We believe that solar powered, autonomous airships with the capability to embark on extended duration sampling missions will serve as valuable tools for environmental science. In this paper, we outline our vision for an autonomous airship and discuss some of the applications for which such a craft would be well suited. We also report on our efforts to date to realize this vision. Specifically, ...

The "Selection At List Time" (SALT) scheme controls sampling of concentration for estimating total suspended sediment yield. The probability of taking a sample is proportional to its estimated contribution to total suspended sediment discharge. This procedure gives unbiased estimates of total suspended sediment yield and the variance of the estimate while automatically emphasizing sampling at h...

We present a general approach for Bayesian inference via Markov chain Monte Carlo MCMC simulation in generalized additive semiparametric and mixed models It is particularly appropriate for discrete and other fundamentally non Gaussian responses where Gibbs sampling techniques developed for Gaussian models cannot be applied We use the close relation between nonparametric regression and dynamic o...

In the current study, momentary time sampling (MTS) and partial-interval recording (PIR) were compared to continuous-duration recording of stereotypy and to the frequency of self-injury during a treatment analysis to determine whether the recording method affected data interpretation. Five previously conducted treatment analysis data sets were analyzed by creating separate graphic displays for ...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep duration and obesity among Chinese adults. METHODS A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among Chinese adults in 2008. In total, 3225 participants were selected by a multistage cluster sampling method. Self-reported sleep duration was measured by a standardized questionnaire. Logistic regre...

INTRODUCTION Blood glucose (BG) control performed by intensive care unit (ICU) nurses is becoming standard practice for critically ill patients. New (semi-automated) 'BG control' algorithms (or 'insulin titration' algorithms) are under development, but these require stringent validation before they can replace the currently used algorithms. Existing methods for objectively comparing different i...

It is important to understand the volume backscattering by dense aggregations of a variety of scattering objects such as bubbles or biological targets. This paper addresses the interference of the echoes from randomly distributed targets. The main motivation of the paper is to understand the conditions under which the echo interference may affect the accuracy of the abundance and/or the biomass...

A conventional sonar ring measures the range to objects based on the first echo and is widely used in indoor mobile robots. In contrast, advanced sonar sensing can produce accurate range and bearing (incidence angle) measurements to multiple targets using multiple receivers and multiple echoes per each receiver at the expense of intensive computation. This paper presents an advanced sonar ring ...

INTRODUCTION As bioaerosol research attracts increasing attention, there is a need for additional efforts that focus on method development to deal with different environmental samples. Bioaerosol environmental samples typically have very low biomass concentrations in the air, which often leaves researchers with limited options in choosing the downstream analysis steps, especially when culture-i...