Fence Methods Research Articles

Discussion of the 2023 Hansen Lecture: “Model Selection and Its Important Roles in Surveys”

Abstract The 31st Morris Hansen Lecture gave a broad overview of some fundamental issues regarding the roles of statistical models in surveys, with an emphasis on a method of model selection known as the fence. This discussion provides some general lecture remarks and expands on the possible applicability of the fence methods in small area estimation. Unit-level and area-level small area estimation modeling illustrations are provided. A general variable selection framework for small area estimation is presented, along with recent application studies and ideas for expansion to include the fence methods.

Morris Hansen Lecture 2023: Model Selection and Its Important Roles in Surveys

Abstract We discuss some fundamental issues regarding the roles that statistical models play in surveys. Many survey applications “borrow strength” from statistical models such as regression models and mixed effects models, even though these popular statistical models rarely hold exactly, if at all, in the real world. Yet, the idea of borrowing strength carries on, and the practice proves to be useful in many cases. We discuss basic ideas of borrowing strength via a statistical model and suggest practical criteria for evaluating a model, knowing that it is likely to be incorrect in a strict sense. Furthermore, we discuss a model selection strategy, known as the fence methods, which can incorporate practical interests into the selection criterion. Examples are used for illustration. Further remarks on challenging problems are offered.

A Direct Comparison between the Use of Double Gray and Multiwavelength Radiative Transfer in a General Circulation Model with and without Radiatively Active Clouds

Inhomogeneous cloud formation and wavelength-dependent phenomena are expected to shape hot Jupiter atmospheres. We present a general circulation model with multiwavelength “picket fence” radiative transfer and radiatively active, temperature-dependent clouds, and compare the results to those of a double gray routine. The double gray method inherently fails to model polychromatic effects in hot Jupiter atmospheres, while picket fence captures these non-gray aspects and performs well compared to fully wavelength-dependent methods. We compare both methods with radiatively active clouds and cloud-free models, assessing the limitations of the double gray method. Although there are broad similarities, the picket fence models have larger dayside–nightside temperature differences, nonisothermal upper atmospheres, and multiwavelength effects in the presence of radiatively active clouds. We model the well-known hot Jupiters HD 189733 b and HD 209458 b. For the hotter HD 209458 b, the picket fence method prevents clouds from thermostating dayside temperatures, resulting in hotter upper atmospheres and the dissipation of dayside clouds. Differences in the temperature structures are then associated with nuanced differences in the circulation patterns and clouds. Models of the cooler HD 189733 b have global cloud coverage, regardless of the radiative transfer scheme, whereas there are larger differences in the models of HD 209458 b, particularly in the extent of the partial cloud coverage on its dayside. This results in minor changes to the thermal and reflected light phase curves of HD 189733 b, but more significant differences for the picket fence and double gray versions of HD 209458 b.

Geochemical baselines of potentially toxic elements in Brunei-Muara soils, Brunei Darussalam: Towards environmental assessment and risk management

We present a comprehensive study on the presence of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the topsoil and subsoil of Brunei-Muara District in Brunei Darussalam. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data, and the threshold values for PTEs in both soil layers were determined. Adopting the Tukey's inner fence method, we recommend baselines for PTEs. The study delved into the distribution patterns and potential sources of PTEs in Brunei-Muara, and we identified traffic and agricultural activities as significant contributors to the presence of As, Cr, Cu, and Pb. Industrial and agricultural areas exhibit spatial associations with Mn, Ni and Zn. Cadmium (Cd) was determined to be negligible in Brunei-Muara's soils. Furthermore, geochemical mapping unveiled highly acidic soil conditions in the region, characterized by variations in pH between the topsoil (2.13–8.00) and subsoil (1.89–6.76) layers that generally facilitate mobility of heavy metals. We employed Principal Component Analysis on the log10-transformed data to examine the behavior and mechanisms governing the mobility and retention of PTEs in the soil. This helped us to better characterize the element distribution within the baseline and the recognition of three additional processes enriching the topsoil and subsoil in PTEs. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into the distribution, sources, and behavior of PTEs in the soils of the Brunei-Muara District, which can greatly aid environmental monitoring and management endeavors.

Application of Generative Autoencoders in the Detection of Anomalies in Hypercompressors

Hypercompressors are essential assets that compress high-flow-rates of ethylene to pressures between 100~350 MPa in the LDPE industry. They are sources of essential risks and costs. This work proposes an unsupervised and univariate monitoring method for detecting anomalies in hypercompressors through data collected from an online monitoring system in an actual installation. A variational autoencoder learns the process of generating shapelets associated with vibrational patterns. A combination of matrix profile algorithms automatically selects the training data set. A β-VAE composed of MLP layers is trained and applied on the input space so that a voting operation and a box-cox transformation on the absolute residual errors between the inputs and outputs lead to the upper outlier detection threshold, obtained by the Tukey fence method. The model detected suspicious vibration patterns classified a priori as potential anomalies.

Proposed Method for Efficient Block Cipher Cryptography

After the use of the Internet and the transmission of files between users expanded, information security became one of the important priorities for securing information by different means and methods. The information encryption comes at the forefront of the techniques used in information security. Encryption has been known since ancient ages. So, traditional methods appeared that quickly and greatly developed. They are still used in many scientific studies and developmental research with the aim of developing new methods for encryption of substitutions and increasing its ability to confront various attacks. The traditional methods were subjected to several attacks that they prompted researchers to develop them and overcome their weaknesses in front of those attacks. Some combinations of these methods are used to design new encryption methods based on overlapping ideas of traditional encryption. This paper sought to use a set of traditional encryption methods in designing a new system. In which, these methods are mixed with modern ideas that help increase the strength of encryption and its ability to face potential attacks. Caesar, Vigenère, Rail Fence, and transpose ciphers, with the idea of cipher cycles and segments and division into two parts in block ciphers. The proposed system relied on the chaotic function Tent map for its random properties in generating a string of keys consisting of 112 random characters in length using Python 3.11 programming language. The text was cut into Blocks of 108 characters. Each Block was divided into two parts. A part of the key was added to each section. A rial fence method was applied. Then Vigenère method with the key is applied. The proposed system processed the original text within the framework of the encryption cycles with the use of substitution in the order of the columns, shifting to the right, and the replacement of the sequence of the elements of each side according to the order of the elements of the other side. After the end of the encrypting cycles, the cipher block is added to the final ciphertext. The operations were repeated for the next block until the last block is finished. For the purpose of decrypting, the previous operations are repeated in reverse order to obtain the original text, by decrypting blocks of the cipher text. The proposed system achieved extreme accuracy in extracting the original text. The system was evaluated by measuring the time and throughput of the encryption and decryption. The encryption and decryption times were short for short texts, which increased with the increase in the length of the text, with a relatively stable encryption and decryption throughput. The system achieved acceptable memory consumption in short texts but increased by the length of the text size. The achieved Avalanche test was less than (50%).

Threshold of 25(OH)D and consequently adjusted parathyroid hormone reference intervals: data mining for relationship between vitamin D and parathyroid hormone

PurposeBy recruiting reference population, we aimed to (1): estimate the 25(OH)D threshold that maximally inhibits the PTH, which can be defined as the cutoff value for vitamin D sufficiency; (2) establish the PTH reference interval (RI) in population with sufficient vitamin D.MethodsStudy data were retrieved from LIS (Laboratory Information Management System) under literature suggested criteria, and outliers were excluded using Tukey fence method. Locally weighted regression (LOESS) and segmented regression (SR) were conducted to estimate the threshold of 25(OH)D. Multivariate linear regression was performed to evaluate the associations between PTH concentration and variables including 25(OH)D, gender, age, estimated glomerular filtration rate (EGFR), body mass index (BMI), albumin-adjusted serum calcium (aCa), serum phosphate(P), serum magnesium(Mg), and blood collection season. Z test was adopted to evaluate whether the reference interval should be stratified by determinants such as age and gender.ResultsA total of 64,979 apparently healthy subjects were recruited in this study, with median (Q1, Q3) 25(OH)D of 45.33 (36.15, 57.50) nmol/L and median (Q1, Q3) PTH of 42.19 (34.24, 52.20) ng/L. The segmented regression determined the 25(OH)D threshold of 55 nmol/L above which PTH would somewhat plateau and of 22 nmol/L below which PTH would rise steeply. Multivariate linear regression suggested that gender, EGFR, and BMI were independently associated with PTH concentrations. The PTH RI was calculated as 22.17–72.72 ng/L for subjects with 25(OH)D ≥ 55 nmol/L with no necessity of stratification according to gender, age, menopausal status nor season.ConclusionThis study reported 25(OH)D thresholds of vitamin D sufficiency at 55 nmol/L and vitamin D deficiency at 22 nmol/L, and consequently established PTH RIs in subjects with sufficient vitamin D for northern China population for the first time.

Applicability of freezing heat analysis method to heat fence method for frozen soil thickness control

地盤凍結工法は，トンネル工事等における掘削防護のための地盤改良工法のひとつである。粘性土層では土留壁として必要な凍土厚みの造成が完了した後の余剰な凍土により凍結膨張が構造物へ与える影響が大きくなり，この影響を最小限にとどめることは凍結工法の重要な課題である。従来から凍上対策の一つにヒートフェンスで凍土面位置を熱制御する方法があり，経験的に凍上量抑制が行われている。本研究では，凍土厚制御のための，設計・施工管理で用いる凍結熱解析手法の適用方法を提案するとともに，その適用性を凍結工事の施工事例を用いて検証した。その結果，本提案手法が実用上有効であることが明らかになった上，本手法を用いることでヒートフェンス方式による凍土厚増加制御により凍上が抑制されていることを定量的に実証できた。

ECIS Based Electric Fence Method for Measurement of Human Keratinocyte Migration on Different Substrates

Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) is an impedance-based, real-time, and label-free measuring system for monitoring cellular activities in tissue culture. Previously, ECIS wound healing assay has been used to wound cells with high electric current and monitor the subsequent cell migration. In this study, we applied ECIS electric fence (EF) method, an alternative to electrical wounding, to assess the effects of different surface coatings on human keratinocyte (HaCaT) migration. The EF prevents inoculated cells from attaching or migrating to the fenced electrode surface while maintaining the integrity of the surface coating. After the EF is turned off, cells migrate into the cell-free area, and the increase in measured impedance is monitored. We cultured HaCaT cells on gold electrodes without coating or coated with poly-L-lysin (PLL), poly-D-lysine (PDL), or type-I collagen. We quantified migration rates according to the different slopes in the impedance time series. It was observed that either poly-L-lysine (PLL) or poly-D-lysine (PDL) limits cell adhesion and migration rates. Furthermore, the surface charge of the coated substrate in the culture condition positively correlates with the cell adhesion and migration process. Our results indicate that the EF method is useful for determining cell migration rates on specific surface coatings.

Enhancing Front-Vehicle Detection in Large Vehicle Fleet Management

Transportation safety has been widely discussed for avoiding forward collisions. The broad concept of remote sensing can be applied to detect the front of vehicles without contact. The traditional Haar features use adjacent rectangular areas for many ordinary vehicle studies to detect the front vehicle images in practice. This paper focused on large vehicles using a front-installed digital video recorder (DVR) with a near-infrared (NIR) camera. The views of large and ordinary vehicles are different; thus, this study used a deep learning method to process progressive improvement in moving vehicle detection. This study proposed a You Only Look Once version 4 (YOLOv4) supplemented with the fence method, called YOLOv4(III), to enhance vehicle detection. This method had high detection accuracy and low false omission rates using the general DVR equipment, and it provided comparison results. There was no need to have a high specification front camera, and the proposed YOLOv4(III) was found to have competitive performance. YOLOv4(III) reduced false detection rates and had a more stable frame per second (FPS) performance than with Haar features. This improved detection method can give an alert for large vehicle drivers to avoid serious collisions, leading to a reduction in the waste of social resources.

Object-wise Secure Image Display Method for Screen Capture Protection

In this study, we propose an image copyright protection technology to prevent analog hole attacks using a deep object detection network. Instead of applying a virtual fence to the whole image, only a region of copyright is protected with fences. The region of copyright interest is called the protection zone and is generated by merging bounding boxes found with a YOLO network. The protection zone is adjusted to satisfy the fence generation rules, and then the virtual fence is finally applied. The main goal of this study is to attenuate the image degradation caused by virtual fences while preserving copyright protection capability. Since the virtual fence method uses the afterimage effect of the human visual system, it is necessary to generate images perceived by a human eye at every moment in order to calculate the objective image quality compared to the original unprotected image. Perceived images are generated at every 0.001 seconds using the mathematical model of the afterimage effect. The protection zone is found using object bounding boxes detected using a YOLO deep neural network. We applied the proposed method to four animation images, and the simulation results show that it achieves image quality that is about 3dB better than that of other methods.

Establishment of regional background for heavy metals in the soils of the Lower Don and the Taganrog Bay coast

Data on the regional geochemical background and threshold values of heavy metals are required to establish anomalies and assess soil pollution. As a rule, the background values are the average contents of elements in natural undisturbed soils, or the threshold values for the study area, obtained by statistical methods. The aim of the study is to obtain geochemical threshold values of heavy metals in the soils of the Lower Don and the Taganrog Bay coast using different statistical approaches. A total of 86 topsoil samples were collected from the study area. The concentrations of Cr, Mn, Ni, Сu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence. The median element concentrations in the soils of the study area were consistent with world soil average and metal concentrations in background soils of protected area. Using a ‘geochemical’ approach is not suitable for this dataset because it does not take into account the natural variability of concentrations in different soil types. The Tukey inner fence method delivers estimates that do not detect outliers for Ni, As, Cd, and Pb. The ‘median + 2 median absolute deviations’ method was the most appropriate, as it consistently provided the most conservative background values.

Caracterização estratigráfica dos depósitos sedimentares cenozoicos da Bacia do Ribeirão Sardinha, porção sul do Quadrilátero Ferrífero (MG), e estabelecimento de background geoquímico

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de levantamentos sedimentológicos e geoquímicos realizados na Bacia do Ribeirão Sardinha, porção sul do Quadrilátero Ferrífero, estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil. O estudo fundamentou-se na caracterização faciológica de perfis verticais de depósitos de barrancos e terraços e em dados mineralógicos e químicos relacionados às fácies identificadas e aos sedimentos atuais do afluente principal (barras e canal). A amostragem das fácies reconhecidas e dos sedimentos atuais totalizaram 54 amostras. A mineralogia foi obtida via difração de raios X e os dados geoquímicos, através da espectrometria de emissão óptica por plasma acoplado indutivamente (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry — ICP-OES). Os dados químicos foram submetidos a análises de componentes principais (principal component analysis — PCA) e utilizados para a aplicação da técnica Tukey inner fence (TIF), que possibilitou o estabelecimento de valores de background dos seguintes elementos: Fe, Mn, Al, Ba, Cu, Zn, As, Ni, Cr e Co. Os resultados de PCA indicam uma forte relação entre o Mn e os sedimentos atuais do Ribeirão Sardinha. Outros padrões geoquímicos foram realçados pelas altas concentrações de Fe e Mn, relacionadas aos sedimentos arenosos e cascalhosos de barras e canal, e pelos elevados teores de Al e K vinculados aos sedimentos finos constituintes dos depósitos de planícies de inundação e de lagoas de cheia. Os cálculos dos valores de background mostram um valor de referência elevado para o As (32,89 mg/kg) e anomalias referentes às altas concentrações de Al, Cu, Zn, Ni e Cr, sugerindo fontes geogênicas. Por outro lado, anomalias referentes aos valores elevados de Co, Ba e Mn estão relacionadas a fontes antropogênicas.

Dissemination of Japanese Swordsmanship to Korea

In this article I explored the dissemination of Japanese swordsmanship to Korea. A series of fight books compiled in Korea, Muyejebo (1598), Muyejebo Beonyeoksokjip (1610) and Muyedobotongji (1790) shows the influence of Japanese fencing. Japanese Kage-ryu was introduced to the Korean military training methods as a form of kata and pattern training of sword combat, which features typical Koreanisation of Japanese fencing. During the 18th century, four different Japanese fencing methods were documented in the Muyedobotongji including Toyu-ryu, Ungwang-ryu, Cheonryu-ryu, and Yupi-ryu. The efforts to introduce Japanese fencing to Korea continued in modern times. Especially during the Japanese Rule (1910-1945) gekkiken and Kendo were introduced to Korea and widely spread. However, after the liberation of Korea, Kendo in Korea encountered harsh criticism from nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiment. In attempts to 'erase' the Japanese signature, Kendo was transformed into a Korean style sword art. Militarism gave birth to Japanese Kendo, nationalism evolved it to Korean Kendo.

African swine fever (ASF) in wild boar

This paper contains main points of the scientific opinion prepared by EFSA in 2018 on the request of the European Commission on the ASF epidemic in wild boar in Eastern – Central Europe, which started in 2014 and is existing and increasing until the present time. The first point is providing an estimate of the wild boar density in the European Union (EU). The next item is presenting the opinion on the latest epidemiological data to identify thresholds in wild boar density that do not allow sustaining the disease in different settings. The third question and answer concerns wild boar and feral pigs depopulation methods or population reduction methods. The fourth chapter is reviewing fencing methods demonstrating to temporarily protect crops from damage, caused by wild boar or feral swine. Currently there is no evidence , that large –scale fences have been effective for the containment of wild boar or feral pigs. The answer to the fifth question on surveillance strategy contains information on sample size, frequency of sampling and identification of possible risk groups for early detection of ASFV in naïve wild boar population. Passive surveillance is according to the opinion of EFSA the most effective and efficient method of surveillance for early detection of ASF in wild boar. For early detection through passive surveillance , the aim is to test as many “found dead” animals as possible. Based on current knowledge and experiences for an intervention to be successful, there is a need to detect an ASF incursion while it is spatially contained. The sixth topic of the EFSA scientific opinion requests to review successful methodologies used in the past, as for example the mentioned passive surveillance. It is recommended that this should be done in discussion among specialists from the UE countries. Good collaborations with hunters is recommended.

High relative abundance of wild ungulates near agricultural croplands in a livestock-dominated landscape in Western Bhutan: Implications for crop damage and protection

Abstract There is little information on the underlying causes of wildlife crop damage, especially in agro-pastoralist communities situated close to, or inside, protected areas that are frequented by domestic livestock. Knowledge on wild ungulate distribution near crop field boundaries, and how it is affected by cattle that dominate the landscape, may offer insights into methods for reducing wildlife damage. In 2012, we investigated the distribution of three wild ungulates, sambar ( Rusa unicolor ), muntjac ( Muntiacus muntjac ), and wild pig ( Sus scrofa ), and domestic cattle ( Bos taurus ) in Jigme Dorji National Park, western Bhutan, at varying distances from croplands. At each of the 20 study villages, three transects were laid parallel to cropland boundaries at 500 m intervals. Transects were seasonally surveyed for wild ungulate and cattle scats, and scat frequency was used as a relative abundance index of wild ungulates and cattle. We also interviewed 111 household members from the 20 villages with crop fields situated near a forest edge, and recorded the seasonal frequency of crop damage. We used a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to evaluate how relative abundance of each ungulate species differed across transects and seasons. We also performed a one-way ANOVA to compare seasonal differences in frequency of crop damage, along with a simple linear regression to determine if there were significant relationships between crop damage frequency and relative ungulate abundance at transects situated closest to croplands. The relative abundance of wild herbivores was significantly higher in transects closest to croplands, and lower for transects located farther away in deep forests. An increased concentration of wild herbivores near agricultural fields during spring, which is the crop-growing period, explained the observed persistent damage to crops. Because of their very low overall densities in Bhutan, culling of wild herbivores is not recommended. Alternatively, cost-effective fencing methods for crop protection during spring are needed in the short term. In the long term, interdisciplinary solutions should involve enhancing the populations of natural predators, or habitat enrichment programs for ungulates, in concert with livestock intensification programs.

Efficient Video Watermarking Technique for Quality Loss of Data

The presented work presents an efficient watermarking technique based on Discrete Wavelet Transformation (DWT), Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Rail Fence methods that are applied on digital multimedia such as videos, images. The occurrences to abuse and copyright infringement of videos by some intrudes is increasing day by day. Video watermarking is technique to resolve the given problem .The proposed technique will embed a watermark in the frames of the video. The proposed scheme is applied to the frame on high frequency sub bands. Various attacks have been applied to watermarked video and input video to check robustness of the proposed scheme.

The Fence Methods

This paper provides an overview of a recently developed class of strategies for model selection, known as the fence methods. It also offers directions of future research as well as challenging problems.

Braking-Penalized Receding Horizon Control of Heavy-Haul Trains

Incorporated with a receding horizon control (RHC) approach, a penalty method is proposed for reducing the energy wasted by braking in the operation of a heavy-haul train. The practical nonlinear model of the train is linearized to design the RHC controller. This controller is then applied to the practical nonlinear dynamics of the train, and its performances are analyzed. In particular, the main focus of this paper is on the impact of the brake penalty on the train's performances. Meanwhile, a fence method is presented to tackle two issues. The first issue is that all the cars in a train cannot be individually controlled due to a limit on the available transmission channels for control systems in a long train. The other issue is that the RHC approach suffers from heavy computation and memory load. Simulations verified that the brake penalty presented in the design can remarkably reduce the energy consumption and in-train forces of a train without sacrificing the velocity tracking performance of the train. Simulations also verified that the fence method is essential to reducing the related computation load when the RHC approach is applied to a long heavy-haul train. Further, it is demonstrated that the fence method can effectively shorten computation time and reduce memory usage without severely jeopardizing the performance of a train.

Fence methods for backcross experiments

Model search strategies play an important role in finding simultaneous susceptibility genes that are associated with a trait. More particularly, model selection via the information criteria, such as the BIC with modifications, have received considerable attention in quantitative trait loci mapping. However, such modifications often depend upon several factors, such as sample size, prior distribution, and the type of experiment, for example, backcross, intercross. These changes make it difficult to generalize the methods to all cases. The fence method avoids such limitations with a unified approach, and hence can be used more broadly. In this article, this method is studied in the case of backcross experiments throughout a series of simulation studies. The results are compared with those of the modified BIC method as well as some of the most popular shrinkage methods for model selection.