EWMA Chart and Measurement Error

Measurement error is a usually met distortion factor in real-world applications that influences the outcome of a process. In this paper, we examine the effect of measurement error on the ability of the EWMA control chart to detect out-of-control situations. The model used is the one involving linear covariates. We investigate the ability of the EWMA chart in the case of a shift in mean. The effect of taking multiple measurements on each sampled unit and the case of linearly increasing variance are also examined. We prove that, in the case of measurement error, the performance of the chart regarding the mean is significantly affected.Exponentially weighted moving average control chart, Average run length, Average time to signal, Measurement error, Markov chain, Statistical process control

Control Charts for the Lognormal Distribution

Control Charts are the main tools of Statistical Process Control. They are used for deciding whether a process is statistically stable or not. Much theory and many applications have been developed for the Gaussian (Normal) distribution in this area. However, in real data sets we usually face up nonnormal processes. Consequently, this theory does not apply. In the present paper, we focus attention on the lognormal distribution that can be considered as a special nonnormal case. In particular, we present the Shewhart Control Charts developed up to now, under such distributional assumptions and a new Control Chart based on the CUSUM theory.Control chart, Nonnormality, Shewhart, CUSUM, Average run length, Lognormal

An Examination of the Robustness to Non Normality of the EWMA Control Charts for the Dispersion

The EWMA control chart is used to detect small shifts in a process. It has been shown that, for certain values of the smoothing parameter, the EWMA chart for the mean is robust to non normality. In this article, we examine the case of non normality in the EWMA charts for the dispersion. It is shown that we can have an EWMA chart for dispersion robust to non normality when non normality is not extreme.Average run length, Control charts, Exponntially weighted moving average control chart, Median run length, Non normality, Statistical process control

The Use of Indices in Surveys

The paper deals with some new indices for ordinal data that arise from sample surveys. Their aim is to measure the degree of concentration to the “positive” or “negative” answers in a given question. The properties of these indices are examined. Moreover, methods for constructing confidence limits for the indices are discussed and their performance is evaluated through an extensive simulation study. Finally, the values of the indices defined and their confidence intervals are calculated for an example with real dataMultinomial proportions, Ordinal data, Indices, Confidence intervals, Sample surveys

Seismic data clustering management system

This is the abstract of the paper given at the conference. Copyright @ 2011 The Authors.Over the last years, seismic images have increasingly played a vital role to the study of earthquakes. The large volume of seismic data that has been accumulated has created the need to develop sophisticated systems to manage this kind of data. Seismic interpretation can play a much more active role in the evaluation of large volumes of data by providing at an early stage vital information relating to the framework of potential producing levels. [1] This work presents a novel method to manage and analyse seismic data. The data is initially turned into clustering maps using clustering techniques [2] [3] [4] [5] [6], in order to be analysed on the platform. These clustering maps can then be analysed with the friendly-user interface of Seismic 1 which is based on .Net framework architecture [7]. This feature permits the porting of the application in any Windows – based computer as also to many other Linux based environments, using the Mono project functionality [8], so it can run an application using the No-Touch Deployment [7]. The platform supports two ways of processing seismic data. Firstly, a fast multifunctional version of the classical region-growing segmentation algorithm [9], [10] is applied to various areas of interest permitting their precise definition and labelling. Moreover, this algorithm is assigned to automatically allocate new earthquakes to a particular cluster based upon the magnitude of the centre of gravity of the existing clusters; or create a new cluster if all centers of gravity are above a predefined by the user upper threshold point. Secondly, a visual technique is used to record the behaviour of a cluster of earthquakes in a designated area. In this way, the system functions as a dynamic temporal simulator which depicts sequences of earthquakes on a map [11]

On Certain Indices for Ordinal Data with Unequally Weighted Classes

In this paper, some new indices for ordinal data are introduced. These indices have been developed so as to measure the degree of concentration on the “small” or the “large” values of a variable whose level of measurement is ordinal. Their advantage in relation to other approaches is that they ascribe unequal weights to each class of values. Although, they constitute a useful tool in various fields of applications, the focus here is on their use in sample surveys and specifically in situations where one is interested in taking into account the “distance” of the responses from the “neutral” category in a given question. The properties of these indices are examined and methods for constructing confidence intervals for their actual values are discussed. The performance of these methods is evaluated through an extensive simulation study.

Effect of Estimation on the Univariate Control Charts for Process Dispersion

Control charts are extensively used in many real world applications. Since process parameters are rarely known common practice is to estimate them. Then, the control limits are modified and become actually random variables. In this paper, we deal with the univariate control charts for dispersion for both rational subgroups and individual measurements. We study the effect of estimating the process parameters of this chart on the first two moments of the run length distribution. The results are used for proposing appropriate values of sample size and number of samples in order to make the estimated control limits perform as the theoretical ones.Shewhart charts, ARL, S chart, X chart

The effect of advertising repetitions and brand share on recall, attitudes, attitude confidence, attitude accessibility, and the attitude-behaviour relationship

Examines variables which explain when and how consumer attitudes predict behavior

ATD: a multiplatform for semiautomatic 3-D detection of kidneys and their pathology in real time

This research presents a novel multi-functional system for medical Imaging-enabled Assistive Diagnosis (IAD). Although the IAD demonstrator has focused on abdominal images and supports the clinical diagnosis of kidneys using CT/MRI imaging, it can be adapted to work on image delineation, annotation and 3D real-size volumetric modelling of other organ structures such as the brain, spine, etc. The IAD provides advanced real-time 3D visualisation and measurements with fully automated functionalities as developed in two stages. In the first stage, via the clinically driven user interface, specialist clinicians use CT/MRI imaging datasets to accurately delineate and annotate the kidneys and their possible abnormalities, thus creating “3D Golden Standard Models”. Based on these models, in the second stage, clinical support staff i.e. medical technicians interactively define model-based rules and parameters for the integrated “Automatic Recognition Framework” to achieve results which are closest to that of the clinicians. These specific rules and parameters are stored in “Templates” and can later be used by any clinician to automatically identify organ structures i.e. kidneys and their possible abnormalities. The system also supports the transmission of these “Templates” to another expert for a second opinion. A 3D model of the body, the organs and their possible pathology with real metrics is also integrated. The automatic functionality was tested on eleven MRI datasets (comprising of 286 images) and the 3D models were validated by comparing them with the metrics from the corresponding “3D Golden Standard Models”. The system provides metrics for the evaluation of the results, in terms of Accuracy, Precision, Sensitivity, Specificity and Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) so as to enable benchmarking of its performance. The first IAD prototype has produced promising results as its performance accuracy based on the most widely deployed evaluation metric, DSC, yields 97% for the recognition of kidneys and 96% for their abnormalities; whilst across all the above evaluation metrics its performance ranges between 96% and 100%. Further development of the IAD system is in progress to extend and evaluate its clinical diagnostic support capability through development and integration of additional algorithms to offer fully computer-aided identification of other organs and their abnormalities based on CT/MRI/Ultra-sound Imaging

Effect of Estimation of the Process Parameters on the Control Limits of the Univariate Control Charts for Process Dispersion

Control charts are extensively used in many real world applications. Since process parameters are rarely known, common practice is to estimate them. Then, the control limits are modified and become actually random variables. In this paper, we deal with the univariate control charts for dispersion for both rational subgroups and individual measurements. We study the effect of estimating the process parameters of these charts on the first two moments of the run length distribution. The results are used for proposing appropriate values of sample size and number of samples in order to make the estimated control limits perform as the theoretical one