Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Howling Detection in Hearing Aids Based on Generalized Teager–Kaiser Operator

With the ongoing miniaturization in the hearing aid industry, acoustical coupling between the loudspeaker and the microphone(s) of the hearing aid causes a major problem to users. Howling is one of the most severe and annoying consequences of this acoustical coupling. This study presents a howling detection method using the Generalized Teager-Kaiser Operator (GTKO). Since the GTKO is both time and frequency sensitive, its resolution parameter must be assigned properly to ensure satisfactory performance of this operator in the frequency range of the input signal for the hearing aid. In order to cover the entire band of the input signal with appropriate resolution parameters, the input signal is decomposed into a filterbank (i.e., uniform and nonuniform filterbanks). GTKO is applied to the output of each band to detect the howling, and the resolution parameter of the GTKO block is selected depending on the central frequency of that particular band. Experimental results compare the performance of each proposed method with two known howling detection approaches, Peak-to-harmonic power ratio (PHPR) approach and a multiple-feature approach. The proposed method has high detection probability and short detection time. It is also shown that considering a hybrid algorithm which includes the PHPR approach with each of the proposed methods (i.e. combination of GTKO blocks with different types of filterbanks) results in lower false alarm probability.
Efficiency Comparison of Document Matching Techniques

Inverted indices are one of the most commonly used techniques to search very large document collections. While the typical size of web document collections is constantly increasing, users have come to expect a very quick response time, and accurate search results. Hence, to make best use of available hardware resources, efficient and effective retrieval techniques are desirable. We review several state-of-the-art approaches for matching documents to query terms, based on term-centric and document-centric scoring. We test the techniques using three modern Web Information Retrieval (IR) test collections, and conclude in terms of the trade-off between retrieval effectiveness and efficiency.
DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ZIRCONIA AND HYDROXYAPATITE COMPOSITES FOR ORTHOPEDIC APPLICATIONS

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) ceramics are used extensively in different medical applications, as biomaterial for repair or replacement of bone tissues since it resembles mineral component of bone and teeth. However, synthetic HAP exhibits low fracture toughness due to its lack of strength and brittleness, thereby providing an obstacle to its application in implants that must withstand high loads. Improvement of the mechanical properties can be achieved by the incorporation into resistant oxide phase, e.g. Zirconia partially stabilized by calcia. The preparation of homogeneously distributed zirconia- hydroxyapatite composites can be accomplished using a co-precipitation process of precursor reagent solutions. The present study describes the preparation and characterization of two fine composite powders of zirconia and hydroxyapatite intended for biomedical implants. The composites were evaluated using XRD, FT-IR and TG-DTA.
Simulation-Based Visual Layout Planning in Advanced Manufacturing

There is an increasing demand for manufacturing processes to be flexible, versatile, and adaptable. Research has been done on how to create modular processes that can be rearranged rapidly. Such processes require a new kind of process planning tool to support process modifications on short notice. Applying visual analytics techniques can help users understand the effects of such modifications and increase their confidence in their adjustments. We present a system that combines an automatic evaluation of process layouts and an interactive visual interface to create a novel iterative analysis cycle of modifying process layouts based on insights gained from previous attempts. Visualizing the drawbacks and benefits of different options could help users find a good layout to meet their requirements. Although this system is specific to the manufacturing domain, we are certain this iterative approach can be extended to other tasks that involve finding better solutions based on previous iterations.
Noninvasive Imaging of Tear Film Dynamics in Eyes With Ocular Surface Disease

Purpose: To test the validity of ocular surface assessment tools offered by a corneal topographer (Oculus Keratograph 5M). Methods: Over 9 months, 296 eyes were imaged and divided into 2 groups: ocular surface disease (OSD) group (223 eyes) with clinically diagnosed meibomian gland dysfunction or dry eye syndrome and control group (73 eyes). All eyes were imaged using the noninvasive Keratograph tear breakup time (NIKBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), and meibography tools of the Oculus K5M. Traditional methods using fluorescein staining were used to measure tear breakup and meniscus height. Meibography images were graded using the hand tracing method and a novel blue boundary method. Results: Oculus TMH values were statistically significantly higher in the OSD group than the control group (0.4:0.3 mm, P < 0.001), whereas traditional fluorescein values were higher in the control group (0.4:0.2 mm, P < 0.01). Oculus NIKBUT values were not statistically significantly different between the OSD and control groups (6.7:8.2 seconds, P = 0.69), whereas fluorescein breakup time values were statistically significantly higher in the control group (6.7:5.6 seconds, P < 0.05). The meibography hand tracing method showed higher sensitivity between the control group and glandular atrophy (17%:28%, P < 0.05), whereas the blue boundary method showed higher reproducibility (6.9%:23.8%, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The Oculus K5M can provide automated measurements of tear film dynamics and meibography images without using fluorescein or cobalt blue light. However, the automated TMH and NIKBUT were not in agreement with traditional measurements using fluorescein staining. Meibography highlights glandular architecture, which can be used to analyze glandular density and glandular atrophy.
Active Tourism Services Outsourcing: a Case Study

– In this work we present the case of the implementation of a specific Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solution for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) related to the active tourism sector. In addition, we show how too complex Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tasks for this kind of enterprise can be externalized. The specific business task contracted to a third-party service provider is the intelligent planning of tourism packages according to the user preferences and characteristics.
Fuzzy n-Ary Groups as a Generalization of Rosenfeld's Fuzzy Groups

The notion of an $n$-ary group is a natural generalization of the notion of a group and has many applications in different branches. In this paper, the notion of (normal) fuzzy $n$-ary subgroup of an $n$-ary group is introduced and some related properties are investigated. Characterizations of fuzzy $n$-ary subgroups are given.
Stability analysis of networked systems containing damped and undamped nodes

This paper answers the question if a qualitatively heterogeneous passive networked system containing damped and undamped nodes shows consensus in the output of the nodes in the long run. While a standard Lyapunov analysis shows that the damped nodes will always converge to a steady-state value, the convergence of the undamped nodes is much more delicate and depends on the parameter values of the network as well as on the topology of the graph. A complete stability analysis is presented based on an eigenvector analysis involving the system parameters and the topology of both the original graph and the reduced graph obtained by a Kron reduction that eliminates the damped nodes.
Carrot and Stick: How Reemployment Bonuses and Benefit Sanctions Affect Job Finding Rates

To increase their transition from welfare to work, benefit recipients in the municipality of Rotterdam were exposed to various financial incentives, including both carrots to sticks. Once their benefit spell exceeded one year, welfare recipients were entitled to a reemployment bonus if they found a job that lasted at least six months. However, they could also be punished for noncompliance with eligibility requirements and face a sanction, i.e. a temporary reducing of their benefits. In this paper we investigate how benefit sanctions and reemployment bonuses affect job finding rates of welfare recipients. We find that benefit sanctions were effective in bringing unemployed from welfare to work more quickly while reemployment bonuses were not.
Sampled data observer design based inter-sample output predictor for Electro-Hydraulic Actuators systems

In this paper, a Sampled Data Disturbance Observer (SDDOB) which estimates simultaneously the unmeasurable states and the uncertainties for the EHA systems is presented. The novelty of our approach is the use of an inter-sample output predictor which allow the users to increase the frequency acquisition of the piston position sensor without affecting the convergence performance. The stability analyses of the proposed observer is proved using Lyapunov function adapted to hybrid systems. To show the efficiency of the SDDOB, numerical simulations of a control application which combines the SDDOB and a PI controller for the purpose of piston position tracking problem is presented.
On cooperative multiple access channels with delayed CSI

We consider a two-user state-dependent multiaccess channel in which the states of the channel are known, causally or only strictly causally, at both encoders, but not at the decoder. Both encoders transmit a common message and, one of the encoders also transmits an individual message. We study the capacity region of this communication model for both causal and strictly causal settings. For the model with causal states, we find an explicit characterization of the capacity region in the discrete memoryless case. For the model with strictly causal states, we establish inner and outer bounds on the capacity region. The outer bound is nontrivial, has a relatively simple form and has the advantage of incorporating only one auxiliary random variable. In particular, it suggests that there is none, or at best only little, to gain from having the encoder that transmits both messages also sending an individual description of the state to the receiver, in addition to the compressed version that is sent cooperatively with the other encoder. The results shed more light on the utility of delayed channel state information for increasing the capacity region of multiaccess channels; and tie with some recent progress in this framework.
A Flexible Proximity Sensor Fully Fabricated by Inkjet Printing

A flexible proximity sensor fully fabricated by inkjet printing is proposed in this paper. The flexible proximity sensor is composed of a ZnO layer sandwiched in between a flexible aluminum sheet and a web-shaped top electrode layer. The flexible aluminum sheet serves as the bottom electrode. The material of the top electrode layer is nano silver. Both the ZnO and top electrode layers are deposited by inkjet printing. The fully inkjet printing process possesses the advantages of direct patterning and low-cost. It does not require photolithography and etching processes since the pattern is directly printed on the flexible aluminum sheet. The prototype demonstrates that the presented flexible sensor is sensitive to the human body. It may be applied to proximity sensing or thermal eradiation sensing.
Design Languages for Embedded Systems

Embedded systems are application-specific computers that interact with the physical world. Each has a diverse set of tasks to perform, and although a very flexible language might be able to handle all of them, instead a variety of problem-domainspecific languages have evolved that are easier to write, analyze, and compile. This paper surveys some of the more important languages, introducing their central ideas quickly without going into detail. A small example of each is included.
Genotypic Complexity of Fisher’s Geometric Model

In his celebrated model of adaptation, Fisher assumed a smooth phenotype fitness map with one optimum. This assumption is at odds with the rugged. Fisher’s geometric model was originally introduced to argue that complex adaptations must occur in small steps because of pleiotropic constraints. When supplemented with the assumption of additivity of mutational effects on phenotypic traits, it provides a simple mechanism for the emergence of genotypic epistasis from the nonlinear mapping of phenotypes to fitness. Of particular interest is the occurrence of reciprocal sign epistasis, which is a necessary condition for multipeaked genotypic fitness landscapes. Here we compute the probability that a pair of randomly chosen mutations interacts sign epistatically, which is found to decrease with increasing phenotypic dimension n, and varies nonmonotonically with the distance from the phenotypic optimum. We then derive expressions for the mean number of fitness maxima in genotypic landscapes comprised of all combinations of L random mutations. This number increases exponentially with L, and the corresponding growth rate is used as a measure of the complexity of the landscape. The dependence of the complexity on the model parameters is found to be surprisingly rich, and three distinct phases characterized by different landscape structures are identified. Our analysis shows that the phenotypic dimension, which is often referred to as phenotypic complexity, does not generally correlate with the complexity of fitness landscapes and that even organisms with a single phenotypic trait can have complex landscapes. Our results further inform the interpretation of experiments where the parameters of Fisher’s model have been inferred from data, and help to elucidate which features of empirical fitness landscapes can be described by this model.
Investigating Relationships Between Australian Flooding and Large‐Scale Climate Indices and Possible Mechanism

Flooding is one of the most severe natural disasters in Australia. While flood spatial and temporal variability in the Australian continent has been well documented in the literature, the relationship between seasonal flood magnitude and frequency (FMF) and climatic driving forces influence, and the possible physical mechanism behind the relationship remain unclear. This study attempts to quantify relationships between four climatic indices (Niño‐Southern Oscillation [ENSO], Indian Ocean Dipole [IOD], Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation [IPO], and Southern Annular Mode [SAM]) and seasonal FMF across 413 unregulated Australian catchments during 1975–2010. Results indicate that the climate indices have noticeable impacts on flood variability across Australia. Specifically, ENSO plays a dominant role in influencing summer and spring flood variability. However, IOD and IPO tend to have larger effects on autumn and winter floods, respectively. Relationships between the climate indices and FMF can be well interpreted by atmospheric circulation related to the dominant climate index. Our results provide relevant information for flood risk management and have implications for mitigating flood hazards.
HELC: a High Efficiency and Low Cost structured Peer-to-Peer overlay without Distributed Hash Table

For such a highly distributed and heterogeneous environment as P2P system, information reflection and collection, lack of centralised control and non-cooperation are just some of the challenges. In order to build an ideal P2P system, there are two key problems to be solved: (1) how to make the overlay robust; (2) how information can be located and routed at a low cost without global view of the system. We have designed a hierarchical P2P overlay and combined its robust characteristic with the merits of a structured P2P overlay. Differing from the traditional hierarchical P2P tree-like structure, (1) this article presents a High Efficiency and Low Cost (HELC) structured P2P overlay composed of levels and layers, which uses small world characteristics to improve efficiency and decrease the cost of routing. (2) Unlike normal redundant mechanisms for solving the single fault problem: Tri-Information Center mechanism is presented to improve robustness. (3) A source ranking mechanism is proposed to discourage free riding and whitewashing and to encourage frequent information exchanges among peers. The HELC will be not only more efficient because it applies the DHT-like routing algorithm in the unstructured P2P overlay, but also more adaptive to suit highly dynamic environment.
An ensemble data assimilation system to estimate CO2 surface fluxes from atmospheric trace gas observations

[1] We present a data assimilation system to estimate surface fluxes of CO2 and other trace gases from observations of their atmospheric abundances. The system is based on ensemble data assimilation methods under development for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and is the first of its kind to be used for CO2 flux estimation. The system was developed to overcome computational limitations encountered when a large number of observations are used to estimate a large number of unknown surface fluxes. The ensemble data assimilation approach is attractive because it returns an approximation of the covariance, does not need an adjoint model or other linearization of the observation operator, and offers the possibility to optimize fluxes of chemically active trace gases (e.g., CH4, CO) in the same framework. We assess the performance of this new system in a pseudodata experiment that resembles the real problem we will apply this system to. The sensitivity of the method to the choice of several parameters such as the assimilation window size and the number of ensemble members is investigated. We conclude that the system is able to provide satisfactory flux estimates for the relatively large scales resolved by our current observing network and that the loss of information in the approximated covariances is an acceptable price to pay for the efficient computation of a large number of surface fluxes. The full potential of this data assimilation system will be used for near–real time operational estimates of North American CO2 fluxes. This will take advantage of the large amounts of atmospheric data that will be collected by NOAA-CMDL in conjunction with the implementation of the North American Carbon Program (NACP).
VLA detection of OH absorption from the elliptical galaxy NGC 1052

VLA observations of OH absorption towards the elliptical galaxy NGC 1052 are presented. Both OH lines, at 1665 and 1667 MHz, were detected in absorption towards the center of NGC 1052. The hyperfine ratio of the two OH lines ( τ 1667 / τ 1665 ) is $2.6\pm0.8$ as compared to 1.8 expected for the excitation under LTE conditions for an optically thin cloud. The column density of OH is estimated to be $2.73\,(\pm0.26)\times10^{14}$ cm -2 assuming $T_{\rm ex} \sim10$ K. The centers of both the OH lines are redshifted from the systemic velocity of the galaxy by ~173 km s -1 . The velocity of OH line coincides with the velocity corresponding to the strongest HI absorption. We suggest that OH absorption is arising from a molecular cloud falling towards the nucleus. The OH line, though narrower, is found to be within the much broader and smoother H 2 O megamaser emission. The possible link between OH/HI and H 2 O emission is discussed.
Predictive Feedback Can Account for Biphasic Responses in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

Biphasic neural response properties, where the optimal stimulus for driving a neural response changes from one stimulus pattern to the opposite stimulus pattern over short periods of time, have been described in several visual areas, including lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), primary visual cortex (V1), and middle temporal area (MT). We describe a hierarchical model of predictive coding and simulations that capture these temporal variations in neuronal response properties. We focus on the LGN-V1 circuit and find that after training on natural images the model exhibits the brain's LGN-V1 connectivity structure, in which the structure of V1 receptive fields is linked to the spatial alignment and properties of center-surround cells in the LGN. In addition, the spatio-temporal response profile of LGN model neurons is biphasic in structure, resembling the biphasic response structure of neurons in cat LGN. Moreover, the model displays a specific pattern of influence of feedback, where LGN receptive fields that are aligned over a simple cell receptive field zone of the same polarity decrease their responses while neurons of opposite polarity increase their responses with feedback. This phase-reversed pattern of influence was recently observed in neurophysiology. These results corroborate the idea that predictive feedback is a general coding strategy in the brain.
Evaluation of Methylation Biomarkers for Detection of Circulating Tumor DNA and Application to Colorectal Cancer

Solid tumors shed DNA into circulation, and there is growing evidence that the detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has broad clinical utility, including monitoring of disease, prognosis, response to chemotherapy and tracking tumor heterogeneity. The appearance of ctDNA in the circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) isolated from plasma or serum is commonly detected by identifying tumor-specific features such as insertions, deletions, mutations and/or aberrant methylation. Methylation is a normal cell regulatory event, and since the majority of ccfDNA is derived from white blood cells (WBC), it is important that tumour-specific DNA methylation markers show rare to no methylation events in WBC DNA. We have used a novel approach for assessment of low levels of DNA methylation in WBC DNA. DNA methylation in 29 previously identified regions (residing in 17 genes) was analyzed in WBC DNA and eight differentially-methylated regions (DMRs) were taken through to testing in clinical samples using methylation specific PCR assays. DMRs residing in four genes, BCAT1, GRASP, IKZF1 and IRF4, exhibited low positivity, 3.5% to 7%, in the plasma of colonoscopy-confirmed healthy subjects, with the sensitivity for detection of ctDNA in colonoscopy-confirmed patients with colorectal cancer being 65%, 54.5%, 67.6% and 59% respectively.
Analysis of Risk Factors Affecting the Severity of Intersection Crashes by Logistic Regression

Objective: The objective of this research was to study the risk factors that significantly influence the severity of intersection crashes for vehicle occupants, as well as for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. Methods: Logistic regression was applied as the method in this study to analyze a data set of intersection crashes involving casualties in Victoria, Australia, for the period January 2000 to December 2009. Results: Seven risk factors obtained were found to be significantly associated with the severity of intersection crashes, including driver age and gender, speed zone, traffic control type, time of day, crash type, and seat belt usage. Conclusions: This study found that male drivers as well as older drivers (age 65 and above) had higher odds of being involved in fatal intersection crashes. Intersection crashes occurring between midnight and early morning (12:00 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), in 100 km/h speed zones, or with no traffic control had a higher odds of a fatal outcome than their counterpart categories. Furthermore, intersection crashes involving pedestrians or a non–seat belt–wearing driver were more likely to lead to a fatal outcome. In general, identification of risk factors and the discussion of the odds ratio between levels on the impact of the intersection crash severity would be beneficial for road safety stakeholders to develop initiatives to reduce the severity of intersection crashes.