K2-79b and K2-222b: Mass Measurements of Two Small Exoplanets with Periods beyond 10 days that Overlap with Periodic Magnetic Activity Signals

We present mass and radius measurements of K2-79b and K2-222b, two transiting exoplanets orbiting active G-type stars observed with HARPS-N and K2. Their respective 10.99 day and 15.39 day orbital periods fall near periods of signals induced by stellar magnetic activity. The two signals might therefore interfere and lead to an inaccurate estimate of exoplanet mass. We present a method to mitigate these effects when radial velocity (RV) and activity-indicator observations are available over multiple observing seasons and the orbital period of the exoplanet is known. We perform correlation and periodogram analyses on subsets composed of each target's two observing seasons, in addition to the full data sets. For both targets, these analyses reveal an optimal season with little to no interference at the orbital period of the known exoplanet. We make a confident mass detection of each exoplanet by confirming agreement between fits to the full RV set and the optimal season. For K2-79b, we measure a mass of 11.8 ± 3.6 M ⊕ and a radius of 4.09 ± 0.17 R ⊕. For K2-222b, we measure a mass of 8.0 ± 1.8 M ⊕ and a radius of 2.35 ± 0.08 R ⊕. According to model predictions, K2-79b is a highly irradiated Uranus analog and K2-222b hosts significant amounts of water ice. We also present a RV solution for a candidate second companion orbiting K2-222 at 147.5 days.

Investigation of bias in traditional grouping by means of regularization

<p>Harmonic tidal analysis bases on the presumption that since short records and close frequencies result in an ill-conditioned matrix equation, a record of length T is required to distinguish harmonics with a frequency separation of 1/T (Rayleigh criterion). To achieve stability of the solution, tidal harmonics are grouped. Nevertheless, if any additional information from different harmonics within the assumed groups is present in the data, it cannot be resolved. While the most information in each group is carried by the harmonic with the largest amplitude, time series from other harmonics is properly taken into account in estimated amplitudes and phases. However, if the signal from the next largest harmonic in a group is significantly different from the expectation, the grouping parametrization might lead to an inaccurate estimate of tidal parameters. That might be an issue since harmonics in a group do not have the same admittance factor, or if the assumed relationship between harmonics degree 2 and 3 is false.</p><p>The bias caused by grouping tidal harmonics can be investigated with methods used for stabilizing inverse problem solutions. In our study, we abandon the concept of groups. The resulting ill-posedness of the problem is reduced by constraining the model parameters (1) to reference values and (2) to the condition that admittance shall be a smooth function of frequency. The mentioned regularization terms are present in the least-squares objective function, and the trade-off parameter between the model misfit and data residuals is chosen by the L-curve criterion. We demonstrate how this method may be used to reveal system properties hidden by wave grouping in tidal analysis. We also suggest that forcing time series amplitude may be more relevant grouping criterion than solely frequency closeness of harmonics.</p>

Measuring capability of a binomial process

Many product characteristics are qualitative in nature, e.g. colour, brightness, surface finish etc. The manufacturing process of such products is usually described in terms of fraction nonconforming or conforming which is assumed to follow binomial distribution. Measuring capability of a binomial process implies assessing to what extent the fraction nonconforming or conforming in the continuous stream of lots conform to the specification limits. The Cp or Cpl of a binomial process can be estimated using several approaches. However, these approaches generally give widely varying assessment about the capability of a given binomial process. Consequently, a user of the index may inadvertently be led to erroneous decision making based on an inaccurate estimate of the index. In this paper, a procedure is proposed for assessing accuracies of estimates of Cpu or Cpl obtained by different methods. Subsequently, the best method for evaluating capability of a binomial process is identified based on analysis of multiple case studies, and also the methods giving inaccurate estimates are highlighted. Keywords: Process capability index, binomial process, fraction nonconforming, nonconforming lot (NL), predicted NL%, prediction error

Analysis of Elemental Cost Variation of Building Construction Projects in Nigeria

Cost performance is the fundamental criteria for success of any project. Most projects face huge amount of cost variations in Nigeria construction industry. Its performance is based on the three major parameters which include, cost, time and quality. This research was carried out to analyze elemental cost variation in building construction projects in Abuja Nigeria. Secondary data was obtained for the study and analysed using ANOVA, correlation, and regression. The result shows that the most critical factors that contribute to cost variation include unstable economy, improper planning, inaccurate estimate and fraudulent practice. The study finally recommended the best way of a averting the problem which include stabilization of the economy by the government through monitoring of price, stability of cost of labor and building materials. Contractors should employ qualified and experience staff in order to be able to follow the different technical and managerial aspects of the project. The study has concluded that there was no significant difference amongst the variation in the costs of selected groups of building elements. This was based on analysis of variance results. This meant that notwithstanding the magnitude of changes to elemental costs, no single element could be isolated as being exceptional in terms of cost variations. It was concluded that in terms of degree of influence on change in initial contract sums, the Services elements was ranked 1st, based on an R2 value of 25.2%. Substructure had the least influence on changes in the initial contract sum (R2 value of 6.71%).

Compared to wireless deployment in areas with different environmentse

<p>In the mobile phone system, it is highly desirable to estimate the loss of the track not only to improve performance but also to achieve an accurate estimate of financial feasibility; the inaccurate estimate of track loss either leads to performance degradation or increased cost. Various models have been introduced to accurately estimate the path loss. One of these models is the Okomura / Hata model, which is recommended for estimating path loss in cellular systems that use micro cells. This system is suitable for use in a variety of environments. This study examines the comparison of path loss models for statistical analysis derived from experimental data collected in urban and suburban areas at frequencies of 150-1500 MHz’s The results of the measurements were used to develop path loss models in urban and suburban areas. The results showed that Pathloss increases in urban areas respectively.</p>

Harmonic and Inter-Harmonic Detection Based on FFT and Nonlinear Optimization

In order to analyze harmonic and inter-harmonic parameters more accurately, a new detecting method that combined the nonlinear least squares and fast Fourier transform(FFT) was proposed. The FFT was used to produce a rough estimated value of harmonic parameters and then the signal model was set. Finally, the parameters can be estimated more accurately by the use of optimization algorithm which based on damped nonlinear-least squares method. The combined method solves the problem of inaccurate estimate by FFT and solves the problem of how to set the signal model and to choose initial value. The simulation results show that the combined method is effective and far more accuracy than interpolated Hanning window method.

STABILITY OF HARDLY RESHAPING BERM BREAKWATERS

The present paper deals with stability of berm breakwaters designed to be hardly or sometimes partly reshaping. Burcharth (2008, 2011) showed by comparison to the performance of a prototype berm breakwater that the Van der Meer formulae for stability of conventional rock armour including low crests could predict the deformations of the front slope in terms of the eroded area. The present paper verifies the method by comparison to model test results. It is found that the Van der Meer formula for plunging waves predicts very well the eroded area of the reshaped profile, even if it is applied in the surging wave area. Moreover, a simple method to estimate the erosion area based on recession formulae and the depth of intersection of reshaped and initial profile is presented and is applicable for hardly reshaping to fully reshaping. Even when using the only very simple and inaccurate estimate of the depth of intersection the last method leads to scatter quite similar to the first method when considering hardly and partly reshaping berm breakwaters. The influence of the slope angle is though expected to be more correctly included for hardly reshaping breakwaters using the method for straight non-overtopped slopes when the slope angle is 1:1.5 or flatter.

Coherency calculations in the presence of structural dip

We have used crosscorrelation, semblance, and eigenstructure algorithms to estimate coherency. The first two algorithms calculate coherency over a multiplicity of trial time lags or dips, with the dip having the highest coherency corresponding to the local dip of the reflector. Partially because of its greater computational cost, our original eigenstructure algorithm calculated coherency along an implicitly flat horizon. Although generalizing the eigenstructure algorithm to search over a range of test dips allowed us to image coherency in the presence of steeply dipping structures, we were somewhat surprised that this generalization concomitantly degenerated the quality of the fault images in flatter dip areas. Because it is a local estimation of reflector dip (including as few as five traces), the multidip coherency estimate provides an algorithmically correct, but interpretationally undesirable, estimate of the best apparent dip that explained the offset reflectors across a fault. We ameliorate this problem using two methods, both of which require the smoothing of a locally inaccurate estimate of regional dip. We then calculate our eigenstructure estimate of coherency only along the dip of the reflector, thereby providing maximum lateral resolution of reflector discontinuities. We are thus both better able to explain the superior results obtained by our earliest eigenstructure analysis along interpreted horizon slices, yet able to extend this resolution to steeply dipping reflectors on uninterpreted cubes of seismic data.

INTERCONNECTION WIRE-LENGTH ESTIMATION IN VLSI STANDARD CELL PLACEMENT VIA NEURAL NETWORK

Neural Network is used as a tool for estimating interconnection wire-length in VLSI standard cell placement problem. Conventional methods for estimating the interconnection wire-length viz., Bounding Rectangle method, provide inaccurate estimate of the interconnection wire-length and does not depict the interconnection procedure in a layout and separates routing and placement tasks distinctly. The proposed mechanism utilizes the neural network characteristics in understanding the functional mapping between input and output, to estimate the interconnection wire-length. Experiments were performed for different number of cells with varying complexity of interconnections. In all the cases, the performance of the Neural Network is found to be superior to the results obtained using Bounding Rectangle procedure.

Some Theoretical Considerations concerning the Relation between Functional Gain and Insertion Gain

Three examples in which insertion gain and functional gain measures of hearing aid response do not agree are illustrated. In two of the cases, functional gain measures overestimate the true real-ear gain for average conversational speech and in the third example, insertion gain measures are shown to provide an inaccurate estimate of aided benefit. Reasons for these discrepancies are discussed, and an alternative method for measuring real-ear hearing-aid response is described.