A robust sequential hypothesis testing method for brake squeal localisation

This contribution deals with the in situ detection and localisation of brake squeal in an automobile. As brake squeal is emitted from regions known a priori, i.e., near the wheels, the localisation is treated as a hypothesis testing problem. Distributed microphone arrays, situated under the automobile, are used to capture the directional properties of the sound field generated by a squealing brake. The spatial characteristics of the sampled sound field is then used to formulate the hypothesis tests. However, in contrast to standard hypothesis testing approaches of this kind, the propagation environment is complex and time-varying. Coupled with inaccuracies in the knowledge of the sensor and source positions as well as sensor gain mismatches, modelling the sound field is difficult and standard approaches fail in this case. A previously proposed approach implicitly tried to account for such incomplete system knowledge and was based on ad hoc likelihood formulations. The current paper builds upon this approach and proposes a second approach, based on more solid theoretical foundations, that can systematically account for the model uncertainties. Results from tests in a real setting show that the proposed approach is more consistent than the prior state-of-the-art. In both approaches, the tasks of detection and localisation are decoupled for complexity reasons. The localisation (hypothesis testing) is subject to a prior detection of brake squeal and identification of the squeal frequencies. The approaches used for the detection and identification of squeal frequencies are also presented. The paper, further, briefly addresses some practical issues related to array design and placement. (C) 2019 Author(s)

Female sex, young and old age, northern German residency, high HbA1c and insulin use predict depressed mood in 35,691 T2D patients

Background and aims: A bidirectional relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2D) and depressive symptoms has been reported. The primary aim was to analyze predictors of depressed mood in T2D. Secondly, the odds ratio of developing a clinically recognized depression in patients with conspicuous screening result was evaluated. Materials and methods: 35,691 T2D patients aged ≥18 years (median [IQR]: 68.9 [59.2-76.5] years) from the German/Austrian multicenter prospective diabetes follow-up registry (DPV) were analyzed. All patients had completed the WHO-5 questionnaire, a reliable and validated 5-item screening tool for depression (score ≤7: likely depression). Logistic regression modeling (SAS 9.4) was applied to study potential predictors (e.g. demographics, regional aspect, diabetes therapy, glycemic S414 Diabetologia (2015) 58 (Suppl 1):S1–S607 control) for depressed mood as well as the risk of developing clinically recognized depression. Results: Depressed mood was present in 11.2% (n=4,000) of patients screened and thereby significantly more prevalent compared to the adult German population (DEGS study: 8.1%, p<0.001). Patients with likely depression had a later diabetes onset (60.5 [49.6-70.2] vs. 58.3 [49.1- 67.7] years, p<0.001) and were more often female (54.0 vs. 48.0%, p< 0.001) compared to patients with inconspicuous results. Duration of diabetes did not differ significantly between groups (7.6 [2.4-12.9] vs. 7.0 [2.1-13.5] years, p=0.76). Young and very old age as well as female sex were associated with depressed mood (table 1, model 1). Moreover, living in northern federal states of Germany, poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥58 mmol/mol) and insulin treatment were significantly related to depressed mood in T2D (table 1). Overall, the odds of developing a clinical diagnosis of depression was 1.95 (95%CI: 1.66-2.29) times higher in patients scored ≤7 in the WHO-5 questionnaire. Conclusion: Depressed mood is a frequent psychological comorbidity in adult T2D patients. In clinical care, routinely screening for psychological problems as recommended by guidelines is absolutely advisable, especially in high-risk patients

Social and health epidemiology of immigrants in Germany: past, present and future

Razum O, Wenner J. Social and health epidemiology of immigrants in Germany: past, present and future. Public Health Reviews. 2016;37(1): 4.Germany has experienced different forms of immigration for many decades. At the end of and after the Second World War, refugees, displaced persons and German resettlers constituted the largest immigrant group. In the 1950s, labor migration started, followed by family reunification. There has been a constant migration of refugees and asylum seekers reaching peaks in the early 1990s as well as today. Epidemiological research has increasingly considered the health, and the access to health care, of immigrants and people with migration background. In this narrative review we discuss the current knowledge on health of immigrants in Germany. The paper is based on a selective literature research with a focus on studies using representative data from the health reporting system. Our review shows that immigrants in Germany do not suffer from different diseases than non-immigrants, but they differ in their risk for certain diseases, in the resources to cope with theses risk and regarding access to treatment. We also identified the need for differentiation within the immigrant population, considering among others social and legal status, country of origin and duration of stay. Though most of the studies acknowledge the need for differentiation, the lack of data currently rules out analyses accounting for the existing diversity and thus a full understanding of health inequalities related to migration to Germany

Reconceptualising product life-cycle theory as stakeholder engagement with non-profit organisation

The paper critically re-examines product life-cycle (PLC) theory, developed over fifty years ago. Despite prevalence in marketing pedagogy and continued popularity within empirical research, PLC is seldom challenged. The paper identifies the organisation-centric construct underpinning the theory and highlights a disconnection between PLC theory and the recent academic insight around customer engagement. It reconceptualises the life-cycle concept based on engagement between stakeholder and non-profit organisation (NPO), structured upon both the market orientation and social exchange constructs. The revised framework maps stakeholder engagement with the NPO through the five stages of incubation, interaction, involvement, immersion, and incapacitation. The paper concludes with identifying a roadmap for future empirical research to develop and validate the re-envisaged conceptual model. The methodology used is narrative literature review supported by secondary research from specialist practitioner reports

Photonic network design based on reference circuits

The objectives of this presentation are to clarify specific terms like transparency and transverse compatibility, and then to derive guidelines as a first approach to an engineered photonic network. These guidelines are applied to the planning of a core network with 8 and 16 wavelength channels per link and verified by first numerical results. Complementary to a layered network architecture, our methodology is based on the use of a specific reference configuration. Degradation effects like amplifier noise, chromatic and polarization-mode dispersion, nonlinear self-phase modulation are covered as well as node crosstalk and the impact of optical frequency misalignments. Based on ITU-T recommendations, a classification of ranges of bit-rates and other preliminary specifications, our method allows us to assemble a general photonic network from its elements in a bottom-up scheme. As a result, we show that photonic networks can exhibit transparent optical paths, ranging from 400 to several thousands of kilometres. A number of 16 wavelength channels at individual bit-rates of up to 10 Gbit/s traversing a couple of crossconnecting nodes can be implemented, taking into account present-day optical components like amplifiers, standard fibres, multiplexers and demultiplexers, fibre switches as well as dispersion-compensating techniques. The potential benefits of such networks are to be seen in their inherent high capacity and in a high degree of flexibility, supporting various applications. Considering the results obtained so far, it can be concluded that a country of the size of Germany could be covered by a transparent photonic network