Data Reduction Process Research Articles

Automatic Debye-Scherrer elliptical ring extraction via a computer vision approach.

The accurate calibration of powder diffraction data acquired from area detectors using calibration standards is a crucial step in the data reduction process to attain high-quality one-dimensional patterns. A novel algorithm has been developed for extracting Debye-Scherrer rings automatically using an approach based on computer vision and pattern recognition techniques. The presented technique requires no human intervention and, unlike previous approaches, makes no restrictive assumptions on the diffraction setup and/or rings. It can detect complete rings as well as portions of them, and works on several types of diffraction images with various degrees of ring graininess, textured diffraction patterns and detector tilt with respect to the incoming beam.

Editorial

Editorial

IoT Device Forensics and Data Reduction

The growth in the prevalence of the plethora of digital devices has resulted in growing volumes of disparate data, with potential relevance to criminal and civil investigations. With the increase in data volume, there is an opportunity to build greater case-related knowledge and discover evidence, with implications at all stages of the digital forensic analysis process. The growth in digital devices will potentially further contribute to the growth in big digital forensic data, with a need for practitioners to consider a wider range of data and devices that may be relevant to an investigation. A process of data reduction by selective imaging and quick analysis, coupled with automated data extraction, gives potential to undertake the analysis of the growing volume of data in a timely manner. In this paper, we outline a process of bulk digital forensic data analysis including disparate device data. We research the process with a research data corpus and apply our process to real-world data. The challenges of the growing volume of devices and data will require forensic practitioners to expand their ability to undertake research into newly developed data structures, and be able to explain this to the court, judge, jury, and investigators.

Fellowship training: a qualitative study of scope and purpose across one department of medicine

BackgroundFellowship training follows certification in a primary specialty or subspecialty and focusses on distinct and advanced clinical and/or academic skills. This phase of medical education is growing in prevalence, but has been an “invisible phase of postgraduate training” lacking standards for education and accreditation, as well as funding. We aimed to explore fellowship programs and examine the reasons to host and participate in fellowship training, seeking to inform the future development of fellowship education.MethodsDuring the 2013–14 academic year, we conducted interviews and focus groups to examine the current status of fellowship training from the perspectives of division heads, fellowship directors and current fellows at the Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada. Descriptive statistics were used to depict the prevailing status of fellowship training. A process of data reduction, data analysis and conclusions/verifications was performed to analyse the quantitative data.ResultsWe interviewed 16 division heads (94%), 15 fellowship directors (63%) and 8 fellows (21%). We identified three distinct types of fellowships. Individualized fellowships focus on the career goals of the trainee and/or the recruitment goals of the division. Clinical fellowships focus on the attainment of clinical expertise over and above the competencies of residency. Research fellowships focus on research productivity. Participants identified a variety of reasons to offer fellowships: improve academic productivity; improve clinical productivity; share/develop enhanced clinical expertise; recruit future faculty members/attain an academic position; enhance the reputation of the division/department/trainee; and enhance the scholarly environment.ConclusionsFellowships serve a variety of purposes which benefit both individual trainees as well as the academic enterprise. Fellowships can be categorized within a distinct taxonomy: individualized; clinical; and research. Each type of fellowship may serve a variety of purposes, and each may need distinct support and resources. Further research is needed to catalogue the operational requirements for hosting and undertaking fellowship training, and establish recommendations for educational and administrative policy and processes in this new phase of postgraduate education.

Noise Reduction in Web Data: A Learning Approach Based on Dynamic User Interests

One of the significant issues facing web users is the amount of noise in web data which hinders the process of finding useful information in relation to their dynamic interests. Current research works consider noise as any data that does not form part of the main web page and propose noise web data reduction tools which mainly focus on eliminating noise in relation to the content and layout of web data. This paper argues that not all data that form part of the main web page is of a user interest and not all noise data is actually noise to a given user. Therefore, learning of noise web data allocated to the user requests ensures not only reduction of noisiness level in a web user profile, but also a decrease in the loss of useful information hence improves the quality of a web user profile. Noise Web Data Learning (NWDL) tool/algorithm capable of learning noise web data in web user profile is proposed. The proposed work considers elimination of noise data in relation to dynamic user interest. In order to validate the performance of the proposed work, an experimental design setup is presented. The results obtained are compared with the current algorithms applied in noise web data reduction process. The experimental results show that the proposed work considers the dynamic change of user interest prior to elimination of noise data. The proposed work contributes towards improving the quality of a web user profile by reducing the amount of useful information eliminated as noise.

Automated single-ion peak fitting as an efficient approach for analyzing complex chromatographic data

Chromatography provides important detail on the composition of environmental samples and their chemical processing. However, the complexity of these samples and their tendency to contain many structurally and chemically similar compounds frequently results in convoluted or poorly resolved data. Data reduction from raw chromatograms of complex environmental data into integrated peak areas consequently often requires substantial operator interaction. This difficulty has led to a bottleneck in analysis that increases analysis time, decreases data quality, and will worsen as advances in field-based instrumentation multiply the quantity and informational density of data produced. In this work, we develop and validate an automated approach to fitting chromatographic data within a target retention time window with a combination of multiple idealized peaks (Gaussian peaks either with or without an exponential decay component). We compare this single-ion peak fitting approach to drawn baseline integration methods of more than 70,000 peaks collected by field-based chromatographs spanning across a wide range of volatilities and functionalities. Accuracy of peak fitting under real-world conditions is found to be within 10%. The quantitative parameters describing the fit (e.g. coefficients, fit residuals, etc.) are found to provide valuable information to increase the efficiency of quality control and provide constraints to accurately integrate peaks that are significantly convoluted with neighboring peaks. Implementation of the peak fitting method is shown to yield accurate integration of peaks otherwise too poorly resolved to separate into individual compounds and improved quantitative metrics to determine the fidelity of the data reduction process, while substantially decreasing the time spent by operators on data reduction.

Kebijakan Peningkatan Mutu Santri melalui Pendidikan Berbasis Entrepreneurship

Research on the policy of increasing the quality of santri-based entrepreneurship in boarding school is caused by oblique image of society to pesantren salaf which only able to produce cadre of scholars but poor in development of santri entrepreneurship. Consequently alumni of salaf pesantren who do not have formal education majority can not take part in developing economic independence. Different from pesantren Al-Falah, entrepreneurship education shaped life skills development into vision and excellent programs for every santri. Extracting data in this research using observation method, interview and documentation. While data analysis is done through process of data reduction, display data and conclusion and verification. The results of this study indicate that pesantren has implemented a policy of improving the quality of santri optimally through the formulation of policies in accordance with the vision and mission of pesantren, policy implementation through life skills education and policy control through monitoring, evaluation and reward.

Kebijakan Peningkatan Mutu Santri melalui Pendidikan Berbasis Entrepreneurship

Research on the policy of increasing the quality of santri-based entrepreneurship in boarding school is caused by oblique image of society to pesantren salaf which only able to produce cadre of scholars but poor in development of santri entrepreneurship. Consequently alumni of salaf pesantren who do not have formal education majority can not take part in developing economic independence. Different from pesantren Al-Falah, entrepreneurship education shaped life skills development into vision and excellent programs for every santri. Extracting data in this research using observation method, interview and documentation. While data analysis is done through process of data reduction, display data and conclusion and verification. The results of this study indicate that pesantren has implemented a policy of improving the quality of santri optimally through the formulation of policies in accordance with the vision and mission of pesantren, policy implementation through life skills education and policy control through monitoring, evaluation and reward.

The Educational Value of Hinduism on the Gumi Suda Ceremony at the Birth of the Twin Babies with Different Genders (Case Study at Pakraman Village of Ketewel, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency)

<h3>This study aimed to identify the educational values of Hinduism on the Gumi Suda ceremony at the Birth of the twin babies with different genders in Pakraman Village of Ketewel, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency. The data were collected by using interviews technique and literatures review. Furthermore, the data were analyzed through data reduction process or chosen according to the purpose of the research. The data analysis process was done continuously during the research from the beginning until the end of the research through the systematic tracking and arranging process of the transcripts of interviews, field notes and other materials. The Findings indicated that some of the educational values of Hinduism on the Gumi Suda ceremony at the birth of the twin babies with different genders in Pakraman Village of Ketewel, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency are tattwa, ethics, ceremonial, health education and social educational values.</h3>

Bayesian component separation: The Planck experience

AbstractBayesian component separation techniques have played a central role in the data reduction process of Planck. The most important strength of this approach is its global nature, in which a parametric and physical model is fitted to the data. Such physical modeling allows the user to constrain very general data models, and jointly probe cosmological, astrophysical and instrumental parameters. This approach also supports statistically robust goodness-of-fit tests in terms of data-minus-model residual maps, which are essential for identifying residual systematic effects in the data. The main challenges are high code complexity and computational cost. Whether or not these costs are justified for a given experiment depends on its final uncertainty budget. We therefore predict that the importance of Bayesian component separation techniques is likely to increase with time for intensity mapping experiments, similar to what has happened in the CMB field, as observational techniques mature, and their overall sensitivity improves.

A study on the total cloud cover variability over the Mediterranean region during the period 1979–2014 with the use of the ERA-Interim database

The variability and the trends of total cloud cover over the Mediterranean region are studied for the period 1979–2014, using ERA-Interim monthly 1° × 1° grid point data. A data reduction process is applied, and the main modes of inter-annual variation are found for each of the four seasons. Statistically significant positive linear trends are found only for winter over northern Italy and the northwestern Balkans, while significant negative trends are found over large parts of the region for the rest of the seasons, especially for summer. The connection between cloud cover and the large-scale atmospheric oscillations is also examined, revealing statistically significant correlations between cloud cover and the indices of the North Atlantic Oscillation, the North Sea-Caspian Pattern, the Arctic Oscillation, the Southern Oscillation, and the Eastern Atlantic/Western Russia Pattern. These connections highlight the strong dependence of the Mediterranean climate on specific characteristics of the large-scale atmospheric circulation.

PELAKSANAAN MANAJEMEN KEUANGAN DALAM RANGKA MENINGKATKAN EFEKTIVITAS PENGGUNAAN ANGGARAN DI JENJANG PENDIDIKAN DASAR YAYASAN PENDIDIKAN CENDANA RIAU

This research aims to describe and analyse the implementation of the financial management in order to improve the effectiveness of budgetusing in basic level of educationat Yayasan Pendidikan Cendana Riau.This research uses descriptively qualitative approach method. In this study a sample chosen purposive with a total of 11 participants or interviewers.Data collection was done through observation, interview and documentation.Data analysis is done through a process of data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusion/verification. The validity of data is tested through a test of credibility, dependability, and confirmability test.The result of this research is the implementation of financial management in order to improve the effectiveness of budget using inbasic level of educationat Yayasan Pendidikan Cendana Riau. That has been done well because management functions are already done properly as well as pertaining the planning and preparation of the budget, organizing, direction, control, and supervision of financial resources, Thus the Division of authority and a clear responsibility in the system of management and organization, the existence of adequate accounting systems,the existence of evaluation and analysis for assessing organizational performance, as well as support from implementers starting from the top level to the bottom so that the achievement of the effectiveness in the use of budget in basic level of educationat Yayasan Pendidikan Cendana Riau can be reached.

CURRICULUM MANAGEMENT OF BUIN BATU ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The focus of this research is to study about the curriculum management at the Elementary School of Buin Batu that includes the curriculum planning, curriculum organization, curriculum implementation, and curriculum evaluation. It is a Case Study Research using a qualitative approach. Data obtained through in-depth interviews, observation and documentation with the research informants comprising the school principal, academic coordinator and curriculum coordinator. The data collected was analyzed through the process of data reduction, display, verification and conclusion drawing. The results of the research show that the Elementary School of Buin Batu has a curriculum planning that consists of Curriculum Mapping, Scope and Sequence, Program of Inquiry, Unit of Inquiry, and Unit Planner; a curriculum organization that includes Curriculum Structure, Teacher Assignment, Developing Transdisciplinary Program, Determining Unit of Inquiry for Each Year Level; a curriculum implementation that includes Teaching and Learning Experiences, Assessment and Reporting; and a curriculum evaluation that covers Unit Review and Subject Review.
 Keywords: curriculum management, curriculum planning, curriculum organization, curriculum implementation, curriculum evaluation

The perceptions of women on child birthing in a public-health facility in a peri-urban area in Kavango east region, Namibia

Purpose: The study explored the perceptions of women on child birthing in a public-health facility in a peri-urban area of the Kavango east region.Methods: A qualitative case study was conducted with women residing in Kehemu settlement, who have given birth either using a public-health facility or outside a public facility with the assistance of traditional birth attendants. Data were collected via three focus group discussions with 21 women (n = 21) who were purposively selected. Discussions were conducted in a local language and all were audio recorded with the participants’ permission. Data were transcribed and translated into English for analysis. The process of data reduction was used to analyse the study data.Results: Women were found to prefer child birthing at a public hospital because they considered nurses and midwives to be knowledgeable, caring and skilled people with regard to managing a woman in labour. However, although some women prefer to deliver at a public hospital, circumstances such as lack of transport – especially at night-time – prevent them from reaching the hospital. Moreover, some women indicated that nurses’ attitudes, the ill timing of labour and the wrong advice were hindrances to public hospital child birthing. Women stated more nurses, more supplies of the items used in child birthing, the provision of pain relief during labour, and a change in nurses’ attitudes as being some of the improvements which would make public hospital maternity wards more user-friendly.Conclusions: The women perceived child birthing at the public-health facility as being generally good, affordable and acceptable. However, there is a need for more interventions to make the public-health facility more user-friendly and accessible to all.

The nature of peer coaching: definitions, goals, processes and outcomes

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to create a definition of peer coaching using literature from various and disparate organizational and educational contexts. This research is intended to clarify what constitutes peer coaching overall, and guide the ever-growing practice of peer coaching.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a combination of inductive and deductive qualitative approaches through the implementation of qualitative content analysis (QDA). The research used a data reduction process with 87 existing scholarly articles in the area of peer coaching, in which the researchers focused on selected aspects of the data and followed the practice of staying close to manifest artifacts within the data.FindingsThe results of the qualitative data analysis indicated that five themes emerged within the literature. Themes were as follows: program structure, purpose and goals of peer coaching, peer coaching processes and mechanisms in which peer coaching is conducted, outcomes of peer coaching and relational contexts and functions of peer coaching relationships.Originality/valueWhile there is an increase in peer coaching, research on this type of coaching is scarce with few empirical studies on the topic: what has been conducted has not been particularity reliable (Hagen and Peterson, 2014); and most of the published research is limited to education, nursing, other medical contexts and non-profit organizations. This research helps to clarify the nature of peer coaching and create a cogent definition that defines formal peer coaching within all peer coaching contexts.

Deep 230–470 MHz VLA observations of the mini-halo in the Perseus cluster

We present a low-frequency view of the Perseus cluster with new observations from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) at 230-470 MHz. The data reveal a multitude of new structures associated with the mini-halo. The mini-halo seems to be influenced both by the AGN activity as well as by the sloshing motion of the cool core cluster's gas. In addition, it has a filamentary structure similar to that seen in radio relics found in merging clusters. We present a detailed description of the data reduction and imaging process of the dataset. The depth and resolution of the observations allow us to conduct for the first time a detailed comparison of the mini-halo structure with the X-ray structure as seen in the Chandra X-ray images. The resulting image shows very clearly that the mini-halo emission is mostly contained behind the cold fronts, similar to that predicted by simulations of gas sloshing in galaxy clusters. However, due to the proximity of the Perseus cluster, as well as the quality of the data at low radio frequencies and at X-ray wavelengths, we also find evidence of fine structure. This structure includes several radial radio filaments extending in different directions, a concave radio structure associated with the southern X-ray bay and sharp edges that correlate with X-ray edges. Mini-halos are therefore not simply diffuse, uniform radio sources, but are rather filled with a rich variety of complex structures. These results illustrate the high-quality images that can be obtained with the new JVLA at low radio-frequencies, as well as the necessity to obtain deeper, higher-fidelity radio images of mini-halos and halos in clusters to further understand their origin.

The Extended IRTF Spectral Library: Expanded Coverage in Metallicity, Temperature, and Surface Gravity

Abstract We present a 0.7–2.5 μm spectral library of 284 stars observed with the medium-resolution infrared spectrograph, SpeX, at the 3.0 m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Maunakea, Hawaii. This library extends the metallicity range of the IRTF Cool Star library beyond solar metallicity to −1.7 < [Fe/H] < 0.6. All of the observed stars are also in the MILES optical stellar library, providing continuous spectral coverage for each star from 0.35 to 2.5 μm. The spectra are absolute flux calibrated using Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry, and the continuum shape of the spectra is preserved during the data reduction process. Synthesized JHK S colors agree with observed colors at the 1%–2% level, on average. We also present a spectral interpolator that uses the library to create a data-driven model of spectra as a function of , , and [Fe/H]. We use the library and interpolator to compare empirical trends with theoretical predictions of spectral feature behavior as a function of stellar parameters. These comparisons extend to the previously difficult to access low-metallicity and cool dwarf regimes, as well as the previously poorly sampled super-solar metallicity regime. The library and interpolator are publicly available.

The challenge associated with the robust computation of meteor velocities from video and photographic records

The CABERNET project was designed to push the limits for obtaining accurate measurements of meteoroids orbits from photographic and video meteor camera recordings. The discrepancy between the measured and theoretic orbits of these objects heavily depends on the semi-major axis determination, and thus on the reliability of the pre-atmospheric velocity computation. With a spatial resolution of 0.01° per pixel and a temporal resolution of up to 10 ms, CABERNET should be able to provide accurate measurements of velocities and trajectories of meteors. To achieve this, it is necessary to improve the precision of the data reduction processes, and especially the determination of the meteor’s velocity. In this work, most of the steps of the velocity computation are thoroughly investigated in order to reduce the uncertainties and error contributions at each stage of the reduction process. The accuracy of the measurement of meteor centroids is established and results in a precision of 0.09 pixels for CABERNET, which corresponds to 3.24′′. Several methods to compute the velocity were investigated based on the trajectory determination algorithms described in Ceplecha (1987) and Borovicka (1990), as well as the multi-parameter fitting (MPF) method proposed by Gural (2012). In the case of the MPF, many optimization methods were implemented in order to find the most efficient and robust technique to solve the minimization problem. The entire data reduction process is assessed using simulated meteors, with different geometrical configurations and deceleration behaviors. It is shown that the multi-parameter fitting method proposed by Gural(2012)is the most accurate method to compute the pre-atmospheric velocity in all circumstances. Many techniques that assume constant velocity at the beginning of the path as derived from the trajectory determination using Ceplecha (1987) or Borovicka (1990) can lead to large errors for decelerating meteors. The MPF technique also allows one to reliably compute the velocity for very low convergence angles (∼ 1°). Despite the better accuracy of this method, the poor conditioning of the velocity propagation models used in the meteor community and currently employed by the multi-parameter fitting method prevent us from optimally computing the pre-atmospheric velocity. Specifically, the deceleration parameters are particularly difficult to determine. The quality of the data provided by the CABERNET network limits the error induced by this effect to achieve an accuracy of about 1% on the velocity computation. Such a precision would not be achievable with lower resolution camera networks and today’s commonly used trajectory reduction algorithms. To improve the performance of the multi-parameter fitting method, a linearly independent deceleration formulation needs to be developed.

Experimental assessment of the replacement of a conventional fin-and-tube condenser by a minichannel heat exchanger in an air/water chiller for residential air conditioning

This paper analyses the performance of an air/water chiller typically used for residential air conditioning when a minichannel condenser is used in replacement of a conventional fin-and-tube condenser. The experimental facility, the data reduction process and the uncertainty analysis are briefly described and then the experimental results are presented and discussed, comparing the results obtained with both, the minichannel and the fin-and-tube condenser. Additionally, the chiller is numerically modelled using a commercial refrigeration system modelling software (IMST-ART). The good agreement between experimental and numerical results allows validating the model that is then used to calculate the mass of refrigerant contained in all the components of the system, as well as other operational parameters of interest not measured experimentally. The analysis of the results shows that replacing a conventional fin-and-tube condenser by a minichannel condenser allows, under almost any operating condition, reducing the mass of refrigerant increasing efficiency and cooling capacity.

Prototype selection to improve monotonic nearest neighbor

Student surveys occupy a central place in the evaluation of courses at teaching institutions. At the end of each course, students are requested to evaluate various aspects such as activities, methodology, coordination or resources used. In addition, a final qualification is given to summarize the quality of the course. The prediction of this final qualification can be accomplished by using monotonic classification techniques. The outcome offered by these surveys is particularly significant for faculty and teaching staff associated with the course.The monotonic nearest neighbor classifier is one of the most relevant algorithms in monotonic classification. However, it does suffer from two drawbacks, (a) inefficient execution time in classification and (b) sensitivity to no monotonic examples. Prototype selection is a data reduction process for classification based on nearest neighbor that can be used to alleviate these problems. This paper proposes a prototype selection algorithm called Monotonic Iterative Prototype Selection (MONIPS) algorithm. Our objective is two-fold. The first one is to introduce MONIPS as a method for obtaining monotonic solutions. MONIPS has proved to be competitive with classical prototype selection solutions adapted to monotonic domain. Besides, to further demonstrate the good performance of MONIPS in the context of a student survey about taught courses.