Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A review of the MTF concept in room acoustics and its use for estimating speech intelligibility in auditoria

The concept of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) can successfully be applied to evaluate the quality of speech transmission from a talker to a listener in an auditorium. Typically, depending on the auditorium acoustics, the intensity modulations contained in the original sound are to some extent reduced when measured at a listener’s location, especially for higher modulation frequencies. The implementation of such an acoustical MTF analysis with a sinusoidally modulated test signal is described in detail. The performance of a sound transmission system as revealed by the MTF can be expressed in one single index (the Speech Transmission Index, STI), which relates well to the performance as determined by intelligibility tests with talkers and listeners. A review is given of a series of studies on various aspects of the chain of relations between auditorium acoustics, MTF, STI, and speech intelligibility, illustrating the use of this approach for estimating speech intelligibility, either from MTF calcula.
Neural net without deep learning: signal approximation by multilayer perceptron

The research is devoted to the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) for signal processing. The features of the simplest feed forward neural networks (multilayer perceptrons, MLP) application are analyzed. When using MLP in a sliding time window, it allows to solve problems of signal approximation with high accuracy and to determine their parameters when analyzing dynamic processes. If the signal can be set by analytical formulas with random parameters on separate time intervals, then after training, MLP can be implemented in microprocessor equipment for real-time signal processing. The ANN training algorithms and the errors of the proposed signal processing method are discussed. The approach does not require "deep learning" and a complex ANN structure, it allows one to control the accuracy of algorithms at intermediate stages of calculations. The results are of interest for electrical engineering and smart energy systems.
Offspring epigenetic markers at birth related to gestational BMI predict offspring BMI‐trajectories from infancy to 26 years

Abstract Objective To date, epigenetic studies identified differential DNA methylation (DNAm) related to gestational‐body mass index (BMI) in offspring at birth. This study investigated whether the identified DNAm in offspring were also associated with BMI trajectories from infancy to age 26 years. Methods Data of 794 participants from Isle of Wight birth cohort in UK were investigated to study association between BMI trajectories and DNAm related to gestational‐BMI at birth. Multinominal logistic regression models were applied to test the association between 1090 DNAm sites reported in three prior epigenome‐wide association studies and BMI trajectories. Results DNAm site cg23089913 (NANOS1) and cg13217064 (SOX14) were associated with early persistent obesity (EPO) and delayed overweight (DOW) trajectories respectively. A higher methylation of cg23089913 showed low odds of being in EPO trajectory (OR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.76–0.93) while higher methylation of cg13217064 resulted in 1.4‐times the odds of being in DOW trajectory when compared to the normal trajectory [Correction added on 22 February 2023, after first online publication: Range of the DNAm site cg23089913 has been changed from ‘lower’ to ‘higher’ in the preceding sentence. ]. In a gender‐stratified analysis, the odds of developing into DOW was 1.8 times in female participants for cg13217064 while not such association was observed in males. Conclusions Deviations in methylation of cg23089913 (NANOS1) and cg13217064 (SOX14) in newborns may change the risk of having excess body weight.
Bayesian Estimation of Hunting Success Rate and Harvest for Spatially Correlated Post‐stratified Data

We consider the estimation of success rate and harvest under post survey stratification at the sub‐domain (county) level. Often in this situation, the population size for the sub‐domain is unknown and the random mechanism that dictates the sample size for sub‐domains is ignored. Finding good estimators of success rate and harvest is very important for wildlife abundance. A Bayesian hierarchical model is developed to estimate both success rate and harvest simultaneously. The model includes a random sub‐domain sample size correlated with the number of successes in the sub‐domain, fixed week effects, random geographic effects, and spatial correlations between neighboring sub‐domains. The computation is done by Gibbs sampling and adaptive rejection sampling techniques. The method developed is illustrated using data from the Missouri Turkey Hunting Survey. The estimation of success rate is improved by treating the the sub‐domain sample size as a random variable instead of a fixed constant. The Bayesian model yields a reasonable harvest estimation. The spatial pattern of the estimated harvest matches the pattern of the check station data.
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Promote Metastases of Colorectal Cancers through Activation of ERK Signaling by Releasing Neutrophil Elastase

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) play important roles in host immunity, as there is increasing evidence of their contribution to the progression of several types of cancers even though their role in colorectal cancers (CRCs) remains unclear. To investigate the clinical relevance of NETs in CRCs, we examined the expression of citrullinated histone H3 using immunohistochemistry and preoperative serum myeloperoxidase–DNA complexes in CRC patients using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. High expression of intratumoral or systemic NETs was found to correlate with poor relapse-free survival (RFS), for which it is an independent prognostic factor. In vitro investigations of CRC cells (HCT116, HT29) revealed that NETs did not affect their proliferation but did promote the migration of CRC cells mediated by neutrophil elastase (NE) released during NETosis to increase extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity. In vivo experiments using nude mice (KSN/slc) revealed that NE inhibition suppressed liver metastases in CRC cells, although it did not affect the growth of subcutaneously implanted tumors. Taken together, these results suggest that NET formation correlates with poor prognoses of patients with CRC and that the inhibition of NE could be a potential therapy for CRC metastases.
Interpretation of Sea Beam backscatter data collected at the Laurentian fan off Nova Scotia using acoustic backscatter theory

The purpose is to use acoustic scattering theory and Sea Beam measurements to estimate seafloor roughness parameters. The Sea Beam backscatter data are from a test area in the Laurentian fan, a relatively flat region. Sidescan sonarlike images were reconstructed from the multibeam data. These images in the test area show two distinctly different types of areas (A) and (B). The backscatter model uses the Helmholtz–Kirchhoff formulation of scattering theory and correlation function C(r)=exp[−‖r/l‖n], where r is the displacement, l is the correlation length, and n is the exponent. A single rough interface model fits the backscatter data in (A). The root‐mean‐square roughness was 6–8 cm and the correlation lengths were 140–270 cm. The exponent n ranged from 0.95 to 1.5. The type (B) areas required a two‐layer model: the interfaces in the first type of areas (A) is covered by a sediment having a smoother surface. The rms roughness of the covering sediments were about 3 cm, the exponent n was nearly 2 and corre.
Synchrotron x-ray microbeam diagnostics of combinatorial synthesis

X-ray microbeam techniques (spot size=3×20 μm2) have been applied to characterize the composition and structure of rare earth activated Gd(La, Sr)AlO3 phosphor thin films grown by combinatorial synthesis. Using x-ray fluorescence, x-ray diffraction and near-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy, we have measured the chemical composition, crystallographic structure, and valence state of the rare earth activator atom Eu. These measurements represent the direct application of x-ray techniques to solid-state materials prepared by combinatorial synthesis and demonstrate the power of x-ray microbeam analysis to nondestructively characterize as-grown combinatorial libraries.
Point-based and plane-based deformation monitoring of indoor environments using terrestrial laser scanners

Abstract. Terrestrial laser scanners are high-accuracy 3D imaging instruments that are capable of measuring deformations with sub-millimetre level accuracy in most close-range applications. Traditionally, deformation monitoring via laser scanning is performed by measuring distinct signalised targets. In this case, the centroid of these targets must be determined with great accuracy for optimum detectability. To achieve this, a least-squares target centroid extraction algorithm suitable for planar checkerboard-type targets is proposed for irregularly organised laser scanner data. These target centroids are then used in a free-station network adjustment for performing deformation analysis with no a priori assumptions about the deformation pattern. To ensure the optimum measurement accuracy, all systematic errors inherent to the instrument at the time of data acquisition needs to be removed. One of the methods for reducing these systematic errors is by performing self-calibration of terrestrial laser scanners. In this paper, this was performed on-site to model the systematic errors of the scanner. It is demonstrated that the accuracy of the recovered translational movements were improved by an order of magnitude from the millimetre level to the sub-millimetre level using this approach. Despite the success of using laser scanners with signalised targets in deformation analysis, the main benefit of active sensors like terrestrial laser scanning systems is their ability to capture 3D information of the entire scene without installing markers. A new markerless deformation analysis technique that utilises intersection points derived from planar-features is proposed and tested in this paper. The extraction and intersection of planes in each point cloud can be performed semi-automatically or automatically. This new method is based on free-stationing and does not require a priori knowledge about stable control points or movement patterns. It can detect and measure both translational and rotational movements of the planes with minimum human interaction. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is studied through simulations and real datasets captured with a phase-based Leica HDS6100 scanner.
Influences of CCD nonlinear response on measurement of propagation factor M2 of a laser beam

In this paper, we analyze the influence of the nonlinear optoelectronic response on the measurement of the beam propagation factor M2 at different laser wavelengths. According to our theoretical investigation, the size of a laser beam with a standard Gaussian distribution will be estimated as larger than the real value when the response of a commercial non-calibrated CCD camera has a nonlinear relation to the recorded signal intensity. It has been demonstrated that the measurement accuracy in M2 becomes considerably worse by using such a CCD camera. The conclusion is thought to be useful for evaluation of the laser features in both research activities and industrial applications.
Multiple semi-coarsened multigrid for 3D CFD

A significant difficulty of standard multigrid methods for 3D problems, when compared to application to 2D problems, is that the requirements to be imposed on the smoother are much more severe. As a remedy, we investigate three different possibilities of multiple semi-coarsening: full, sparse and semi-sparse. Numerical results are presented for a standard 3D transonic test case. The good parallel computing properties of the sparse-grid and the semi-sparse-grid approaches are also investigated. The first speed-up results are promising. The paper contributes to the state-of-the-art in efficiently solving 3D fluid-flow equations.
Intensity and polarization characteristics of the light scattered by the ice crystals of cirrus clouds with preferred orientations

Knowledge of optical properties of ice crystal particles of cirrus clouds is a challenging problem of atmospheric optics. Cirrus clouds cover, in average, 20%-30% of Earth's surface that leads to their essential impact of climate. Therefore these optical properties are needed for incorporation in up-to-date models of Earth's radiation budget and, consequently, they should be used in numerical models of climate prediction or climate change. The optical properties of ice crystal particles have been calculated for recent 20-30 years by a lot of authors under an assumption of 3-D orientation. However, the crystals often reveal a tendency to be oriented in the horizontal plane because of aerodynamic laws. Phase functions for light scattering by horizontally and preferably oriented hexagonal ice plates and columns are numerically calculated within the framework of geometric optics. The main quantitative properties of the halos (sundog, parhelion 120°, suncave Parry arc, sunvex Parry arc, and others) are obtained for a number of both incident light directions and aspect ratios of the plates and columns respectively. A parameterization of the phase functions in the parhelic, subparhelic and circumzenithal (circumhorizonthal) circles for the plates and all scattered energy for the columns are proposed based on the integral contributions of the narrow angular peaks (halos) that are tabulated as the weight coefficients. Our results can be used for atmospheric lidar observation for determining of size, shape distributions of the ice crystals particles in cirrus clouds. A method for retrieving aspect ratios of the plates by means of polarization measurements is discussed.
A tunable multi-wavelength erbium doped fiber laser based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer and photonic crystal fiber

In this paper a tunable multi-wavelength erbium doped fiber laser, based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, is presented. The interferometer is achieved by splicing a piece of photonic crystal fiber between two segments of a single-mode fiber. Here, by changing the curvature radius in the Mach–Zehnder interferometer, the single-, double- or triple-line emissions can be tuned from 1526 to 1550 nm. Finally it is shown, via experimental results, that the laser has high stability at room temperature.
Resonance properties of optical all-dielectric metamaterials using two-dimensional multipole expansion

Kallos, Efthymios and Chremmos, Ioannis and Yannopapas, Vassilios (2012) Resonance Properties of Optical All-Dielectric Metamaterials Using Two-Dimensional Multipole Expansion. Physical Review B, American Physical Society, 86 (245108). ISSN 1098-0121 This version is available at: http://preprints.acmac. uoc.gr/158/ Available in ACMAC’s PrePrint Repository: December 2012 ACMAC’s PrePrint Repository aim is to enable open access to the scholarly output of ACMAC.
Outline of a theory of breakage

Much of the debate in archaeological theory throughout the last decades has revolved around challenging problematic humanist principles that have shaped our discipline, particularly the idea that humans are masters over nature. Postprocessualists sought, among other things, to emancipate the human condition from this essentialist claim in part by exposing the historical and cultural situatedness of this humanist principle – an epistemological endeavour. In comparison, posthumanists have animated the material world (albeit in different ways) to decentre human beings in relation to long-forsaken nonhumans – an ontological agenda. While posthumanists accuse postprocessualists of practicing anthropocentrism and the latter accuse the former of occupying an ahumanist and anti-epistemological position, there are powerful commonalities in their critique of late humanist doctrines. The aim of this paper is to introduce a theory that exposes the illusory humanist claim of human control over nature and to recognise other forces with momentum besides human will, while at the same time giving prominence to questions about human knowledge and practice. Therefore, a connection is formed between postprocessualism and posthumanism and, as an ironic result, a theory of breakage is formulated. When we consider human participation with breakage, defined as those continuous and uncontrollable phenomena involving the unbinding of object form, we come to terms with a different form of anthropological understanding termed ‘the social knowledge of breakage’. This constitutes an embodied form of knowledge, which is acquired and expressed practically from a young age about how objects break and how one must respond to these situations. This knowledge is exposed in both mundane and ceremonial practices, in linguistic and non-linguistic forms, shaping social practices in uncertain ways, and can be analysed according to three different strands. In this way, we become aware of the creative ways in which broken materials inadvertently affect our practices.
A Survey on Ground Segmentation Methods for Automotive LiDAR Sensors

In the near future, autonomous vehicles with full self-driving features will populate our public roads. However, fully autonomous cars will require robust perception systems to safely navigate the environment, which includes cameras, RADAR devices, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors. LiDAR is currently a key sensor for the future of autonomous driving since it can read the vehicle’s vicinity and provide a real-time 3D visualization of the surroundings through a point cloud representation. These features can assist the autonomous vehicle in several tasks, such as object identification and obstacle avoidance, accurate speed and distance measurements, road navigation, and more. However, it is crucial to detect the ground plane and road limits to safely navigate the environment, which requires extracting information from the point cloud to accurately detect common road boundaries. This article presents a survey of existing methods used to detect and extract ground points from LiDAR point clouds. It summarizes the already extensive literature and proposes a comprehensive taxonomy to help understand the current ground segmentation methods that can be used in automotive LiDAR sensors.
Anemia prevalence time trends and disparities in the US population: examination of NHANES 1999–2020

While a rising prevalence of anemia in the United States was reported in older studies, recent data are lacking. To estimate the prevalence and time trends of anemia in the United States and to examine how these estimates differ by gender, age, race, and household income to poverty threshold ratio (HIPR), we used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1999 to 2020. The presence of anemia was determined using the World Health Organization criteria. Survey-weighted raw and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) were determined using generalized linear models for the overall population and by gender, age, race, and HIPR. In addition, an interaction between gender and race was explored. Complete data on anemia, age, gender, and race were available on 87,554 participants (mean age = 34.6 years, women = 49.8%, Whites = 37.3%). Anemia prevalence increased from 4.03% during the 1999–2000 survey cycle to 6.49% during 2017–2020. In adjusted analyses, anemia prevalence was higher in >65 than in 26–45 years old (PR = 2.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.95, 2.35), in Blacks than Whites (PR = 3.97, 95% CI = 3.63, 4.35), in women than men (PR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.83, 2.13), and in those with HIPR ≤ 1 than >4 (PR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.61, 0.75). Gender modified the relationship between anemia and race; when compared to their male counterparts, Black, Hispanic, and other women had higher anemia prevalence than White women (all interaction p values <0.05). The anemia prevalence in the United States has risen from 1999 to 2020 and remains high among the elderly, minorities, and women. The difference in anemia prevalence between men and women is larger in non-Whites.
Color texture synthesis based on structure

Texture synthesis has a variety of applications in image processing. New algorithms emerged endlessly. Inspired by brushwork, we presented a novel algorithm for synthesizing textures from an input sample. First, EMD algorithm was introduced and texture structure of sample was extracted. Second, we synthesized texture structure with Patch-based sampling and MRF. For the spaces among structures, we extracted their irregular forms with distance transform and filled in them. Our method is not only simple and good qualitative but also robust.
The use of a Legendre multiwavelet collocation method for solving the fractional optimal control problems

In this article the Legendre multiwavelet basis with the aid of a collocation method has been applied to give the approximate solution for the fractional optimal control problems (FOCPs). The properties of the Legendre multiwavelet are presented. These properties together with the collocation method are then utilized to reduce the problem to the solution of an algebraic system. Numerical results and a comparison with the exact solution in the cases when we have an exact solution are given to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the new method.
Quantitative analysis of skin chemicals using rapid near-infrared Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is a non-invasive optical technique that is very sensitive to the structure and conformation of biochemical constitutes. It has been successfully used to study dysplasia and cancer in a variety of human tissues including skin. Researchers have a strong interest in quantitative analysis of the Raman spectra in the hope to find the quantitative molecule changes associated with cancers. Because skin is the largest organ in humans, it is very important to study the variability of Raman spectra for different body sites. In this presentation we report our quantitative analysis of normal skin Raman spectra of twenty-five body sites. Partial least square (PLS) analysis was used to quantify the skin molecules from the in vivo Raman spectra. We find that the absolute Raman intensity differs from person to person and from body site to body site. However the normalized Raman spectra are identical for the same body site. It is particularly interesting to find that the distribution of skin molecules is clustered for the same body regions.
Role of hydrogen loading and glass composition on the defects generated by the femtosecond laser writing process of fiber Bragg gratings

The creation of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in optical fibers by laser irradiation causes the formation of defects in the modified glass. We have used confocal fluorescence spectroscopy to identify the location and types of defects formed after writing FBGs with the femtosecond laser phase mask technique. Our results show that non-bridging oxygen hole centers (NBOHCs) and self-trapped excitons (Eδ’) are formed throughout all-silica core Sumitomo Z-fiber. Similar defects are observed for Ge-doped silica fiber, Corning SMF-28, but in this case the relative concentrations of NBOHC and Eδ’ vary from the core to the cladding. In both fibers, hydrogen loading prior to irradiation appears to passivate the defects except in the Ge-doped core where the NBOHC defects persist.