Forecasting Failure Rates of Electronic Goods by Using Decomposition and Fuzzy Clustering of Empirical Failure Rate Curves

In this paper a novel methodology founded on the joint application of analytic decomposition of empirical failure rate time series and soft computational techniques is introduced in order to predict bathtub-shaped failure rate curves of consumer electronic goods. Empirical failure rate time series are modeled by a flexible function the parameters of which have geometric interpretations, and so the model parameters grab the characteristics of bathtub-shaped failure rate curves. The so-called typical standardized failure rate curve models, which are derived from the model functions through standardization and fuzzy clustering processes, are applied to predict failure rate curves of consumer electronics in a method that combines analytic curve fitting and soft computing techniques. The forecasting capability of the introduced method was tested on real-life data. Based on the empirical results from practical applications, the introduced method can be considered as a new, alternative reliability prediction technique the application of which can support the electronic repair service providers to plan their resources in the long run

Analysis of parameters affecting the shelf life of liquid whole egg

In our measurements we tested the changes in viable cell count in liquid whole eggs. Central complex rotation design was used in planning our experiments, and response surface method (RSM) was applied to analyze the effect of each parameter (pH, storage temperature, storage time and preservative content) on the viable cell count. Based on our measurements, in addition to the storage time, the pH value and storage temperature of liquid egg samples significantly affect (p < 0.01) the viable cell count, but any inhibitory effect of preservatives (Na benzoate, K sorbate mixture) on microbial growth could not be clearly detected. Using the secondary polynomial model which was adjusted to our data, the measurements were defined very well; therefore it is hoped that our results will afford real help in estimation of the microbiological condition of liquid whole egg products which are preserved by various methods

Technical note on the validation of a semi-automated image analysis software application for estrogen and progesterone receptor detection in breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The immunohistochemical detection of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors in breast cancer is routinely used for prognostic and predictive testing. Whole slide digitalization supported by dedicated software tools allows quantization of the image objects (e.g. cell membrane, nuclei) and an unbiased analysis of immunostaining results. Validation studies of image analysis applications for the detection of ER and PR in breast cancer specimens provided strong concordance between the pathologist's manual assessment of slides and scoring performed using different software applications.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The effectiveness of two connected semi-automated image analysis software (<it>NuclearQuant </it>v. 1.13 application for <it>Pannoramic</it>™ <it>Viewer </it>v. 1.14) for determination of ER and PR status in formalin-fixed paraffin embedded breast cancer specimens immunostained with the automated Leica Bond Max system was studied. First the detection algorithm was calibrated to the scores provided an independent assessors (pathologist), using selected areas from 38 small digital slides (created from 16 cases) containing a mean number of 195 cells. Each cell was manually marked and scored according to the Allred-system combining frequency and intensity scores. The performance of the calibrated algorithm was tested on 16 cases (14 invasive ductal carcinoma, 2 invasive lobular carcinoma) against the pathologist's manual scoring of digital slides.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The detection was calibrated to 87 percent object detection agreement and almost perfect Total Score agreement (Cohen's kappa 0.859, quadratic weighted kappa 0.986) from slight or moderate agreement at the start of the study, using the un-calibrated algorithm. The performance of the application was tested against the pathologist's manual scoring of digital slides on 53 regions of interest of 16 ER and PR slides covering all positivity ranges, and the quadratic weighted kappa provided almost perfect agreement (κ = 0.981) among the two scoring schemes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>NuclearQuant </it>v. 1.13 application for <it>Pannoramic</it>™ <it>Viewer </it>v. 1.14 software application proved to be a reliable image analysis tool for pathologists testing ER and PR status in breast cancer.</p

Alakzatkutatás = Research of Figures

Alakzatlexikon Az Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem Mai Magyar Nyelvi Tanszéke mellett működő Stíluskutató Csoport hat évi munkával megszerkesztette az első magyar alakzatlexikont. A lexikon mintegy 150 szócikkben (és kb.60 ívnyi terjedelemben) tárgyalja a legfontosabb alakzatokat, ide véve az alakzatok elméleti hátterét megvilágító címszavakat, továbbá a legfőbb trópusokat és az alkzathoz kapcsolódó szemantikai, retorikai, valamint verstani jelenségeket. A szerzők minden bizonnyal hozzájárultak az elméleti kérdések megoldásához, olyanokhoz, mint mi az alakzat, az alakzat és a trópus összefüggése, az alakzatok grammatikai besorolása, valamint az alakzatok és a négy változáskategória kapcsolata | Encyclopeadia of Figures After six years of work,the stylistic research group at Eötvös Universíty, Department of Modern Hungarian, completed the first Hungarian encyclopeadia of figures. The encyclopeadia treats the important figures in 150 entries. Theoretical questions of figures, tropes, semantic, rethorical and prosodic phenomenea of figures are dealt with, too. The authors also concentrated on the realition of figures and tropes, on the grammatical categorization of figures, and on the realition between the figures and the four types of change