 2.5 dB compared with other algorithms, and the anti-multipath performance of the algorithm in this paper is better than that of other traditional algorithms, such as ASPeCT (Autocorrelation Side-Peak Cancellation Technique). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing intelligent editing tools for music and video rely on the cross-modal matching technology of the affective consistency or the similarity of feature representations. However, these methods are not fully applicable to complex audiovisual matching scenarios, resulting in low matching accuracy and suboptimal audience perceptual effects due to ambiguous matching rules and associated factors. To address these limitations, this paper focuses on both the similarity and integration of affective distribution for the artistic audiovisual works of movie and television video and music. Based on the rich emotional perception elements, we propose a hybrid matching model based on feature canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and fine-grained affective similarity. The model refines KCCA fusion features by analyzing both matched and unmatched music–video pairs. Subsequently, the model employs XGBoost to predict relevance and to compute similarity by considering fine-grained affective semantic distance as well as affective factor distance. Ultimately, the matching prediction values are obtained through weight allocation. Experimental results on a self-built dataset demonstrate that the proposed affective matching model balances feature parameters and affective semantic cognitions, yielding relatively high prediction accuracy and better subjective experience of audiovisual association. This paper is crucial for exploring the affective association mechanisms of audiovisual objects from a sensory perspective and improving related intelligent tools, thereby offering a novel technical approach to retrieval and matching in music–video editing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The access of new energy improves the flexibility of distribution network operation, but also leads to more complex mechanism of line loss. Therefore, starting from the nonlinear, fluctuating and multi-scale characteristics of line loss data, and based on the idea of decomposition prediction, this paper proposes a new method of line loss frequency division prediction based on wavelet transform and BIGRU-LSTM (Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit-Long Short Term Memory Network).Firstly, the grey relation analysis and the improved NARMA (Nonlinear Autoregressive Moving Average) correlation analysis method are used to extract the non-temporal and temporal influencing factors of line loss, and the corresponding feature data set is constructed. Then, the historical line loss data is decomposed into physical signals of different frequency bands by using wavelet transform, and the multi-dimensional input data of the prediction network is formed with the above characteristic data set. Finally, the BIGRU-LSTM prediction network is built to realize the probabilistic prediction of high-frequency and low-frequency components of line loss. The effectiveness and applicability of the method proposed in this paper were verified through numerical simulation. By dividing the line loss data into different frequency bands for frequency prediction, the mapping relationship between different line loss components and influencing factors was accurately matched, thereby improving the prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the self-affine property of the grinding surface, the sample images with different roughness captured by the micron-scale camera exhibit certain similarities. This similarity affects the prediction accuracy of the deep learning model. In this paper, we propose an illumination method that can mitigate the impact of self-affinity using the two-scale fractal theory as a foundation. This is followed by the establishment of a machine vision detection method that integrates a neural network and correlation function. Initially, a neural network is employed to categorize and forecast the microscopic image of the workpiece surface, thereby determining its roughness category. Subsequently, the corresponding correlation function is determined in accordance with the established roughness category. Finally, the surface roughness of the workpiece was calculated based on the correlation function. The experimental results demonstrate that images obtained using this lighting method exhibit significantly enhanced accuracy in neural network classification. In comparison to traditional lighting methods, the accuracy of this method on the micrometer scale has been found to have significantly increased from approximately 50% to over 95%. Concurrently, the mean squared error (MSE) of the surface roughness calculated by the proposed method does not exceed 0.003, and the mean relative error (MRE) does not exceed 5%. The two-scale fractal geometry offers a novel approach to image processing and machine learning, with significant potential for advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban underground space (UUS) development has been acknowledged as a positive contribution to urban resilience (UR). Such contribution has been qualitatively addressed in recent years, but only quantitatively discussed in few studies. Quantitative evaluation methods for UR are widely used in China and around the world, but the role of underground space is barely included. This paper provides a way to bridge this gap on the city scale. A UR evaluation framework was carefully constructed that covers the basic aspects and elements of UR. The contributions of UUS to UR were identified and integrated into the UR evaluation framework, and the measurement methods for each indicator related to UUS were determined. A case study of 19 sample cities in China were conducted using the integrated evaluation model. Correlation analysis and clustering analysis were further adopted to interpret the evaluation results, mainly with three indicators reflecting the level of UUS development, namely UUS area (m²), UUS density (104 m² /km² ) and UUS area per capita (m² / person). The results showed a strong correlation between UUS area and UR. The average proportion of UR provided by UUS in the 19 sample cities was 16.46%, while the maximum figure reached 29.20%. The sample cities were clustered into four categories based on the relationship between the proportion of UR provided by UUS, UUS area, and GDP per capita, where both high and low UUS area tend to provide less proportion of resilience than the medium UUS area. Corresponding suggestions for UUS utilization were proposed to assist cities in achieving urban resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to highlight the limitations of water-sensitive paper in characterizing spray droplet distribution and deposition in field application. Spatial distributions of spray droplets discharged from an airblast sprayer were sampled on pairs of absorbent paper (AP) and water-sensitive paper (WSP) targets at several distances from the sprayer. Spray solutions, containing a fluorescent tracer, were discharged from two nozzle sizes to achieve low and high volume rates commonly used in citrus applications. Spray deposits on AP targets were measured by fluorometry and spray coverage areas on WSP cards were assessed by three independent image analysis systems. Generally, there were good correlations (R² = 0.9085 to 0.9748) among the three imaging systems in measuring WSP percent area coverage. Lower volume rate (smaller droplets) provided more useful WSP targets than higher volume rate (larger droplets). Overall, there were somewhat weak correlations between WSP area coverage and AP spray deposition measurements. Volume median diameter and number of droplet stains on WSP cards, obtained by only two imaging systems, showed noticeable differences between the measurements of the two systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients’ perspectives provide valuable information on quality of care. This study evaluates the feasibility and validity of Internet administration of Service Satisfaction Scale for Cancer Care (SCA) to assess patient satisfaction with outcome, practitioner manner/skill, information, and waiting/access.Patients and methods: Primary data collected from November 2007 to April 2008. Patients receiving cancer care within 1 year were recruited from oncology, surgery, and radiation clinics at a tertiary care hospital. An Internet-based version of the 16-item SCA was developed. Participants were randomised to Internet SCA followed by paper SCA 2 weeks later or vice versa. Seven-point Likert scale responses were converted to a 0–100 scale (minimum–maximum satisfaction). Response distribution, Cronbach’s alpha, and test–retest correlations were calculated.Results: Among 122 consenting participants, 78 responded to initial SCA. Mean satisfaction scores for paper/Internet were 91/90 (outcome), 95/94 (practitioner manner/skill), 89/90 (information), and 86/86 (waiting/access). Response rate and item missingness were similar for Internet and paper. Except for practitioner manner/skill, test–retest correlations were robust r = 0.77 (outcome), 0.74 (information), and 0.75 (waiting/access) (all P < 0.001).Conclusions: Internet SCA administration is a feasible and a valid measurement of cancer care satisfaction for a wide range of cancer diagnoses, treatment modalities, and clinic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aimed to verify the linear associations between the physical, chemical and microbiological variables of spring water. The research was developed from two seasons of spring water sample collections and evaluated physical–chemical variables such as temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, total alkalinity, total hardness, total ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, true and apparent colors, total phosphorus, fluoride and total iron, and microbiological variables—total coliforms and Escherichia coli. The variables' total alkalinity, total hardness, and electrical conductivity have a strong positive correlation among them (r > 0.50), which is similar to what occurs with the variables' turbidity, apparent color, true color, and total iron, between nitrite and total iron, and between the turbidity and total coliforms. These correlations occur as a function of the interaction that water has with the soil and the compounds found, thus altering the quality. The springs do not have masonry protection, they only have plant protection. Moreover, this water is exposed and accessible to animals in these areas. In addition, the result of the surface and sub-surface flow effect of spring water must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brain imaging studies suggest that volume reductions and compromised white matter integrity occur in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD). However, the cellular correlates have not yet been identified. To address this issue we assessed oligodendrocyte, astrocyte and microglial populations in postmortem white matter from schizophrenia, BD and nonpsychiatric control samples. Methods: The density, areal fraction and spatial distribution of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-expressing astrocytes and ionized calciumbinding adaptor molecule-1 (IBA-1)-expressing microglia as well as the density, nuclear size and spatial distribution of Nissl-stained oligodendrocytes were quantified in postmortem white matter adjacent to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 9) in schizophrenia, BD and control samples (n = 20). In addition, the oligodendrocyte-associated proteins myelin basic protein and 2′,3′-cyclic-nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) were quantified in the same samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblotting. Results: Oligodendrocyte density (p = 0.012) and CNPase protein levels (p = 0.038) differed between groups, being increased in BD compared with control samples. The GFAP area fraction (p = 0.05) and astrocyte spatial distribution (p = 0.040) also differed between groups, reflecting decreased area fraction and increased cell clustering in both schizophrenia and BD samples. Limitations: Oligodendrocytes were identified using morphological criteria. Conclusion: This study provides evidence for glial pathology in prefrontal white matter in schizophrenia and BD. Changes in oligodendrocyte and astrocyte populations in white matter in the major psychiatric disorders may reflect disruptions in structural or metabolic support of axons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metabotropic glutamate receptors 2/3 (mGluR2/3) and 5 (mGluR5) are novel therapeutic targets for major depression (MD), bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia. We aimed to determine whether mGluR2/3 and mGluR5 binding in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain region essential for the regulation of mood, cognition and emotion, were differentially altered in these pathologies. Methods: Using postmortem human brains derived from 2 cohorts, [3H]LY341495 binding to mGluR2/3 and [3H]MPEP binding to mGluR5 were measured by receptor autoradiography in the ACC. The first cohort comprised samples from individuals who had MD with psychosis (MDP), MD without psychosis (MDNP) and matched controls (n = 11-12 per group). The second cohort comprised samples from individuals who had MDNP, BD, schizophrenia and matched controls (n = 15 per group). Results: No differences in mGluR2/3 or mGluR5 binding were observed in the MDP, MDNP, BD or schizophrenia groups compared with the control group (all p > 0.05). Importantly, there were also no differences in binding densities between the psychiatric disorders (p > 0.05). We did, however, observe age-related effects, with consistent negative associations between mGluR2/3 and age in the control group (r < -0.575, p < 0.025) and the psychotic disorder groups (MDP and schizophrenia: r = -0.765 to -0.515, p < 0.05), but not in the mood disorder groups (MDNP, BD). Limitations: Replication in larger independent cohorts and medication-naive individuals would strengthen these findings. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that mGluRs are unaltered in the ACC; however, the presence of altered receptor function cannot be discounted and requires further investigation. Taken together with previous studies, which report differential changes in mGluR2, 3 and 5 across these disorders, we suggest mGluRs may be affected in a brain region-specific manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Neurocognitive testing is a recommended component in a concussion assessment. Clinicians should be aware of age and practice effects on these measures to ensure appropriate understanding of results. Objective: To assess age and practice effects on computerized and paper-and-pencil neurocognitive testing batteries in collegiate and high school athletes. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Classroom and laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Participants consisted of 20 collegiate student-athletes (age = 20.00 ± 0.79 years) and 20 high school student-athletes (age = 16.00 ± 0.86 years). Main Outcome Measure(s): Hopkins Verbal Learning Test scores, Brief Visual-Spatial Memory Test scores, Trail Making Test B total time, Symbol Digit Modalities Test score, Stroop Test total score, and 5 composite scores from the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) served as outcome measures. Mixed-model analyses of variance were used to examine each measure. Results: Collegiate student-athletes performed better than high school student-athletes on ImPACT processing speed composite score (F1,38 = 5.03, P = .031) at all time points. No other age effects were observed. The Trail Making Test B total time (F2,66 = 73.432, P < .001), Stroop Test total score (F2,76 = 96.85, P = < .001) and ImPACT processing speed composite score (F2,76 = 5.81, P = .005) improved in test sessions 2 and 3 compared with test session 1. Intraclass correlation coefficient calculations demonstrated values ranging from 0.12 to 0.72. Conclusions: An athlete's neurocognitive performance may vary across sessions. It is important for clinicians to know the reliability and precision of these tests in order to properly interpret test scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) has been widely applied to diagnose internal faults in transformer insulation systems. However, the accuracy of DGA technique is limited because of the lack of positive correlation of the fault-identifying gases with faults found in power transformers. This paper presents a laboratory study on the correlation between oil dissolved gas formation and partial discharge (PD) statistical parameters. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) is employed to explore the underlying correlation and to extract principal feature parameters and gases in the development of different PD defects. This study is aimed to provide more information in assisting the separation, classification and identification of PD defects, which might improve the existing transformer dissolved gas analysis (DGA) schemes. An application of a novel ratio method for discharge diagnosis is proposed. The evaluation of DGA data both in laboratory and actual transformers proves the effectiveness of the method and the correlation investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present school-based study, a convenience sample of 477 students in grades 6-9 and second year in high school from a city and a smaller town recorded daily occurrence and intensity of headaches in a standard paper diary during a 3-week period. Total headache activity (headache sum), number of headache days, intensity level and duration for weekly headaches were estimated. Approximately 85% of the adolescents had experienced headache of any intensity level during the 3-week recording period. On the average, they reported 2.5 headache days per week and a mean intensity level for headache episodes of 1.7. Our estimates for headache of any intensity level (1-5) occurring at least once a week was surprisingly high (73.8%). For the highest intensity level across the whole 3-week period, almost identical proportions of mild and moderate headaches were reported by students (22.3-22.5%), while about twice as many (40.7%) had experienced severe headaches. Girls consistently reported more headaches than boys, in particular of the moderate and severe intensity types. Students in the city also reported more frequent and intense headaches than those in the town. Peak headache activity was observed at noon and in the afternoon and in the days from the middle of the week until weekend. The use of prospective recordings in diaries will further advance our knowledge on the prevalence and characteristics of recurrent headaches among children and adolescents in community samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stem cell-related studies have been increasingly conducted to facilitate the regeneration of degenerative discs. However, analyses of high-impact articles focused on this topic are rare. This study aimed to determine and summarize the most-cited studies examining stem cells in the context of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Methods: We searched the Web of Science (WoS) database for stem cell-related articles in IDD, and the 50 highest-cited papers were summarized. A correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship among WoS citations, Altmetric Attention Score (AAS), and Dimensions. Results: The number of citations of the top 50 manuscripts ranged from 92 to 370. The top three countries were the United States (14), China (10), and Japan (9). Spine (12) was the most prevalent journal, and this was followed by Biomaterials (6). Bone marrow-derived stem cells were the most common subject (38), and they were followed by nucleus pulposus-derived stem cells (4) and annulus fibrosus-derived stem cells (4). Humans were the most studied species (31), and the next most studied were rabbits (9) and rats (7). There was a very high correlation between WoS and Dimension citations (p < 0.001, r = 0.937). Conclusions: For the first time, the highest impact articles examining stem cells in the context of IDD were assessed together. The current study provides a deepened understanding of historical studies focused on stem cells in IDD and is beneficial for future studies in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In a genome-wide association study of autism, zinc finger protein 804A (ZNF804A) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found to be nominally associated in verbally deficient individuals with autism. Zinc finger protein 804A copy number variations (CNVs) have also been observed in individuals with autism. In addition, ZNF804A is known to be involved in theory of mind (ToM) tasks, and ToM deficits are deemed responsible for the communication and social challenges faced by individuals with autism. We hypothesized that ZNF804A could be a risk gene for autism. METHODS: We examined the genetic association and CNVs of ZNF804A in 841 families in which 1 or more members had autism. We compared the expression of ZNF804A in the postmortem brains of individuals with autism (n = 8) and controls (n = 13). We also assessed in vitro the effect of ZNF804A silencing on the expression of several genes known to be involved in verbal efficiency and social cognition. RESULTS: We found that rs7603001 was nominally associated with autism (p = 0.018). The association was stronger (p = 0.008) in the families of individuals with autism who were verbally deficient (n = 761 families). We observed ZNF804A CNVs in 7 verbally deficient boys with autism. In ZNF804A knockdown cells, the expression of synaptosomal-associated protein, 25kDa (SNAP25) was reduced compared with controls (p = 0.009). The expression of ZNF804A (p = 0.009) and SNAP25 (p = 0.009) were reduced in the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) of individuals with autism. There was a strong positive correlation between the expression of ZNF804A and SNAP25 in the ACG (p < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: Study limitations include our small sample size of postmortem brains. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that ZNF804A could be a potential candidate gene mediating the intermediate phenotypes associated with verbal traits in individuals with autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates empirically the comovements of the conditional mean and volatility of stock returns. It extends the results in the literature by demonstrating the role of the commercial paper-Treasury yield spread in predicting time variation in volatility. The conditional mean and volatility exhibit an asymmetric relation, which contrasts with the contemporaneous relation that has been tested previously. The volatility leads the expected return, and this time series relation is documented using offset correlations, short-horizon contemporaneous correlations, and a vector autoregression. These results bring into question the value of modeling expected returns as a constant function of conditional volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews Albert Einstein's first published paper, submitted for publication in 1900. At that time, Einstein was 21 and a recent college graduate. His paper uses modeling and least squares to analyze data in support of a scientific proposition. Einstein is shown to be well trained, for his day, in using statistics as a tool in his scientific research. This paper also shows his ability to make trivial arithmetic mistakes and some clumsiness in data recording. A major aim of this article is to help provide a better appreciation of Einstein as an active user of statistical arguments in this and other of his important publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cerebral white matter hyperintensity can lead to cerebral small vessel disease, MRI images in the brain are used to assess the degree of pathological changes in white matter regions. In this paper, we propose a framework for automatic 3D segmentation of brain white matter hyperintensity based on MRI images to address the problems of low accuracy and segmentation inhomogeneity in 3D segmentation. We explored correlation analyses of cognitive assessment parameters andmultiple comparison analyses to investigate differences in brain white matter hyperintensity volume among three cognitive states, Dementia, MCI and NCI. The study explored the correlation between cognitive assessment coeficients and brain white matter hyperintensity volume. Methods: This paper proposes an automatic 3D segmentation framework for white matter hyperintensity using a deep multi-mapping encoder-decoder structure. Themethod introduces a 3D residualmapping structure for the encoder and decoder. Multi-layer Cross-connected Residual Mapping Module (MCRCM) is proposed in the encoding stage to enhance the expressiveness of model and perception of detailed features. Spatial Attention Weighted Enhanced Supervision Module (SAWESM) is proposed in the decoding stage to adjust the supervision strategy through a spatial attention weighting mechanism. This helps guide the decoder to perform feature reconstruction and detail recovery more effectively. Result: Experimental data was obtained froma privately owned independent brain white matter dataset. The results of the automatic 3D segmentation framework showed a higher segmentation accuracy compared to nnunet and nnunet-resnet, with a p-value of <0.001 for the two cognitive assessment parameters MMSE and MoCA. This indicates that larger brain white matter are associated with lower scores of MMSE and MoCA, which in turn indicates poorer cognitive function. The order of volume size of whitematter hyperintensity in the three groups of cognitive states is dementia, MCI and NCI, respectively. Conclusion: The paper proposes an automatic 3D segmentation framework for brain white matter that achieves high-precision segmentation. The experimental results show that larger volumes of segmented regions have a negative correlation with lower scoring coeficients of MMSE and MoCA. This correlation analysis provides promising treatment prospects for the treatment of cerebral small vessel diseases in the brain through 3D segmentation analysis of brain white matter. The differences in the volume of white matter hyperintensity regions in subjects with three different cognitive states can help to better understand the mechanism of cognitive decline in clinical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately assessing the state of health (SOH) of lithium batteries is of great significance for improving battery safety performance. However, the current assessment for SOH suffers from the difficulty of selecting health features and the lack of uncertainty using data-driven methods. To this end, this paper proposes a health state assessment method for lithium-ion batteries based on health feature extraction and an improved Informer model. First, multiple features that can reflect the SOH of lithium-ion batteries were extracted from the charging and discharging time, the peak value of incremental capacity curve (ICC), and the inflection point value of differential voltage curve, etc., and the correlation between multiple health features and the health state was evaluated by gray correlation analysis. Then, an improved Informer model is proposed to establish a health state estimation method for lithium-ion batteries. Finally, the proposed algorithm is tested and validated using publicly available battery charge/discharge datasets and compared with other algorithms. The results show that the method in this paper can realize high-precision SOH prediction with a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.011, and the model fit reaches more than 98%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart disease remains a prevalent and critical health concern globally. This paper addresses the critical task of heart disease prediction through the utilization of advanced machine learning techniques. Our approach focuses on the enhancement of feature engineering by incorporating a novel integration of association and correlation analyses. A heart disease dataset from Kaggle was used for the experiments. Association analysis was applied to the categorical and binary features in the dataset. Correlation analysis was applied to the numerical features in the dataset. Based on the insights from association analysis and correlation analysis, a new dataset was created with combinations of features. Later, newly created features are integrated with the original dataset, and classification algorithms are applied. Five machine learning (ML) classifiers, namely decision tree, k-nearest neighbors (KNN), random forest, XG-Boost, and support vector machine (SVM), were applied to the final dataset and achieved a good accuracy rate for heart disease detection. By systematically exploring associations and relationships with categorical, binary, and numerical features, this paper unveils innovative insights that contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the heart disease dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corrosion of transformers by multiple sulfides seriously affects the safe operation of transformers. However, there is a lack of quantitative characterization of the extent to which temperature and oxygen as well as changes in sulfide species affect the aging of oil–paper insulation. In this study, the aging characteristics of oil–paper insulation systems were analyzed in terms of the moisture in the oil, moisture in the paper, acid value, and furfural in the presence of multiple sulfides, where the temperature and the oxygen concentration are used as independent variables. A strong positive correlation between the acid value and the furfural obtained by means of Spearman’s correlation analysis. The acid value and furfural content in the oil were then analyzed and compared according to a nonparametric test, and it was found that both the oxygen changes and the temperature changes had a relatively obvious effect on the acid value in the oil. The effect of the temperature change on the furfural was greater than the effect of the oxygen change on the furfural. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed for the change in the acid value of the oil with the change in the oxygen content and temperature to obtain the linear fitting formulas for the effects of the time, temperature, oxygen content percentage, and sulfide groups on the acid value. This study can be used to quantify the magnitude of the influences of the oxygen, temperature sulfide groups, and other factors on the aging characteristic parameters of the oil–paper insulation system and to provide a certain reference for studying the quantitative characterization of the sulfur corrosion degree by using the change in the acid value in oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of plotting positions on probability graph paper so that the associated weighted least squares estimators of the scale parameter and the percentiles of a continuous distribution have certain properties is discussed. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for an invariant optimal plot for percentile estimation. Also discussed is the derivation of ordered plotting positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L'Hér. ex Vent., a perennial deciduous tree, is used in feed, medicine, papermaking, environmental protection, and ecological restoration. This paper ttook 33 provenances from the natural distribution as the research objects, observes their growth and nutritional traits, and analyzes the laws of geographical variation. The repeatability was 0.80–0.88 and 0.48–0.91, respectively. The correlation was significant (the correlation coefficient was 0.764). The variation is greatly affected by the latitudinal direction. Through clustering, the 33 provenances were clustered into 4 groups and most provenances with relatively close geographical origins were clustered together, showing differences between different geographical regions. Using leaf biomass (0.4662 g) and crude protein content (14.39%) as the selection index, the Sichuan Mianyang (SCMY), Chongqing Kaizhou (CQKZ), Shanghai (SH), and Fujian Nanping (FJNP) provenances were selected as fast-growing, high-yield, and high-quality paper mulberry provenances. This study provides the basis for the selection of excellent paper mulberry trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]