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AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionDiagnosing acute disease in older adults is challenged by vague and atypical symptoms. Point-of-care tests (POCTs) at home may improve diagnostics and clinical decision-making. We compared various POCT devices to routine testing in acutely ill older adults to assess their clinical reliability.We enrolled participants aged 65+ years requiring acute in-home assessment with signs of acute conditions. Venous and capillary blood samples were collected and analysed on-site using POCT, while identical samples were transported and analysed in a routine laboratory. Agreement between POCT and laboratory testing was assessed using scatter plots with linear regression, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (PCC), limits of agreement, and Bland-Altman plots. Misclassification rates were calculated based on clinically meaningful cut-offs to assess POCT’s clinical reliability.We included 100 participants with a mean age of 81.6 (±8.4 SD) years. Strong correlation was found between POCT and routine measurements (PCC: 0.76–0.94 for capillary samples and 0.85–0.98 for venous samples). Venous samples showed higher PCC than capillary, except for neutrophils (0.93 for capillary, 0.89 for venous). Misclassification occurred in capillary samples for haemoglobin (10/62) and total WBC (6/50), while in venous samples, misclassification was observed for haemoglobin (4/54), total WBC (4/50), K+ (5/47), urea (5/47), and creatinine (3/42). No misclassification was observed for Na+.POCT provides acceptable, clinically reliable measurements in acutely ill older adults, potentially enhancing diagnostics and treatments during in-home assessment. Venous blood testing is preferable due to a lower misclassification rate, but capillary blood remains a pragmatic alternative, despite higher variation and inaccuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document outlines the winners of the 2023 Technometrics Prizes, with Ying Jin, Shan Ba, Kungang Zhang, Anh Bui, and Daniel Apley receiving awards for their respective articles. The prizes include a certificate and a cash award. Additionally, the document provides a historical list of past winners of the Technometrics Prizes from 1969 to 2022, showcasing a diverse range of research topics and authors. [Extracted from the article]

Acoustic emission (AE) evaluation is global NDT technique in which acoustic emissions takes place by loading the component at a specified threshold level. In this study, a crack propagation is studied by AE parameters.Specimens are tensile deformed and AE parameters are recorded. Three types of specimens, Type A, Type B and Type C, are designated as Heat affected zone, Parent metal and Weldment, respectively. The recorded data are analysed in three zones, Zone-1, Zone-2 and Zone-3, in terms of passive, active and critically active of a crack, respectively. Zone-1 is equivalent to the data arrangement up to 60% of Failure Load (FL), Zone-2 equates to 75% − 90% of F.L. and Zone-3 corresponds to fast-fracture region and equates to 90%-F.L. AE parameters – Amplitude, Ring down counts, Duration, Rise Time, Energy, RA Value, DA Value, Hit Rate, Count Rate and Energy Rate are tabulated for various failure loads. These parameters have vital importance in critical assessment of dynamic nature of cracks in Maraging steel. The scatter plots as qualitative indicators, and the rate graphs are used for understanding crack propagation. An abort criterion is developed by using combination of parameters that will serve as an early warning tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While sensitivity analysis improves the transparency and reliability of mathematical models, its uptake by modelers is still scarce. This is partially explained by its technical requirements, which may be hard to understand and implement by the nonspecialist. Here we propose a sensitivity analysis approach based on the concept of discrepancy that is as easy to understand as the visual inspection of input-output scatterplots. First, we show that some discrepancy measures are able to rank the most influential parameters of a model almost as accurately as the variance-based total sensitivity index. We then introduce an ersatz-discrepancy whose performance as a sensitivity measure is similar that of the best-performing discrepancy algorithms, is simple to implement, easier to interpret and orders of magnitude faster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method for the construction of both symmetric and asymmetric, absolutely continuous bivariate copulas is introduced. This research was inspired by the well-known cross ratio (CR), studied by Clayton (1978), which is a local dependence measure describing the association between the components of a bivariate random vector, as well as by an alternative risk ratio (RR) proposed recently by Abrams et al. (2022), which unravels the local relation between the two components of the vector. The practical meaning of RR is illustrated in two real data sets by the authors. In this article, various properties of the proposed parametric families of copulas are studied, for example quadrant dependence ordering, tail dependence coefficients and several copula-based measures of dependence. Some relationships of the copulas to RR are discussed and illustrative scatterplots are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When does inspecting a certain graphical plot allow for an investigator to reach the right statistical conclusion? Visualizations are commonly used for various tasks in statistics—including model diagnostics and exploratory data analysis—and though attractive due to its intuitive nature, the lack of available methods for validating plots is a major drawback. We propose a new technical validation method for visual reasoning. Our method trains deep neural networks to distinguish between plots simulated under two different data generating mechanisms (null or alternative), and we use the classification accuracy as a technical validation score (TVS). The TVS measures the information content in the plots, and TVS values can be used to compare different plots or different choices of data generating mechanisms, thereby providing a meaningful scale that new visual reasoning procedures can be validated against. We apply the method to three popular diagnostic plots for linear regression, namely scatterplots, quantile-quantile plots and residual plots. We consider various types and degrees of misspecification, as well as different within-plot sample sizes. Our method produces TVSs that increase with increasing sample size and decrease with increasing difficulty, and hence the TVS is a meaningful measure of validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study compares the seasonal relationship of land surface temperature (LST) with six vegetation indices (DVI, EVI, FV, NDVI, RVI, and SAVI) and three other land surface indices (MNDWI, NDBI, and NMDI) in Imphal City, Northeast India, using the summer and winter Landsat 8 satellite image of 2021. These land surface indices respond differently to changes in LST in an urban landscape. The relationships between LST and these indices were presented spatially using Pearson correlation coefficient method, scatter plot graphs, box plot graphs, and cross-sectional drawings. The study found that LST had a moderate negative relationship (less than -0.45) with all six vegetation indices in summer and winter. Among the other land surface indices, MNDWI had a weak negative relationship (-0.25) in summer and a moderate negative relationship (-0.45) in winter. NDBI generates a moderate positive relation (0.56) in summer and a strong positive relation (0.69) in winter. NMDI forms a weak positive relation (0.08) in summer and a moderate positive relation (0.35) in winter. From the cross-section analysis, it was observed that LST was low along the high values of vegetation indices and vice versa. Moreover, built-up and bare surfaces generated a high LST along the cross-section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precisely forecasting air temperature as a significant meteorological parameter has a critical role in environment quality management. Hence, this study employs a hybrid intelligent model for accurately monthly temperature forecasting for one to three times ahead in the hottest and coldest regions of the world. The hybrid model contains the artificial neural network (ANN) hybridized with the powerful hetaeristic Honey Badger Algorithm (HBA-ANN). The average mutual information (AMI) technique is employed to find the optimal time delay values for the temperature variable for different time horizons. Finally, the performance of the developed hybrid model is compared with the classical ANN and the Gene Expression Programming (GEP) using some statistical criteria, and the Taylor and scatter diagrams. Results indicated that in each time horizon, the HBA-ANN model with the lowest distance from observation points based on Taylor diagram, high values for NSE and R², and low values for RMSE, MAE, and RSR outperformed the ANN and GEP models in both training and testing phases. Hence, using the Honey Badger Algorithm could increase the accuracy of the model. This model's precise performance supports the case for it to be employed to forecast other environmental parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discriminating sleep period from accelerometer data remains a challenge despite many studies have adapted 24-h measurement protocols. We aimed to compare and examine the agreement among device-estimated and self-reported bedtime, wake-up time, and sleep periods in a sample of adults. Participants (108 adults, 61 females) with an average age of 33.1 (SD 0.4) were asked to wear two wearable devices (Polar Active and Ōura ring) simultaneously and record their bedtime and wake up time using a sleep diary. Sleep periods from Polar Active were detected using an in-lab algorithm, which is openly available. Sleep periods from Ōura ring were generated by commercial Ōura system. Scatter plots, Bland–Altman plots, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to evaluate the agreement between the methods. Intraclass correlation coefficient values were above 0.81 for bedtimes and wake-up times between the three methods. In the estimation of sleep period, ICCs ranged from 0.67 (Polar Active vs. sleep diary) to 0.76 (Polar Active vs. Ōura ring). Average difference between Polar Active and Ōura ring was −1.8 min for bedtimes and −2.6 min for wake-up times. Corresponding values between Polar Active and sleep diary were −5.4 and −18.9 min, and between Ōura ring and sleep diary −3.6 min and −16.2 min, respectively. Results showed a high agreement between Polar Active activity monitor and Ōura ring for sleep period estimation. There was a moderate agreement between self-report and the two devices in estimating bedtime and wake-up time. These findings suggest that potentially wearable devices can be interchangeably used to detect sleep period, but their accuracy remains limited. Estimation of sleep period from different devices could be comparable. Difference between sleep periods from monitors and sleep diary are under 20 min. Device-based estimation of sleep period is encouraged in population-based studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undersized space in kitchens remains a widespread and enduring problem in urban residences in China. However, no consensus exists on the area a satisfactory kitchen should take up and the causes of an undersized kitchen are still not sufficiently understood. This study examined reasonable spatial indices for kitchen design from the perspective of user satisfaction, based on 80 kitchens selected from multi-family residences in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Data were collected using on-site measurement and face-to-face questionnaires, including spatial features, household structure, cooking habits, possession of appliances and residents' binary judgement about the kitchen area. Factors associated with residents' kitchen area perception were explored using correlation analysis, while the reasonable design indices were proposed by scatter diagram analysis. This study confirmed the influence of floor space and width of the kitchen and recommends 5.11–6.10 m2 and 1.71–2.00 m as a reasonable scope for the respective dimensions. It also demonstrates that the area requirement increased in families with higher cooking frequency and decreased in youthful households and suggests that the accommodation of the refrigerator and large appliances should be considered in kitchen area allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple imputation is a well-established technique for analyzing missing data. Multiple imputed data sets are obtained and analyzed separately using standard complete data techniques. The estimates from the separate analyses are then combined for the purpose of statistical inference. However, the exploratory analysis options of multiple imputed data sets are limited. Biplots are regarded as generalized scatterplots which provide a simultaneous configuration of both samples and variables. A visualization for each of the multiple imputed data sets can be constructed and interpreted individually, but this can become cumbersome and several plots make a unified interpretation challenging. Analogous to multiple imputation, the coordinates of the visualizations can now be regarded as the estimates which are to be pooled in an unbiased manner to construct a final visualization. We propose a GPAbin biplot for a final single visualization after multiple imputation. In a first step, generalized orthogonal Procrustes analysis is used to align the individual biplots before combining their separate coordinate sets into an average coordinate matrix. Finally, this average coordinate matrix is then utilized to construct a single biplot called a GPAbin biplot. A simulation study is used to establish the properties of the final combined GPAbin biplot for varying data characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local polynomial regression is a convenient method for smoothing scatterplots with readily available software. However, it is well known that variable amounts of bias are induced by the smoothing operation. This article proposes a simple visualization tool based on approximate confidence intervals which can alert the data analyst to regions of the regression function domain which might be susceptible to unacceptably large levels of bias, and possibly indicating a need for a less automatic smoothing approach. A simulation study verifies the accuracy of the confidence bands, and the method is illustrated with several real datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder with variable incidence and prevalence worldwide. However, clinical-epidemiological studies on ALS are scarce in Brazil. Thus, this study investigated whether ALS incidence had uniform spatial distribution in population-based cluster analysis in Rio Grande do Norte state (Brazil), from 2005 to 2018. Methods: new cases of ALS were identified in a database of the ALS multidisciplinary care center of the Onofre Lopes University Hospital in Natal (Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil). Approaches were based on incidence (empirical Bayes estimator and Moran's I analysis) and cluster analyses (Moran scatter plot and spatial correlogram). Results: a total of 177 patients (59% males) participated in the study; the mean age of ALS onset was 57 years. Mean annual incidence of ALS was 0.3769 per 100,000 inhabitants (95% confidence interval of 0.0889), higher in males than in females (0.4516 per 100,000 vs. 0.3044 per 100,000). According to spatial statistics, patients were homogeneously distributed throughout the studied area. Conclusion: a low estimate was observed compared with other populations. Results did not indicate areas of increased risk or significant spatial geographic dependence, suggesting a random ALS incidence in Rio Grande do Norte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a complex navigation environment, it is very important to solve the problems of multiple constraints and complex calculations in the route planning process of multiple reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to improve the flight reconnaissance effect, and the bat algorithm (BA) with simple parameters has a certain effect on it. Aiming at the problems of unbalanced global optimization and local optimization and slow convergence speed in the later iteration of the BA in the path planning of multi-reconnaissance UAVs, a Levy-based flight search strategy and an improved bat algorithm (IBA) with changing speed are designed. In order to solve the multi-UAV route planning problem, the 3D space is reduced to a divided twodimensional space based on the "scatter plot" method, and the spatial encoding method is used. Finally, it is proved that the IBA is theoretically more concise and effective than other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to determine which of the classic seven quality tools are used by quality professionals during a Root Cause Analysis (RCA). The literature was assessed to determine which quality tools are considered to be part of the seven classic quality tools. The identified tools were then used in a survey of quality professionals in a manufacturing organization, who were asked to select the classic seven quality tools they use during an RCA. An email distribution list was used to send the survey to quality professionals at various locations around the world. The results were then analyzed statistically. The cause and effect diagram was the most commonly used quality tool during an RCA. This was distantly followed by the Pareto chart and then the control chart, followed by the Pareto chart, flow chart, histogram, scatter plot, and run chart. The classic seven quality tools have long been discussed in the literature; however, much of the literature consist of descriptions of their use and not an assessment of which tools are frequently used by quality professionals specifically for RCA. This study identified the seven main classic quality tools used by quality professionals during an RCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The estimation of Chlorophyll-a concentration remains challenging for inland waters owing to the optical complexity. Hence, a quality control-based Chlorophyll-a retrieval approach was proposed for the Sentinel-2 multispectral instrument. Two algorithms were selected: 2-band algorithm, which is suitable for extremely turbid waters, and improved 3-band algorithm designed for moderately turbid waters. Two scatter plots between Rrs560/Rrs490 and Rrs412/Rrs443 and between Rrs560/Rrs490 and Rrs560 were generated to determine boundary lines of the quality control test for the two selected algorithms. The quality control test was calibrated using 188 groups of field data collected from Daihai Lake. Results show that the two selected algorithms were considerably improved after the quality control test. The retrieval of Chlorophyll-a concentration was further enhanced by integrating the improved algorithms. The quality control test was also evaluated against twelve Sentinel-2 images. The integrated algorithm was found to be suitable for most areas in Daihai Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PAST WINNERS OF TECHNOMETRICS PRIZES (1969-2020) B Jack Youden Prize for Best Expository Paper b 2020 I Daniel J. Eck, Christopher J. Nachtsheim, Thomas A. Albrecht, and R. Dennis Cook i - Multivariate Design of Experiments for Engineering Dimensional Analysis 2019 I Mickael Binois, Jiangeng Huang, Robert Gramacy, and Mike Ludkovski i for the article Replication or Exploration? The 2021 Frank Wilcoxon Prize for Best Practical Application Paper was awarded to I Jakob Raymaekers and Peter J. Rousseeuw i for the article B "Fast Robust Correlation for High-Dimensional Data," b DOI: 10.1080/00401706.2019.1677270. The 2021 Jack Youden Prize for Best Expository Paper was awarded to I Xueqi Zhao and Enrique del Castillo i for their article B "An Intrinsic Geometrical Approach for Statistical Process Control of Surface and Manifold Data," b DOI: 10.1080/00401706.2020.1772114. [Extracted from the article]

Generally, the equivalent conicity function (ECF) is denoted by equivalent conicity at 3mm (λ3mm) and a Nonlinearity Parameter (NP). NP describes the nonlinearity of the ECF and its influence on a vehicle design is explored thoroughly, however, NP's role in vehicle and track maintenance is not researched yet. This paper investigates the influence of track maintenance actions on vehicle dynamics with help of NP vs λ3mm scatter plots of ECF database. The ECF database is constructed by combining measured worn wheel and rail profile pairs of the Swedish high-speed vehicle and rail network, respectively. The ECF database revealed an inverse relationship between λ3mm and NP, i.e., NP is negative for larger λ3mm values. The combination of negative NP and high λ3mm causes reduction in the vehicle's nonlinear critical speed and vehicle often exhibit the unstable running on the Swedish rail network. Thus, the occurrence of ECF with negative NP and high λ3mm is undersirable and the undesirable ECF can be converted into desirable ECF by grinding the rail, which converts ECF's into positive NP and low λ3mm combinations. Thus, the NP parameter along with the λ3mm must be considered in track maintenance decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to identify and assess the difficulties experienced by the 11th grade students regarding generating, interpreting and comparing scatter plots. The study was carried out with 40 students-enrolled in 11th grade. The difficulties of students were identified through an achievement test on generating, interpreting, and comparing aspects. In the light of the test, the students identified as having difficulty were interviewed. It was found that the students experienced a range of difficulties related to generating, interpreting, and comparing aspects, and cannot be considered knowledgeable about scatter plots. Arguably, these difficulties can help explain the students' failures regarding scatter plots in the literature and provide a basis for the efforts to cope with these difficulties. In order to enhance the students' understanding of the concept, examples covering various aspects of the plots should be employed in instructional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of wave force linearisation methods on fatigue damage predictions for jack-up rigs is investigated, using Sesam software as the basis for comparison. The possible risk of significantly underpredicting fatigue damage is highlighted. Dynamic spectral fatigue analysis methodology is applied to a representative jack-up rig in 30 and 70 m water depth in the North Sea. Transfer functions are computed using two approaches: regular waves of constant steepness with capping of wave height at low frequencies; stochastic linearisation based on a single sea state per wave scatter diagram. It is concluded that stochastic linearisation based on a single sea state per scatter diagram is insufficient to provide an adequate characterisation of nonlinear drag forces for the dynamic spectral fatigue analysis of jack-up rigs. Superharmonic resonance effects, due to nonlinearities associated with variable submergence and drag forces, are found to be significant when computing transfer functions of structural dynamic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document is a correction notice for an article titled "Estimation of ionospheric Faraday rotation over ocean areas using L-band spaceborne PolSAR data" published in the International Journal of Remote Sensing. The correction addresses errors in the equations presented in the article, specifically related to the use of angle brackets and the omission of certain symbols. The corrected equations are provided in the notice, along with examples of incorrect and correct usage of these symbols in figures and tables. The text emphasizes the importance of using the correct symbols to ensure accurate representation of the data, and the corrections aim to improve the accuracy and clarity of the mathematical representations. [Extracted from the article]

This article presents models for predicting thread consumption of lockstitch seam. Various fabric and sewing thread parameters like fabric thickness, number of plies and sewing thread diameter were found to be the control factors in thread consumption calculations. New equations were developed from real stitch images by creating realistic stitch models of lockstitch seam. Lockstitch was modeled using elliptical, racetrack and circular geometry. Elliptical and racetrack models were verified by stitching samples at different feed rates by comparing actual and predicted thread consumption. Scatter plots of both models were made to check the level of accuracy with actual values. The proposed model offers relatively less error% as compared to previous rectangular and elliptical models. Racetrack model came out as the most simpler, versatile and accurate model of thread consumption calculation of lockstitch. It was found that circular model is suitable for the samples stitched at equal stitch spacing and fabric assembly thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image blending is one of the alternative methods to fill temporal gaps in the monitoring of historical vegetation properties using continuous NDVI derived from Landsat 5 TM / 7 ETM+ and 8 OLI images. Frequent cloud occurrence in the tropical upstream catchment limits the use of image blending methods that allow to employment of a single pair base reference. This study aims to evaluate two image blending methods with nine input data configurations to select the most applicable one. Scatter plots and statistical indices such as ME, RMSE, model efficiency and structure similarity showed FSDAF outperforms STARFM in generating both synthetic Landsat 8 OLI NDVI and Landsat 5 TM / 7 ETM+ NDVI when employing unsupervised and supervised classification images, respectively, where both were applied along with MODIS NDVI 250 m v.005. When generating synthetic Landsat 5 TM / 7 ETM+ NDVI using AVHRR NDVI, both algorithms performed similarly. However, when considering the temporal over spatial variance ratio between base reference and predictor images, both algorithms performed almost similar when the value close to minimum. This study shows that selection of image blending algorithm with use single pair base reference image should consider input data configuration and temporal over spatial variance ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the goodness-of-fit of the flexible four-parameter generalized Lambda Distribution (GLD) for high-frequency 5-min returns sampled from the DJI30 Index. Applying Moment Matching (MM) and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) techniques, we highlight the significance of the higher-order parameters of the GLD distribution to depict the asymmetric and fat-tailed behaviour observed in high-frequency returns data. We also show and explain why the MLE consistently outperforms the MM; especially in the presence of "outliers". Finally, we use lambda-space scatterplots to introduce, clarify and discuss additional stylized facts of high-frequency index returns not found in the extant high-frequency literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of single date fully polarimetric SAR data was brought out in discriminating different land covers at level 3 (LULC classification system NRSC) by deriving various polarimetric parameters. Various coherent and incoherent decompositions viz. Krogager, Freeman–Durden, Yamaguchi, Van Zyl, H-A-Alpha were analyzed to evaluate its potential for crop identification. Freeman-3 decomposition overestimates the volume component predominantly for high biomass crops but is sensitive across variable range of biomass. Van Zyl decomposition was not found suitable for crop studies as it overestimates surface scattering by underestimating volume scattering from canopy structure. The differencing method using various decomposition conveyed dynamic response for various crops over the individual response. The Entropy-Alpha scatter plot exhibits its capability in discriminating various land covers. Further, polarimetric signature resulted in unique response for various land covers that can be exploited for their identification. High pedestal heights were observed for high biomass crops and vice-versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mineralogical anomaly is the mineralogically diagnostic character that differs from its surrounding spectra in terms of absorption features of a spectrum. On the airless planetary body like our Moon, the characteristics of mineral exposures are mostly affected by the physical process over time because of space weathering. This inevitable fact produces mature exposures that act as a background for mineralogical anomaly detection. In this regard, the present study categorizes the optical maturation trend of a site, and the background characterization is integrated with anomaly detection, which makes it more practical, robust, and efficient. These fundamental ideas have been improvised into our automated mineralogical anomaly detection method that uses a modified density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (Modified DBSCAN) algorithm to categorize the maturity trend from various scatter plots of spectral property. Subsequently, the Reed-Xiaoli detector analyzes the data points belonging to below 33% of maximum point density on the corresponding scatter plot. Experimentally, the proposed method has been validated with previously reported results of literatures over the varietal lunar sites (crater Theophilus, crater Humboldt, Hansteen Alpha silicic dome, western inner ring of Mare Moscoviense, and crater Von Kármán), which have diverse mineralogy in the region. The reflectance spectra of anomalous points explore the mineralogical diversity of the studied region using Chandrayaaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper ( M 3 ) data. However, it can also operate with any hyperspectral datasets within the spectral range of 400–3000 nm. This flexibility makes our proposition more attractive for an end-user in the field of planetary science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landmark-based Principal Component Analysis was performed on multiple phytosaur and crocodilian skulls. Multiple landmark points were selected defining suture points of bone tissues and regions of maximum or minimum curvature along the skull. Scatter plots of the principal component scores show that phytosaurs cluster according to their higher order taxonomic groups, and the convex hull polygons of the different clades occupy distinct morphospaces albeit with variable degrees of overlap. Disparity between the morphospaces of non-Mystriosuchinae parasuchids and Mystriosuchinae phytosaurs suggests marked differences in skull shape among basal and derived taxa. The vector deformation plots of phytosaur skulls showcase the evolution of skull shape from basal to advanced forms. The morphological changes imply evolution of the phytosaur skulls towards a wider and deeper snout, cage-like grip, tendency for increasing jaw strength, and faster-snapping action. In addition, heightening of the nostrils suggested that phytosaurs evolved into ambush predators, and increased their ability to remain submerged underwater with their nostrils high above the water surface, thereby enhancing their ability to ambush prey. The study supports prior assumptions of dietary preferences among the phytosaurs and maps the evolution and prevalence of cranial morphotypes, associated with such dietary preferences, across the different phytosaur clades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucalyptus accumulates large amounts of nutrients in its biomass and, in order to maintain high productivities, high doses of fertilizers are applied, mainly potassium. Adequate fertilization management requires information on nutrient contents in the various plant organs. This study aimed to use the boundary-line (BL) method to determine curves of nutrient accumulation in eucalyptus shoots. For this, a database containing information on yield and nutrient contents in the various plant organs was used. Scatter plots relating nutrient content in the areal part to trunk volume were constructed. In these graphs, points of the upper and lower edges of the cloud of points were selected, BLs were established and equations to quantify nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) accumulation were obtained. Subsequently, the K content obtained in boundary plants was correlated with those of the other nutrients in the same plants. The relationship between nutrient content and trunk volume allowed establishing the maximum and minimum accumulations for the same volume produced. Plants with highest K accumulation had 4.6, 2.07 and 2.0 less accumulation of N, P and Mg, respectively, than those with lowest K accumulation, for the same trunk volume. At the end, it is concluded that plants with higher K accumulation showed reduction in the absorption of N, P and Mg and lower efficiency in the use of K, P, Ca and Mg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic components and catastrophic thoughts contribute to the quality of life impairments in patients with chronic pain. This retrospective cross-sectional observational study examined the extent to which neuropathic components affect pain intensity and catastrophic thoughts using a mathematical model. Participants with chronic pain with spinal or joint disorders were rated for pain intensity using a numerical rating scale (NRS), painDETECT questionnaire (PDQ), and pain catastrophizing scale (PCS). We plotted to scatter plots between PDQ and either NRS or PCS and drew best-fit lines for patients with leg pain only. We divided patients with both leg and back pain into two clusters: located above or below the baselines, and then we drew the best-fit lines for each cluster. We performed factor analysis on PDQ items and developed and validated a discriminant to identify patients located above the baseline in another cohort of musculoskeletal disorders. We analyzed 163 patients with lumbar disorders and 205 patients with joint disorders. PDQ correlated exponentially with NRS and PCS of the patients located above the baseline in both disorder groups and correlated linearly or logarithmically in patients located below the baseline. Factor analysis revealed three sets of pain characteristics for each disorder. We developed the discriminant from PDQ items to identify patients showing exponential correlations and then validated it in another cohort of 137 patients. The coefficient for "pressure-evoked pain" was the highest in the discriminant. Mathematical models indicate neuropathic components demonstrate linear correlations with NRS and PCS generally, but exponential correlations in a cluster of the patients with musculoskeletal pain. We developed and validated the discriminant based on pain characteristics to identify such patients; "pressure-evoked pain" was the most significant contributor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to include a spatial statistical correlation between sea states that ship encounters during a voyage to improve wave scatter diagram for the analysis of ship structures. The methodology consists of computation of system reliability of a series of partially correlated events, representing sea states that ship encounters along the sailing route. The North Atlantic wave scatter diagram is modified to account for such spatial correlation and new scatter diagrams for partially correlated sea states are constructed. Based on such "correlated scatter diagrams", long-term distribution of vertical wave bending moments is performed and compared to the results following from an "uncorrelated scatter diagram". It was found that a spatial correlation may considerably reduce extreme vertical wave bending moments. Verification of the methodology is performed by simulating shipping route in the North Atlantic using ERA5 wave database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portable hyperspectral imaging was used for field and indoor spectra acquisition of the strawberries at three ripeness stages: ripe, mid-ripe and unripe. The mean spectra were pre-processed by multiplicative scatter correction (MSC). Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to generate score scatter plots and visualize score images for differentiating specific grouping of samples. Three methods, including X-loading weight, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and successive projections algorithm (SPA), were applied to extract the effective wavelengths. Two classifiers, partial least squares – discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and least squares – support vector machine (LS-SVM) were used for ripeness assessment. The results showed that the overall accuracy of all classifiers for field assessment ranged from 91.7% to 96.7%, slightly lower than for indoor assessment. Furthermore, the LS-SVM model combined with effective wavelengths with the CARS method performed better for field assessment of strawberry ripeness, providing an accuracy of 96.7%. It can be concluded that hyperspectral imaging can be used for real-time assessment of strawberry ripeness in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phytoremediation approach using willow microcuttings was tested on a large experimental site spiked with Cu, Pb and Zn. The objective was to verify if this approach allows plant establishment and effective extraction of contaminants. The experimental design consisted of four blocks divided into three plots, in which treatments (salts of the three metals) were randomly applied. Each plot was also subdivided to verify the effect of adding diverse compost treatments: no compost, vegetable garden waste compost (Compost 1), food waste compost (Compost 2) and a mix of Composts 1 and 2. Willow microcuttings (Salix matsudana × alba) were scattered on the plots at a density of 60 m−2. Nine months after the implementation, the number of stems developed, yield and concentration of metals in the aerial parts of the willows were measured. The presence of a contaminant did not affect the number of stems developed. However, the presence of Compost 1 had a significant effect on the number of stems produced as well as on the biomass. Among the three metals, Zn was the element found in highest concentration in willow tissues. An estimated minimum 300 g of Zn per hectare per year could be removed using this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important requirements for cultivar identification in Vitis species is rapid and consistent genotyping using DNA-based markers. Genetic characterization and diversity of grapevine cultivars using molecular markers have been the subject of many studies. The Iranian grapevine biodiversity is one of the most important in the Middle East. In the present work, fourteen nuclear microsatellite markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and relationships among 25 local grapevine accessions collected from vine-growing areas of Qazvin province (Iran). A total of 81 distinct alleles were produced with amplified product sizes ranging from 91 to 432 bp. The number of observed alleles for each locus ranged from 2 (ISV3) to 9 (VVS3 and VVMD6), with the overall average of 5.79 allele per locus. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranged from 0.53 (ISV3) to 0.72 (VVSMD25), while the expected heterozygosity (He) varied between 0.49 (ISV3) and 0.87 (VVSMD25). The polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged between 0.50 for VVS3 and ISV3 to 0.87 for VVSMD25. However, Shannon's information index (I) was found to be highest (2.13) in VVSMD25 locus, while the VVS3 locus had the lowest value with an average of 0.75 among SSR markers. According to Jaccard's similarity coefficient and UPGMA algorithm, cluster analysis assigned the accessions into five groups. Despite similar names, the results revealed that the accessions belonged to different groups. The obtained PCoA scatter plots further strongly supported their UPGMA dendrogram results. Beside VVMD, VVS series of markers were also used in the present study and the results showed that these series of microsatellite markers were as efficient as VVMD series in terms of discrimination and polymorphism for studying grapevine cultivars. Among all the microsatellite loci, VVSMD25 (PID = 0.03, PIC = 0.87) was found to be the most informative among the accessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seed is imported to Iran. A breeding program is needed locally to select elite lines. Factor analysis is a useful tool for investigating variable relationships for complex factors because it allows investigation of concepts that are not easily measured directly by collapsing a large number of variables into a few interpretable underlying factors. Forty genotypes, representing hybrids of commercial cucumber, cv. Negeen, and lines B10 and B12, developed locally, were used in the experiment at Rasht, Iran. Factor analysis, based on principal component analysis and varimax rotation, indicated the factors yield, major yield contributing factors, fruit quality, fruit firmness, and vegetative factors accounted for 66.5% of total variation. Genotypes positioned near the commercial cultivar in scatter diagrams were acceptable because they had high yield, and major yield contributing factors, and good fruit quality. If gynociouse and parthenocarpic lines are not available germplasm can be selected from progenies of commercial hybrids and local lines with a simple factor analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most satellites observing sea surface winds have sun-synchronous orbits and provide observation data at the same place two times per a day. A daily mean value estimated from these data suffers from sampling errors because the high-frequency variation including a diurnal change in the wind field cannot be neglected. To overcome this problem, the use of multiple satellites is useful. The purposes of this study were to describe the time variation of the accuracy of daily mean wind data in a third-generation Japanese Ocean Flux Data Sets with Use of Remote Sensing Observations (J-OFURO3) and to investigate its causes by comparison with in situ measurement data from moored buoys. The results reveal that the three statistical measures such as bias, Root Mean Square error and cross correlation coefficient have improved over time. A set of scatter diagrams of the number of satellites versus the statistical measures for each year shows strong correlations. The accuracy of daily mean data provided by J-OFURO3 is concluded to depend on the number of satellites. We also focused on specific time intervals for satellite wind observations, particularly the maximum missing time interval (MMTI) within a day. The results showed that the correlations between the three statistical measures and MMTI were quite high. Because the above-mentioned two causes are not independent, we analysed the combined effect of the two causes together. The results show that the accuracy of daily mean data depends more strongly on MMTI than on the number of observations. By applying these results, it is possible to determine the optimal number of sensors and the optimal observation time to achieve maximum target accuracy. This provides very useful information for the design of satellite observation systems for sea surface wind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International co-production deal helps regional filmmakers to enter non-local markets. However, to please cross-border audiences, it may hinder cultural uniqueness. Further, when the participants from an obviously bigger market are engaged in, the minor's cultural elements may be neglected. This 'market size matters' argument is often applied to understand the deterioration of Hong Kong (HK) film industry, which has largely collaborated with mainland China (CN) counterparts. To question this argument, this article proposes five co-production scenarios as ideal types: big-market oriented, lowest-common-denominator, small-market oriented, non market, and hybridity, which are illustrated in a scatter plot. With this comparative approach, HK-CN co-productions are located in the hybridity scenario while they increasingly favour mainland China market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel approach involving the use of the contextual information in a scatter plot of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) derived Land Surface Temperature versus Fraction of Vegetation (LST vs. Fv) has been proposed in this study to obtain pixel-wise values of bulk surface conductance (Gs) for use in the Penman-Monteith (PM) model for latent heat flux (λET) estimation. Using a general expression for Gs derived by assuming a two-source total λET (canopy transpiration plus soil evaporation) approach proposed by previous researchers, minimum and maximum values of Gs for a given region can be inferred from a trapezoidal scatter plot of pixel-wise values of LST and corresponding Fv. Using these as limiting values, Gs values for each pixel can be derived through interpolation and subsequently used with the PM model to estimate λET for each pixel. The proposed methodology was implemented in 5 km × 5 km areas surrounding each of four flux towers located in tropical south-east Asia. Using climate data from the tower and derived Gs values the PM model was used to obtain pixel-wise instantaneous λET values on six selected dates/times at each tower. Excellent comparisons were obtained between tower measured λET and those estimated by the proposed approach for all four flux tower locations (R2 = 0.85–0.96; RMSE = 18.27–33.79 W m–2). Since the LST- Fv trapezoidal method is simple, calibration-free and easy to implement, the proposed methodology has the potential to provide accurate estimates of regional evapotranspiration with minimal data inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018 Jack Youden Prize for Best Expository Paper was awarded to I Peter J. Rousseeuw and Wannes Van Den Bossche i for their article " B Detecting Deviating Data Cells b ", DOI: 10.1080/00401706.2017.1340909. 1986 I Vijayan N. Nair i - Testing in Industrial Experiments With Ordered Categorical Data 2000 I Chuanhai Liu and Don X. Sun i - Analysis of Interval-Censored Data From Fractionated Experiments Using Covariance Adjustment 2015 I Yili Hong, Yuanyuan Duan, William Q. Meeker, Deborah L. Stanley, and Xiaohong Gu i - Statistical Methods for Degradation Data with Dynamic Covariates Information and an Application to Outdoor Weathering Data. [Extracted from the article]

Safflower injection (SI) is a herbal injection made from the dried flower of Carthamus tinctorius L. SI is mainly used for the treatment of cerebral infarction, coronary heart disease, and other diseases. However, the active compounds responsible for the bioactivity of the SI remain unknown. In this study, a total of 46 compounds were identified in the SI by the ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-Q Exactive hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap high-resolution accurate mass spectrometry, and the molecular docking analysis showed that six compounds were probably served as the key components for the therapeutic effect of the SI against cerebral ischemia and coronary heart disease. Although the active compounds for the two diseases were same, the corresponding targets were different. The obtained results were useful for the quality control and the explanation of the pharmacological mechanism of the SI. The docking data were further subjected to the multivariate analysis, and the result showed that the active compounds were clustered together in the scatter plot, and the key targets could be determined by the VIP scores. Thus, the multivariate analysis could be used as a useful method to screen the active compounds and targets efficiently based on the docking data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Euro NCAP is considering the implementation of a new head injury assessment with the introduction of THOR in the mobile progressive deformable barrier frontal impact crash test. The objective of this study is to assess the suitability of enhanced head injury criteria for practical application in consumer rating programs.Method: AIS2+ risk predictions from nine selected head injury criteria where calculated for 27 pairs of crash test results representing small and moderate overlap frontal crashes. The capability of each injury criteria to predict the real-world injury rates of these crash modes was evaluated. Next, the correlation coefficients between the head injury candidates were calculated and individual predictions were compared for all tests in scatter plots.Results: The results show that none of the crash tests head injury assessment predicted the four-times higher head injury rates observed in the accident data for small overlap crashes compared to moderate overlap crashes. Poor correlation was demonstrated between many leading brain injury metrics, and the risk predictions for individual vehicles differ quite substantially depending on the criterion considered. Conclusions: While preliminary, the results of this study demonstrate that more evaluation of the most suitable brain injury criteria is necessary before consideration into a consumer evaluation program. Convergence of the head injury criteria risks for individual cases should be part of the validation process for enhanced head injury criteria, since identical head signals should yield similar injury risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scatterplots require different symbols for different purposes. For presentation, aesthetically pleasing symbols are popular. For analysis, highly discriminable symbols aid pattern detection. This study identifies a default symbol set suitable for both presentation and analysis. This is achieved by using popular symbols with preattentive differences. Supplemental materials for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to 1440, a classroom was a place where the lecturer read the lecture and the students scribbled down notes. HT ht is the observed covariance matrix of the explanatory variables, and HT ht is the vector of covariances between the observed explanatory variables and the dependent variable I y i . HT ht are normalized to one, then the diagonal elements of. [Extracted from the article]

We describe a semester-long project for an introductory statistics class that studies the broken windows theory of policing and the related issues of race, policing, and criminal justice. The most impactful feature of the project is the data-collection phase, in which students attend and observe a public arraignment court session. This "Court Monitoring Project" was completed in partnership with the Police Reform Organizing Project, a New York City non-profit organization. The mathematical student learning outcomes of the project emphasize the construction and interpretation of various graphical representations of data (contingency tables, bar charts, histograms, box plots, and scatter plots). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of hybrid polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data has gained importance in the last couple of years with the availability of spaceborne data from Radar Imaging Satellite-1 (RISAT-1). RISAT-1 provides right circular transmit and linear receive data in Fine Resolution Stripmap-1 (FRS-1) mode with a swath of 25 km approximately covering 625 km2areas. But an administrative unit, like a district, in India cannot be covered in single FRS-1 acquisition. In this article, the possibility of acquisition of multi-incidence angle FRS-1 data to cover a larger area in three consecutive days over Khagaria district of Bihar State, India, for maize crop discrimination and mapping was investigated. It was assumed that the difference of 3 days in imaging does not affect the backscatter response from maize crop as there will not be much change in the maize crop characteristics in 3 days. The backscatter response of maize crop, which is in maximum vegetative stage, was studied at three incidence angles (viz. 28°, 42°, and 52°). The analysis was carried out for the discrimination of maize crop at each incidence angle in Raney derived hybrid decomposition parameters viz. Odd bounce, Double bounce, and Volume scattering mechanisms. The result shows that there is a slight difference in the backscatter response from maize crop due to the changes in incidence angle from 28° to 42° and has not shown any significant difference from 42° to 52°. However, the maize crop got well discriminated in the scatter plots of volume and double bounce scattering at both 28° and 42° and with odd and volume scattering combinations at 52°. The classification of the multi-incidence angle data resulted in 47,732 ha of maize cropped area in Khagaria district during rabi (winter season), 2014–15 with the producer’s accuracy of 92.00%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Clinical gait analysis contributes massively to rehabilitation support and improvement of in-patient care. The research project eSHOE aspires to be a useful addition to the rich variety of gait analysis systems. It was designed to fill the gap of affordable, reasonably accurate and highly mobile measurement devices. With the overall goal of enabling individual home-based monitoring and training for people suffering from chronic diseases, affecting the locomotor system. Motion and pressure sensors gather movement data directly on the (users) feet, store them locally and/or transmit them wirelessly to a PC. A combination of pattern recognition and feature extraction algorithms translates the motion data into standard gait parameters. Accuracy of eSHOE were evaluated against the reference system GAITRite in a clinical pilot study. Eleven hip fracture patients (78.4 ± 7.7 years) and twelve healthy subjects (40.8 ± 9.1 years) were included in these trials. All subjects performed three measurements at a comfortable walking speed over 8 m, including the 6-m long GAITRite mat. Six standard gait parameters were extracted from a total of 347 gait cycles. Agreement was analysed via scatterplots, histograms and Bland–Altman plots. In the patient group, the average differences between eSHOE and GAITRite range from −0.046 to 0.045 s and in the healthy group from −0.029 to 0.029 s. Therefore, it can be concluded that eSHOE delivers adequately accurate results. Especially with the prospect as an at home supplement or follow-up to clinical gait analysis and compared to other state of the art wearable motion analysis systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Clinical gait analysis contributes massively to rehabilitation support and improvement of in-patient care. The research project eSHOE aspires to be a useful addition to the rich variety of gait analysis systems. It was designed to fill the gap of affordable, reasonably accurate and highly mobile measurement devices. With the overall goal of enabling individual home-based monitoring and training for people suffering from chronic diseases, affecting the locomotor system. Motion and pressure sensors gather movement data directly on the (users) feet, store them locally and/or transmit them wirelessly to a PC. A combination of pattern recognition and feature extraction algorithms translates the motion data into standard gait parameters. Accuracy of eSHOE were evaluated against the reference system GAITRite in a clinical pilot study. Eleven hip fracture patients (78.4 ± 7.7 years) and twelve healthy subjects (40.8 ± 9.1 years) were included in these trials. All subjects performed three measurements at a comfortable walking speed over 8 m, including the 6-m long GAITRite mat. Six standard gait parameters were extracted from a total of 347 gait cycles. Agreement was analysed via scatterplots, histograms and Bland–Altman plots. In the patient group, the average differences between eSHOE and GAITRite range from −0.046 to 0.045 s and in the healthy group from −0.029 to 0.029 s. Therefore, it can be concluded that eSHOE delivers adequately accurate results. Especially with the prospect as an at home supplement or follow-up to clinical gait analysis and compared to other state of the art wearable motion analysis systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the issue of employing polarimetric processing methods for persistent scatterers (PS) selection is addressed. The scope of the paper regards the processing methods for PS generation by means of coherent target decomposition (CTD). The key is to exploit scatterer physical characteristics, besides scatterer coherence and stability, so as to classify them as PS utilizing as less data sets as possible. Cameron’s CTD is proposed for PS classification based on scatterers physical properties as an alternative to polarization phase difference (PPD) for it can eliminate the scatterer initial orientation angle. Additionally, provides a complete set of elemental scattering mechanisms in order to describe the physical properties of the scatterer, and thus create a more reliable PS net. These assets make Cameron’s CTD outperform PPD in exploiting scatterer physical properties for PS selection. The study also focuses on minimizing the number of used data sets for PS net generation, which led to experimenting with only two fully polarimetric SAR data sets. The results are promising enough to establish the proposed method as an auxiliary tool to be utilized prior to any classic interferometric techniques for early scene evaluation in order to decide whether the scene would be fruitful for applying permanent scatterer interferometry or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree of correlation between variables is used in many data analysis applications as a key measure of interdependence. The most common techniques for exploratory analysis of pairwise correlation in multivariate datasets, like scatterplot matrices and clustered heatmaps, however, do not scale well to large datasets, either computationally or visually. We present a new visualization that is capable of encoding pairwise correlation between hundreds of thousands variables, called the s-CorrPlot. The s-CorrPlot encodes correlation spatially between variables as points on scatterplot using the geometric structure underlying Pearson’s correlation. Furthermore, we extend the s-CorrPlot with interactive techniques that enable animation of the scatterplot to new projections of the correlation space, as illustrated in the companion video in supplementary materials. We provide the s-CorrPlot as an open-source R package and validate its effectiveness through a variety of methods including a case study with a biology collaborator. Supplementary materials for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we suggest a simple test and an easily applicable modeling procedure for threshold moving average (TMA) models. Firstly, based on the fitted residuals by maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) for MA models, we construct a simple statistic, which is obtained by linear arrange regression and followsF-distribution approximately, to test for threshold nonlinearity and specify the threshold variables. And then, we use some scatterplots to identify the number and locations of the potential thresholds. Finally, with the statistic and Akaike information criterion, we propose the procedure to build TMA models. Both the power of test statistic and the convenience of modeling procedure can work very well demonstrated by simulation experiments and the application to a real example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]