A Detection Scheme for Dependent Noise Processes

In this paper the problem of memoryless discrete time detection of a constant signal in additive φ-mixing noise is considered. The fidelity criterion is taken to be the asymptotic relative efficiency. The optimal detector nonlinearity is approximated by a polynomial, and the statistical knowledge required for the design of the detector is the family of joint moments of the noise, resulting in a very simple design procedure for the detector. It is shown that the performance of this detector can be made arbitrarily close to that of the optimal memoryless detector for a large class of noises.     

Cost-effectiveness comparison of manual and on-line retrospective bibliographic searching.

A study to compare the cost effectiveness of retrospective manual and on-line bibliographic searching is described. Forty search queries were processed against seven abstracting-indexing publications and the corresponding SDC/ORBIT data bases. Equivalent periods of coverage and searcher skill levels were used for both search models. Separate task times were measured for question analysis, searching, photocopying, shelving, and output distribution. Component costs were calculated for labor, information, reproduction, equipment, physical space, and telecommunications. Results indicate that on-line searching is generally faster, less costly, and more effective than manual searching. However, for certain query/information-source combinations, manual searching may offer some advantages in precision and turn-around time. The results of a number of related studies are reviewed.     

Acoustic sounding of the atmosphere

Measurement of vertical and horizontal wind velocity is of great importance in many contexts, such as investigation of air pollution, weather forecasting, and air-traffic control. In recent years continuously recording acoustic sounders have been developed which give reliable results at reasonable cost: some 200 are now in use in at least 15 countries.     

Infant approach behavior as related to attachment.

The chief purpose of this study was to identify characteristics that distinguish approach as an attachment behavior from approach serving other behavioral systems. Locomotor approaches of 16 male and 10 female white middle-class infants to an attachment figure (the mother) and to a nonattachment figure (the visitor-observer) were examined under naturalistic conditions at home. Observations were made during 4-hour home visits at 3-week intervals; those from 26 to 54 weeks were used. When approach was examined in a free-choice situation and without regard to behavioral context, infants approached the mother proportionally (though slightly) more often than the visitor (p less than .05). In 2 behavioral contexts, however, spontaneous infant approaches were sharply differential to the mother; approaches accompanied by crying and approaches terminating in a pickup appeal were directed almost exclusively to the mother (p less than .0001 for both). Touching upon completion of the approach was not differential, except in the context of a pickup appeal. Object-oriented approaches were more often directed to the visitor than to the mother (p less than .002) and may be either exploratory or affiliative. It is suggested that neither approach nor touching can be assumed to serve the attachment system without consideration of context- both environmental and behavioral.