Identification Difficulties Research Articles

Identification of switched linear systems based on expectation-maximization and Bayesian algorithms

This study aims to determine how to deal with the identification from input and output data of switched linear systems (SLSs) with Box and Jenkins models. The identification difficulties of this system are that there exist unknown switched signal, unknown middle variables, and colored noise terms in the identification process. To address these issues, the proposed identification method proceeds in two stages, including the estimation of the switched signal of SLSs and the identification of the parameters of all subsystems. First, the Gaussian mixture model is established to represent the distribution of the input and output data of SLSs. Then, the posterior probability is calculated by the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm and the naive Bayes classifier, and the switched signal is estimated according to the maximum probability criterion. Next, the auxiliary model based multi-innovation generalized extended least square (AM-MI-GELS) algorithm is used to estimate the parameters of all subsystems. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through the simulation example.

Comparison of Different Analyzing Techniques in Identifying Rainfall Trends for Colombo, Sri Lanka

Identifying rainfall trends in highly urbanized area is extremely important for various planning and implementation activities, including designing, maintaining and controlling of water distribution networks and sewer networks and mitigating flood damages. However, different available methods in trend analysis may produce comparable and contrasting results. Therefore, this paper presents an attempt in comparing some of the trend analysis methods using one of the highly urbanized areas in Sri Lanka, Colombo. Recorded rainfall data for 10 gauging stations for 30 years were tested using the MannKendall test, Sen’s slope estimator, Spearman’s rho test, and innovative graphical method. Results showcased comparable findings among three trend identification methods. Even though the graphical method is easier, it is advised to use it with a proper statistical method due to its identification difficulties when the data scatter has some outliers. Nevertheless, it was found herein that Colombo is under a downward rainfall trend in the month of July where the area receives its major rainfall events. In addition, the area has several upward rainfall trends over the minor seasons and in the annual scale. Therefore, the water management activities in the area have to be revisited for a sustainable use of water resources.

Risk Factors Related to Poor Threshold, Discrimination, and Identification Scores in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Olfactory Dysfunction

Background and Objectives Although patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) present a similar degree of olfactory dysfunction, their impairments in threshold, discrimination, and identification test results may vary. We investigated factors related to each of these components using the Korean version of the Sniffin’ Sticks test II in CRS patients.<br/>Subjects and Method A total of 120 CRS patients with olfactory dysfunction were enrolled and assigned to hyposmia and anosmia groups. Correlation between the three components were examined in both groups. We also subdivided patients into higher- and lower-score groups according to the threshold, discrimination, and identification scores within the hyposmia and anosmia groups to determine associated factors among the demographic factors, CRS severity on computed tomography (CT) and endoscopic findings.<br/>Results Threshold, discrimination, and identification scores were significantly correlated in hyposmia patients. Age [odds ratio (OR), 0.94] was associated with the threshold score, and the anterior olfactory cleft opacification score (OR, 1.31) on CT was associated with identification difficulties in hyposmia patients. The posterior olfactory cleft opacification score was associated with threshold (OR, 2.76) and identification difficulties (OR, 1.68) in anosmia patients. However, we could not identify significant risk factors for discrimination in both groups.<br/>Conclusion We demonstrated that the three components of the olfactory function test for CRS are significantly correlated in patients with hyposmia. Age was associated with threshold score in hyposmia patients and CRS severity, and with discrimination scores in both hyposmia and anosmia patients. These findings will help the understanding of pathophysiology of CRSrelated olfactory dysfunction.<br/>Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2020;63(8):358-68

P116 Identification difficulties of non-fermenting microorganisms from the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis

P116 Identification difficulties of non-fermenting microorganisms from the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis

SEED PROTEINS ANALYSIS OF FESTUCA SERIES PSAMMOPHILAE M. PAWLUS AND OVINAE M. PAWLUS (POACEAE)

According to the type of leaf anatomy, narrow-leaved fescues could be divided to three main groups: species with leaves as in F estuca rubra (sclerenchyma strands small, numerous), type F. valesiaca (3 main and big sclerenchyma strands + adventive) and type F. ovina (sclerenchyma ring). The species of the last group were chosen in our study. The seed proteins variation in natural populations of Festuca vaginata , F. psammophila , F. pallens , F. polesica and F. ovina from Ukraine and Bulgaria was examined by means of polyacrylamide (PAGE) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS-PAGE) electrophoresis. These fescues exhibit high variability and overlap of morphological and anatomical characters, including diagnostic ones, leading to identification difficulties and uncertainties in their taxonomy. The purpose of the present study was to analyze seed protein composition in order to reveal systematic relationships among the above mentioned taxa of genus Festuca . The results showed that F. vaginata , F. psammophila and F. polesica are closely related. The species F. pallens was relatively distant from the above mentioned three species. The specific position of F. pallens is confirmed also by its ecological characteristics– it is the only species growing on carbonate rocks, while the rest of taxa are typical psammophytes. The results showed distinct differences between Ukrainian populations of F. p allens and F. psammophila and confirmed occurrence of latter in Ukrainian Roztocha. The cluster patterns were somewhat inconsistent in regard to different types of proteins (PAGE, SDS-PAGE). The only exception is F. ovina , which always occupies a separate position. This confirms its remote position within the studied group of the genus Festuca and supports the view to consider F. ovina s.str. as a separate series Ovinae among the species with sclerenchyma ring. Whereas all other studied species ( F . vaginata , F. psammophila , F. pallens , F. polesica ) should be considered as a separate series of closely related taxa – series Psammophilae .

Symbiotic chlamydomonads in algological department collection of BIN RAS

General information on the unialgal strains of green monads, mass-developing in symbiosis with other eukaryotic organisms from North-West Russia, is presented. The selected strains are maintained in the Algological Department of Komarov Botanical Institute RAS. The previous collection acronim LABIK – collection of algae of Laboratory Algology of Komarov Botanical Institute is suggested to remain. Topics on the isolation and strain identification difficulties of algae, living together with other organisms, as well as, their partners relations and perspectives of biotechnological usage are concidered.

Issues and Trends in Studies related to Features and Experiences of Females with Autism Spectrum Disorders

자폐성장애는 남아 우세를 보이는 대표적인 장애유형으로 기존 연구는 대부분 자폐성 장애 남성을 대상으로 하거나 남성 중심의 특성을 반영하는 경우가 많았다. 그러나 자폐 성장애의 개념이 확장되면서 자폐성장애 여성의 성별 특성이 자폐성장애 판별을 어렵게 하며, 결과적으로 낮은 출현율에 기여한다는 논의도 함께 제기되고 있다. 이를 위하여 그동안 자폐성장애를 가진 여성의 특성과 경험을 보고한 연구 총 17편을 최종 분석하고 자폐성장애 여성에 대한 전반적인 연구현황 및 연구 참여자 특성을 알아보고 ASD 여성의 전반적인 경험 특성을 다음과 같이 정리하였다. (1) 정서 및 사회적 어려움, (2) 남아 우세 환경의 영향, (3) 사춘기 관련 경험, (4) 진단 및 선별의 어려움, (5) 성 관련 문제와 취약성, (6) 성 정체성 관련 인식과 경험. 또한 연구에서 드러난 긍정적 요인 혹은 도움이 되었던 지원과 함께 제언 및 추후 연구방향을 논의하였다.The field of autism spectrum disorders has been dominated by a male view of the disorder because of the sex ratio that more boys than girls have autism. However, recent studies indicate the male expectation may inflate the prevalence of autism in males along with the expansion of the diagnostic criteria for ASD as well as the gender specific features of females with ASD who may not be diagnosed. In this study, national and international studies on features and experiences of females with ASD have been reviewed in order to explore current issues and trends of the topic. A total of 17 studies have been selected and analyzed as follows; (1) emotional and social difficulties, (2) male dominant environment impact, (3) puberty related issues, (4) diagnosis and identification difficulties, (5) sexual issues and vulnerability, (6) gender identity related issues. In addition, positive factors and helpful support were also discussed as well as the future direction of research on the topic.

Was the English medieval goat genuinely rare? A new morphometric approach provides the answer

There are important gaps in the historical and archaeological evidence that have, so far, precluded us from reliably assessing the role of the goat in the English Middle Ages. This, in part, is the direct consequence of the absence of a methodology allowing the confident identification of sheep and goat bones. On the other hand, the fact that the goat has always been perceived as rare has led us to think that medieval goats did not deserve much attention. Thanks to a recently developed new morphometric approach, which allows taxonomic identifications to be based on more objective criteria and results to be scrutinised, we are provided with a new tool to re-assess the role that this species played in English medieval husbandry. This paper presents the results of the application of this new methodology on three archaeological medieval sheep/goat assemblages. Previous research suggested that the goat was not abundant in medieval England, but has also raised the possibility that this may be a consequence of an under-estimation by zooarchaeologists, due to identification difficulties. The basic outcome of our paper is to provide, for the first time, unambiguous evidence that the goat was genuinely uncommon. In the medieval archaeological record, sheep remains are overwhelmingly better represented than goat remains—all three case studies confirmed the pattern. Although these examples cannot be taken to represent the situation everywhere in the country, they provide clear-cut indication that the zoorchaeological interpretation of caprine remains from English medieval sites has so far been largely reliable. The three sites offer the opportunity to investigate different dimensions of the problem and to discuss the role of the goat in different contexts.

Atypical emotion recognition from bodies is associated with perceptual difficulties in healthy aging.

A range of processes are required for recognizing others' affective states. It is particularly important that we process the perceptual cues providing information about these states. These experiments tested the hypothesis that difficulties with affective state identification in older adults (OAs) arise, at least partly, from deficits in perceptual processing. To this end we presented "point light display" whole body stimuli to healthy OAs and comparison younger adults (YAs) in 3 signal detection experiments. We examined the ability of OAs to recognize visual bodily information-posture and kinematics-and whether impaired recognition of affective states can be explained by deficits in processing these cues. OAs exhibited reduced sensitivity to postural cues (Experiment 1) but not to kinematic cues (Experiment 2) in affectively neutral stimuli. Importantly, they also exhibited reduced sensitivity only to affective states conveyed predominantly through posture (Experiment 3) -that is, the cue they were impaired in perceiving. These findings highlight how affective state identification difficulties in OAs may arise from problems in perceptual processing and demonstrate more widely how it is essential to consider the contribution of perceptual processes to emotion recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A digital image processing model for characteristics capture and analysis of irregular electronic components

Amid diversification, high performance, high integration, and low-cost development in consumer electronic products, the conventional system on board function integration model is giving way to system on chip (SoC). Layout of solder balls under ball grid array (BGA) is getting irregular as system in package (SiP) is integrating multi-chip module and couple of active and passive components along with more complex circuit design. Due to the shortening life cycles of consumer electronic products and frequent new product launches, the incoming inspection operation of electronic components is getting tedious, let alone the component database updates required by mounter are also getting more frequent and time consuming due to increasingly complex and diversified components and soaring demands in characteristic measurement and identification difficulties. This study is aimed at building automated characteristic capture and analysis image processing model for BGA packages of irregular solder ball layout. It employs edge detection to get component body looks and dimensions by enhanced component edge characteristics. A image pre-processing model is used to identify consistency of individual solder ball characteristics with median filter, highlight image characteristics with binary conversion, remove noise with morphology, and connected component labeling to segment area covered by individual characteristic. In addition, a roundness and aspect ratio of the least rectangle-based solder ball characteristics identification method is proposed to determine number of, diameter of, and coordinates of center of border solder balls. The component characteristics acquired by the model comes in ± 3% difference against the actual one in terms of dimension. The model appears a good reference for system packaging operator in component database creation for the launch of new products in terms of reduced time for manual measurement and error as well as loss in mounter capacity. It also serves for electronic components incoming inspection to reduce inspection operation time and simplify the process.

Evaluating object recognition ability in developmental prosopagnosia using the Cambridge Car Memory Test

ABSTRACTIndividuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) sometimes experience object identification difficulties in addition to problems recognizing faces. To better understand the distribution of non-face object recognition ability in this population, we administered the Cambridge Car Memory Test (CCMT) – a leading, standardized measure of object recognition ability – to a large sample of DPs (N = 46). When considered as a single group, the DPs scored lower than matched controls. This finding provides further evidence that developmental object agnosia (DOA) may be more common in DP than in the general population. Relative to the DPs’ face recognition deficits, however, car matching deficits were small and inconsistent. In fact, we observed a striking range of CCMT performance in our DP sample. While some DPs performed extremely poorly, many more achieved scores within one standard deviation of the typical mean, and several DP participants achieved excellent CCMT scores comparable with the best controls.

Olfactory processing in bipolar disorder, major depression, and anxiety.

Although olfactory abnormalities are well established in schizophrenia, considerably less work has examined olfactory performance in other neuropsychiatric conditions. In the current study, we examined odor identification, odor discrimination, detection threshold, and odor hedonic processing performance in individuals with bipolar I disorder (n=43; n=13 with psychotic features), bipolar II disorder (n=48), major depressive disorder (MDD) (n=134), anxiety (n=48), and no mental disorder (n=72) who participated in a community-based family study. Best estimate DSM-IV diagnoses were based on in-depth personal interviews as well as interviews with family members. Olfactory tests were administered during an in-person clinical visit and were compared using robust linear regression adjusting for age, sex, and psychiatric medication use, as well as nicotine use when necessary. Compared to controls, odor identification performance was lower among individuals with MDD (b=-1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.50, -0.24) and bipolar I disorder (b=-1.79, 95% CI: -3.51, -0.67). Among the latter group, performance was only reduced among those with psychotic features (b=-3.49, 95% CI: -6.33, -0.65), particularly for pleasant odors (b=-1.46, 95% CI: -2.51, -0.42). Those with MDD showed lower identification accuracy for neutral odors (b=-0.63, 95% CI: -1.20, -0.06). Performances on measures of odor discrimination and detection threshold did not differ by diagnostic group. Collectively, these findings indicate that odor identification difficulties may exist in mood disorders, especially when psychotic features are present. In contrast, the global olfactory dysfunction observed in schizophrenia may not be a feature of other neuropsychiatric conditions.

Analysis of Teachers’ Understanding Level, Needs, and Difficulties in Identifying Children with Special Needs in Inclusve School in Surakarta

This research was aimed to determine teachers’ understanding level of identification concept, needs, and difficulties in implementing the identification of children with special needs in inclusive school. It was a descriptive research with 40 special teachers as the subject taken by using purposive random sampling in 11 inclusive school in Surakarta. Data was cllected through interview and questionnaire. Data was analyzed by using percentage quantitative descriptive. Result of the research showed that: (1) teachers’ understanding level of the identification of children with special needs was strongly uncomprehend (37%), uncomprehend (23%), and less comprehend (18%); (2) teachers’ needs of the identification of children with special needs mostly need training program and digital identificatio instrument development, (3) problems found in the field about identification of children with special needs are identification instrument standardize, difficulty in applying identification steps, low competence of non-special-education teacher about identification and in detecting similar characteristics of children with special needs.

Momentary emotion identification in female adolescents with and without anorexia nervosa

Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) often report difficulties in identifying emotions, which have been mostly studied as an alexithymia trait. In a controlled two-day ecological momentary assessment, we studied the influence of time of day and aversive tension on self-reported momentary emotion identification. Analysis on an aggregated level revealed a significant lower mean emotion identification in the AN group. In a mixed model analysis, the AN group showed lower emotion identification than the control group (HC). Both a general and a group effect of time of day were found, indicating that emotion identification improved during the day in HC, whereas a negligible decrease of the emotion identification over time was observed in the AN group. Age was associated positively with emotion identification in general, but no specific effect on a group level was found. No effect of aversive tension was found. Our results indicate that an improvement during the day might be a natural process of emotion identification, which is hindered in AN. Future research should focus on temporal relations between emotion identification and disordered eating behavior to further evaluate the clinical relevance of emotion identification difficulties in AN.

A forensic linguistics problem: Asylum seekers’ dialect identification difficulties in under-documented adjacent Arabic dialects

Abstract Forensic linguistics includes dialect identification also named Language Analysis for the Definition of Origin (LADO). LADO is used mainly for defining asylum seekers’ mother tongue as reflecting the speaker’s origin. The focus here is on linguistic aspects of adjacent Levant Arabic dialects in Israel (I), Jordan (J) and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Arabic has many spoken dialects in addition to Modern Standard Arabic, its written variety. Differences and similarities between dialects create confusion regarding speakers’ origin. Rich Arabic dialectal literature studies the Levant dialects, but not the precise differences between adjacent dialects. We discuss examples of adjacent under-documented Arabic dialects, which cause difficulties in LADO. The paper presents the linguistic issues involved in examples of phonological, morphological and lexical elements of Arabic dialects spoken in I, J and the PA. In Arabic dialects of these areas, some “Shibboleth” features could identify a speaker’s “mother dialect”. Linguists might use such forms for identification, if speakers use them in spontaneous speech. If they do not occur in a speaker’s recording, however, the interviewer should try to elicit them in the recording session. Currently, inter-dialect language contacts are frequent and complex, and therefore more research is required to provide the missing information.

Two new species in the genus Phoxokalliapseudes Drumm & Heard, 2011 (Crustacea: Tanaidacea: Kalliapseudidae) from the southwestern and southern coasts of Korea.

Two new species of Phoxokalliapseudes from the southwestern and southern coasts of Korea are described. Phoxokalliapseudes aculeatus n. sp. is distinguished by the two robust spiniform setae on the ventral margin of the cheliped basis, pereonites 2-6 each with a hyposphaenium and small spinules, and the setiferous lobe on the mandibles with different numbers of serrated spiniform setae in the female and male (five and six, respectively). Phoxokalliapseudes cinctus n. sp. can be distinguished by the propodus of the male cheliped with the largest length to width ratio (2.5: 1) of the genus, and the fixed finger with small denticles on the cutting edge and near the insertion of the dactylus. The female has the largest dactylus to propodus length ratio of pereopod 6 in the genus. Only four species of Phoxokalliapseudes have been described or redescribed previously, of which some exhibit morphological differences with the type specimens, possibly indicating additional new species. To minimize identification difficulties caused by morphometric variations in developmental stages, the morphological characteristics of the new species are described in detail for a fixed size range and compared to different-sized individuals. Additionally, a comprehensive comparison of the new Phoxokalliapseudes species with the other known species is provided and discussed.

DNA Metabarcoding of Amazonian Ichthyoplankton Swarms

Tropical rainforests harbor extraordinary biodiversity. The Amazon basin is thought to hold 30% of all river fish species in the world. Information about the ecology, reproduction, and recruitment of most species is still lacking, thus hampering fisheries management and successful conservation strategies. One of the key understudied issues in the study of population dynamics is recruitment. Fish larval ecology in tropical biomes is still in its infancy owing to identification difficulties. Molecular techniques are very promising tools for the identification of larvae at the species level. However, one of their limits is obtaining individual sequences with large samples of larvae. To facilitate this task, we developed a new method based on the massive parallel sequencing capability of next generation sequencing (NGS) coupled with hybridization capture. We focused on the mitochondrial marker cytochrome oxidase I (COI). The results obtained using the new method were compared with individual larval sequencing. We validated the ability of the method to identify Amazonian catfish larvae at the species level and to estimate the relative abundance of species in batches of larvae. Finally, we applied the method and provided evidence for strong temporal variation in reproductive activity of catfish species in the Ucayalí River in the Peruvian Amazon. This new time and cost effective method enables the acquisition of large datasets, paving the way for a finer understanding of reproductive dynamics and recruitment patterns of tropical fish species, with major implications for fisheries management and conservation.

Ecology and Behavior of Alder Flycatchers (Empidonax alnorum) On Their Wintering Grounds In Argentina

ABSTRACT The Alder (Empidonax alnorum) and Willow (E. trailli) flycatchers are cryptic species, and their distribution outside the breeding season is poorly known, owing mostly to identification difficulties. Our new records suggest that large numbers of Alder Flycatchers overwinter in rivers crossing the Chaco region and in the foothill forests of the Yungas of Argentina, significantly increasing their southern wintering range. Records in northern Argentina span 3 November to 23 March. Key habitat for overwintering Alder Flycatchers in Argentina included stands of palo bobo (Tessaria integrifolia) along the Rio Bermejo and tributaries, either in association with sparse shrubs of chilca (Baccharis salicifolia) or more rarely with canebrake (Gynerium sagittatum). Other habitats used were old shrubby ‘madrejones' with Tessaria scrub and sacha cafe (Sesbania virgata), very dense Baccharis salicifolia scrub next to flowing creeks in foothill Yungas and dry Chaco, and riparian forests dominated by palo flojo (...

Contextual analysis on geminate/singleton identification difficulties for L2 learners of Japanese based on perceptual features

It is widely known that Japanese geminate/singleton consonant identification is one of the biggest problems for L2 learners. We have been analyzing identification error characteristics based on their perceptually motivated features. In this presentation, after briefly introducing observed remarkable identification error chracteristics on phonetic context differences with speech rate variations, we have tried to analyze and quantify the difficulties using identification error rates by Japanese beginners of Korean natives. 36 geminate/singleton pairs in 2-5 mora with three speech rates were used for identification experiments. To understand the difficulties quantitatively, objectively measurable acoustic variables such as duration length, loudness and its jumps of the corresponding geminate/singleton consonants were employed to carry out prediction analysis for L2’s identification error rates. Correlation between predicted error rates and observed ones has turned out to be around 0.6 with the speech rates where more identification errors existed. Through these analyses, we could have confirmed that perceptually motivated parameters could provide reasonable and effective explanation in contextual differences of identification errors by L2 learners and its quantification. These results suggest the possibility of effective L2 learning based on perceptual difficulties.

Identification-Robust Estimates of the Canadian Natural Rate of Interest

The natural rate of interest is an unobservable entity and its measurement presents some important empirical challenges. In this paper, we use identification-robust methods and central bank real-time staff projections to obtain estimates for the equilibrium real rate from contemporaneous and forward-looking Taylor-type interest rate rules. The methods notably account for the potential presence of endogeneity, under-identification, and errors-in-variables concerns. Our applications are conducted on Canadian data. The results reveal some important identification difficulties associated with some of our models, reinforcing the need to use identification-robust methods to estimate such policy functions. Despite these challenges, we are able to obtain fairly comparable point estimates for the real equilibrium interest rate across our different models, and in the case of the best fitting model, also remarkable estimate precision.