A first step towards on-device monitoring of body sounds in the wild

Body sounds provide rich information about the state of the human body and can be useful in many medical applications. Auscultation, the practice of listening to body sounds, has been used for centuries in respiratory and cardiac medicine to diagnose or track disease progression. To date, however, its use has been confined to clinical and highly controlled settings. Our work addresses this limitation: we devise a chest-mounted wearable for continuous monitoring of body sounds, that leverages data processing algorithms that run on-device. We concentrate on the detection of heart sounds to perform heart rate monitoring. To improve robustness to ambient noise and motion artefacts, our device uses an algorithm that explicitly segments the collected audio into the phases of the cardiac cycle. Our pilot study with 9 users demonstrates that it is possible to obtain heart rate estimates that are competitive with commercial heart rate monitors, with low enough power consumption for continuous use.ER

Groundwater dependent ecosystems: Classification, identification techniques and threats

© The Author(s) 2016. This chapter begins by briefly discussing the three major classes of groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), namely: (I) GDEs that reside within groundwater (e.g. karsts; stygofauna); (II) GDEs requiring the surface expression of groundwater (e.g. springs; wetlands); and (III) GDEs dependent upon sub-surface availability of groundwater within the rooting depth of vegetation (e.g. woodlands; riparian forests). We then discuss a range of techniques available for identifying the location of GDEs in a landscape, with a primary focus of class III GDEs and a secondary focus of class II GDEs. These techniques include inferential methodologies, using hydrological, geochemical and geomorphological indicators, biotic assemblages, historical documentation, and remote sensing methodologies. Techniques available to quantify groundwater use by GDEs are briefly described, including application of simple modelling tools, remote sensing methods and complex modelling applications. This chapter also outlines the contemporary threats to the persistence of GDEs across the world. This involves a description of the “natural” hydrological attributes relevant to GDEs and theprocesses that lead to disturbances to natural hydrological attributes as a result of human activities (e.g. groundwater extraction). Two cases studies, (1) Class III: terrestrial vegetation and (2) Class II: springs, are discussed in relation to these issues

Fashion micro-enterprises in London, Berlin, Milan

This report provides an account of a series of interviews, observational visits and hosted events with 8-10 fashion designers in three cities: London, Berlin and Milan, carried out from 2012-2016. In some cases we interviewed the same designers two or three times over a period of nearly three years. The research project also entailed documented conversations and meetings with a range of fashion experts, consultants, legal advisors and policy makers in each city. Often these took place within the context of organised events undertaken as part of the research process. The aim was to investigate the kind of start-ups or micro-enterprises which have come into being in the last decade. We were interested in whether these were the outcome of pro-active urban creative economy policies or if they were self-organised initiatives, a reaction to the crisis of the euro-zone of 2008 and the consequent recession. Was it the case that long-term austerity policies and exceptionally high rates of youth and graduate unemployment across Europe had spawned these kinds of seemingly independent economic activities? We were also minded to consider the role of intellectual property (IP) and copyright in fashion as part of the wider UK government agenda for growth and wealth creation within the creative economy as a whole

Particle and particle pair dispersion in turbulence modeled with spatially and temporally correlated stochastic processes

In this paper we present a new model for modeling the diffusion and relative dispersion of particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. We use an Heisenberg-like Hamiltonian to incorporate spatial correlations between fluid particles, which are modeled by stochastic processes correlated in time. We are able to reproduce the ballistic regime in the mean squared displacement of single particles and the transition to a normal diffusion regime for long times. For the dispersion of particle pairs we find a $t^{2}$-dependence of the mean squared separation at short times and a $t$-dependence for long ones. For intermediate times indications for a Richardson $t^{3}$ law are observed in certain situations. Finally the influence of inertia of real particles on the dispersion is investigated.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Measure Guideline: Air Conditioner Diagnostics, Maintenance, and Replacement

This guideline responds to the need for an efficient means of identifying, diagnosing, and repairing faults in air conditioning systems in existing homes that are undergoing energy upgrades. Inadequate airflow due to constricted ducts or undersized filters, improper refrigerant charge, and other system defects can be corrected at a fraction of the cost of equipment replacement and can yield significant savings. The guideline presents a two-step approach to diagnostics and repair

Air-to-Water Heat Pumps With Radiant Delivery in Low-Load Homes

Space conditioning represents nearly 50% of average residential household energy consumption, highlighting the need to identify alternative cost-effective, energy-efficient cooling and heating strategies. As homes are better built, there is an increasing need for strategies that are particularly well suited for high performance, low load homes. ARBI researchers worked with two test homes in hot-dry climates to evaluate the in-situ performance of air-to-water heat pump (AWHP) systems, an energy efficient space conditioning solution designed to cost-effectively provide comfort in homes with efficient, safe, and durable operation. Two monitoring projects of test houses in hot-dry climates were initiated in 2010 to test this system. Both systems were fully instrumented and have been monitored over one year to capture complete performance data over the cooling and heating seasons. Results are used to quantify energy savings, cost-effectiveness, and system performance using different operating modes and strategies. A calibrated TRNSYS model was developed and used to evaluate performance in various climate regions. This strategy is most effective in tight, insulated homes with high levels of thermal mass (i.e. exposed slab floors)

A predictive phenomenological tool at small Bjorken-x

We present the results from global fits of inclusive DIS experimental data using the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation with running coupling.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, prepared for the Proceedings of 'Hot Quarks 2010

Black holes admitting a Freudenthal dual

The quantised charges x of four dimensional stringy black holes may be assigned to elements of an integral Freudenthal triple system whose automorphism group is the corresponding U-duality and whose U-invariant quartic norm Delta(x) determines the lowest order entropy. Here we introduce a Freudenthal duality x -> \tilde{x}, for which \tilde{\tilde{x}}=-x. Although distinct from U-duality it nevertheless leaves Delta(x) invariant. However, the requirement that \tilde{x} be integer restricts us to the subset of black holes for which Delta(x) is necessarily a perfect square. The issue of higher-order corrections remains open as some, but not all, of the discrete U-duality invariants are Freudenthal invariant. Similarly, the quantised charges A of five dimensional black holes and strings may be assigned to elements of an integral Jordan algebra, whose cubic norm N(A) determines the lowest order entropy. We introduce an analogous Jordan dual A*, with N(A) necessarily a perfect cube, for which A**=A and which leaves N(A) invariant. The two dualities are related by a 4D/5D lift.Comment: 32 pages revtex, 10 tables; minor corrections, references adde

Arbitrarily large families of spaces of the same volume

In any connected non-compact semi-simple Lie group without factors locally isomorphic to SL_2(R), there can be only finitely many lattices (up to isomorphism) of a given covolume. We show that there exist arbitrarily large families of pairwise non-isomorphic arithmetic lattices of the same covolume. We construct these lattices with the help of Bruhat-Tits theory, using Prasad's volume formula to control their covolumes.Comment: 9 pages. Syntax corrected; one reference adde