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Background Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) is known to differentiate between malignant and benign lesions via the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). Here, the value of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) for differentiation and further characterization of benign and malignant breast lesions and their subtypes in a clinically feasible protocol is investigated. Material and methods This study included 85 patients (with 68 malignant and 73 benign lesions) who underwent 3 T breast DWI using three b values (50, 750, 1500 s/mm2), with a total measurement time Results ADC, DK and K showed significant differences between malignant and benign lesions (p Conclusion DKI parameters and conventional ADC can differentiate between malignant and benign lesions. Differentiation performance was best for ADC. Different tumor grades were significantly different in ADC and DK, which may have an impact on therapy planning and monitoring. In our study, K did not add value to the diagnostic performance of DWI in a clinical setting.

In this paper, a fast frequency upconversion imaging based on quasi-phase match is proposed. A function based on the quasi phase-match of two acquired images within 3dB width is formulated to evaluate the maximum step size of the nonlinear crystal temperature for each acquisition. The measurement time is reduced by acquiring images at these specific temperatures. The integration time of each frame is reassigned to improve the signal noise ratio of the acquired images. Comparing scanning the object with the total measurement time of 44 minutes for a target area with 7mm diameter, our method reaches 12 minutes with just 6 measurements.

This paper proposes a new inspection model for a multi-component system, subject to a deterioration process which impacts its efficiency. To control the deterioration process, several inspections are carried out after which various decisions are made on how to evaluate the functioning of the system. The proposed inspection model is applied on the case of Pitot sensors system for aircraft. This study is derived from an aeronautic problem defined following the crash of the Airbus 330 in the Rio-Paris flight. Since the Pitot sensors system is non-self-announcing, the paper proposes a technical solution which consists in setting up an additional self-control device in order to inspect and calibrate the already installed Pitot sensors measurements.The objective of this paper is to determine an optimal inspection policy which minimizes the total measurement quality degradation per unit of time in a finite time horizon. Numerical examples and a comparative study are provided to illustrate the proposed analytic model and to highlight the contribution of the paper.

An increasing amount of media metadata are published by different organizations on the Web which leads to a fragmented dataset landscape. Identifying media metadata from disparate datasets and integrating heterogeneous datasets have many applications but also pose significant challenges. To tackle this problem, entity resolution methods are commonly used as an essential prerequisite for integrating media information from different sources and effectively foster the re-use of existing data sources. While the amount of media metadata published on the Web grows steadily, how to scale it well to large media knowledge bases while maintaining a high matching quality is a critical challenge. This article investigates the relationships between media entities. To that end, the media database is formulated as a knowledge graph with entities as nodes and the associations between related entities as edges. Thus, media entities are grouped into communities by how they share neighbors. Then, a structural clustering-based model is proposed to detect communities and discover anchor vertices as well as isolated vertices. Specifically, an initial seed set of matched anchor vertex pairs is obtained. Furthermore, an iterative propagation approach for identifying the matched entities in the whole graph is developed, where community similarity is introduced into the measure function to control the total measurement of candidate pairs. Therefore, starting with the elements of the initial seed set, the entity resolution algorithm updates the matching information over the whole network along with the neighbor relationships iteratively. Extensive experiments are conducted on real datasets to evaluate how the seed set impacts the matching process and performance. The experiment results show this model can achieve an excellent balance between accuracy and efficiency and is a clear improvement compared to state-of-the-art methods.

Fixture de-embedding is a technique to remove unwanted effect of the fixtures from a total measurement. Fixture de-embedding includes two steps: first S-Parameters of left and right fixtures are obtained and then they are de-embedded from left and right sides of measured scattering matrix. De-embedding techniques are well known when a network have even number of ports, i.e. when number of input and output ports are equal. In the present paper we propose a technique to generalize de-embedding algorithm for network parameters with odd number of ports.

هدفت الدراسة إلى قياس أثر البرنامج التدريبي في تنمية مهارات اللغة البراغماتية عند الأطفال ذوي اضطراب طيف التوحّد في الأردن، وقد تكونت عينة الدراسة من (26) طفلًا من ذوي اضطراب طيف التوحّد، تراوحت أعمارهم بين (5-10) سنوات، ووُزِّعوا عشوائيًّا إلى مجموعتين؛ تجريبية وضابطة، بالتساوي. ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة تم إعداد مقياسين: مقياس استخدام مهارات اللغة البراغماتية لدى أطفال اضطراب طيف التوحّد، وبرنامج للتدريب على تنمية مهارات اللغة البراغماتية حيث تناول (6) أبعاد: العلاقات الاجتماعية، والاهتمامات، والتواصل غير اللفظي، والانتباه، وسياق الحديث، والتواصل مع الآخرين. وكشفت نتائج هذه الدراسة وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية لصالح المجموعة التجريبية بين القياس القبلي والبعدي على مقياس مهارات اللغة البراغماتية على القياس الكلي، يعزى إلى البرنامج التدريبي، ووجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية على جميع الأبعاد، باستثناء بُعد سياق الحديث. كما أظهرت النتائج عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين التطبيقين البعدي والمتابعة على أفراد المجموعة التجريبية. The study is aimed at measuring the impact of the training program on the development of pragmatic language skills in children with autism spectrum disorder. The study sample consisted of 26 children with autism spectrum disorder, ranging between 5-10 years from children enrolled in both the Autism communication Center and the Oxygen Center for Care and Rehabilitation, who were chosen by the available sample and randomly distributed equally into two groups: experimental and control. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, two scales were prepared: the scale of pragmatic language skills for children with autism spectrum disorder, and a training program for developing pragmatic language skills, which is segmented into (6) dimensions. The results of this study revealed that there were statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group between the pre and post measurement on the scale of the pragmatic language skills on the total measurement, due to the training program, and there were statistically significant differences on all dimensions except the context of communication dimension. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the post and follow-up applications on the members of the experimental group.

In recent technology node manufacturing processes, on-product overlay (OPO) is becoming increasingly more important. In previous generations, the optimization of the total measurement uncertainty (TMU) itself was sufficient. However, with the use of modern technologies, target asymmetry-related measurement inaccuracy became a significant source of error, requiring new methods of control. This paper presents a machine learning (ML) based algorithm that reduces inaccuracy in misregistration measurements of the after-develop inspection (ADI) optical overlay (OVL). The algorithm relies on numerous features that were extracted from the OVL tool camera images, accuracy metrics derived from OVL computation, and other metadata. It is trained to estimate OVL measurement inaccuracy and produce corrected OVL per site. The ground truth of the ML model can include either internal or external OVL values. In the former case, the model is trained using wafer modeling errors (a.k.a. residuals), implying that these are a good indicator of target inaccuracy, which is a commonly used assumption. In the latter case, the model is trained using external overlay as the reference. If an accurate external reference overlay measurement exists, this option can be the most accurate. In both cases, the algorithm produces corrected OVL values. This study shows that for both ground truth options, the suggested method reduces inaccuracy and wafer modeling residuals in ADI optical OVL metrology measurements. The results were obtained by experimenting on production wafers from DRAM critical layers at SK Hynix. All the measurements were taken using an imaging-based overlay (IBO) technique and were validated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements of the same wafers.

Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analyzers can rapidly and inexpensively provide chemical concentrations of a range of geologically significant elements, often with instrument detection limits below 10 s of ppm. We compiled conventional XRF lithogeochemical data from Myra Falls to assess Ti/Zr discrimination criteria for volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) host rocks at Myra Falls. Robust and discrete Ti/Zr trends for coherent volcanic rock types were identified from this dataset. To test if pXRF analysis could reproduce these trends, two experiments were designed. Single-spot pXRF analyses of pressed powdered drill core samples and three-spot pXRF analyses measured directly on the flat, cut surface of drill core samples were compared to conventional XRF results from the same sample sets. Our results indicate that both pXRF sampling methods reproduce the laboratory based XRF results for Ti and Zr, and that there is no significant improvement in accuracy or precision between drill core powders and unprepared drill core samples. We propose a calibration, estimation of total measurement uncertainty, and data reduction procedure for systematic three-spot pXRF analysis of drill core samples to improve lithological logging of altered volcanic rock types. We suggest that pXRF analysis become a routine part of lithology logging providing, for some key elements, robust and time-efficient chemical analyses with results that can be used to define important, often cryptic, lithological boundaries at Myra Falls. Portable XRF therefore has the ability to improve geological and stratigraphic interpretations, which are vital for developing mineral exploration models, for VHMS deposits and other economic mineral systems.

Objective: Assessments of diurnal awake bruxism (d-AB) using masseteric electromyogram (EMG) during various lengths of measurement time within a day were examined as the first step of research to clarify the minimum measurement time required for assessment of d-AB by subject.Methods: Subjects were 33 outpatients. Assessment of d-AB by EMG during partial measurement time (PMT) with durations ranging from 30 minutes to 6 hours was compared with that during total measurement time (TMT) used as the reference standard.Results: No significant difference was found between TMT data and PMT data. There were significant correlations in all combinations between TMT data and PMT data. Accuracy was 0.909 or more for 2.5 hours or longer.Discussion: The results suggest that the tendency of daytime muscle activity in 1 day can be assessed even by using masseteric EMG data obtained during a relatively short measurement time.

Advanced satellite-based frequency transfers by two-way carrier-phase (TWCP) and integer precise point positioning have been performed between the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology and Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science. We confirm that the disagreement between them is less than $1\times 10^{-16}$ at an averaging time of several days. In addition, an overseas frequency ratio measurement of Sr and Yb optical lattice clocks was directly performed by TWCP. We achieved an uncertainty at the mid-10−16 level after a total measurement time of 12 h. The frequency ratio was consistent with the recently reported values within the uncertainty.

At University of Bielsko-Biala, simplified models for the coordinate measurement of different geometrical characteristics (size, distance, angle and geometrical deviations) have been developed. The most important assumption for measurement model is taking into account the obvious fact that coordinate measurement is indirect measurement. To develop the models of different geometrical characteristics the mathematical minimum number of required points was assumed. Models use information on CMM accuracy only in the form of formula for maximum permissible error of length measurement EL,MPE verified by actual acceptance or reverification test results. The presented uncertainty budgets enable analysis of influence of measurement uncertainty of particular coordinates’ differences on the total measurement uncertainty.

Introduction For developing a hardness multipoint measurement system for understanding hardness distribution on biological body surfaces, we investigated the spring strength of the contact portion main axis of a biological tissue hardness meter (product name: PEK). Methods We measured the hardness of three-layered sheets of six types of gel sheets (90 mm × 60 mm × 6 mm) constituting the acupuncture practice pads, with PEK measurements of 1.96 N, 2.94 N, 3.92 N, 4.90 N, 5.88 N, 6.86 N, 7.84 N, 8.82 N, and 9.81 N of the main axis spring strength. We obtained measurements 10 times for the gel sheets and simultaneously measured the load using a digital scale. We measured the hardness distribution of induration embedded and breast cancer palpation models, with a main axis with 1.96 N, 4.90 N, and 9.81 N spring strengths, to create a two-dimensional Contour Fill Chart. Results Using 4.90 N spring strength, we could obtain measurement loads of ≤3.0 N, and the mean hardness was 5.14 mm. This was close to the median of the total measurement range 0.0–10.0 mm, making the measurement range the largest for this spring strength. We could image the induration of the induration-embedded model regardless of the spring strength. Conclusion Overall, 4.90 N spring strength was best suited for imaging cancer in the breast cancer palpation model.

This paper presents a single-chip 3D electric field microsensor, in which a sensing element is set at the center to detect the Z-axis component of an electrostatic field. Two pairs of sensing elements with the same structure are arranged in a cross-like configuration to measure the X- and Y-axis electrostatic field components. An in-plane rotary mechanism is used in the microsensor to detect the X-, Y-, and Z-axis electrostatic field components simultaneously. The proposed microsensor is compact and presents high integration. The microsensor is fabricated through a MetalMUMPS process. Experimental results show that in the range of 0–50 kV/m, the linearity errors of the microsensor are within 5.5%, and the total measurement errors of the three electrostatic field components are less than 14.04%.

PurposeTo investigate the impact of meibomian gland probing (MGP) on meibomian gland (MG) area from the upper lids of patients with obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction (o-MGD).MethodsRetrospective study comparing pre-MGP/post-MGP non-contact infrared meibography results in patients with o-MGD, viewing signs of MG growth within total measurement field.ResultsPost-MGP meibography of 34 lids (19 patients, ≥4.5 to ≤12 months’ follow-up) showed 41.2% with MG growth. Ten lids had meibographies suitable for analysis, showing significant collective (116 glands) increase in mean individual glandular area (MIGA) of 4.87% (p=0.0145). Four of 10 lids independently showed significant increase in MIGA, ranging from 10.70% to 21.13% (pAt >12 and ConclusionMGP was associated with increased MG tissue area and growth of atrophied MGs as viewed on meibography. MGP provides unequivocal physical proof of a patent meibum outflow tract through the natural orifice, and may promote glandular growth in part by direct mechanical establishment of a patent duct/orifice system.

Raman spectroscopy allows label-free, minimally invasive, and accurate detection of peripheral nerves. However, the conventional Raman imaging technique is time-consuming when measuring a large area of a sample. Establishing a method for rapidly acquiring spatial distribution of a bundle of peripheral nerve fibers is an essential step for Raman spectroscopy towards application in clinical surgery. Here we present a multipoint Raman spectroscopic technique for rapid peripheral nerve imaging. In only 5 seconds, spectra at 32 points situated on ex vivo rat peripheral nerve bundles and adjoining connective tissues were acquired. Principal component regression and discriminant analysis of spectra revealed that the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for nerve detection were 85.8%, 96.0%, and 90.8%, respectively. Of 158 peripheral nerves, 152 (96.2%) showed ratio of the number of nerve-positive prediction points to the total measurement points being 0.4 or larger, whereas 119 (99.2%) connective tissues among 120 showed ratio smaller than 0.4. Based on the ratio and a bright-field image of the sample, accurate visualization of peripheral nerves was implemented. The results indicated that the multipoint Raman spectroscopic technique is capable of rapid and accurate peripheral nerve imaging.

The brief description of installation TAU-2 intended for long-term monitoring of the half-life value $\tau$ ($\tau_{1/2}$) of the $^{214}$Po is presented. The methods of measurement and processing of collected data are reported. The results of analysis of time series values $\tau$ with different time step are presented. Total of measurement time was equal to 590 days. Averaged value of the $^{214}$Po half-life was obtained $\tau=163.46\pm0.04$ $\mu$s. The annual variation with an amplitude $A=(8.9\pm2.3)\cdot10^{-4}$, solar-daily variation with an amplitude $A_{So}=(7.5\pm1.2)\cdot10^{-4}$, lunar-daily variation with an amplitude $A_L=(6.9\pm2.0)\cdot10^{-4}$ and sidereal-daily variation with an amplitude $A_S=(7.2\pm1.2)\cdot10^{-4}$ were found in a series of $\tau$ values. The maximal values of amplitude are observed at the moments when the projections of the installation Earth location velocity vectors toward the source of possible variation achieve its maximal magnitudes., Comment: Talk at The International Workshop on Prospects of Particle Physics: "Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics" February 1 - Ferbuary 8, 2015, Valday,Russia, 7 pages, 12 figure (to be published in PEPAN)

The paper substantiates the possibility of using a thermocatalytic converter for determining the combustion heat of natural gas. The substantiation of relevance and expediency of use of thermocatalytic sensors assensitive element for the natural gas combustion control device. A metrological analysis of the sensitive element of a thermocatalytic converter has been carried out and the total measurement uncertainty has been estimated.

This chapter presents an approach of probe configuration and setup planning for inspection of PMPs. The developed model is composed of two main parts: the analysis of PMP setups and the probe configuration for inspection on a CMM. A set of possible PMP setups and probe configurations for two types of sensors (probe star and probe head) is reduced to optimal number using a modified, current GA-based methodology. For each part setup, the optimal probe configuration and optimal point-to-point measuring path are possible to obtain. The advantage of the model is reduction of the total measurement time as well as elimination of errors due to human factor (minimising human involvement) through intelligent planning of probe configuration and part setup. This setup model can be applied not only for inspection planning on a CMM but also for the setup of prismatic parts machining on machining centres.

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core-scanning is a fast and nondestructive technique to assess elemental variations of unprocessed sediments. However, although the exposure time of XRF-scanning directly affects the scanning counts and total measurement time, only a few studies have considered the influence of exposure time during the scan. How to select an optimal exposure time to achieve reliable results and reduce the total measurement time is an important issue. To address this question, six geological reference materials from the Geological Survey of Japan (JLK-1, JMS-1, JMS-2, JSD-1, JSD-2, and JSD-3) were scanned by the Itrax-XRF core scanner using the Mo- and the Cr-tube with different exposure times to allow a comparison of scanning counts with absolute concentrations. The regression lines and correlation coefficients of elements that are generally used in paleoenvironmental studies were examined for the different exposure times and X-ray tubes. The results show that for those elements with relatively high concentrations or high detectability, the correlation coefficients are higher than 0.90 for all exposure times. In contrast, for the low detectability or low concentration elements, the correlation coefficients are relatively low, and improve little with increased exposure time. Therefore, we suggest that the influence of different exposure times is insignificant for the accuracy of the measurements. Thus, caution must be taken when interpreting the results of elements with low detectability, even when the exposure times are long and scanning counts are reasonably high.

In this paper, an inspection policy is proposed for a multi-unit system which is during his mission, is assumed to be irreparable. The system is subject to random deterioration which impacts his measurement accuracy The proposed approach aims to assess the degradation in such a way to increase the efficiency and the accuracy of the whole system. To control this deterioration, inspections are performed and after which we decide how to compute system measurements. According less importance to measurements given by a component occurs whenever the level of its deterioration reaches a specific level threshold. The objective is to determine an optimal periodic inspection policy which minimizes the average total measurement quality degradation per unit of time in a finite time horizon. Our study is applied to a specific case which is the Pitot sensors system. However, the approach could be generalized for every irreparable multiple-unit system subject to random deterioration. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the proposed inspection model.

PURPOSE To evaluate measurement reliability of the meibomian gland (MG) tissue area during infrared video meibography (IR-VM) of the lower lid. METHODS This is a retrospective analysis, using ImageJ, of IR-VM of 17 lids of 11 consecutive patients (age 56.6 ± 15.9 years; 9 females and 2 males) focusing on the presence of a statistically significant variation of the MG tissue area and the MG tissue area relative to the total measurement field (TMF) secondary to inadvertent lid distortion and/or an altered vertical gaze direction during a single-image acquisition video sequence. RESULTS For lids with distortions, 10 of 10 lids with distortion showed a statistically significant difference (P < 0.0001-0.0136) in the mean individual gland area (MIGA, % change: 16.2%-114.1%) and/or the ratio of MIGA to TMF (% change: 19.8%-108.5%) during its video sequence. For the altered vertical gaze direction, 7 of 9 lids individually showed a statistically significantly increased MIGA/TMF with the globe in primary gaze compared with upgaze (P = 0.001-0.0156), whereas collectively as a group, all 9 lids showed a significant increase in MIGA/TMF (P < 0.0001, % change: 1.1%-38.9%). Two lids from the same patient were evaluated for both types of distortion. CONCLUSIONS IR-VM of lower lids revealed statistically significant unreliability of measuring the MG tissue area from inadvertent lid distortion or an altered vertical globe gaze direction during meibography. These data suggest that, lacking context seen when using the video, still-shot nonvideo infrared meibography images of the lower lid, and related data, may be specious and should be used with caution in drawing conclusions of the change in the MG area over time, to avoid misguided clinical decision making.

Certification of active medical implants for use in magnetic resonance imaging machines requires the testing of immunity with respect to radiofrequency voltages induced into the active electronics of the implants. The testing of immunity is typically performed on the bench using an injection circuitry. However, the injection test voltage must be determined under real exposure conditions as they would occur in real human inside MRI. We have developed an optical differential voltage probe to be used in electromagnetically hostile environments like magnetic resonance imaging that is able to deliver the full complex-valued voltage signal with a dynamic range of 120 dB and a frequency range from 100 kHz to 1 GHz and with a total measurement uncertainty of 1.14 dB.

Comparison of four recent field experiments with similar type of historical measurements was performed to determine whether internal wave energy has increased with the decline of the Arctic sea ice. The internal wave energy was calculated on the basis of frequency spectrum inferred from ice tethered SBE37 CTD at three levels within the halocline while the Russian ice camp drifted through the Amundsen Basin of the Arctic Ocean in April of 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2012. The results of modern measurements with a total duration of more than 40 days are compared with 14 experiments performed in the Arctic in the period from 1966 to 1989, whose total measurement duration was about 180 days. Comparisons reanalyzed using the same method reveal no trend evident over the 40 year period in spite of the drastic decline of the sea ice.

A flow calorimeter was developed to measure the isobaric heat capacities of pure water at high pressure and high temperature up to supercritical region. Experimental isobaric heat capacities of pure water from 395 K to 665 K and pressure up to 26 MPa are presented. The total measurement uncertainties of temperature and pressure were ±0.02 K and ±3.88 kPa, respectively. The relative uncertainty of the isobaric heat capacity was estimated to be ±0.98%. The aim of this study is to provide new experimental data to complete the non-experimental data region and to check the accuracy of the IAPWS-95 formulation. The IAPWS-95 formulation shows great accuracy at temperatures under 623 K and at pressures under 22 MPa region. However, in the near-critical and supercritical region, its accuracy needs more experimental data for verification and to extend theories.

Recently, forensic anthropology has undergone a major shift to quantitative methodologies, including the standardization of osteometric measurements. This study is an analysis of inter-observer error rates for eight "standardized" cranial measurements. Thirty participants, of varied experience, were asked to note the location of landmarks used in each measurement, and to record the resulting measurement. None of the tested measurements met the previously established 80% consensus rate necessary to be considered "standardized-in-practice" [1]. The highest consensus rate was that of nasal breadth (67.9%), followed by that of the mastoid height (57.1%). This low precision yielded percent mean differences of 2-48% of the total measurement, with range differences of up to 42mm. These results indicate that the field should take steps to improve osteometric standardization, including re-examining all measurements currently listed in osteometric canon and re-issuing a comprehensive guide.

We discuss utilization of TMU (Total Measurement Uncertainty) analysis based on Mandel Regression for scatterometry model referencing. We demonstrate practical instances where the reference metrology uncertainty seems to exceed that of the scatterometry model which, in turn, forces the TMU analysis into an invalid regime. Knowing that the source of this result is the wrong estimation of the reference uncertainty, we focus on reducing the error of the reference metrology as well as improving the reference uncertainty estimation. We are looking at practical aspects of reference metrology hardware and recipes as well as the whole reference metrology setup. We discuss in detail CD-SEM and AFM metrology, as well as other means used to qualify OCD (Optical Critical Dimension) models in a production environment.

The overlay control is one of the main challenges for advanced lithography in sub-28 nm technology node. There are two kind of overlay metrology in use in semiconductor industry: most conventional image-based overlay (IBO) metrology and advanced diffraction-based overlay(DBO) metrology. In this paper we will compare these two methods through 3 critical production layers, focusing on the accuracy and the total measurement uncertainty (TMU) for the standard overlay targets of both techniques. The results show that both the accuracy and TMU of DBO method are superior to the traditional IBO method, which makes DBO method applicable at the 28nm and below technology node.

This paper presents an advanced CAI model for inspection planning of prismatic parts on CMM. The model consists from mathematical model, modeling inspection features, sampling strategy, analysis of the probe accessibility, collision-free generation, and optimization of the path using ant’s colony and simulation of the path. Needed geometrical information for path planning are taken from IGES and STL file, and input data about tolerance entries from already developed knowledge base. The presented model is an advanced approach oriented towards definition of the intelligent inspection system. Advantage of the model is in reduction the total measurement time by reducing the time needed for the planning of the measurements due to automated generation of certain activities.

Statistics of the measured antenna efficiency using the reverberation chamber (RC) technique (proposed in IEC 61000-4-21) has been derived by assuming that the measurements of the antenna under test (AUT) and the reference antenna have the same independent sample number. This work generalizes the statistics of the measured antenna efficiency by allowing the AUT measurement and the reference measurement to have different numbers of independent samples. The derived statistics are verified by simulations as well as RC measurements. Moreover, practical issues about how to allocate the total measurement time to the AUT and reference measurements for different cases are discussed.

Available bandwidth, along with latency and packet loss rate, is an essential metric for the efficient operation of overlay network applications. However, the measurement of available bandwidth creates a larger traffic overhead than other metrics. Measurement conflicts on routeoverlapping paths can also seriously degrade measurement accuracy and cause a non-negligible increase in the network load. In this paper, we propose a distributed method for measuring the available bandwidth in overlay networks that can reduce measurement conflicts while maintaining high measurement accuracy at low cost. Our main idea is that neighboring overlay nodes exchange route information to detect overlapping paths and share the measurement results of overlapping paths to configure parameter settings for available bandwidth measurements. Our simulation results show that the relative errors in the measurement results of our method are approximately only 65% of those of the existing method. The measurement accuracy of our method remains better than that of the existing method when the total measurement traffic loads of both methods are equal. key words: overlay networks, network measurement, measurement conflict, distributed measurement method, information exchange

The time-of-flight neutron single-crystal diffractometer iBIX at the next-generation neutron source J-PARC has been upgraded and is available for user experiments on protein samples in particular. Neutron structure analysis of a standard protein sample was carried out in order to evaluate the performance of iBIX., The IBARAKI biological crystal diffractometer, iBIX, is a high-performance time-of-flight neutron single-crystal diffractometer for elucidating mainly the hydrogen, protonation and hydration structures of biological macromolecules in various life processes. Since the end of 2008, iBIX has been available to users’ experiments supported by Ibaraki University. Since August 2012, an upgrade of the 14 existing detectors has begun and 16 new detectors have been installed for iBIX. The total measurement efficiency of the present diffractometer has been improved by one order of magnitude from the previous one with the increasing of accelerator power. In December 2012, commissioning of the new detectors was successful, and collection of the diffraction dataset of ribonucrease A as a standard protein was attempted in order to estimate the performance of the upgraded iBIX in comparison with previous results. The resolution of diffraction data, equivalence among intensities of symmetry-related reflections and reliability of the refined structure have been improved dramatically. iBIX is expected to be one of the highest-performance neutron single-crystal diffractometers for biological macromolecules in the world.

The severity of skin diseases accompanied by itch is related to the frequency of itching; thus, the ratio of total scratching time to total measurement time (TST [%]) is a useful index for diagnosing skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis. To grasp the trend of the patient's TST [%], daily monitoring of scratching motion is effective, but it is important to carry out the measurements under unconstrained conditions so as not to burden the patient. In this paper, we propose a non-wearing sensing method for measuring scratching motions while the patient is sleeping. The sensing device used in the proposed method is composed of a piezoceramic sensor sandwiched between two metal plates and placed under the legs of the bed. This sensing device is able to measure micro-vibrations produced by the scratching motion. In carrying out the validation experiment, the TST [%] is obtained using the proposed sensing device. The results are then compared with the TST [%] obtained from conventional, more constrained measurement methods, such as electromyography, ceramic sheets, microphones, strain gauges, acceleration sensors, and gyro sensors. Therefore, the sensing device positioned near the subject's head, where the scratching points are closer together, is capable of determining the TST [%] at an accuracy nearly equal to that of the conventional method that shows the highest accuracy TST [%] among all conventional sensors.

Objective: This study measured and evaluated the characteristics of the whole body vibration experienced in some coal-fired power plant in Korea. Background: Few studies have been carried out in Korea about the effects of whole body vibration of power plants on humans. Method: The evaluation scheme suggested by the Law of Noise and Vibration Control was applied. Results: It was found that 28.9% of total measurement points were above the limit suggested by the law. Conclusion: Many workers are exposed to whole body vibration during their job completion, and more efforts should be applied to prevention and control of the plat vibration.

The impact of multi-well plate automation on bacterial flow cytometric analyses was investigated. Cell concentrations in up to 96 samples can be measured accurately, as long as a reproducible staining protocol and a total measurement time of below 80 min is used. Fluorescence distribution in the samples may, however, display some variability.

Early results of complex experimental investigations on instrumental and methodological errors of diagnostics in noninvasive medical spectrophotometry are described. Medicobiological sources and factors of errors are considered for natural measurements under clinical conditions. It is shown that the greatest contribution to the total measurement error is made by the interactive component, due to the interaction of the measurement instruments and objects.

This paper will present a simple method for measuring the radon exhalation rate from the medium surface in two cycles and also avoiding the effects of back-diffusion and chamber leakage. The method is based on a combination of the "accumulation chamber" technique and a radon monitor. The radon monitor performs the measurement of the radon concentration inside the accumulation chamber, and then the radon exhalation rate can be obtained by simple calculation. For reducing the systematic error and the statistical uncertainty, too short of total measurement time is not appropriate, and the first cycle time should be about 70 % of the total measurement. The radon exhalation rate from the medium surface obtained through this method is in good agreement with the reference value. This simple method can be applied to develop and improve the instruments for measuring radon exhalation rate.

The activity of lead in its alloys with bismuth and antimony is estimated by the least squares method and interval analysis. The interval method of processing the experimental results is shown to calculate the reliable ranges of the estimated parameters in the dependences of thermodynamic functions and the actual level of the total measurement errors. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.

The purpose of this study is to present a guideline to design a short-term manual measurement of environmental noise level, which is more economical and flexible, but less representative than long-term automatic measurement. The proposed guideline can provide the number of measurement times and the length of measurement term required to secure the extent of the representativeness. The data was collected at 4 sites located in Seoul and at 4 sites located outside of Seoul. The probabilities for five-minute equivalent noise levels, Leq, 5min, to stay in an error range from the quarterly representative noise level were used to evaluate sampling techniques. The probability analysis of the daytime period showed that the noise levels measured between 10 am and 2 pm and between 9 pm and 10 pm have the probabilities higher than 60 %. On the other hand, even for the same length of total measurement time, increasing the number of random samplings results in higher probabilities than increasing the length of measurement term.

Understanding how a specific exercise changes daily activity patterns is important when designing physical activity interventions. We examined the effects of strength and interval running exercise sessions on daily activity patterns using recordings of quadriceps and hamstring muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity and inactivity. Five male and five female subjects taking part in a 10-week training programme containing both strength and interval running training sessions were measured for daily muscle EMG activities during three days: on a strength day, an interval running day, and a day without exercise. EMG was measured using textile electrodes embedded into sport shorts that were worn 9.1 ± 1.4 hours/day and results are given as % of recording time. During the total measurement time the muscles were inactive 55 ± 26%, 53 ± 30% and 71 ± 12% during strength training day, interval running day, and day without exercise (n.s.). When compared to the day without exercise, the change in muscle inactivity correlated negatively with change in light muscle activity in strength (r = -0.971,p< 0.001) and interval running days (r = -0.965,p< 0.001). While interval running exercise bout induced a more systematic decrease in muscle inactivity time (from 62 ± 15% to 6 ± 6%,p< 0.001), reductions in muscle inactivity in response to strength exercise were highly individual (range 5–70 pp) despite the same training programme. Strength, but not running exercise bout, increased muscle activity levels occurring above 50% MVC (p< 0.05) when compared to a similar period without exercise. The effect of strength exercise bout on totaldaily recording time increased the EMG amplitudes across the entire intensity spectrum. While strength and interval running exercise are effective in increasing muscle moderate-to-vigorous activity when compared to a similar period without exercise, it comprises only a small part of the day and does not seem to have a systematic effect neither to reduce nor induce compensatory increase in the daily muscle inactivity that is highly heterogeneous between individuals.

Collecting high-precision data of migrating bed forms in flume experiments is often limited by the measurement equipment. With a 3D laser scanner a relatively large area of bed profiling can be monitored with high precision during the experiment. In the present study, the accuracy of such device is studied, applying corrections for internal calibration, path length and refraction. The total measurement error increases with increasing water depth and for water depths larger than 135 mm a filter should be applied to recognize a bed profile. For a sandy bed, application of a LOESS filter with different span widths leads to promising results for both dune and alternate bar patterns.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of variations in temporal resolution and total measurement times on the estimations of kinetic parameters derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI in patients with high-grade gliomas (HGGs). Materials and Methods: DCE-MRI with high temporal resolution (dynamic sampling time (Ts) = 2.1 s and 3.4 s) and total sampling time (Tacq) of 5.2 min was acquired in 101 examinations from 15 patients. Using the modified Tofts model Ktrans, kep ve and vp were estimated. The effects of increasing Ts and reducing Tacq on the estimated kinetic parameters were estimated through down-sampling and data truncation, and the results were compared with numerical simulations. Results: There was an overall dependence of all four kinetic parameters on Ts and Tacq. Increasing Ts resulted in under-estimation of Ktrans and over-estimation of Vp, whereas kep and Ve varied in a less predictable manner. Reducing Tacq resulted in over-estimation of Ktrans and kep and under-estimation of vp and ve. Increasing Ts and reducing Tacq resulted in increased relative error for all four parameters. Conclusion: Estimated Ktrans, Kep, and Ve in HGGs were within 15% of the high sampling rate reference values for Ts

Measurement of drug concentrations is critical during drug development, supporting evaluation of safety and efficacy in the context of pharmacokinetics. Protein-based therapeutics have been historically measured by immunoassay methods. Technological advances provide new opportunities to measure these biotherapeutics using previously incompatible chromatographic techniques, such as MS. These advances are breaking down the barriers between ‘large-molecule’ and ‘small-molecule’ bioanalysis, and pushing scientists outside their comfort zones. One challenge in measuring biotherapeutic concentration is potential impact from other matrix components, such as therapeutic target or antidrug antibodies. Depending on the specific assay development objective, target interference could be either desired (favoring free measurement) or undesired (favoring total measurement). Orthogonal techniques provide additional tools to meet this challenge. The goal of this review is to introduce both small- and large-molecule bioanalytical scientists to the opportunities and challenges to consider while evaluating orthogonal methods for biotherapeutic bioanalysis.

The Mn-bath technique is widely used, especially by standardization laboratories, for the absolute determination of neutron emission rates. Understanding the limitations of the technique, and in particular the total measurement uncertainty, is crucial if quality results, fit for purpose, are to be reported. In this work, we show that the way in which the acquired data is analyzed can strongly influence the uncertainty assessment. We take a carefully performed set of Mn-bath measurements from the literature as our example and show that the same data when reanalyzed can be used to justify an uncertainty smaller by about an order of magnitude than was originally reported. This finding should caution all those involved in radiation measurements to critically assess their approach to data analysis and to perform a careful uncertainty analysis taking into account possible alternatives.

In this paper, we demonstrate that interleaved sampling techniques can be used to characterize the Hamiltonian of a qubit and its environmental decoherence rate. The technique offers a significant advantage in terms of the number of measurements that are required to characterize a qubit. When compared to the standard Nyquist-Shannon sampling rate, the saving in the total measurement time for the interleaved method is approximately proportional to the ratio of the sample rates., 9 pages, 4 figures

In order to decrease the influence of installation eccentricity on gear error evaluation and to raise its accuracy, a compensation algorithm for installation eccentricity is proposed and a compensation model of installation eccentricity is established. A new installation eccentricity parameter identification method determined with involute equations is also raised. Installation Eccentricity parameters are gained through measuring points on involute profile with the method of unconstrained parameter identification. Taking involute profile evaluation as an example, the eccentricity compensation model is introduced into the error evaluation of CNC Gear Measuring Center. The experiment shows that the compensation model raised in this paper can compensate for evaluation results of the involute gear whose eccentricity value is within 2/3 of the total measurement range of the probe and lead it into the non-eccentricity condition, and the most installation eccentricity value that can be compensated in the experiment is 300 μm. The proposition of this compensation method not only improves the accuracy of gear evaluation, but also lowers the requirements on installation accuracy of the gear.

This study reports thermal-conductivity data for a series of [EMIM] (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium)-based ionic liquids (ILs) having the anions [NTf2] (bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide), [OAc] (acetate), [N(CN)2] (dicyanimide), [C(CN)3] (tricyanomethide), [MeOHPO2] (methylphosphonate), [EtSO4] (ethylsulfate), or [OcSO4] (octylsulfate), and in addition for ILs with the [NTf2]-anion having the cations [HMIM] (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium), [OMA] (methyltrioctylammonium), or [BBIM] (1,3-dibutylimidazolium). Measurements were performed in the temperature range between (273.15 and 333.15) K by a stationary guarded parallel-plate instrument with a total measurement uncertainty of 3 % (k = 2). For all ILs, the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity can well be represented by a linear equation. While for the [NTf2]-based ILs, a slight increase of the thermal conductivity with increasing molar mass of the cation is found at a given temperature, the [EMIM]-based ILs show a pronounced, approximately linear decrease with increasing molar mass of the different probed anions. Based on the experimental data obtained in this study, a simple relationship between the thermal conductivity, molar mass, and density is proposed for the prediction of the thermal-conductivity data of ILs. For this, also densities were measured for [EMIM][OAc], [EMIM][C(CN)3], and [HMIM][NTf2]. The mean absolute percentage deviation of all thermal-conductivity data for ILs found in the literature from the proposed prediction is about 7 %. This result represents a convenient simplification in the acquisition of thermal conductivity information for the enormous amount of structurally different IL cation/anion combinations available.

Author Summary: In August 2010, a party of Icelandic explorers undertook a sampling experiment of the famous Eyjafjella volcanic eruption local ash falls. The possibility of having 10 two-person sampling groups with very different Theory of Sampling (TOS) competence and experience proved an opportunity too interesting to miss. The Eyjafjellajokull field experiment constitutes a Replication Experiment performed on a lot of significant generic complexity and heterogeneity, illustrating primary sampling when there is absolutely no control over the original lot and its history. In such cases, the effects on the total sampling variance (i.e. the total Measurement Uncertainty) reflects a compound of factors that cannot be fully resolved even after a comprehensive experimental design. The ultimate confounding concerns sampling competence vs lot heterogeneity. The lessons learned have easy-to-interpret educational relevance for many other types of material lots with similar characteristics and heterogeneity in science, technology and industry. It was also a lot of fun.

A prototype setup for detecting illicit materials by energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) has been developed. The obtained results of NaCl by the equipment suggest that the total measurement system is reliable and can be used to detect different kinds of materials. The tests of TNT, methamphetamine and heroin are also performed on this equipment and the related EDXRD spectra are obviously influenced by the detecting angle and the X-ray sources. The detecting angle of 10° is more suitable for detecting TNT and methamphetamine, while 12° is better for heroin. Moreover, the curves of TNT, methamphetamine and heroin emitted by W target have more diffraction peaks than those emitted by Cu or Mo target, while the peak intensities of TNT and methamphetamine emitted by Mo are stronger than those emitted by Cu or W target. The curve of methamphetamine emitted by Mo target shows a special characteristic and exhibits a super strong diffraction peak located at 1.62 A− 1, which can be attributed to the effect arising from Mo kα and kβ.