Considering the risk of ignoring active factors in industrial experiments

This article draws attention to the importance of considering type II error in Design of Experiments contexts and shows, through two examples, an easy way to do that.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A global map of terrestrial habitat types

Funder: NatureMap (https://naturemap.earth/) through Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI)Abstract: We provide a global, spatially explicit characterization of 47 terrestrial habitat types, as defined in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) habitat classification scheme, which is widely used in ecological analyses, including for quantifying species’ Area of Habitat. We produced this novel habitat map for the year 2015 by creating a global decision tree that intersects the best currently available global data on land cover, climate and land use. We independently validated the map using occurrence data for 828 species of vertebrates (35152 point plus 8181 polygonal occurrences) and 6026 sampling sites. Across datasets and mapped classes we found on average a balanced accuracy of 0.77 (+¯0.14 SD) at Level 1 and 0.71 (+¯0.15 SD) at Level 2, while noting potential issues of using occurrence records for validation. The maps broaden our understanding of habitats globally, assist in constructing area of habitat refinements and are relevant for broad-scale ecological studies and future IUCN Red List assessments. Periodic updates are planned as better or more recent data becomes available

Development of an open application for teaching statistics: conception and results

Different commercial statistical software packages exist that are appropriate for teaching statistics. However, free alternatives are scarce, and those existing suffer from problems (such as difficult installations and bizarre interfaces) that make them not very usable. This paper presents the conception and implementation of a new application for statistical analysis with the following characteristics: free, simple to use, multi-platform, scalable and with a focus on statistical concepts and ideas. The whole development cycle will be explained in the presentation: first list of user requirements, design decisions, implementation and testing. The application is developed in R language and uses the shiny package for the user interface. Although the application obviously allows the analysis of real data through graphs and statistical methods, its main objective is facilitating the acquisition of statistical concepts. To accomplish this, menus, configuration options and results are presented in a way that fosters reflection on basic statistical ideas. The application has a special emphasis on industrial statistics. Initial feedback from users testing the application will be exposed, and ways to freely access and use the application will be presented.Postprint (author's final draft

Joc competitiu en línea per aprendre estadística

Un diagnòstic de les pràctiques d'estadística va portar a proposar per a una nova assignatura un joc competitiu en línia de presa de decisions basades en l'estadística. Aquest utilitza dades simulades i un web en què els estudiants adquireixen dades consumint un pressupost, hi introdueixen les decisions que prenen i fan el seguiment de la seva posició en el joc. El resultat final (PRESTON, PRàctiques d'ESTadística ON-line) ja s'ha utilitzat amb èxit a l'ETSEIB (2 quadrimestres, 400 estudiants).Peer Reviewe

PRESTON: Juego competitivo online para el aprendizaje de la estadística

Presentamos un caso de rediseño de las prácticas de una asignatura de estadística. Tras realizar un diagnóstico del diseño previo (teniendo en cuenta la introducción del EEES), se propuso un juego competitivo on-line de toma de decisiones basada en la estadística. Éste utiliza datos simulados y una web en la que los estudiantes (1) adquieren datos consumiendo un presupuesto, (2) introducen las decisiones que toman, y (3) hacen el seguimiento de su posición en el juego. El formato on-line permite flexibilidad y posibilidades de auto-aprendizaje por parte de los estudiantes. El resultado final (PRESTON, PRácticas de ESTadística ON-line) ha sido ya probado con grupos de estudiantes.Postprint (published version

Elaboració de material docent per a assignatures d'estadística industrial

La finalitat del projecte és elaborar material d'ajuda i suport a la docència per assignatures relacionades amb l'estadística industrial. Ens centrem fonamentalment en les assignatures “Mètodes estadístics de l’enginyeria 1”, d’enginyeria industrial, i “Estadística”, d’enginyera química, per la gran repercussió que tenen els canvis en aquestes assignatures (un total de 500 estudiants matriculats per any). El projecte es pot entendre com la continuació d’un altre projecte que va rebre un ajut de l’ICE i que es va desenvolupar durant el curs 2007-2008, titulat “Elaboració de material docent per a assignatures de control i millora de la qualitat” i coordinat per Lourdes Rodero de Lamo. La necessitat de creació de nou material sorgeix a partir de decidir canvis – alineats amb l’enfocament de l’EEES – en la metodologia docent. Els canvis venen motivats no només pel fet que aquestes dues assignatures entren en la fase pilot d’implantació de l’EEES a l’ETSEIB, sinó també – i sobretot – a partir de la constatació de fets que no ens agradaven als professors: poca assistència a classe, sensació de que els estudiants “no segueixen” l’assignatura, oblit ràpid del que s’ha aprés, etc.Peer Reviewe

Mapping red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) habitat suitability using GIS and remote sensing techniques

The British red squirrel population has dramatically declined in the last years. The survival of the species in the UK may depend on the careful selection and management of suitable habitats. A deep understanding of its habitat requirements is therefore crucial for an effective conservation action. Available data, however, is often too coarse in spatial resolution for practical use. The aim of this study was to test the applicability of species distribution modelling for mapping red squirrel habitat suitability at a fine scale. A sampling campaign was designed and implemented in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park (Scotland) in order to collect data relating to forest structural characteristics and squirrel occurrence. Later regression analysis showed the importance of forest structural features in red squirrel presence. The relationship between forest structural variables and different remote sensing vegetation indices was also investigated in order to extrapolate them to the whole study area. Canopy cover was modelled with some accuracy using NDVI as the only explanatory variable. Finally, red squirrel habitat suitability was modelled using a maximum entropy approach. The results of this study suggested that there is a hierarchy in which tree age, tree species composition and forest structure, in this order, have an influence in squirrel habitat preference. Old forests were strongly linked with suitable squirrel habitat. The relatively low model’s predictive power suggested that fine-scale habitat mapping is particularly sensitive to sampling biased input data. The study identifies some critical points to take into account in future modelling studies and encourage further research in the area

Selecting relevant effects in factorial designs

Industrial contexts tend to be as much or more concerned about the probability of ignoring an effect when its influence on the response is relevant (type II error) than about the probability of considering an effect to be active when in fact it is not (type I error). Here, we present a methodology for taking into account both types of error by fixing an effect value that is considered large enough to control the probability of it going unnoticed. In addition, we propose a plot to visualize the results obtained.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Saving runs in fractional factorial designs

When it is known a priori that some contrasts are negligible in a factorial design, their expressions can be used to deduce the missing results. In this article we propose a method for using this procedure when, as in the case of fractional designs, it is not known which contrasts will be null. The method is based on first establishing an interval of possible values corresponding to each of the missing results, then identifying which contrasts are always null independently of the value of said results.Peer Reviewe

The teaching and praxis concerning supernatural healing of British Pentecostals, John Wimber and Kenneth Hagin in the light of an analysis of the healing ministry of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN035498 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo