Online score-informed source separation in polyphonic mixtures using instrument spectral patterns

[EN] Soundprism is a real-time algorithm to separate polyphonic music audio into source signals, given the musical score of the audio in advance. This paper presents a framework for a Soundprism implementation. A study of the sound quality of the online score-informed source separation is shown, although a real-time implementation is not carried out. The system is compound of two stages: (1) a score follower that matches a MIDI score position to each time frame of the musical performance; and (2) a source separator based on a nonnegative matrix factorization approach guided by the score. Real audio mixtures composed of an instrumental quartets were employed to obtain preliminary results of the proposed system.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Grant Number: TEC2015-67387-C4-{1, 2, 3}-RMuñoz-Montoro, A.; Vera-Candeas, P.; Cortina, R.; Combarro, EF.; Alonso-Jordá, P. (2019). Online score-informed source separation in polyphonic mixtures using instrument spectral patterns. Computational and Mathematical Methods. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/cmm4.1040S11

Feeding ecology of fish larvae from Chilean Patagonia during austral winter

Feeding habits of the ichthyoplankton from Chilean Patagonia (44-46°30’S) were studied during June-July 2012 (austral winter). Ichthyoplankton assemblage was composed by 10 species, with low abundance (3.8 to 16.73 ind. 1000 m-3). Most abundant larvae were Maurolicus parvipinnis, Leptonotus blainvilleanus and Sprattus fuegensis. These three species fed mainly on calanoid copepodites, Paracalanus indicus and Calanus sp. copepodites, and cyphonautes. Trophic overlap among dominant fish larvae was high (Schoener’s D > 0.69) and no significant differences were detected in prey composition and size. Therefore, no resource partitioning occurred in planktonic fish larvae during winter 2012 in Chilean Patagonia

Engineering Lung-Inspired Flow Field Geometries for Electrochemical Flow Cells with Stereolithography 3D Printing

Electrochemical flow reactors are increasingly relevant platforms in emerging sustainable energy conversion and storage technologies. As a prominent example, redox flow batteries, a well-suited technology for large energy storage if the costs can be significantly reduced, leverage electrochemical reactors as power converting units. Within the reactor, the flow field geometry determines the electrolyte pumping power required, mass transport rates, and overall cell performance. However, current designs are inspired by fuel cell technologies but have not been engineered for redox flow battery applications, where liquid-phase electrochemistry is sustained. Here, we leverage stereolithography 3D printing to manufacture lung-inspired flow field geometries and compare their performance to conventional flow field designs. A versatile two-step process based on stereolithography 3D printing followed by a coating procedure to form a conductive structure is developed to manufacture lung-inspired flow field geometries. We employ a suite of fluid dynamics, electrochemical diagnostics, and finite element simulations to correlate the flow field geometry with performance in symmetric flow cells. We find that the lung-inspired structural pattern homogenizes the reactant distribution throughout the porous electrode and improves the electrolyte accessibility to the electrode reaction area. In addition, the results reveal that these novel flow field geometries can outperform conventional interdigitated flow field designs, as these patterns exhibit a more favorable balance of electrical and pumping power, achieving superior current densities at lower pressure loss. Although at its nascent stage, additive manufacturing offers a versatile design space for manufacturing engineered flow field geometries for advanced flow reactors in emerging electrochemical energy storage technologies.</p

Investigating the effects of operation variables on all-vanadium redox flow batteries through an advanced unit-cell model

Next-generation redox flow batteries will benefit from the progress of macroscopic continuum models that enable the optimization of new architectures without the need of expensive fabrication and experimentation. Despite previous attempts, there is still need for robust and thoroughly validated models. Here, a steady-state two-dimensional unit-cell model of an all-vanadium redox flow battery is presented. The model integrates state-of-the-art descriptions of the fundamental physical phenomena, along with new features such as local mass transfer coefficients for each active species, precise sulfuric acid dissociation kinetics, and experimental data of the electrochemical parameters and electrolyte properties. The model is validated at different states of charge and flow rates using polarization, conductivity and open circuit voltage measurements. Then, the contribution of operating conditions on battery performance is studied by analyzing its separate effect on the various phenomena that affect cell performance, such as local pore mass transfer limitations, parasitic hydrogen evolution reactions, crossover and self-discharge fluxes. The resulting model is a reliable tool that can be used to assess the relevance of these coupled phenomena that take place simultaneously within the reaction cell. This important information is critical to optimize cell components, reactor design and to select optimal operating conditions.This work has been partially funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019-106740RB-I00 and RTC-2017-5955-3/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). Dr. García-Salaberri also acnowledges the support of the projects EIN2020-112247 (Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación). The authors want to acknowledge Maxime van der Heijden for her critical feedback

Philornis downsi (Diptera: Muscidae), an avian nest parasite invasive to the Galápagos Islands, in Mainland Ecuador

Philornis downsi (Dodge and Aitken) is a bird-parasitic muscid fly native to mainland South America that recently invaded the Galápagos Islands where it is parasitizing Darwin's finches and other land birds. This parasite was previously known only from Argentina, Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago. The first report of P. downsi from mainland Ecuador is provided, supporting the hypothesis that the invasion route of P. downsi from its native range to the Galápagos Islands includes mainland Ecuador. Four different morphologies of pupal exuviae, which belong to different fly species, were uncovered. Dipteran puparia were found in 20% of naturally occurring nests collected in 2013 and in 27% of nests in 2014 at the two sites in western Ecuador. P. downsi accounted for 74% and 40% of the puparia in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Two new bird host species for the genus Philornis were recorded: the streak-headed woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes souleyetii) and the fasciated wren (Campylorhynchus fasciatus). The levels of nest parasitism found were much lower than levels reported for the Galápagos Islands. Finally, parasitism of P. downsi by a parasitoid in the genus Brachymeria (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae) is documented. Overall, 9% of fly puparia collected in 2013, and 19% of those collected in 2014, had parasitoid emergence holes.Fil: Bulgarella, Mariana. University of Minnesota; Estados UnidosFil: Quiroga, Martin Anibal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Brito Vera, Gabriel A.. Universidad de Guayaquil; EcuadorFil: Dregni, Jonathan S.. University of Minnesota; Estados UnidosFil: Cunninghame, Francesca. Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands; EcuadorFil: Mosquera Muñoz, Denis A.. Universidad de Guayaquil; EcuadorFil: Monje, Lucas Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Causton, Charlotte E.. Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands; EcuadorFil: Heimpel, George E.. University of Minnesota; Estados Unido

Las prácticas profesionales supervisadas y la mejora académica de los estudiantes de la carrera de Contador Público Nacional de la Universidad del Aconcagua

La Facultadde Ciencias Económicas y Jurídicas, instituyó, desde 2008 las Prácticas Profesionales Supervisadas (PPS), de carácter obligatorio para todos los estudiantes del último año de la carrera de Contador Público Nacional.Las PPS fueron instauradas ya que permiten centrar el aprendizaje en el estudiante; diseñar la curricula basada en resultados de aprendizaje y competencias; procurar diversidad, pertinencia y calidad educativa; brindarle al futuro egresado una empleabilidad pertinente y preparar al alumno universitario para el mundo del trabajo y mejorar el rendimiento académico con la retroalimentación e interdependencia de los conocimientos teóricos y los prácticos desarrollando competencias académicas.Las PPS son una obligación académica de 150 horas, que se realizan dentro de Empresas, Organismos Públicos o Privados, ONGs u otras instituciones. En este ámbito los alumnos realizarán residencias programadas u otras formas de prácticas, relacionadas con su formación y especialización, acompañados por un tutor.

Analysis of measured and simulated supraglottal acoustic waves

To date, although much attention has been paid to the estimation and modeling of the voice source (ie, the glottal airflow volume velocity), the measurement and characterization of the supraglottal pressure wave have been much less studied. Some previous results have unveiled that the supraglottal pressure wave has some spectral resonances similar to those of the voice pressure wave. This makes the supraglottal wave partially intelligible. Although the explanation for such effect seems to be clearly related to the reflected pressure wave traveling upstream along the vocal tract, the influence that nonlinear source-filter interaction has on it is not as clear. This article provides an insight into this issue by comparing the acoustic analyses of measured and simulated supraglottal and voice waves. Simulations have been performed using a high-dimensional discrete vocal fold model. Results of such comparative analysis indicate that spectral resonances in the supraglottal wave are mainly caused by the regressive pressure wave that travels upstream along the vocal tract and not by source-tract interaction. On the contrary and according to simulation results, source-tract interaction has a role in the loss of intelligibility that happens in the supraglottal wave with respect to the voice wave. This loss of intelligibility mainly corresponds to spectral differences for frequencies above 1500 Hz

Effectiveness of individualized inhaler technique training on low adherence (LowAd) in ambulatory patients with COPD and asthma

© 2022. This document is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by /4.0/ This document is the published version of a published work that appeared in final form in npj primary care respiratory medicineTo analyze whether there is improvement in adherence to inhaled treatment in patients with COPD and asthma after an educational intervention based on the teach-to-goal method. This is a prospective, non-randomized, single-group study, with intervention and before-after evaluation. The study population included 120 patients (67 females and 53 males) diagnosed with asthma (70.8%) and COPD (29.1%). The level of adherence (low and optimal) and the noncompliance behavior pattern (erratic, deliberate and unwitting) were determined by the Test of the adherence to Inhalers (TAI). This questionnaire allows you to determine the level of adherence and the types of noncompliance. Low Adherence (LowAd) was defined as a score less than 49 points. All patients received individualized educational inhaler technique intervention (IEITI). Before the IEITI, 67.5% of the patients had LowAd. Following IEITI, on week 24, LowAd was 55% (p = 0.024). Each patient can present one or more types of noncompliance. The most frequent type was forgetting to use the inhaler (erratic), 65.8%. The other types were deliberate: 43.3%, and unwitting: 57.5%. All of them had decreased on the final visit: 51.7% (p = 0.009), 25.8% (p = 0.002), 39.2% (p = 0.002). There were no significant differences in adherence between asthma and COPD patients at the start of the study. The only predicting factor of LowAd was the female gender. An individualized educational intervention, in ambulatory patients with COPD and asthma, in real-world clinical practice conditions, improves adherence to the inhaled treatment