Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speech synthesis using an aeroacoustic fricative model

The essential result from aeroacoustic theory incorporated into this work is that of Howe. His result relates the motion of vorticity through a duct of changing cross-section to the plane wave sound field generated by that motion. This relation is used to compute the value of an acoustic pressure source in the duct. The aeroacoustic theory implicitly incorporates the source spectrum, level, impedance, and spatial distribution, assuming the behavior of vorticity and the vocal tract shape are known. Due to its complexity, obtaining detailed information about the vorticity distribution of any turbulent flow entails a high cost in time and resources, whether the approach is computational or experimental. Fortunately, this problem has received enough attention that it is possible to parameterize the essential features of the vorticity field in the vocal tract into a jet model which requires a minimum of computational effort. Such a jet model is presented here. It prescribes the motion of vorticity based upon criteria which determine the location of jet formation (flow separation) in the vocal tract, the geometry of the location where the jet is formed, and the local airflow speed at the jet formation location. The new jet model and aeroacoustic source description were incorporated into a transmission line model for duct acoustics. The result is an engineering solution for a new fricative model which combines low-cost computation with judicious application of fundamental physics. Two sets of validation studies were conducted to test the computational method. The first synthesized the sound produced by steady airflow in a pipe with axial area variations. The pipe geometry and jet speed were matched to those of a quiet aeroacoustic pipe flow facility. The pressure spectrum measured at the pipe exit compared favorably to the pressure spectrum computed for the simulated system. The second validation study tested the method by synthesizing unvoiced speech sounds, both in isolation and in a vowel context. The results show the strong potential for this approach to produce high quality unvoiced speech without the need to estimate source strength, spectra, or location for different vocal tract geometries. That is, the synthesis of unvoiced sounds is gained automatically from the articulatory description. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Nitrate Contamination of Groundwater: Sources and Potential Health Effects

Because nitrate contamination of groundwater is pandemic and the costs associated with remediating groundwater are high, the question of risk to human health from nitrate needs to be addressed. In order to prevent methemoglobinemia (an acute toxic response to nitrite exposure that precludes transport of oxygen by the blood), the US Environmental Protection Agency has set the maximum contaminant level for nitrate in drinking water at 10 mg nitrate-N/L. However, it is quite common for groundwater in agricultural areas to exceed this standard at some time during the year. A relationship between nitrate intake and cancer has not been conclusively demonstrated, but some evidence points to a linkage. The magnitude of the risk posed to human health from nitrate contamination of groundwater is still in debate. The pandemic nature of nitrate contamination of groundwater and the inherent difficulty of remediating groundwater make it an important issue. Groundwater is a significant source of water for both domestic and agricultural use; it is the source of domestic water for 50 percent of the total US population and for nearly 90 percent of the rural population. Groundwater comprises 75-80 percent of the water used for agricultural irrigation.1 central issues of nitrate contamination of groundwater and the possible human health effects. A point that is universally agreed on is that protecting groundwater from nitrate contamination is a complex management challenge - a challenge that must be met with effective policy coordination at the federal, state, and local levels.3"5 Unfortunately, the individual who can have the greatest effect on the protection of groundwater from nitrate contamination - the farmer - is often sent conflicting signals by an agricultural policy that encourages high nitrate application for
Infant Oral Health: Focus on Caries Prevention during Pregnancy

highly preventable through a combination of oral hygiene, the use of fluoride and dietary measures. Prevention of caries should start in the prenatal period because the maternal caries status is strongly associated with the caries status of their children. This short review will address the importance of early risk assessment for identification of parent-infant groups who are at high risk for Early Childhood Caries (ECC) and would benefit significantly from early preventive intervention.
Optical performance monitor built into EDFA repeaters for WDM networks

Summary form only given. In this paper, we present an optical performance monitor that employs an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF), which has previously been utilized as a wavelength channel counter for per-channel output power control in an EDFA repeater. This monitor, which features low cost, high reliability, and high-speed operations, can detect SNRs, output levels per channel, and the number of channels, information which can be used in the supervision and control of EDFA repeaters.
Full Screening Another View at One-Factor-At-A-Time Designs

Textbooks on Design Of Experiments invariably start by explaining why one-factor-at-a -time (OAT) is an inferior method. Here we will show that in a model with all interactions a variant of OAT is extremely efficient, provided that we only have non-negative parameters and that there are only a few large parameters. In the extreme, this means that there is one positive parameter. In that case, for m variables, that is, for 2m-1 parameters, the procedure only needs m+2 observations to find. In other examined cases, the proposed method is also very fast.
Analysis of sewage sludge and biogas-energy management at the Opole wastewater treatment plant

Increasing requirements of wastewater treatments and the development of wastewater treatment and sewage sludge systems cause a significant increase in the demand for electricity and heat. An alternative way to obtain cheap energy is to use biogas produced in the anaerobic digestion process from sewage sludge. The paper presents an analysis of sewage sludge and biogas-energy management at the wastewater treatment plant in Opole in the aspect of obtaining biogas and its use for electricity production. The biogas-energy system was functioning properly in 2017–2019. A total of 7.26 GWh of electricity was produced from biogas in two power generators, which allowed to cover nearly 35% of the demand for electricity.
A high gain and simple-structured dielectric resonator antenna array with cylindrical rods and microstrip feeding

A novel microstrip-fed dielectric rod array antenna with high end-fire gain is proposed. It has simple structure, comprising a group of cylindrical dielectric rods and a microstrip corporate feeding network, and is low in cost. A prototype 4 × 4 array working at 8.0 GHz is designed, fabricated and measured. Simulation and measurement results show the antenna has encouraging performances, e.g. an impedance bandwidth (|S11| < −10 dB) of 7.7%, an end-fire gain up to 20.3 dBi, side-lobes 13.5 dB below the main lobe, and linear polarization with the cross-polarization level less than −21 dB. In recent years, dielectric resonator antennas have become an attractive choice for many modern wire- less communications systems due to their advantages such as small size (1-4), wide impedance band- width (5-9),highradiationefficiency(10-12),etc.Butsofarin thelargenumbersofpreviousresearches, dielectric resonator antennas are commonly made of high permittivity materials (1-3) that are often ex- pensive. In many antennas, dielectric rods that act as radiation elements are with tapered (7-9) or other more complicated configurations (4,5), which bring forth difficulties for antennas' design and fabrica- tion. Some antennas are fed by a waveguide (3-5,8,10), an embedded probe (10), or a horn (13,14), which are not only difficult to be fabricated into modern devices but also may be bulky and expensive for a large array. In this work, a novel dielectric rod array antenna is presented. This antenna is the combination of a group of dielectric rods with a microstrip corporate feeding network. The dielectric rods are of simple cylindrical configuration, act as the array antenna's radiation elements and fabricated by using Teflon, which is a low-cost material, moreover is low-loss at microwave frequency and has a stable dielectric permittivity overa wide range of frequency. Moreover, this array antenna is fed by a microstrip corporate feeding network, and thus able to make full use of the accurate and low cost planar print techniques.
A ball-on-beam project kit

An apparatus of the classical ball-on-beam problem was designed and constructed to be used as a pedagogical instrument in feedback courses. The aesthetic and mechanical design incorporated economical materials to make kits of this apparatus attractive and cost effective. This thesis describes the design of the apparatus and the design of the two control loops to control the angle of the motor and the position of the ball along the beam. A lead compensator was used in each loop and an additional integrator was used in the motor loop to ensure the beam level when supporting the ball. The motor closed loop was designed for a bandwidth of 25 Hz and the ball loop was designed for 1 Hz. The closed loop control was implemented using a Matlab Simulink model and a dSPACE digital signal processor controller board. The feedback sensor of the motor angle was an encoder mounted to the back of the motor, and the sensor for the ball position was a linear potentiometer resistive element. After multiple iterations and debugging of the ball position sensor, the ball-on-beam system performed successfully, responding well to step commands and disturbances. Thesis Supervisor: David L. Trumper Title: Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Table of
Multinational in-depth accident data: From concept to reality

While it is important to track trends in the number of road accidents in different countries using national statistics, there is a need for data with more detailed information, so called in-depth accident data. For this reason, several accident data projects emerged worldwide in recent years. However, also different data standards were established and so comparative analysis of international in-depth data has been very hard to conduct, so far. This is why the project iGLAD (Initiative for the Global Harmonization of Accident Data) was established and created the prerequisites for building up a standardized dataset out of the common denominator of different in-depth accident databases from Europe, USA and Asia. In the first phase, the project received funding from ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturer's Association) to compile an initial database. To accomplish this, a suitable data scheme has been defined, a pilot study has been conducted as proof of concept and the recording of the first common data base has been initiated. Also, to prepare the project for its self-supporting continuation in the next years, a business model has been developed. This paper reports the history and status of the project, the current challenges and the creation of a capable consortium to maintain the data. In mid-2014, the initial database containing 1,550 cases from 10 different countries will be completed and a first detailed view on this data will be possible. (A)
Agricultural data for life cycle assessments

An inventory for Life Cycle Analysis of agricultural products must address questions of representatively and coherence of models. This paper discusses the possibilities of modelling the input and production of typical farms to establish inventories that are consistent with higher level statistical information. Energy use has been modelled for typical Danish farms and compared with the national agricultural statistics. Expected differences in the use of fertiliser and pesticides and in the yields of 12 different types of crop rotations on two groups of soil types were modelled on the basis of 13,000 detailed farm accounts. The overall representatively and consistency were checked against regional and national statistical information based on other sources and in case of larger differences than 25%, the models were adjusted. Partial models of emissions in single enterprises should be adjusted or calibrated against consistent data or models of farm types on the one side and against aggregated statistics at a higher level on the other side. This might be done for the losses of N and P using a balance approach. For emissions like greenhouse gasses or heavy metals, where no sector specific aggregated measurements exist, the emissions might be estimated directly from the input inventory. Following the proposed procedure might secure consistent models of input and emissions for a representative set of farm types and none of the tasks should be omitted without clear indication and explanation.
Vulnerable

Here we provide some general information on the distribution, abundance, biology, and ecology of Brown long-eared bat Plecotus auritus (Linnaeus, 1758). Information is based on the analysis of research materials collected over ten years (2010-2021) in the Tver region. We propose to include these species to the regional Red Data Book under the status of "Rare species".
Neutral point control in multi level converters applying novel modulation schemes

This paper investigates the behavior of the neutral point (NP) voltage and current for generalized multilevel converters introduced in recent years (ANPC: active neutral point clamped converter, SMC: stacked multicell converter). The unified approach introduced in this paper shows that all considered topologies have the same NP current properties when applying standard modulation schemes. A simple graphical representation is used to explain how the NP currents of the different phases combine in a multiphase converter. New modulation schemes are proposed and their impact in the NP current is demonstrated. The current that can be injected when needed is maximized. A new NP control scheme without using the common mode (CM) voltage is introduced. Experiments confirm that the NP voltage can be controlled by the dynamic application of the different modulation types, even if there is a static CM applied to the output voltage. A 5-level SMC converter is used for the experimental verification of the NP current characteristics and the new NP control strategy.
A simple dc-dc converter for the power supply of a cochlear implant

A resonant topology based on class-E is presented as the power supply of a cochlear implant. This topology has the important advantage of a small number of components and a grounded single switch. Zero voltage switching can be achieved, which significantly reduces switching losses and improves efficiency. A circuit has been designed, built and tested in order to check the feasibility of the topology for the mentioned contactless application. The results are very good, the efficiency has been clearly improved compared to the former system and the autonomy has increased.
Monitoring volatile fatty acid production during mesophilic anaerobic digestion exposed to increasing feeding rates

SUMMARY: Batch anaerobic digesters were fed with increasing amounts of maize silage inorder to reach a failure in the biomethanation process. A methodology for quantitative andqualitative analysis was developed to follow the progress of volatile fatty acids (VFA) related tothe biogas production. In overfed digesters, process failure was characterized by a decreasedbiogas production and a higher CO 2 /CH 4 ratio compared to the reasonably fed digesters. Nofixed value in terms of total or individual VFA concentration was found to be a good indicator ofprocess imbalance but the results indicated that the microbial consortium was able to degrade upto 837, 674 and 697 mg.L -1 of acetic, propionic and butyric acids, respectively. This study alsohighlighted the importance of quantifying the substrate to inoculum ratio in batch anaerobicdigestion assays to get significant and valid estimation of biomethane potential and productionkinetics. 1. INTRODUCTION1.1 Anaerobic digestion Degradation of organic sources (wastes, agricultural products and residues, industrial by-products) through anaerobic digestions (AD) can be considered as an environmentally friendlyprocess to generate energy and recover nutrients for agriculture. AD is a complex biologicalprocess where organic polymers are converted into biogas, mainly composed of methane (CH
A 1.9 GHz single-chip RF front-end GaAs MMIC for personal communications

A single-chip RF front-end GaAs MMIC for the 1.9 GHz Japanese Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) is presented. RF circuits of a high power amplifier (HPA), a T/R switch (SW), two attenuators (ATTs), and a low-noise amplifier (LNA), are integrated with digital circuits of a negative voltage generator (NVG) for HPA and SW gate bias and a logic circuit to control the RF circuits. The HPA has an output power of 21.5 dBm and a high efficiency of 35% with sufficient linearity. The T/R SW combined with a receive step-ATT (0/20 dB) has loss of 1.2 dB (include the ATT loss). The LNA has a gain of 11 dB with noise figure of 1.7 dB, which is self-biased to a steep negative voltage generator during the receive mode. The IC needs only a single voltage (+3 V) DC power supply, and has a logic interface to control each mode for the TDMA/TDD scheme.
Correction to "Power penalty assessment in optically preamplified receivers with arbitrary optical f

The assessment of the power penalty of optically preamplified receivers with signal-dependent noise (SDN) dominance is often accomplished by neglecting the influence of the optical filtering of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise on the signal-ASE beat noise. In this paper, it is shown that the optical filtering of the ASE noise can have a strong impact on the signal-ASE beat noise and remarkably affect the power penalty, even for optical filter bandwidths five times wider than the signal bandwidth. A simple expression to analytically evaluate the power penalty due to optical filtering, which describes reasonably well the influence of the optical filter on the signal-ASE beat noise variance, is proposed. The accuracy of the new expression is investigated, in the case of assessment of the optical filter detuning impact on receiver performance and the case of optical filter bandwidth optimization, and its predictions are satisfactory in comparison with rigorous estimates. Two new expressions of power penalty due to extinction ratio and to eye closure are also presented. It is shown that the power penalty due to eye closure depends on the extinction ratio and vice versa. Our results show also that the power penalty due to eye closure is remarkably dependent on the eye closure asymmetry.
A wide bandwidth digital quadrature demodulator for electronic warfare receivers

An efficient algorithm for real-time digital quadrature demodulation is presented. It can be implemented with a pair of quadrature highpass finite impulse response filters and decimators. The filters are derived from a quarter-band lowpass filter prototype through the use of appropriate transformations. The implementation of the algorithm using VLSI technology is discussed. <<ETX>>
CHANGES IN ANATOMICAL FEATURES ALONG THE ALTITUDINAL AND RAINFALL GRADIENTS IN PAKISTAN

Altitude causes changes in the environmental factors thus alter the anatomy of plants greatly. Anatomical modifications of plants under broad environmental changes concerning global climate changes along the altitudinal gradient are lacking. Therefore, the present investigation was conducted to find out the structural modifications of a wide range of species growing in contrasting habitat along the altitudinal and rainfall gradients in Pakistan. For such perspectives, perennial shrubs were collected along the altitudinal transect ranges 410-2941m (a.s.l). The transect was passed through five climatic forest types of Pakistan during 2018. The wood parameters were measured from the macerated wood materials included length of vessel element, vessel element diameter, fiber length, fiber diameter, fiber lumen diameter; wall thickness, slenderness ratio (SR), Runkel ratio (RR) and coefficient of suppleness (CS). Analysis of variance and cluster analyses were used for data simplification. Alpine flora exhibited the shortest vessel and fibers while the longest vessels were recorded in montane Sub-tropical plateau forest. However, no changes were recorded in-wall diameter, Runkel ratio and coefficient of suppleness were observed with the changes in altitude and climatic factors.
Effects of Workplace Inspections: The Swedish Noise Campaign

Abstract In 2005, the Swedish Work Environment Authority inspected 1,721 workplaces in two days. The inspections were carried out as part of the Authority’s campaign to support the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s ‘European Week’ initiative on raising awareness of noise at work. To evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign, a web-based questionnaire was sent to inspected workplaces. The same questionnaire was sent to matched controls, ie workplaces that were not inspected but otherwise resembled, as far as possible, those that were inspected. The questionnaire included questions about whether specific types of measure against noise had been taken after the campaign. Large differences were found between inspected and uninspected workplaces. For example, plans of action against noise were seven times more common in inspected workplaces than in uninspected workplaces, exposure measurements five times more common, and measures to reduce noise more than twice as common. On average, inspected workplaces had implemented 2.5 types of action against noise after the campaign, whereas the controls had implemented only 0.8. The inspected workplaces also reported a higher degree of knowledge about new regulations concerning noise. Eighty-eight per cent of the inspected workplaces reported that the activities of the Authority were the reason for the actions they had taken against noise. The study shows that the inspection campaign was highly successful in getting organisations to introduce noise prevention measures.
City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics

1. Introduction: Building a City of Light 2. Guiding Light and Luminous Fountains 3. Fibers of Glass 4. The Quest for Remote Viewing: Television and the Legacy of Sword Swallowers 5. A Critical Insight: The Birth of the Clad Optical Fiber 6. 99 Percent Perspiration: The Birth of an Industry 7. A Vision of the Futue: Communicating with Light 8. The Laser Stimulates the Emission of New Ideas 9. "The Only Thing Left is Optical Fibers" 10. Trying to Sell a Dream 11. Breakthrough: The Clearest Glass in the World 12. Recipes for Grains of Salt: The Semiconductor Laser 13. A Demonstration for the Queen 14. Three Generations in Five Years 15. Submarine Cables: "The Ocean Floor Will Be Covered with Glass" 16. The Last Mile: An Elusive Vision 17. Reflections on the City of Light Appendix A: Dramatis Personae: Cast of Characters Appendix B: A Fiber-Optic Technology