High-sensitive colour indicator of absorbed dose of epithermal neutrons radiation

In our study, the high-sensitivity colour indicator of the absorbed dose of radiation of epithermal neutrons with energy 0 to 10 keV for dosimetry of low-energy neutrons was developed. We had been developed an indicator on the basis of the dye solution of arsenazo III and gadopentetic acid, allowing precisely define of absorbed dose in the range 2 to 103 Gy. The properties of arsenazo III as metallic indicator, which changes colour after binding of free ions of metals, were used. Colour of the indicator solution before irradiation and after it is stable enough in time at storage in the dark, at artificial illumination or at scattered sunlight. The developed indicator, consisting of a solution of arsenazo III and gadopentetic acid, allows estimating the absorbed dose of epithermal neutron irradiation with good accuracy and reduces the error of measurement related to changing colour of dye under the influence of other factors (light, temperature etc.) Dosimeter is tissue-equivalent and possesses a high-sensitivity neutron radiation due to the content of gadolinium in solution, which has great neutron capture cross-section. The developed dosimeter persists spectrophotometric characteristics after irradiaion within few weeks that allows to use it for measurement of the absorbed dose, both in real time mode and with the delayed measurement within few weeks.

Multi-Rate Data Fusion for State and Parameter Estimation in (Bio-)Chemical Process Engineering

For efficient operation, modern control approaches for biochemical process engineering require information on the states of the process such as temperature, humidity or chemical composition. Those measurement are gathered from a set of sensors which differ with respect to sampling rates and measurement quality. Furthermore, for biochemical processes in particular, analysis of physical samples is necessary, e.g., to infer cellular composition resulting in delayed information. As an alternative for the use of this delayed measurement for control, so-called soft-sensor approaches can be used to fuse delayed multirate measurements with the help of a mathematical process model and provide information on the current state of the process. In this manuscript we present a complete methodology based on cascaded unscented Kalman filters for state estimation from delayed and multi-rate measurements. The approach is demonstrated for two examples, an exothermic chemical reactor and a recently developed model for biopolymer production. The results indicate that the the current state of the systems can be accurately reconstructed and therefore represent a promising tool for further application in advanced model-based control not only of the considered processes but also of related processes.

Long-term Persuasive Effects in Narrative Communication Research: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis builds on the broad and diverse research on the persuasive effects of narrative communication. Researchers have found that narratives are a particularly effective type of message that often has greater persuasive effects than non-narratives immediately after exposure. The present study meta-analyzes whether this greater persuasive power persists over time. Results are based on k1 = 14 studies with k2 = 51 effect sizes for immediate measurement (N = 2,834) and k2 = 66 effect sizes for delayed measurement (N = 2,459). They show that a single narrative message has a stronger persuasive impact than a non-narrative message on attitudes and intentions at immediate as well as on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors at delayed measurement. Both message types did not differently affect the participants’ beliefs. Meta-analytic structural equation modeling confirms transportation as a mediator of immediate persuasive effects.

An Investigation of Different Methodologies for Rating Product Satisfaction

Usability researchers and product designers stand to benefit by minimizing costs (e.g., time, overhead, recruitment costs) related to usability research. Several potential discount methods for collecting subjective data exist. This study compared four methods of collecting satisfaction data using the After-Scenario Questionnaire (ASQ). Use-Then-Measure (rating immediately after use), was used as a comparison group for the performance of three other methods: Retrospective (delayed measurement based on past use), Prospective (judging a product before use), and Watching-Others (evaluating a product based on video footage). Users were asked to use three different products (a website, a can opener, and a digital timer) and rate their satisfaction with the products using the ASQ. The Retrospective method produced mean ASQ scores that were statistically indistinguishable from the average ASQ scores produced by Use-Then-Measure. Both the Prospective and Watching-Others conditions generated mean ASQ scores higher than Use-Than-Measure. Our results, consistent with previous research, support Retrospective assessment as an alternative for collecting subjective ratings of usability. While our results did not support Watching-Others or Prospective methods, more research is needed before completely ruling them out as viable methods.

Improved Student’s t-Based Unscented Filter and its Application to Trajectory Estimation for Maneuvering Target

To estimate the systems with one-step randomly delayed measurement and time-correlated heavy-tailed measurement noises, on the basis of robust Student’s t based unscented filter (RSTUF), an improved Student’s t based unscented filter (ISTUF) is proposed. Referring to the measurement differencing method, a reformed measurement model was built. Then, by augmenting the system state vector, the conditional probability distribution of the measurement noise with respect to delayed measurement was taken into consideration. Based on the reformed measurement model and the augment state vector, a novel estimator was designed to solve the one-step randomly delayed problem. Maneuvering target tracking systems were used for simulation. Compared with unscented Kalman filter (UKF) or RSTUF, ISTUF had higher accuracy.

A case study of music instruction according to E. Willems’ pedagogy in children with intellectual disabilities: Its impacts on music abilities and language skills

The aim of this case study was to explore the effects of music instruction according to the E. Willems teaching method on the music abilities and language skills in students with intellectual disabilities (ID). Eight students with ID (average age 9.64 years) participated in the study. They attended 35 music lessons during the school year. Each lesson included tasks for developing four domains: auditory perception, rhythm, singing songs and natural body movement. We developed the tasks for measuring music abilities and language skills and applied them three times: before the music training, immediately after the training and in delayed measurement 10 months after the training. Results showed a significant improvement in the music abilities in rhythm between the first and the second measurements. The improvements between the first two measurements were also found in language skills, in following instructions and in discrimination and repetition of phonemes in pairs. The research method used does not allow for the generalization of results, but it is the first step in empirical research into the effects of music instruction according to the principles of E. Willems’ pedagogy in children with ID.

The Fractional Kalman Filter-Based Asynchronous Multirate Sensor Information Fusion

A fractional Kalman filter-based multirate sensor fusion algorithm is presented to fuse the asynchronous measurements of the multirate sensors. Based on the characteristics of multirate and delay measurement, the state is reestimated at the time when the delayed measurement occurs by using weighted fractional Kalman filter, and then the state estimation is updated at the current time when the delayed measurement arrives following the similar pattern of Kalman filter. The simulation examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed fusion method.