Effect of Audio–Visual Factors in the Evaluation of Crowd Noise

A crowd can be both a sound source and an absorber. The sound of human voices significantly impacts evaluations of acoustic indicators in urban public spaces. This study aimed to investigate whether human sound impacts evaluations of the overall environment from both visual and auditory aspects. Primary sound sources and scenes in Harbin, China urban public space served as the research object. Four sets of sound sources and six sets of images were collected in situ in urban public spaces. A subjective evaluation of both visual and auditory aspects was then performed in the laboratory. The results showed that when different types of sounds in urban public spaces are superimposed with human sound, the volume of human sound (45.6 dBA, 55.6 dBA, and 65.6 dBA) significantly affects the acoustic evaluation of the environment. When the superimposed sounds were birds and music, the evaluation of the environment decreased with the human voice increasing in volume. Crowd density and the surrounding visual environment also influence evaluations of the overall sound environment. In this study, the sound preference and acoustic comfort of birdsong and music decreased as the human sound volume increased. The effect of human sound combined with traffic sounds significantly decreased the scores for sound preference and acoustic comfort at higher volumes. The results of the experiments on audio–visual interactions in which people evaluated visual scenes showed that the influence of the visual density of a crowd on assessments of the sound environment is negatively related to the magnitude of the sound of the crowd. When human voices are at 45.6 dBA and 65.6dBA, there is a significant effect on the evaluation of visual scenes for high-density people. When the sound pressure level of human voices is the same, changes in the visual environment are more likely to affect people’s evaluation of the overall sound environment

Comparison between perceived and felt emotions in the soundscape evaluation of urban open spaces

In the current study on soundscape, the distinction between felt emotion and perceived emotion in soundscape measurement has not been addressed as much as that in music studies. This research was conducted to investigate perceived and felt emotions associated with soundscape evaluation in urban open spaces through a laboratory audio-visual experiment using photographs and binaural recordings of 16 urban open locations across Harbin, China. In total, 46 participants were required to assess both the “perceived emotion” and “felt emotion” of the soundscapes using a questionnaire (in Chinese). First, five felt emotions and seven perceived emotions associated with the soundscape were identified, among which the dominant factors were enjoyment and excitement for felt emotions and comfortable and festive for perceived emotions. Second, when comparing perceived and felt emotions, the holistic soundscape descriptor “preference” is more suitable for predicting through felt emotion, while the holistic soundscape descriptor “appropriateness” is more suitable for predicting through perceived emotion. Third, preference is a more stringent soundscape descriptor than appropriateness, indicating a higher level of requirement in its definition. Meanwhile, preference is a more emotional soundscape descriptor than appropriateness. It may be inferred that for evaluating soundscapes, the more emotional the descriptor, the greater its stringency

A model for implementing soundscape maps in smart cities

Smart cities are required to engage with local communities by promoting a user-centred approach to deal with urban life issues and ultimately enhance people's quality of life. Soundscape promotes a similar approach, based on individuals' perception of acoustic environments. This paper aims to establish a model to implement soundscape maps for the monitoring and management of the acoustic environment and to demonstrate its feasibility. The final objective of the model is to generate visual maps related to perceptual attributes (e.g. 'calm', 'pleasant'), starting from audio recordings of everyday acoustic environments. The proposed model relies on three main stages: (1) sound sources recognition and profiling, (2) prediction of the soundscape's perceptual attributes and (3) implementation of soundscape maps. This research particularly explores the two latter phases, for which a set of sub-processes and methods is proposed and discussed. An accuracy analysis was performed with satisfactory results: the prediction models of the second stage explained up to the 57.5% of the attributes' variance; the cross-validation errors of the model were close to zero. These findings show that the proposed model is likely to produce representative maps of an individual's sonic perception in a given environment

Detection of small single-cycle signals by stochastic resonance using a bistable superconducting quantum interference device

We propose and experimentally demonstrate detecting small single-cycle and few-cycle signals by using the symmetric double-well potential of a radio frequency superconducting quantum interference device (rf-SQUID). We show that the response of this bistable system to single- and few-cycle signals has a non-monotonic dependence on the noise strength. The response, measured by the probability of transition from initial potential well to the opposite one, becomes maximum when the noise-induced transition rate between the two stable states of the rf-SQUID is comparable to the signal frequency. Comparison to numerical simulations shows that the phenomenon is a manifestation of stochastic resonance.Comment: 5 pages 3 figure

Targeting Gene-Viro-Therapy with AFP driving Apoptin gene shows potent antitumor effect in hepatocarcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gene therapy and viral therapy are used for cancer therapy for many years, but the results are less than satisfactory. Our aim was to construct a new recombinant adenovirus which is more efficient to kill hepatocarcinoma cells but more safe to normal cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>By using the Cancer Targeting Gene-Viro-Therapy strategy, Apoptin, a promising cancer therapeutic gene was inserted into the double-regulated oncolytic adenovirus AD55 in which E1A gene was driven by alpha fetoprotein promoter along with a 55 kDa deletion in E1B gene to form AD55-Apoptin. The anti-tumor effects and safety were examined by western blotting, virus yield assay, real time polymerase chain reaction, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, Hoechst33342 staining, Fluorescence-activated cell sorting, xenograft tumor model, Immunohistochemical assay, liver function analysis and Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP Nick End Labeling assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The recombinant virus AD55-Apoptin has more significant antitumor effect for hepatocelluar carcinoma cell lines (in vitro) than that of AD55 and even ONYX-015 but no or little impair on normal cell lines. Furthermore, it also shows an obvious in vivo antitumor effect on the Huh-7 liver carcinoma xenograft in nude mice with bigger beginning tumor volume till about 425 mm3 but has no any damage on the function of liver. The induction of apoptosis is involved in AD55-Apoptin induced antitumor effects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The AD55-Apoptin can be a potential anti-hepatoma agent with remarkable antitumor efficacy as well as higher safety in cancer targeting gene-viro-therapy system.</p

What do we visually focus on in a World Heritage Site? A case study in the Historic Centre of Prague

Since socio-economic development is associated with artificial construction, heritage environments must be protected and renewed while adapting to such development. Many World Heritage Sites’ visual integrity is endangered by new construction. The paper aims to explore people’s visual focus patterns concerning the integrity of heritage to ensure that traditional culture is not endangered by the construction and development of modern life, and to protect Outstanding Universal Values. In this study, visual heatmaps are generated to investigate people’s visual integrity in the Historic Centre of Prague from micro to macro viewpoints using an eye tracker. We found that humans’ perspectives are unobstructed or concentrated, and the view of main attractions is generally maintained by a buffer zone. However, newly constructed high-rise buildings can result in major visual concerns. Therefore, new buildings with large heights and strong contrasting colours should be restricted to World Heritage Sites. Moreover, complex artistic effects (facade midline, domes, mural painting, faces of sculptures) will likely attract people’s attention. In contrast, visual focus is not concentrated on greenery, roofs and floors. Accordingly, greenery could become a flexible space to serve as a background for buildings and landscape nodes. Furthermore, visual focal factors are associated with two significant aspects: people and the environment. Since people and transportation could pose visual concerns, tourism managers should optimise for characteristics such as controlling the density of pedestrian flow and planning parking spaces. The visual patterns identified could be useful for the design, conservation, and management of visual integrity in cultural heritage sites to avoid the spread of artificial constructions within the boundaries of heritage sites, which may lead to their being endangered or delisted

Strengthening double curved arch bridges by using extrados section augmentation method

Double curved arch bridges have played an important role in the history of bridge construction in China. The strengthening or retrofitting of this type of bridge has attracted a great deal of research attention in the Chinese bridge engineering community. In this paper, a novel strengthening method, i.e. the extrados section augmentation strengthening method (ESASM), has been reported. Firstly, the rationale behind this new method and the changes in internal forces after strengthening have been studied in details. A numerical optimization analysis was then performed to derive a strengthening design solution based on these results. Secondly, a trial use of this novel strengthening method in a double curved arch bridge has been reported. A numerical simulation was carried out to analyze the internal forces in the bridge both before and after it was strengthened. Results show that internal forces have been favourably redistributed after the bridge has been strengthened by using ESASM. Lastly, the adopted construction method and the strengthening effect for that project were described