Haphazard Intentional Sampling Techniques in Network Design of Monitoring Stations

In empirical science, random sampling is the golden standard to ensure unbiased, impartial, or fair results, as it works as a technological barrier designed to prevent spurious communication or illegitimate interference between parties in the application of interest. However, the chance of at least one covariate showing a “significant difference” between two treatment groups increases exponentially with the number of covariates. In 2012, Morgan and Rubin proposed a coherent approach to solve this problem based on rerandomization in order to ensure that the final allocation obtained is balanced, but with an exponential computation cost in the number of covariates. Haphazard Intentional Sampling is a statistical technique that combines intentional sampling using goal optimization techniques with random perturbations. On one hand, it has all the benefits of standard randomization and, on the other hand, avoid exponentially large (and costly) sample sizes. In this work, we compare the haphazard and rerandomization methods in a case study regarding the re-engineering of the network of measurement stations for atmospheric pollutants. In comparison with rerandomization, the haphazard method provided groups with a better balance and permutation tests consistently more powerful.

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Free-Stall Use and Preferences in Dairy Cows: A Case Study on Neck Rails Covered by Foam

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani9100772 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 772

Author(s):

Marek Gaworski

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cattle ◽

Dairy Cows ◽

Design Process ◽

Analysis Of Variance ◽

Housing System ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Significant Difference

This study tested the effect of neck rails equipped with and without foam on stall usage and preference by dairy cows. The hypothesis of the experiment, that cows prefer lying stalls with foam in comparison to stalls without foam, was rejected. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in lying time and time spent standing with two and four hooves in the lying stalls between the two treatment groups. Considering the time of individual stall occupation and the distribution of stalls in the pen, cows showed a preference for one of two lying stall rows. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the time of stall occupation for the two different rows in the pen, including the time spent lying and the time spent standing with two and four hooves in the stall. Lying time per stall in the preferred row (near the feeding alley) in comparison with the alternative row was 580 ± 101 min·d−1·stall−1 versus 50 ± 28 min·d−1·stall−1, respectively. These results can support a design process for new barns with a free-stall housing system for dairy cattle.

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Perbandingan Efektivitas Z Spring dengan Coil dan Z Spring tanpa Coil terhadap Koreksi Malposisi Gigi Individual

e-GIGI ◽

10.35790/eg.v9i2.35294 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 298

Author(s):

Angel E. Pusung ◽

Pritartha S. Anindita ◽

Aurelia S. R. Supit

Keyword(s):

T Test ◽

Effective Length ◽

Orthodontic Appliances ◽

Case Study Method ◽

Orthodontic Appliance ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Average Value ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Removable Orthodontic Appliances

Abstract: Malocclusion problem is often found in the community. Z spring, one of the springs of the active component of removable orthodontic appliances, is divided into two types, namely Z spring with coil and without coil. Both can move teeth in a labial direction, therefore, they can be used to correct simple cases of malocclusion such as malposition of individual tooth. The addition of coil can increase the resilience and effective length of the spring which further increases the force, hence the malposition of the tooth can be corrected more quickly. This study was aimed to analyze the differences between the effectiveness of Z spring with coil and of Z spring without coil in correction of individual tooth malposition. This was a pre-experimental study with a one-shot case study method. There were two treatment groups, namely Z spring with coil and without coil. Each sample was activated by 1 mm per activation to correct tooth with 5 mm linguoversion in typodonts. After that, the number of activations required and the average value of the measurements of both groups were compared. The independent sample T-Test test on the average value of the displacement distance of each tooth showed that there was a significant difference in effectiveness between the Z spring with coil and the Z spring without coil groups (p=0.000; p<0.05). The Mann Whitney test showed that there was also a significant difference in the value of the number of activations for each Z spring sample between the two groups (p=0.000; p<0.05). In conclusion, Z spring with coil is more effective in correction of malposition of individual tooth than Z spring without coil.Keywords: removable orthodontic appliance; Z spring with coil; Z spring without coil Abstrak: Maloklusi merupakan permasalahan kesehatan gigi dan mulut yang banyak dijumpai dalam masyarakat. Z spring merupakan salah satu pegas dari komponen aktif alat ortodontik lepasan yang terbagi menjadi dua, yakni Z spring dengan coil dan Z spring tanpa coil. Keduanya dapat memindahkan gigi ke arah labial sehingga dapat digunakan untuk mengoreksi kasus maloklusi sederhana seperti malposisi gigi individual. Penambahan coil dapat meningkatkan kelentingan dan panjang efektif spring yang meningkatkan gaya sehingga malposisi gigi dapat terkoreksi lebih cepat. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis perbedaan efektivitas Z spring dengan coil dan tanpa coil dalam mengoreksi malposisi gigi individual. Jenis penelitian ini pre-experimental dengan metode one-shot case study. Terdapat dua kelompok perlakuan, yakni Z spring dengan coil dan tanpa coil. Masing-masing sampel penelitian diaktivasi sebesar 1 mm per aktivasi untuk mengoreksi gigi dengan linguoversi 5 mm pada typodont kemudian dibandingkan jumlah aktivasi yang dibutuhkan dan nilai rerata perpindahan gigi kedua kelompok. Hasil uji independent sample t-test pada nilai rerata jarak perpindahan masing-masing gigi menunjukkan terdapat perbedaan efektivitas yang bermakna antara kelompok Z spring dengan coil dan tanpa coil (p=0,000; p<0,05). Hasil uji Mann Whitney terhadap nilai jumlah aktivasi tiap sampel menunjukkan terdapat perbedaan bermakna pula antara kedua kelompok penelitian (p=0,000; p<0,05). Simpulan penelitian ini ialah Z spring dengan coil lebih efektif dalam mengoreksi malposisi gigi individual dibandingkan Z spring tanpa coil.Kata kunci: alat ortodontik lepasan; Z spring dengan coil; Z spring tanpa coil

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Relevance Predictability in Information Retrieval Systems

Methods of Information in Medicine ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1636254 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 06 (02) ◽

pp. 45-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

A. Kent ◽

J. Belzer ◽

M. Kuhfeerst ◽

E. D. Dym ◽

D. L. Shirey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Information Retrieval ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Retrieval Systems ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Information Retrieval Systems ◽

High Predictability ◽

Intermediate Response ◽

Quantitative Indicators ◽

Level Of Processing

An experiment is described which attempts to derive quantitative indicators regarding the potential relevance predictability of the intermediate stimuli used to represent documents in information retrieval systems. In effect, since the decision to peruse an entire document is often predicated upon the examination of one »level of processing« of the document (e.g., the citation and/or abstract), it became interesting to analyze the properties of what constitutes »relevance«. However, prior to such an analysis, an even more elementary step had to be made, namely, to determine what portions of a document should be examined.An evaluation of the ability of intermediate response products (IRPs), functioning as cues to the information content of full documents, to predict the relevance determination that would be subsequently made on these documents by motivated users of information retrieval systems, was made under controlled experimental conditions. The hypothesis that there might be other intermediate response products (selected extracts from the document, i.e., first paragraph, last paragraph, and the combination of first and last paragraph), that would be as representative of the full document as the traditional IRPs (citation and abstract) was tested systematically. The results showed that:1. there is no significant difference among the several IRP treatment groups on the number of cue evaluations of relevancy which match the subsequent user relevancy decision on the document;2. first and last paragraph combinations have consistently predicted relevancy to a higher degree than the other IRPs;3. abstracts were undistinguished as predictors; and4. the apparent high predictability rating for citations was not substantive.Some of these results are quite different than would be expected from previous work with unmotivated subjects.

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Effect of Fixed Minidose Warfarin, Conventional Dose Warfarin and Aspirin on INR and Prothrombin Fragment 1 + 2 in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

Thrombosis and Haemostasis ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1656065 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 77 (05) ◽

pp. 0845-0848 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

B G Koefoed ◽

C Feddersen ◽

A L Gulløv ◽

P Petersen

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

International Normalized Ratio ◽

Coagulation System ◽

Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Prothrombin Fragment ◽

Conventional Dose ◽

Dose Warfarin ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Changes Over Time

SummaryThe efficacy of conventional dose adjusted oral anticoagulation for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation is well- documented but not considered ideal as primary antithrombotic treatment in elderly patients. The antithrombotic effect of fixed minidose warfarin 1.25 mg/day alone or in combination with aspirin 300 mg/day, of conventional dose adjusted warfarin (INR 2.0-3.0), and of aspirin 300 mg/day have been investigated in outpatients with chronic nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in the second Copenhagen Atrial Fibrillation, Aspirin and Anticoagulant Therapy Study (AFASAK 2). In order to investigate the effect on the coagulation system of the treatments, the International Normalized Ratio of the prothrombin time (INR) and prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 +2) were monitored at baseline and after three months of treatment in 100 patients consecutively included in the trial. At baseline no differences in INR and F1+2 between the four treatment groups were present. After three months of therapy the level of INR increased significantly from baseline in patients receiving warfarin in any dose and the level of F1+2 decreased significantly by combined minidose warfarin-aspirin and by dose adjusted warfarin. When comparing the changes over time in FI +2 (three-month value minus baseline value) during therapy with fixed minidose warfarin, combined minidose warfarin-aspirin and aspirin alone no significant difference between the groups was found. In conclusion, INR was changed by all three warfarin regimens but only dose adjusted warfarin (INR 2.0-3.0) had a marked effect on F1+2.

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Association of biological antirheumatic therapy with risk for type 2 diabetes: a retrospective cohort study in incident rheumatoid arthritis

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042246 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. e042246

Author(s):

Sanjoy K Paul ◽

Olga Montvida ◽

Jennie H Best ◽

Sara Gale ◽

Attila Pethö-Schramm ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

T Cell ◽

Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs ◽

Antirheumatic Therapy ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Necrosis Factor

ObjectiveTo explore possible associations of treatment with biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), including T-cell-based and interleukin-6 inhibition (IL-6i)-based therapies, and the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Study design, setting and participantsFive treatment groups were selected from a United States Electronic Medical Records database of 283 756 patients with RA (mean follow-up, 5 years): never received bDMARD (No bDMARD, n=125 337), tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi, n=34 873), IL-6i (n=1884), T-cell inhibitors (n=5935) and IL-6i+T cell inhibitor abatacept (n=1213). Probability and risk for T2DM were estimated with adjustment for relevant confounders.ResultsIn the cohort of 169 242 patients with a mean 4.5 years of follow-up and a mean 641 200 person years of follow-up, the adjusted probability of developing T2DM was significantly lower in the IL-6i (probability, 1%; 95% CI 0.6 to 2.0), T-cell inhibitor (probability, 3%; 95% CI 2.3 to 3.3) and IL-6i+T cell inhibitor (probability, 2%; 95% CI 0.1 to 2.9) groups than in the No bDMARD (probability, 5%; 95% CI 4.6 to 4.9) and TNFi (probability, 4%; 95% CI 3.7 to 4.7) groups. Compared with No bDMARD, the IL-6i and IL-6i+T cell inhibitor groups had 37% (95% CI of HR 0.42 to 0.96) and 34% (95% CI of HR 0.46 to 0.93) significantly lower risk for T2DM, respectively; there was no significant difference in risk in the TNFi (HR 0.99; 95% CI 0.93 to 1.06) and T-cell inhibitor (HR 0.96; 95% CI 0.82 to 1.12) groups.ConclusionsTreatment with IL-6i, with or without T-cell inhibitors, was associated with reduced risk for T2DM compared with TNFi or No bDMARDs; a less pronounced association was observed for the T-cell inhibitor abatacept.

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Changes of Walking Activity During the First Cycle Phases of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Seoul, Korea

HERD Health Environments Research & Design Journal ◽

10.1177/19375867211026571 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 193758672110265

Author(s):

Youngjun Park ◽

Haekwon Chung ◽

Sohyun Park

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Physical Inactivity ◽

Voluntary Participation ◽

Walking Activity ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

Acceleration And Deceleration ◽

Preliminary Study ◽

The Government

Aim: This study explores the changes in regular walking activities during the phases of the pandemic. Background: With the spread of COVID-19 transmission, people are refraining from going out, reducing their physical activity. In South Korea, COVID-19 broke out in the 4th week of 2020 and experienced the first cycle phases of the pandemic, such as outbreak, widespread, and decline. In response to the pandemic, the government encouraged voluntary participation in social distancing campaigns, and people reduced their outside activities. Methods: This article examines the decrease and increase of the Prevalence of Regular Walking (≥30 min of moderate walking a day, on ≥5 days a week) by the COVID-19 phases. This study is based on weekly walking data for 15 weeks in 2020, via the smartphone healthcare app, which is managed by 25 public health offices of the Seoul government. Results: According to the findings, the level of prevalence of regular walking (PRW) has a significant difference before and after the outbreak, and every interval of the four-stage COVID-19 phases, that is, pre-pandemic, initiation, acceleration, and deceleration. The level of PRW sharply decreased during initiation and acceleration intervals. In the deceleration interval of COVID-19, the PRW kept increasing, but it has not yet reached the same level as the previous year when the COVID-19 did not exist. Conclusions: As a preliminary study, this study explains empirically how COVID-19 changed PRW in Seoul. It would be helpful to enhance our understanding of the changes in physical inactivity in the pandemic period.

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Investigating the Potential of Network Optimization for a Constrained Object Detection Problem

Journal of Imaging ◽

10.3390/jimaging7040064 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 64

Author(s):

Tanguy Ophoff ◽

Cédric Gullentops ◽

Kristof Van Beeck ◽

Toon Goedemé

Keyword(s):

Computational Complexity ◽

Object Detection ◽

Network Optimization ◽

Real Life ◽

Optimization Techniques ◽

Training Data ◽

Single Shot ◽

Standard Object ◽

Number Of Classes

Object detection models are usually trained and evaluated on highly complicated, challenging academic datasets, which results in deep networks requiring lots of computations. However, a lot of operational use-cases consist of more constrained situations: they have a limited number of classes to be detected, less intra-class variance, less lighting and background variance, constrained or even fixed camera viewpoints, etc. In these cases, we hypothesize that smaller networks could be used without deteriorating the accuracy. However, there are multiple reasons why this does not happen in practice. Firstly, overparameterized networks tend to learn better, and secondly, transfer learning is usually used to reduce the necessary amount of training data. In this paper, we investigate how much we can reduce the computational complexity of a standard object detection network in such constrained object detection problems. As a case study, we focus on a well-known single-shot object detector, YoloV2, and combine three different techniques to reduce the computational complexity of the model without reducing its accuracy on our target dataset. To investigate the influence of the problem complexity, we compare two datasets: a prototypical academic (Pascal VOC) and a real-life operational (LWIR person detection) dataset. The three optimization steps we exploited are: swapping all the convolutions for depth-wise separable convolutions, perform pruning and use weight quantization. The results of our case study indeed substantiate our hypothesis that the more constrained a problem is, the more the network can be optimized. On the constrained operational dataset, combining these optimization techniques allowed us to reduce the computational complexity with a factor of 349, as compared to only a factor 9.8 on the academic dataset. When running a benchmark on an Nvidia Jetson AGX Xavier, our fastest model runs more than 15 times faster than the original YoloV2 model, whilst increasing the accuracy by 5% Average Precision (AP).

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Capsular closure versus unrepaired interportal capsulotomy after hip arthroscopy in patients with femoroacetabular impingement, results of a patient-blinded randomised controlled trial

Hip International ◽

10.1177/11207000211005762 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 112070002110057

Author(s):

Niels H Bech ◽

Inger N Sierevelt ◽

Sheryl de Waard ◽

Boudijn S H Joling ◽

Gino M M J Kerkhoffs ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

Femoroacetabular Impingement ◽

Hip Arthroscopy ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Control Group ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Randomised Controlled

Background: Hip capsular management after hip arthroscopy remains a topic of debate. Most available current literature is of poor quality and are retrospective or cohort studies. As of today, no clear consensus exists on capsular management after hip arthroscopy. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of routine capsular closure versus unrepaired capsulotomy after interportal capsulotomy measured with NRS pain and the Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS). Materials and methods: All eligible patients with femoroacetabular impingement who opt for hip arthroscopy ( n = 116) were randomly assigned to one of both treatment groups and were operated by a single surgeon. Postoperative pain was measured with the NRS score weekly the first 12 weeks after surgery. The HAGOS questionnaire was measured at 12 and 52 weeks postoperatively. Results: Baseline characteristics and operation details were comparable between treatment groups. Regarding the NRS pain no significant difference was found between groups at any point the first 12 weeks after surgery ( p = 0.67). Both groups significantly improved after surgery ( p < 0.001). After 3 months follow-up there were no differences between groups for the HAGOS questionnaire except for the domain sport ( p = 0.02) in favour of the control group. After 12 months follow-up there were no differences between both treatment groups on all HAGOS domains ( p > 0.05). Conclusions: The results of this randomised controlled trial show highest possible evidence that there is no reason for routinely capsular closure after interportal capsulotomy at the end of hip arthroscopy. Trial Registration: This trial was registered at the CCMO Dutch Trial Register: NL55669.048.15.

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Artificial life and ‘nature’s purposes’: The question of behavioral autonomy

Human Affairs ◽

10.1515/humaff-2020-0052 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 587-596

Author(s):

Elena Popa

Keyword(s):

Artificial Life ◽

Life Forms ◽

Behavioral Traits ◽

Ethical Implications ◽

Autonomous Behavior ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Behavioral Autonomy ◽

Synthetic Life ◽

Biological Organisms

AbstractThis paper investigates the concept of behavioral autonomy in Artificial Life by drawing a parallel to the use of teleological notions in the study of biological life. Contrary to one of the leading assumptions in Artificial Life research, I argue that there is a significant difference in how autonomous behavior is understood in artificial and biological life forms: the former is underlain by human goals in a way that the latter is not. While behavioral traits can be explained in relation to evolutionary history in biological organisms, in synthetic life forms behavior depends on a design driven by a research agenda, further shaped by broader human goals. This point will be illustrated with a case study on a synthetic life form. Consequently, the putative epistemic benefit of reaching a better understanding of behavioral autonomy in biological organisms by synthesizing artificial life forms is subject to doubt: the autonomy observed in such artificial organisms may be a mere projection of human agency. Further questions arise in relation to the need to spell out the relevant human aims when addressing potential social or ethical implications of synthesizing artificial life forms.

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SUBCHRONIC TOXICITY TEST OF COMBINATION ETHANOL EXTRACT OF DETAM 1 SOYBEAN (GLYCINE MAX L. MERR) AND JATI BELANDA (GUAZUMA ULMIFOLIA LAMK) TOWARD FUNCTION, WEIGHT, AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL OF WISTAR RAT LIVER

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research ◽

10.22159/ajpcr.2016.v9i5.13237 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 197

Author(s):

Meilinah Hidayat ◽

Sijani Prahastuti ◽

Estherolita Dewi ◽

Dewi Safitri ◽

Siti Farah Rahmawati ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Liver Function ◽

Toxicity Test ◽

Low Dose ◽

Ethanol Extract ◽

Good Effect ◽

Control Group ◽

High Dose ◽

Subchronic Toxicity ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Significant Difference

ABSTRACTObjective: As an antiobesity therapy, combination extracts of Detam 1 soybean and Jati Belanda will be consumed for a long time; therefore, theirtoxicities to the liver need to be investigated. To determine the effect of subchronic toxicity test of combination of ethanol extract of Detam 1 soybean(EEDS) and ethanol extract of Jati Belanda (EEJB) on liver function with parameters: Alanine transaminase (ALT), macroscopic, and histopathologicalof liver.Methods: This study was conducted on 120 Wistar rats (60 males and 60 females), 90 days (treatment group) and 120 days (satellite group). Ratswere divided into six treatment groups (3 test materials, 1 control, and 2 satellites); each group included 10 males and 10 females.Results: ALT levels of treatment groups (low dose, medium, and high), both males and females were lower than the control group (p<0.05). Thetreatment groups demonstrated a good effects effect on liver function. Liver weight of all groups showed no significant difference compared with thecontrol group (p>0.05). Results of histopathological score interpretation of male and female liver rats of low dose groups were not disturbed; middledose groups were slightly disturbed and high dose groups were damaged. Satellite high doses of male groups were disrupted, while female groupswere not.Conclusion: The combination of EEDS and EEJB has a good effect on liver function, did not lead to change organ weight and at low doses did not causerenal histopathology damage in rats after 90 days administration.Keywords: Combination of soybean Jati Belanda, Toxicity subchronic test, Function, Weight, Histopathology, Liver.

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