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To assess the quality of anticoagulation control at an out‐patient clinic and to investigate patterns of deviation from therapeutic ranges.

Records for 36,157 clinic visits (2,050 patients) were studied. The quality of anticoagulation control was assessed by comparing the measurement of pro‐thrombin time recorded at each clinic visit, expressed as an international normalised ratio (INR), with the target therapeutic range for that patient, also recorded at the time of the clinic visit. Each INR measurement was classified according to the relevant patient's therapeutic range and the signed difference between the INR measurement and the centre of the therapeutic range was calculated. For each patient the percentage of their INR measurements that lay within their therapeutic range was calculated.

Of the measurements, 52.3 per cent were within the relevant therapeutic range. The proportion of individual patients' INR measurements within range varied greatly (median 52 per cent, inter‐quartile range 40‐65 per cent). The quality of anticoagulation control, as measured by the proportion of patients within their therapeutic range, changed little with patient follow‐up time.

The quality of anticoagulation control reported is comparable with that at other centres. The vast majority of patients spend periods outside the therapeutic range for their condition. There may be considerable room for improvement.

The purpose of this paper is to identify common issues among commercial body size charts, and to propose a sizing improvement methodology without changing the number of sizes in the range. One goal is to equalize the number of people accommodated by each size within the range, and to propose a way to evaluate the effectiveness of the improvement.

The proposed method consists of three phases: (Phase I) identify target population; (Phase II) analysis of existing size charts; and (Phase III) improvement of the initial size chart. Phase III is the key process, which includes repeated manipulation of intersize intervals of the three primary measurements (chest, waist and hip) for improved consistency of overall and interior accommodate rates among the three measurement categories. A program was developed in RStudio® to generate trials and side-by-side bar plots for visualization of the differences in accommodate rates.

The main issue in commercial body size charts observed is the inconsistency of the interior accommodation rates among measurement categories. Some other issues include: lack of important measurements, failure to provide ranges and gaps between measurement ranges of adjacent sizes.

This paper proposed a complete work flow to improve body size charts to fix the common issues. The method integrates historic size information and new anthropometric information extracted from a national-scale sizing database (e.g. SizeUSA). The study also brought association of the secondary body measurements with primary measurements without using linear regression. Hence, information from body size charts can be more efficiently used in acquiring other size information.

To obtain sizing systems a specialist knowledge is required to analyse statistically body measurements from surveys. Control measurements, size ranges, body proportions and size intervals have to be calculated. A survey of 100 young women was undertaken in 1993/93 at Manchester Metropolitan University and 10 body measurements were taken. This is used to illustrate the statistical analysis of body measurements, the formulation of sizing systems and body measurement tables. A review of previous surveys and their methods of analysis was undertaken. The main control measurements of height, bust, waist and hips denoting the size of the wearer were obtained by correlation. Size ranges and intervals were obtained by normalising the data and comparing the sizes young women bought and previous size charts. Sizing systems for five sizes 8 to 16 were suggested for three heights, short, medium and tall and bust fittings medium, small and very small. This retained the same proportion for the five sizes within each of the nine systems. A further system of changing proportion in girth measurements was developed from the survey of young women based on percentiles and bust fittings. The neck girth which did not correlate strongly with any measurement was analysed separately. Two examples of body measurement tables covering 30 measurements were formulated to illustrate the procedure. Analysing body measurements statistically is problematic especially in small surveys. It is hoped the suggested guidelines will clarify this area. The coding of sizes is still not uniform. A comparison was made with previous tables. It was concluded that the body proportion had changed and the young women were taller and broader in the waist and hips. Part 3 of this study will cover comparing the problems of taking accurate body measurements with different equipment, formulating size charts for different garments and fabrics and relating these to different systems of pattern construction, and finally, testing prototype garments for size and fit.

Straightness measurement of rail weld joint is of essential importance to railway maintenance. Due to the lack of efficient measurement equipment, there has been limited in-depth research on rail weld joint with a 5-m wavelength range, leaving a significant knowledge gap in this field.

In this study, the authors used the well-established inertial reference method (IR-method), and the state-of-the-art multi-point chord reference method (MCR-method). Two methods have been applied in different types of rail straightness measurement trollies, respectively. These instruments were tested in a high-speed rail section within a certain region of China. The test results were ultimately validated through using traditional straightedge and feeler gauge methods as reference data to evaluate the rail weld joint straightness within the 5-m wavelength range.

The research reveals that IR-method and MCR-method produce reasonably similar measurement results for wavelengths below 1 m. However, MCR-method outperforms IR-method in terms of accuracy for wavelengths exceeding 3 m. Furthermore, it was observed that IR-method, while operating at a slower speed, carries the risk of derailing and is incapable of detecting rail weld joints and low joints within the track.

The research compare two methods’ measurement effects in a longer wavelength range and demonstrate the superiority of MCR-method.

The purpose of this paper was to develop the first standard apparel sizing system for Saudi adult female population originating from anthropometric study using three-dimensional (3D) body scanner.

An anthropometric survey was conducted in four regions of the country where 1,074 participants between the ages of 18 and 63 were scanned using white light 3D body scanner. K-means cluster analysis using stature and hip girth as control variables produced the proposed sizing system, whereas regression equations were used to determine the parameters between measurements of different sizes.

Three sizing groups with 12 size designations in each totalling 36 size designations were identified. The sizing charts developed in this study show that key girth measurement ranges of chest, waist and hips are comparable to that of ISO standard and (ASTM D5585-11), while the Saudi female population falls into shorter height brackets than ISO and ASTM standards.

In this study, the first anthropometric database for Saudi female population was established using 3D body scanning technology, and a sizing system for this target population was developed.

From many decades, bearings-only tracking (BOT) is the interested problem for researchers. This utilises nonlinear filtering methods for state estimation as there is only information about the target, i.e. bearing is a nonlinear measurement. The measurement bearing is tangentially related to the target state vector. There are many nonlinear filtering algorithms developed so far in the literature.

In this research work, the recently developed nonlinear filtering algorithm, i.e. shifted Rayleigh filter (SRF), is applied to BOT.

The SRF is tested for two-dimensional BOT against various scenarios. The simulation results emphasise that the SRF performs well when compared to the standard nonlinear filtering algorithm, unscented Kalman filter (UKF).

SRF utilises the nonlinearities present in the bearing measurement through the use of moment matching. The SRF is able to produce the solution in highly noisy environment, long ranges and high dimension tracking.

The paper presents design details and applications of the recently developed 3‐D laser radar from Z+F. It presents models which have been constructed using the data from “inspection of tunnel tubes”, modelling of a “car body welding cell” and a “car body gripper” in the automotive industry as well as a “chemical process plant”. The laser radar was developed for use in industrial environments. Its twin design aims are measurement performance and robustness. The laser radar can be used with a range of mechanical beam deflection units to meet the needs of specific applications.

Claims recent advances in laser‐based camera technology and 3D analysis software have made production of 3D CAD models from range images a practical proposition. Laser based cameras must meet very strict design criteria if they are to operate at long ranges; these criteria are explored. High‐speed laser cameras produce vast quantities of image data; it is shown that this data can be converted swiftly into a 3‐D CAD model.

Sediment measurement is usually accessible on a periodic or distinct basis. The measurement of sediment (suspended and bedload), especially in the field, is vital in keeping essential data of sediment transport and deposition. Various techniques for measuring sediment have been used over time each with its merits and demerits. The techniques discussed in this paper for suspended sediment include bottle, acoustic, pump, laser diffraction, nuclear and optical. Other techniques for bedload measurement are; River bedload trap (RBT), CSU/FU bedload trap, Helley–Smith, Polish Hydrological Services (PIHM) device, pit and trough, vortex tube, radioactive traces and bedload–surrogate technologies. However, the choice of technique depends on multiple factors ranging from budget constraint, availability of equipment, manpower and data requirement. The purpose of this paper is to present valuable information on selected techniques used in sediment measurement, to aid researchers/practitioners in the choice of sediment measurement technique.

This paper presents a general review of selected field techniques used in sediment measurement (suspended and bedload). Each techniques mode of operation, merits and demerits are discussed.

This paper highlights that each technique has its peculiar merits and demerits. However, two techniques are generally preferred over others; the bottle sampling and the Helley–Smith sampler for measuring suspended and bedload sediment. This is because the applicability of these techniques is quite widespread and time-tested.

This review paper provides an in-depth description and comparison of selected existing field sediment measurement techniques. The objective is to ease decision-making about the choice of technique, as well as to identify the suitability and applicability of the chosen technique.

The concept of developing clothing sizes has taken importance in recent years due to increasing expectations of consumers for branded clothing and its value in terms of fit and durability. The kids’ ready-to-wear brands are expected to pose the least fit issues, thereby covering a wider population of a particular size. This necessitates the standardization of measurements. The lack of standardized approaches has caused fit issues like mismatching of sizes and alterations, in a heterogenous consumer market, like India. The performance of branded apparel depends on the quality of the measurements considered in developing sizes and the approach for standardization. There is a lacuna in the measurements used by the kids’ apparel domestic brands. This study aims to propose an anthropometric approach for deriving quality measurements that can be used effectively in developing kids’ sizes to fit a wider population of kids, thereby reducing the need for alterations.

The measurement data was gathered through the quantitative method. An anthropometric survey was conducted by measuring school kids. A total of 544 kids (girls and boys) of age group 6–8 years were measured to obtain prime anthropometric measurements required for ready-to-wear apparel production. WHO manual and ISO 8559, 1998 meant for anthropometry survey for garment industry was referred for accurate measuring following the landmarks for measuring.

The findings revealed differences in the anthropometric measurements based on gender and age. The anthropometric measurements showed variations within the same body mass index (BMI) range. S, M and L sizes were identified within an age group. The apparel manufacturers and designers need to focus on the discrepancies occurring in the body measurements of an age group to address and control fit issues in kids ready to wear apparel.

The anthropometric approach can be significantly used to control undesired fit and comfort issues in kids’ ready-to-wear apparel.

This study helped to understand the importance of scientific measuring practices to arrive at standardized measurements to develop sizes in ready-to-wear apparel manufacturing.