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Sea state estimation is beneficial for marine systems to enhance on-board decision-making and improve work efficiency. In the era of ship intelligence, artificial intelligence has greatly promoted the technology of sensing environment, such as by using the deep learning. However, it is difficult to collect enough motion data from a marine system to train a deep learning model. In addition, the model for sea state estimation is trained using the data from a specific marine system; applying the model directly to another marine system may result in performance degradation. In this paper, a supervised transfer learning based framework for sea state estimation (STLSSE) is proposed. The STLSSE focuses on knowledge transfer when the collected data for the source marine system is sufficient but the collected data of the target marine system is scarce. In STLSSE, a data pairing algorithm is proposed to determine the relationship of the source and the target marine system. Based on these paired data, a Siamese convolutional neural network, including a new proposed residual fully convolutional network and two novel attention modules, is designed for the semantic alignment. Moreover, the conventional contrastive loss is improved to characterize the distributions when there are only few samples in the target marine system. The extensive comparisons between STLSSE and state-of-the-art transfer learning approaches show its superior performance. The comparisons with state-of-the-art attention modules has verified the competitiveness of the proposed attention modules. The key parameters and each component of STLSSE are emphasized in the ablation and sensitivity studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen energy has become an important way to solve energy crises owing to its non-pollution, high level of efficiency, and wide application. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have received wide attention as an energy conversion device for hydrogen energy. The hydrogen concentration in the PEMFC anode directly determines the output voltage of the stack. The performance of the PEMFC gradually decreases due to the accumulation of nitrogen. However, the continuous circulation of anode gas and the nitrogen accumulation at the anode due to transmembrane diffusion lead to difficulties in estimating the anode gas concentration. The relationship between anode nitrogen concentration and voltage variation characteristics was studied by increasing the anode hydrogen concentration through the method of increasing nitrogen concentration and conducting experiments on a 16-cell stack. In this paper, an estimation method for nitrogen concentration in the anode is proposed to evaluate the nitrogen concentration in the anode on the basis of voltage variation characteristics, and the method was recalibrated and validated using experimental data. Due to the inhomogeneity of the gas distribution within the PEMFC stack, the mean cell voltage can provide a more accurate estimation of the anode nitrogen concentration compared to a single cell voltage. It is shown that the proposed approach can offer a new method to estimate anode nitrogen concentration. Compared with the conventional method, the new method is simpler as it does not require additional equipment or complex algorithms. In this paper, the anode nitrogen concentration was estimated by applying this method with a maximum error of only 0.35%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing demand for renewable energy has led to a rapid growth of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farms around the world. As a critical component of the DFIG-based wind farms, online monitoring of the connected transmission cable is essential to maintain the reliability of the entire wind power plant. A novel online monitoring method for power cables in DFIG-based wind farms using high-frequency resonance (HFR) analysis is proposed in this paper. The HFR in wind farms due to the interaction between the DFIG unit and the connected cable is firstly modeled and the relationship between the HFR frequency and cable ageing severity is analyzed. An ageing severity estimation algorithm is then proposed based on adaptive hill climbing and particle swarm optimization (AHC&PSO). Simulations for wind farms with both the LCL and L filter are conducted to validate the proposed method. Effective online monitoring and accurate ageing severity estimation of the cables are achieved in the simulations under various operation conditions considering DFIG parameter deviations. Compared with existing approaches, the proposed method provides a superior online monitoring approach to accurately evaluate the ageing state of power cables in wind farms quantitatively with no need of extra monitoring sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitive tendering is the default procurement route for most types of construction projects in the UK. As a process, it is costly, time-consuming and complicated, involving input from upwards of 200 separate organisations per project. Existing research has mainly focused on identifying discrete factors that influence contractor pricing. While many scholars and professionals treat the level of mark-up as a technical problem, others acknowledge the role of professional judgement. This paper uses the neo-institutional concept of 'hybrid institutional logics' and an exploratory study into two projects in one firm to explore the way in which different types of professionals work together to produce a single price. The research documents the existence of two distinct logics: a first-principles cost estimation logic and strategic mark-up logic. These are combined in a highly structured process, with moments of separation, bridging and demarcation. These findings explain how firms purposefully balance multiple cognitive schemas to manage resources and position themselves in the market. The research also offers a novel theoretical approach to the study of multidisciplinary collaboration which can be used to address issues of integration more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-free massive MIMO is one of the key technologies for future wireless communications, in which users are simultaneously and jointly served by all access points (APs). In this paper, we investigate the minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimation of effective channel coefficients in cell-free massive MIMO systems with massive connectivity. To facilitate the theoretical analysis, only single measurement vector (SMV) based MMSE estimation is considered in this paper, i.e., the MMSE estimation is performed based on the received pilot signals at each AP separately. Inspired by the decoupling principle of replica symmetric postulated MMSE estimation of sparse signal vectors with independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) non-zero components, we develop the corresponding decoupling principle for the SMV based MMSE estimation of sparse signal vectors with independent and non-identically distributed (i.n.i.d.) non-zero components, which plays a key role in the theoretical analysis of SMV based MMSE estimation of the effective channel coefficients in cell-free massive MIMO systems with massive connectivity. Subsequently, based on the obtained decoupling principle of MMSE estimation, likelihood ratio test and the optimal fusion rule, we perform user activity detection based on the received pilot signals at only one AP, or cooperation among the entire set of APs for centralized or distributed detection. Via theoretical analysis, we show that the error probabilities of both centralized and distributed detection tend to zero when the number of APs tends to infinity while the asymptotic ratio between the number of users and pilots is kept constant. We also investigate the asymptotic behavior of oracle estimation in cell-free massive MIMO systems with massive connectivity via random matrix theory. Moreover, in order to demonstrate the potential performance loss of SMV based MMSE estimation, which does not employ the correlation between the received pilot signals at different APs, the multiple measurement vector (MMV) based MMSE estimation, i.e., joint MMSE estimation with pilot signals from all APs, is analyzed via numerical results. Numerical analysis shows that the theoretical analyze with our decoupling principle for the SMV based MMSE estimation of sparse signal vectors with i.n.i.d. non-zero components matches well with the numerical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Aluminium is a predominant heavy metal found in everyday products like perfumes, antiperspirants, medication, milk, vaccinations, etc. Biologically available Aluminum is non-essential and toxic to the body. Excessive intake of Aluminum can lead to various negative consequences such as neurodegeneration of the brain, age-related changes, etc. Most of the aluminium exposure is through food and its products. Hence, this study aims to determine the Aluminium levels in milk. Materials and Methods: Twenty samples were collected and stored in the Tiruvallur district area, Chennai. They were broken down into nitric and perchloric acid (4:1 v/v) until a transparent solution was obtained. This was then filtered using Whatman filter paper and diluted. Aluminum content was estimated using a flame absorption spectrophotometer. Results: This study shows that the mean aluminum levels in the milk supply in Tiruvallur district are 116.25 ± 28.316. The current study also showed that the values are significant (p=0.000). Conclusion: Hence, the Aluminium levels of milk are within permissible levels, and care should be taken not to intake excessive amounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plantar pressure analysis can be used for clinical diagnosis, exercise guidance and daily monitoring. In actual use, the CoP trajectory is an important parameter for dynamic analysis, which is generally obtained with an in-shoe system in outdoor and daily monitoring. Therefore, it is a critical issue to design the sensor placement to obtain accurate CoP estimation in a low-cost sensing insole. In this paper, a new sensor placement method, an improved genetic algorithm, was proposed, driven by a large amount of plantar pressure distribution data, with the objectives of reducing the trajectory estimation error and increasing the amount of information, and abstract the placement problem as a combinatorial optimization problem under multiple objectives. Through optimization iterations, a set of optimized sensor placements are determined and applied to practical use. Six subjects wore the optimal placement insoles and the mean absolute error was 3.81 mm (medial-lateral direction) and 8.61 mm (anterior-posterior direction) for comparison with the CoP trajectory provided by the measurement platform. Compared with previous results, the method proposed in this paper provides a more accurate CoP estimation with a 9.7% improvement. This study provides new guidelines for the selection of plantar pressure sensor placements and incorporates intelligent optimization algorithms into new ways to improve the accuracy of wearable device analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wave energy generation methods have significant energy costs. The implementation of sophisticated control techniques in wave energy generators can lower the cost of power generation by optimizing the energy recovered from wave energy converters (WECs). To determine control inputs, most control systems rely on knowledge of the wave excitation force, including information on past, present, and future excitation forces. For the excitation of WEC devices, wave excitation force can only be inferred and predicted because it is an unmeasurable quantity. One of the more widely used observers in wave excitation estimates at the moment is the Kalman filter, but its use is primarily restricted to linear Kalman filtering. The mooring system is an integral component of floating wave energy producers. The mooring force of the device is actually nonlinear; however, the majority of current studies on excitation estimates for wave energy producers based on Kalman filter methods employ an ideal motion model based on the linearization of the mooring force. This paper, in an attempt to make things more realistic, creates a WEC system with highly nonlinear mooring forces, suggests a way to build a wave excitation force estimator for a nonlinear WEC system using the extended Kalman filtering method, and assesses the impact of various factors, such as measurement noise, random phase, and the number of equal-energy methods dividing the frequency, on the accuracy of the wave excitation force estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The paper identifies a Wiener system, which is excited by a cyclostationary time series. To estimate the first subsystem's linear dynamic impulse response: this proposed algorithm first kernel‐windows the Wiener system's input measurements, then cross‐correlates with the output time series. To identify the second subsystem's static nonlinearity: this proposed algorithm first estimates the unobservable inter‐block internal signal (consistently in the statistical sense), and then kernel‐windows these estimates with the Wiener system output. This estimator provides the unusual capability to identify non‐invertible nonlinearities. This strategy removes any restrictive requirement for a Gaussian random excitation or a sinusoidal deterministic excitation. This paper further proves the estimator's asymptotic consistency and determines the kernel bandwidth for algorithmic convergence. The proposed algorithm's efficacy is verified in the context of two common applications: a servo mechanical system and a telecommunication channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most researchers focus on designing accurate crowd counting models with heavy parameters and computations but ignore the resource burden during the model deployment. A real-world scenario demands an efficient counting model with low-latency and high-performance. Knowledge distillation provides an elegant way to transfer knowledge from a complicated teacher model to a compact student model while maintaining accuracy. However, the student model receives the wrong guidance with the supervision of the teacher model due to the inaccurate information understood by the teacher in some cases. In this paper, we propose a dual-knowledge distillation (DKD) framework, which aims to reduce the side effects of the teacher model and transfer hierarchical knowledge to obtain a more efficient counting model. First, the student model is initialized with global information transferred by the teacher model via adaptive perspectives. Then, the self-knowledge distillation forces the student model to learn the knowledge by itself, based on intermediate feature maps and target map. Specifically, the optimal transport distance is utilized to measure the difference of feature maps between the teacher and the student to perform the distribution alignment of the counting area. Extensive experiments are conducted on four challenging datasets, demonstrating the superiority of DKD. When there are only approximately 6% of the parameters and computations from the original models, the student model achieves a faster and more accurate counting performance as the teacher model even surpasses it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an improvement of the n-shifting technique to identify the frequency response of an industrial process using a fully asymmetric and delaying relay. The n-shifting approach allows the calculation of n + 1 points of G(s) by an asymmetric relay experiment. This set of n points is composed of G(0), G(jωosc), ... , G(jnωosc), being ωosc the oscillation frequency, and where G(jωosc) is in most cases located in the third quadrant of the Nyquist map. By delaying the relay output and repeating a similar experiment it can be generated n additional points of G(s) where the first point is G(jω'osc) with 0 < ω'osc < ωosc. In this way, it is possible to depict the full output spectrum of G(s) from zero to very high frequencies by a short relay experiment. An example of identification and tuning of a PID controller with data from the n-shifting are presented to show the validity of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, adaptive controllers are designed to track a given trajectory for linear and nonlinear systems. No condition on the tracked trajectory, other than continuity and boundedness, is needed to simultaneously ensure exponential convergence to the tracking reference, exponential convergence to the identification of the plant, and robustness to nonparametric uncertainties. To achieve this, the formulation of the excitation condition associated with the identification part of the adaptive scheme is proposed without employing closed-loop signals, allowing the use of a transient enrichment of the reference. The effect of this transient modification is attenuated by using relaxed requirements for the identification, obtained through a generalization of several estimation algorithms found in recent literature that use memory mechanisms. Consequently, no spectral content of the tracked trajectory--a classic requirement in adaptive theory--is needed to guarantee the mentioned features when the proposed scheme is used. A numerical example is given to illustrate the design aspects involved and the distinctive features of the proposed strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-contact vital sign monitoring has been an important research topic recently due to the ability to monitor patients for an extended period especially during sleep without requiring uncomfortable attachments. Radar is a popular sensor for vital sign monitoring research. Various algorithms have been proposed for estimating respiration rate and heart rate from the radar data. But many algorithms rely on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to convert time domain signal to the frequency domain and estimate vital signs, despite FFT having limitation of frequency resolution being inverse of the time interval of data sample. However, there are other spectral estimation algorithms, which have not been much researched into the suitability of vital sign estimation using radar signals. In this paper, we compared eight different types of spectral estimation algorithms, including FFT, for respiration rate and heart rate estimation of stationary subjects in a controlled environment. The evaluation is based on extensive data consisting of different stationary subject positions. Considering the results, the eligibility of algorithms other than FFT for respiration rate and heart rate estimation is demonstrated. Using this work, researchers can get an overview on which algorithm is suitable for their work without the need to review individual algorithms separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INAR models have the great advantage of being able to capture the conditional distribution of a count time series based on their past observations, thus allowing it to be tailored to meet the unique characteristics of count data. This paper reviews the two-parameter Poisson extended exponential (PEE) distribution and its corresponding INAR(1) process. Then the INAR of order p (INAR(p)) model that incorporates PEE innovations is proposed, its statistical properties are presented, and its parameters are estimated using conditional least squares and conditional maximum likelihood estimation methods. Two practical data sets are analyzed and compared with competing INAR models in an effort to gauge the performance of the proposed model. It is found that the proposed model performs better than the competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancing RTHS methods to readily handle multi-dimensional problems has great potential for enabling more advanced testing and synergistically using existing laboratory facilities that have the capacity for such experimentation. However, the high internal coupling between hydraulics actuators and the nonlinear kinematics escalates the complexity of actuator control and boundary condition tracking. To enable researchers in the RTHS community to develop and compare advanced control algorithms, this paper proposes a benchmark control problem for a multi- axial real-time hybrid simulation (maRTHS) and presents its definition and implementation on a steel frame excited by seismic loads at the base. The benchmark problem enables the development and validation of control techniques for tracking both translation and rotation degrees of freedom of a plant that consists of a steel frame, two hydraulic actuators, and a steel coupler with high stiffness that couples the axial displacements of the hydraulic actuators resulting in the required motion of the frame node. In this investigation, the different components of this benchmark were developed, tested, and a set of maRTHS were conducted to demonstrate its feasibility in order to provide a realistic virtual platform. To offer flexibility in the control design process, experimental data for identification purposes, finite element models for the reference structure, numerical, and physical substructure, and plant models with model uncertainties are provided. Also, a sample example of an RTHS design based on a linear quadratic Gaussian controller is included as part of a computational code package, which facilitates the exploration of the tradeoff between robustness and performance of tracking control designs. The goals of this benchmark are to: extend existing control or develop new control techniques; provide a computational tool for investigation of the challenging aspects of maRTHS; encourage a transition to multiple actuator RTHS scenarios; and make available a challenging problem for new researchers to investigate maRTHS approaches. We believe that this benchmark problem will encourage the advancing of the next-generation of controllers for more realistic RTHS methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper derives a new lifetime distribution called the unit inverse Weibull distribution(UIWD) from inverse weibull distribution. Various statistical properties such as the survival function, hazard rate function, revised hazard rate function, cumulative hazard rate function, moments, and quartiles have been discussed. Additionally, we have explored other properties like skewness, kurtosis, order statistics, and the quantile function. Various methods of estimation, including maximum likelihood, moments, percentiles, and the Cramer-Von Mises, have been discussed. Simulation studies were conducted to assess the accuracy and precision of the parameters. Comparative analyses were performed to highlight the effectiveness and utility of the proposed model in comparison to other existing models, using two real-life applications. Finally, real life data analysis reveals that derived distribution can provide a better fit than several well-known distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a networked control architecture that provides robustness not only to parametric uncertainties in the model but also to packet dropouts and time-varying network-induced delays. Contrary to the common approach of nonlinear optimization solvers, the estimation and control approaches stand out by providing a direct solution derived from an Extended Kalman Filter and a Recursive Robust Linear-Quadratic Regulator. Moreover, we prove that the optimal robust solution for a single agent suffices for the control of a homogeneous multi-agent scenario. Numerous simulations analyze the impact of different network conditions on the proposed architecture for a multi-agent scenario. Finally, the architecture was implemented and made available as a Robot Operating System (ROS) package, and trajectory-tracking missions were experimentally carried out to show the effectiveness of the proposed system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State of charge (SOC) is a very important variable for using batteries safely and reliably. To improve the accuracy of SOC estimation, a novel variational extended Kalman filter (EKF) technique based on least square error method is herein provided by establishing a second-order equivalent circuit model for the battery. It was found that when SOC decreased, resistance polarization occurred in the electrochemical model, and the parameters in the equivalent RC model varied. To decrease the modeling error in the equivalent circuit model, the system parameters were identified online depending on the SOC's estimated result. Through the SOC-estimation process, the variation theorem was introduced, which enabled the system parameters to track the real situations based on the output measured. The experiment results reveal the comparison of the SOC-estimation results of the variational EKF algorithm, the traditional EKF algorithm, the recursive least square (RLS) EKF algorithm, and the forgotten factor recursive least square (FFRLS) EKF algorithm based on different indices, including the mean square error (MSE) and the mean absolute error (MAE). The variational EKF algorithm provided in this paper has higher estimation accuracy and robustness than the traditional EKF, which verifies the superiority and effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the paper is to assess the cognitive and functional status of a segment of the population for a senescent age group. These assessments can help develop intervention strategies to improve the cognitive and functional status of these individuals as well as promote a healthy and active lifestyle. The assessment of cognitive and functional status in a segment of the population during senescence can identify certain problems and deficiencies in cognitive and physical functioning and can help develop physical activities to optimize the cognitive and functional state of senescent people. Objectives: To identify the cognitive and functional profile of the studied age group; Pointing out risk factors for cognitive and functional deterioration; Suggesting physical activities to improve cognitive and functional status. Methods: The recorded data helps us develop personalized aquatic programs to improve health and physical performance, tailored to the individual needs of participants, to be used over 6 months in 2024. Results: The findings suggested by the collected data, recognises a significant link between subjects' body mass index and their physical test scores. Conclusions: Analysis of the data allows us to identify risk factors, including chronic conditions, adopted lifestyle, genetic influences or other environmental conditioning, that could contribute to cognitive and functional decline in the older population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning is used in various applications due to its advantages over traditional Machine Learning (ML) approaches in tasks encompassing complex pattern learning, automatic feature extraction, scalability, adaptability, and performance in general. This paper proposes an end-to-end (E2E) delay estimation method for 5G networks through deep learning (DL) techniques based on Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM). In the first step, the components of a GMM are estimated through the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm and are subsequently used as labeled data in a supervised deep learning stage. A multi-layer neural network model is trained using the labeled data and assuming different numbers of E2E delay observations for each training sample. The accuracy and computation time of the proposed deep learning estimator based on the Gaussian Mixture Model (DLEGMM) are evaluated for different 5G network scenarios. The simulation results show that the DLEGMM outperforms the GMM method based on the EM algorithm, in terms of the accuracy of the E2E delay estimates, although requiring a higher computation time. The estimation method is characterized for different 5G scenarios, and when compared to GMM, DLEGMM reduces the mean squared error (MSE) obtained with GMM between 1.7 to 2.6 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the second-largest contributor to historical global warming, methane emissions must be controlled to slow down temperature increase and achieve climate benefits. Due to a lack of knowledge about the specific sources and processes, a quantitative approach will lead to inaccurate estimation. In this paper, a typical local distribution company with more than 100 years of operation history was chosen. Detailed procedures of pipeline constructions and accidents were investigated, and critical steps leading to methane emissions were clarified. Then emission quantification methodologies for all processes were proposed, including a new pipeline connection, new regulator connection, emergency repair and third-party damages. As a basis for emission estimation, the distribution of parameters, such as diameter, length and pressure, was counted. Then the emission rates of all projects were calculated, and emission factors were established. The average emission rates of the new pipeline connection, new regulator connection, emergency repair, third-party damage (medium pressure) and third-party damage (low pressure) were 234 kg, 147 kg, 217 kg, 17,282 kg and 62 kg, respectively. In addition, the total methane emission in China from these sources was estimated to be about 5 × 104 t, which is large enough to attract attention. The work in this paper aims to establish a reasonable framework to evaluate venting methane emissions from the distribution process of natural gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a coherent multi-dwell processing (CMDP) method for high velocity estimation and super-resolution in search and track, while search (TWS) radar modes use an un-conventional signal processing algorithm that exploits multi-dwell transmissions. The existence of the multi-dwell waveform is necessary for visibility needs by un-folding the target's velocity and range ambiguity and is proposed to be utilized for high velocity estimation and super-resolution. In this paper, the proposed scheme is shown to result in improved velocity estimation and doppler resolution performance for un-ambiguous targets in comparison to classical radar processing. The processing concept uses the same transmitted waveform (WF) and time duration without the need to increase the time on target (TOT) through sophisticated coherent concatenation of the received dwells with velocity compensation between the dwells. The phase compensation in receive mode is implemented for each target according to its characteristics, which means that target velocities are estimated in each dwell separately. The notable result of the CMDP is the linear doppler resolution improvement obtained with the given search resources and without knowing the target characteristics in advance or the dwell delay time. Other possible benefits of this process are the ability to achieve larger detection ranges and high-angle measurement precisions in search mode due to the higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the extended dwell and the ability to track more targets due to efficient time and resource management. An outstanding opportunity to exploit the CMDP is by combining missions in phased array (PA) radars, meeting the multi-objective needs of both high spatial scan rates for illuminating the target and high doppler estimation and resolution performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the surface energy budget is essential to determine Earth's climate, site measurements of various radiative components are still too scarce to properly characterize their spatial and temporal variations. This has led to the development of a growing number of surface radiation products, mainly including remotely sensed data, model reanalysis data, and simulations using General Circulation Models (GCMs). This collection of papers introduces new techniques, including the use of machine learning methods for radiation estimation, and evaluates and compares various radiation products, as well as their spatio-temporal variations. These studies show large discrepancies among various products across nearly all radiative parameters in either accuracy or spatio-temporal variations. However, remotely sensed radiation products perform relatively better than others. Despite this, there is an urgent need for further efforts to address these discrepancies and improve the accuracy of these estimates. Even though the major radiative parameters including downward shortwave radiation, net longwave radiation, and albedo, from most products show insignificant long-term variation trends on a global scale, only specific regions, such as the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau (YKP) and regions with permafrost (i.e. Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Arctic) and glaciers (i.e. Altai Mountains) exhibit remarkable trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep Learning architectures for time series require a large number of training samples, however traditional sample size estimation for sufficient model performance is not applicable for machine learning, especially in the field of electrocardiograms (ECGs). This paper outlines a sample size estimation strategy for binary classification problems on ECGs using different deep learning architectures and the large publicly available PTB-XL dataset, which includes 21801 ECG samples. This work evaluates binary classification tasks for Myocardial Infarction (MI), Conduction Disturbance (CD), ST/T Change (STTC), and Sex. All estimations are benchmarked across different architectures, including XResNet, Inception-, XceptionTime and a fully convolutional network (FCN). The results indicate trends for required sample sizes for given tasks and architectures, which can be used as orientation for future ECG studies or feasibility aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the problem of control is investigated for cancer-tumor-immune systems, based on a two-dimension uncertain nonlinear model describing the interaction between immune and cancer cells in a body. First, the control problem is transformed into a state tracking problem. Second, an adaptive control method is proposed to track and stop the growth of cancer and maintain cancer and immune cells at an acceptable level. Different from the existing results in literature, the singularity problem in controller and the inaccuracy in control design have been overcome. From theoretical analysis, it is shown that the resulting closed-loop system is asymptotically stable and the tracking errors converge to the origin. Finally, simulation results illustrate not only the competitive relationship between immune system and tumor, but also the immune system has strong immunity to low level tumor volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple signal classification (MUSIC) has been widely applied in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receivers for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. To reduce the cost of radio frequency (RF) chains at millimeter-wave bands, hybrid analog-digital structure has been adopted in massive MIMO transceivers. In this situation, received signals at the antennas are unavailable to the digital receiver, and as a consequence, the spatial covariance matrix (SCM), which is essential in MUSIC algorithm, cannot be obtained using traditional sample average approach. Based on our previous work, we propose a novel algorithm for SCM reconstruction in hybrid massive MIMO systems with multiple RF chains in this paper. By switching the analog beamformers to a group of predetermined DOAs, SCM can be reconstructed through the solutions of a set of linear equations. Furthermore, a low-complexity algorithm, as well as a careful selection of the predetermined DOAs, will be also presented in this paper. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithms can reconstruct the SCM accurately so that MUSIC algorithm can be well used in hybrid massive MIMO systems with multiple RF chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the visual inertial positioning accuracy is constrained by the calibration accuracy of the sensor, however, there are few navigation systems that take the time offset and extrinsic parameters into account at the same time. In this paper, an iterative-optimization-based calibration framework for VIO (visual-inertial odometry) with limited prior conditions is proposed. In particular, a three-stage calibration method is presented, which includes the time offset estimation stage, the extrinsic and intrinsic parameters calibration stage, and global temporal and IMU parameter optimization stage. In the first stage, the time offset calibration model is proposed, which estimates the time delay by iteratively optimizing the orientation residual equation. In the second stage, based on the assumption of constant angle velocity and linear velocity between two continuous keyframes, an iterative-based coarse-to-fine calibration strategy is presented to calibrate the initial extrinsic and IMU intrinsic parameters. In the third stage, a global optimization-based algorithm is introduced to obtain a more accurate time offset value and IMU intrinsic parameters. What’s more worth mentioning is that the proposed method does not require any prior parameters, which greatly improves the universality of the navigation system. To evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed algorithm, the method is tested on both simulation and public dataset, and also compared with classical systems. Abundant experimental results illustrate that the proposed method can effectively estimate the time offset, the IMU intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed or decentralized estimation of covariance, and distributed principal component analysis have been introduced and studied in the signal processing community in recent years, and applications in array processing have been indicated in some detail. Inspired by these, this paper provides a detailed development of several distributed algorithms for array processing. New distributed algorithms are proposed for DOA estimation methods like root-MUSIC, total least squares-ESPRIT, and FOCUSS. Other contributions include distributed design of the Capon beamformer from data, and distributed implementation of the spatial smoothing method for coherent sources. A distributed implementation of a recently proposed beamspace method called the convolutional beamspace (CBS) is also proposed. The proposed algorithms are fully distributed – an average consensus (AC) is used to avoid the need for a fusion center. The algorithms are based on a recently reported finite-time version of AC which converges to the exact solution in a finite number of iterations. Numerical examples are given throughout the paper to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, state-of-the-art crowd counting methods have focused more on predicting a density map and then obtaining the final aggregated count. In 2018, a typical density map-based network for congested scene recognition called CSRNet was proposed, and it achieved better crowd counting performance than previous methods with a simple architecture. It utilizes the first 10 layers from VGG-16 as the front end and deploys dilated convolutional layers as the back-end to generate high-quality density maps. CSRNet has been demonstrated on four datasets (ShanghaiTech dataset, the UCF_CC_50 dataset, the World Expo'10 dataset, and the UCSD dataset) and delivered great performance. To obtain better performance, in this paper, we propose a small network as a new component that generates a counting residual estimation, and we combine our component with CSRNet. We demonstrate this combined network on three datasets (ShanghaiTech dataset, the UCF_CC_50 dataset, and the World Expo'10 dataset) and compare the results with those of CSRNet. The results show that our method has significantly improved the results of CSRNet. Through a series of experiments, such as ablation experiments and control experiments, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. In the future, we will apply our method to other networks to achieve better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Respiration is recognized as a systematic physiological interference in functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). However, it remains unanswered as to whether it is possible to estimate the respiratory rate (RR) from such interference. Undoubtedly, RR estimation from fNIRS can provide complementary information that can be used alongside the cerebral activity analysis, e.g., sport studies. Thus, the objective of this paper is to propose a method for RR estimation from fNIRS. Our primary presumption is that changes in the baseline wander of oxygenated hemoglobin concentration ( O 2 H b ) signal are related to RR. Methods: fNIRS and respiratory signals were concurrently collected from subjects during controlled breathing tasks at a constant rate from 0.1 Hz to 0.4 Hz. Firstly, the signal quality index algorithm is employed to select the best O 2 H b signal, and then a band-pass filter with cut-off frequencies from 0.05 to 2 Hz is used to remove very low- and high-frequency artifacts. Secondly, troughs of the filtered O 2 H b signal are localized for synthesizing the baseline wander (S1) using cubic spline interpolation. Finally, the fast Fourier transform of the S1 signal is computed, and its dominant frequency is considered as RR. In this paper, two different datasets were employed, where the first one was used for the parameter adjustment of the proposed method, and the second one was solely used for testing. Results: The low mean absolute error between the reference and estimated RRs for the first and second datasets (2.6 and 1.3 breaths per minute, respectively) indicates the feasibility of the proposed method for RR estimation from fNIRS. Significance: This paper provides a novel view on the respiration interference as a source of complementary information in fNIRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilevel converters (MLCs) are pioneers in the field of electrical energy conversion. From the classification of MLCs, modular multilevel converter (MMC) is top-rated due to its attractive structure and performance. The modular nature and no need for isolated DC resources are two significant advantages of this converter. However, the need for many sensors to control its performance is a considerable drawback. In addition, the internal circulating current in the MMC causes losses, decreases efficiency, and increases the voltage ripple of capacitors. This paper proposes combining a new capacitor voltage sorting method and an open-loop controller based on arms energy estimation to control the MMC using two voltage sensors in the arms and one current sensor at the output. The proposed method ensures continuous voltage balancing of the capacitors and removes multiple voltage sensors from sub-modules (SMs). The simulation and experimental results verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of synchronized measurement technology leads to a more reliable and secure operation of the power system. Phasor calculation is needed for all buses where a phasor measurement unit is installed, and fast and precise estimation is necessary for accurate monitoring, protection and control. The Prony algorithm is one promising method due to its capability to estimate phasor adaptively with changing frequency. The algorithm projects the signal on $L$ exponentially damped sine functions, where $L$ is the order of the Prony. However, the order under different conditions should be adapted automatically to reduce computation time. To adaptively specify the order, the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method is proposed in this paper to be combined with the Prony and named EMD-Prony. The EMD decomposes a signal into finite single oscillatory modes, representing the number of modes in the signal. EMD is also used as a pre-processing step to filter noise from an input signal of Prony. Therefore, EMD is proposed here as an assistant of Prony in a phasor estimation. Finally, the proposed method is tested on the benchmark signals proposed in the IEEE standard, signals obtained from a simulated power system, and measured data from a real-world power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultra-wideband (UWB) technology has been widely used in high-accuracy localization systems benefiting from its superior time-resolution and stability. In recent years, the single-anchor localization (SAL) scheme has attracted intense interests with its high accuracy, low system complexity, and low deployment costs compared to traditional UWB localization schemes. In this paper, we develop a SAL system which achieves 3D high-accuracy localization using time and wrapped phase measurements of UWB signals. We expand the array aperture to improve the localization accuracy and address the phase wrapping problem using information fusion. Statistical characterization of ambiguous position estimates is encapsulated by soft positional information (SPI), which is approximated by Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to accelerate the filtering process. The parameters of GMM are estimated by an efficient parallel algorithm and two filtering methods are proposed to track the agent in different scenarios using approximate SPI. Finally, we implement the system on a low-cost platform and experimental results show that the proposed SAL system can achieve decimeter-level 3D localization accuracy in outdoor and indoor environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe randomized response technique (RRT) is widely considered for estimating the sensitive attribute in sample surveys. Various randomized response methods have been formulated by the different researchers which provide suitable estimates and privacy protection to the respondents. In the present paper, a new randomized response technique is introduced for estimating a sensitive attribute by amalgamating forced answer strategy into optional RRT. The mean and variance of estimates of proportion of sensitive attribute and sensitivity level under proposed method are derived. The proposed procedure is found to be more efficient than the existing RRTs. The privacy of the respondents possessing the sensitive attribute is well protected under the proposed strategy. The superiority of the proposed procedure is established with the help of a numerical study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the development of advanced, data-driven methods for predictive maintenance of railway infrastructure, this paper analyzes and evaluates more realistic predictions of eigenfrequencies of railway bridges, also referred to as natural frequencies, based on a population of already assessed, measured existing bridges using regression techniques. For this purpose, Machine Learning (ML) techniques such as Polynomial Regression (PR), ANN and XGBoost are consistently evaluated and the application of the XGBoost algorithm is identified as the most suitable prediction model for these eigenfrequencies, usable for dynamic train-bridge interactions. The results of the post-processing are incorporated into the safety architecture for bridge verification (risk management). The presented data-based techniques are a steppingstone towards digitalization of structural health monitoring and offer safety and longevity of the railway bridges. Furthermore, the use of these methods can save costs that would be incurred by physical in-situ measurements. The types of bridges analyzed with ML are Filler Beam Bridges (FBE), which outnumber other construction types of bridges in Germany (DB InfraGO AG). This methodology is applicable to any bridge type as long as sufficient data are gathered for training, validation and testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microalgae reactors provide an efficient and clean alternative for the production of biofuels, nutritional and cosmetic bioproducts, wastewater treatment, and mitigation of industrial gases to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The main control objective in these systems is productivity optimisation. For this reason, real-time monitoring of key biological performance indicators affecting microalgae production such as microalgae growth rate, biomass concentration, dissolved oxygen, pH level or total inorganic carbon is crucial. However, there are no sufficiently robust solutions on the market to estimate or measure all of these variables, especially for open reactors on an industrial scale. This paper presents a new online state estimator, based on a robust sliding mode observer combined with a nonlinear dynamic model endowed with a minimum number of states to capture dynamics of key biological performance indicators. This soft-sensor has been verified with a realistic reactor model that has been experimentally tested. Simulations showed promising results in terms of accuracy (with mean values of the state estimation errors in the order of 10−4 g m −3 for the biomass concentration, 10−5 to 10−13 mol m −3 for the other states and deviations in the order of 10−4 g m −3 for the biomass concentration, 10−5 to 10−10 mol m −3 for the other states) and robustness with respect to signal noise, state deviations, initial errors and parametric uncertainty. • Architecture and design of a soft-sensor for industrial raceway photobioreactor. • Sliding modes techniques for on-line robust monitoring main biological indicators. • Proposal and verification of a reduced model as mathematical reactor replica. • Soft-sensor tested by simulation with a experimentally verified reactor model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-strain shear modulus (G) is an essential parameter for many geotechnical analyses. Most of shallow foundations are constructed in an unsaturated soil and the shear modulus of the unsaturated soil fluctuates because of the precipitation, evaporation, and rising of ground water table. In this paper, a new mathematical model is proposed for the estimation of the shear modulus function, Gunsat, which defines the relationship between small-strain modulus of unsaturated soil and matric suction. In the proposed model, the soil-water characteristic curve in the form of the degree of saturation is used as the input information. There are additional two parameters named n and C, which can be calibrated with the experimental data, are adopted in the proposed model. The estimated results show good agreement with the experimental data from literature. The proposed method can be used to track the tendency of Gunsat and minimize the data points from the laboratory tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For modelling the threshold effect in parameters of the quantile neural network models, this paper introduces a model called threshold quantile regression neural network (TQRNN), which allows a threshold effect in the quantile regression neural network (QRNN). We develop the estimation procedure of the proposed model and suggest test statistics for threshold effect and the linear setting used typically in the quantile regression framework. We conduct Monte Carlo simulations to assess the performance of estimation and testing procedures, and compare the forecasting performance of the TQRNN model relative to the QRNN model. Through Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the estimation and testing procedures work well in finite samples, and there is little loss in forecast accuracy by employing the suggested TQRNN model even when the true data is generated from a QRNN model; on the contrary, ignoring an existing threshold effect can deteriorate the forecast accuracy of the QRNN model. All the simulation results support the usefulness of the TQRNN model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gravity model is the workhorse model of trade. Yet, many economists still view gravity as a reduced‐form estimating equation and apply it without guidance from theory, while others are skeptical about its usefulness for counterfactual projections. This paper offers a historical overview of the evolution of gravity, from an a‐theoretical application to an estimating computable general equilibrium model, which can be nested in more complex frameworks. Along the way, I address some misconceptions about gravity, summarize the current recommendations for gravity estimations, highlight properties that have made gravity so successful, and review the latest contributions to the related literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis paper deals with the repair alert models. They are used for analyzing lifetime data coming from engineering devices under maintenance management. Repair alert models have been proposed and investigated for continuous component lifetimes. Existing studies are concerned with the lifetimes of items described by continuous distributions. However, discrete lifetimes are also frequently encountered in practice. Examples include operating a piece of equipment in cycles, reporting field failures that are gathered weekly, and the number of pages printed by a device completed before failure. Here, the repair alert models are developed when device lifetimes are discrete. A wide class of discrete distributions, called the telescopic family, is considered for the component lifetimes, and the proposed repair alert model is explained in detail. Furthermore, the problem of estimating parameters is investigated and illustrated by analyzing a real data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The probability of ruin of an insurance company is one of the main risk measures considered in risk theory, and the problems of its calculation and approximation have attracted much attention. Statistical estimations have been developed on the ruin probability in infinite time for insurance loses from heavy-tailed distributions. However, these estimation suffer heavily from under-coverage or have a robustness problem. We therefore need another method for estimating the probability of ruin in infinite time for heavy-tailed losses. In this paper, we introduce a robust estimator of the infinite-time probability of ruin for such distributions. Our methodology is based on extreme value theory, which offers adequate statistical results for such distributions. Our approach is based on a sensitive distribution known as the t-Hill estimator (t-score or score moment estimation) for the index of any tail distribution and introduced in Fabiáan and Stehlík. We establish their asymptotic normality, and through a simulation study, illustrate their behaviour in terms of absolute bias and mean squared error. The simulation results show that our estimators perform well and that they are fairly robust to outliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a lack of point process models on linear networks. For an arbitrary linear network, we consider new models for a Cox process with an isotropic pair correlation function obtained in various ways by transforming an isotropic Gaussian process which is used for driving the random intensity function of the Cox process. In particular, we introduce three model classes given by log Gaussian, interrupted, and permanental Cox processes on linear networks, and consider for the first time statistical procedures and applications for parametric families of such models. Moreover, we construct new simulation algorithms for Gaussian processes on linear networks and discuss whether the geodesic metric or the resistance metric should be used for the kind of Cox processes studied in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an automated tool for comparative estimates of earthmoving productivity, focusing on excavation operations. The developed system includes three modules (computational, data storage, operational) and a series of forms that estimate construction productivity for three types of equipment (excavator, loader, truck) based on fourteen estimation methodologies. To the authors' best knowledge, it is the first research attempt at developing an automated tool based on the comparative evaluation of such a diverse set of estimation methodologies. All system components have been developed in a Microsoft (MS) environment, thus taking advantage of their user-friendly nature. A numerical example corroborated the tool's validity. Future research may optimize the module integrated into the developed application to assist construction estimators in reaching informed decisions when deploying critical project resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]