Fuzzy audio similarity measures based on spectrum histograms and fluctuation patterns

Spectrum histograms and fluctuation patterns are representations of audio fragments. By comparing these representations, we can determine the similarity between the corresponding fragments. Traditionally, this is done using the Euclidian distance. We propose fuzzy similarity measures as an alternative. First we introduce some well-known fuzzy similarity measures, together with certain properties that can be desirable or useful in practice. In particular we present several forms of restrictability, which allow to reduce the computation time in practical applications. Next, we show that fuzzy similarity measures can be used to compare spectrum histograms and fluctuation patterns. Finally, we describe some experimental observations for this fuzzy approach of constructing audio similarity measures

Wirkung des Gemengeanbaus mit Körnerleguminosen sowie der Standraumzuteilung und der Saatstärke auf Kornertrag und Kornproteingehalt von Winterweizen

In stockless organic farms it is difficult to produce winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with high protein content. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of intercropping of (i) winter wheat with either winter field bean (Vicia faba L.) or winter pea (Pisum sativum L.), (ii) the spatial arrangement (mixed, row or row-strip intercrop) and (iii) the seeding rate of the wheat (100 or 20 %) on yield formation and grain protein content. Monocropped wheat planted at a seeding rate of 20 % significantly out-yielded monocropped wheat at 100 % seeding rate because of a more efficient use of the mineral nitrogen (N) in soil. A gradient in the spatial and temporal use of mineral soil N by the wheat was found. N was available in particular from deeper soil layers during the grain filling phase in row strip intercrop trials, resulting in a higher grain protein content of the wheat. Monocropped wheat achieved mean protein content levels of 9,9 and 9,4 % at two different sites and protein content increased significantly in mixture (mean: 12,8 and 11,4 %). The highest protein content of 15,4 % was achieved with the row strip intercrop of field bean

Sustainable Electrochemical Depolymerization of Lignin in Reusable Ionic Liquids

Lignin’s aromatic building blocks provide a chemical resource that is, in theory, ideal for substitution of aromatic petrochemicals. Moreover, degradation and valorization of lignin has the potential to generate many high-value chemicals for technical applications. In this study, electrochemical degradation of alkali and Organosolv lignin was performed using the ionic liquids 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate and triethylammonium methanesulfonate. The extensive degradation of the investigated lignins with simultaneous almost full recovery of the electrolyte materials provided a sustainable alternative to more common lignin degradation processes. We demonstrate here that both the presence (and the absence) of water during electrolysis and proton transport reactions had significant impact on the degradation efficiency. Hydrogen peroxide radical formation promoted certain electrochemical mechanisms in electrolyte systems “contaminated” with water and increased yields of low molecular weight products significantly. The proposed mechanisms were tentatively confirmed by determining product distributions using a combination of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry, allowing measurement of both polar versus non-polar as well as volatile versus non-volatile components in the mixtures

Moderate toxic effects following acute zonisamide overdose

Zonisamide is an antiepileptic drug that acts on voltage-sensitive sodium and calcium channels, with a modulatory effect on GABA-mediated neuronal inhibition and an inhibitory effect on carbonic anhydrase. It is used mainly for the treatment of partial seizures, and is generally well tolerated at therapeutic doses. The most common reported adverse effects are somnolence, anorexia, dizziness, and headache. There are limited data on zonisamide overdose in the literature, and no case of zonisamide mono-intoxication has been published to date. We describe the first case of zonisamide mono-intoxication in a 25-year-old woman who ingested 12.6 g of this substance with suicidal intent. Despite a plasma zonisamide concentration of 182 mg/L on admission, the patient exhibited a benign clinical course with vomiting and central nervous system depression, requiring brief intubation. Somnolence persisted for 50 hours, and normal-anion-gap metabolic acidosis and polyuria for several days. Complete recovery may be expected with supportive care, even after ingestion of large zonisamide overdoses

Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of obesity: a prospective cohort study of UK Biobank

Objective: To examine the associations between ultra-processed food consumption and risk of obesity among UK adults. Methods: Participants aged 40-69 years at recruitment in the UK Biobank (2006-2019) with dietary intakes collected using 24-hour recall and repeated measures of adiposity - body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and percentage of body fat (% BF) - were included (N=22,659; median follow-up: 5 years). Ultra-processed foods were identified using the NOVA classification and their consumption was expressed as a percentage of total energy intake. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) of several indicators of obesity according to ultra-processed food consumption. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. Results: 947 incident cases of overall obesity (BMI≥30 kg/m2) and 1,900 incident cases of abdominal obesity (men: WC≥102cm, women: WC≥88cm) were identified during follow-up. Participants in the highest quartile of ultra-processed food consumption had significantly higher risk of developing overall obesity (HR: 1.79; 95%CI: 1.06─3.03) and abdominal obesity (HR: 1.30; 95%CI: 1.14─1.48). They had higher risk of experiencing a ≥5% increase in BMI (HR: 1.31; 95%CI: 1.20─1.43), WC (HR: 1.35; 95%CI: 1.25─1.45) and %BF (HR: 1.14; 95%CI: 1.03─1.25), than those in the lowest quartile of consumption. Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that higher consumption of ultra-processed food is strongly associated with a higher risk of multiple indicators of obesity in the UK adult population. Policy makers should consider actions that promote consumption of fresh or minimally processed foods and reduce consumption of ultra-processed foods

Degrees of Freedom of the Quark Gluon Plasma, tested by Heavy Mesons

Heavy quarks (charm and bottoms) are one of the few probes which are sensitive to the degrees of freedom of a Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), which cannot be revealed by lattice gauge calculations in equilibrium. Due to the rapid expansion of the QGP energetic heavy quarks do not come to an equilibrium with the QGP. Their energy loss during the propagation through the QGP medium depends strongly on the modelling of the interaction of the heavy quarks with the QGP quarks and gluons, i.e. on the assuption of the degrees of freedom of the plasma. Here we compare the results of different models, the pQCD based Monte-Carlo (MC@sHQ), the Dynamical Quasi Particle Model (DQPM) and the effective mass approach, for the drag force in a thermalized QGP and discuss the sensitivity of heavy quark energy loss on the properties of the QGP as well as on non-equilibrium dynamicsComment: proceedings symposion "New Horizons" Makutsi, South Africa, Nov 201

Many-body interactions among adsorbed atoms and molecules within carbon nanotubes and in free space

This paper assesses the importance of three-body triple dipole interactions for quasi-one dimensional phases of He, Ne, H_2, Ar, Kr and Xe confined within interstitial channels or on the external surfaces of nanotube bundles. We find the substrate-mediated contribution to be substantial: for interstitial H_2 the well depth of the effective pair potential is reduced to approximately one half of its value in free space. We carry out ab initio calculations on linear and equilateral configurations of H_2 trimer and find that overlap interactions do not greatly change the DDD interaction in the linear configuration when the spacing is greater than about 3 A. However, the DDD interaction alone is clearly insufficient for the triangular configurations studied.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

On the accuracy and usefulness of analytic energy models for contemporary multicore processors

This paper presents refinements to the execution-cache-memory performance model and a previously published power model for multicore processors. The combination of both enables a very accurate prediction of performance and energy consumption of contemporary multicore processors as a function of relevant parameters such as number of active cores as well as core and Uncore frequencies. Model validation is performed on the Sandy Bridge-EP and Broadwell-EP microarchitectures. Production-related variations in chip quality are demonstrated through a statistical analysis of the fit parameters obtained on one hundred Broadwell-EP CPUs of the same model. Insights from the models are used to explain the performance- and energy-related behavior of the processors for scalable as well as saturating (i.e., memory-bound) codes. In the process we demonstrate the models' capability to identify optimal operating points with respect to highest performance, lowest energy-to-solution, and lowest energy-delay product and identify a set of best practices for energy-efficient execution