Adaptive loudness compensation in audio reproduction

This work involves the study of the psychoacoustic phenomenon of nonlinear and frequency dependent loudness perception, its modeling, and the use of digital filters to introduce an adaptive compensation based on the reproduction level. Music and sound are mixed and mastered at a particular loudness level, which is usually louder than the level they are commonly played at. This implies a change in the perceived spectral balance of the audio source, which is largest in the bass and sub-bass ranges. As the volume setting in music reproduction is decreased, a loudness compensation filter can be designed to introduce an appropriate boost, so that the low frequencies are still heard well and the perceived spectral balance is preserved. This thesis describes a loudness compensation function derived from the standard equal-loudness level contours and its implementation via a digital first-order shelving filter, and it documents a formal listening test, designed and conducted to validate the accuracy of such a method. The research work was carried out between October 2018 and January 2019, during a visiting period at the Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

Efecto de diferentes medios de cultivo sobre la tasa de crecimiento in vitro de hongo Neofabraea (=Pezicula)

34 p.Con el objeto de evaluar in vitro, el crecimiento miceliar del hongo Neofabraea (=Pezicula) alba en diferentes medios de cultivo, se llevó a cabo un ensayo de Mayo a Septiembre del año 2005, en el Laboratorio de Fitopatología de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias ubicado en las dependencias de la Universidad de Talca. Los medios de cultivos utilizados fueron: Agar Malta (AM); AM + Jugo de verduras (V8); AM + Jugo de manzana (AFE); Agar V8; Agar AFE; Agar Papa Dextrosa (APD); APD + V8 y APD + AFE. Cinco diferentes aislados del hongo en estudio, obtenidas desde cuatro localidades de la Región del Maule, se utilizaron para este propósito. El medio de cultivo que resultó mejor para el crecimiento de este patógeno fue Agar V8, en comparación al Agar AFE y AM. Se puede afirmar que resulta lo mismo usar el medio agar papa – dextrosa (APD) solo o suplementado con jugo de manzana (AFE) o jugo de vegetales (V8) para el crecimiento del hongo. Agar malta (AM) resulto el medio menos favorable para el crecimiento de este patógeno, sin embargo al suplementarlo con AFE el crecimiento es más eficiente, y al suplementarlo con jugo de verduras (V8) no favoreció el crecimiento. En general jugo de verdura (V8) y agar papa – dextrosa (APD) se podrían usar en forma individual o en mezcla como medios de cultivo para el crecimiento de hongos in vitro al igual que jugo de manzana (AFE) en mezcla con agar papa – dextrosa (APD) o con agar malta (AM) ya que los demás medios probados no favorecen en forma rápida y sostenida el crecimiento de este patógeno. Con respecto al tamaño de las conidias de los diferentes aislados, el aislado cinco, que corresponde al fruto con síntomas momificado del cultivar Pink Lady de la zona sede Linares del huerto Semillero, fue el que presentó mayor tamaño de esporas con respecto a los otros cuatro aislados en estudio

Implementación de una mesa indexadora de varios procesos con PLC para el laboratorio de control y automatización de procesos industriales de la facultad de mecánica de la ESPOCH

La metodología de enseñanza teórica-práctica en el caso de sistemas neumáticos, procesos industriales y automatización se debe llevar a cabo con instrumentos y equipos disponibles adecuados para su mayor entendimiento. Es por eso que se elaboró un módulo de indexación con procesos de taladrado, medición y expulsión de la probeta utilizada, el cual es controlado por un PLC y una pantalla táctil los cuales facilitan realizar todo el proceso de manera precisa. El módulo realiza el proceso completo iniciando con el ingreso de la probeta y finalizando con su expulsión. Gracias a un equipo de pinzas el cual puede realizar trabajo de cierre y apertura, levantamiento y bajada, y giro de 180° la probeta es fácilmente transportada. El proceso inicia en la banda transportadora la cual traslada a la probeta hasta que un sensor óptico la detecta, es ahí en donde el equipo de pinzas realiza su trabajo es decir bajan las pinzas, se cierran, se levantan y realizan un giro de 180° hasta la posición en donde se realiza el proceso de taladrado, el taladro está acoplado a un cilindro de doble efecto el cual facilita el trabajo de descenso. Ya taladrada la probeta las pinzas se abren y vuelven a levantarse, la probeta cae en una mesa giratoria la cual tiene 6 posiciones exactas cada 60 °, la probeta pasa al siguiente proceso que es de medición el cual se facilita gracias a un palpador digital que desciende gracias a un cilindro de doble efecto. Todo el proceso finaliza cuando la mesa gira hasta la posición de expulsión de la probeta, en donde se tiene un cilindro de doble efecto que realiza la expulsión. El funcionamiento del equipo de pinzas funciona gracias a un sensor magnético y dos sensores inductivos los cuales dan apertura o cierre de las electroválvulas 5/2 para facilitar el paso de aire comprimido. De igual manera la mesa giratoria funciona con ayuda de una electroválvula 5/2 que facilita el paso de aire comprimido. Todo el proceso se lo puede realizar de forma manual y automática

Noise morphing for audio time stretching

This letter introduces an innovative method to enhance the quality of audio time stretching by precisely decomposing a sound into sines, transients, and noise and by improving the processing of the latter component. While there are established methods for time-stretching sines and transients with high quality, the manipulation of noise or residual components has lacked robust solutions in prior research. The proposed method combines sound decomposition with previous techniques for audio spectral resynthesis. The time-stretched noise component is achieved by morphing its time-interpolated spectral magnitude with a white-noise excitation signal. This method stands out for its simplicity, efficiency, and audio quality. The results of a subjective experiment affirm the superiority of this approach over current state-of-the-art methods across all evaluated stretch factors. The proposed technique notably excels in extreme stretching scenarios, signifying a substantial elevation in performance. The proposed method holds promise for a wide range of applications in slow-motion media content, such as music or sports video production

Prevalence of biopsied oral lesions in a Department of Oral Surgery (2007 - 2009)

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of the hard and soft tissue lesions biopsied in the Department of Oral Surgery of the Barcelona University Dental Clinic (Barcelona, Spain). Study design: A retrospective descriptive study was made of the biopsies performed between January 2007 and April 2009 in our Department of Oral Surgery. The following variables were recorded: age, the sex, location of the lesion, the biopsy technique, the reason for consultation, and the histological result obtained. Results: A total of 460 lesions amenable to histological analysis and corresponding to 450 patients were analyzed. The most frequently biopsied lesions were maxillary cysts, including particularly root cysts (20%). Other very common disorders in our series were epithelial hyperplasias (10.6%) and fibromas (10%). There was a broad range of histopathological results, with un total of 36 different diagnoses. Three of the 460 biopsies yielded two squamous cell carcinomas and one ameloblastoma. Conclusions: The most prevalent hard tissue lesions were chronic maxillary periapical lesions, while epithelial hyperplasias and fibromas were the most frequent soft tissue lesions. Emphasis is placed on the need for biopsy particularly for studying premalignant and malignant lesions, in view of the importance of securing an early diagnosis

Prevalence of biopsied oral lesions in a department of oral surgery (2007-2009)

Objectives: to determine the prevalence of the hard and soft tissue lesions biopsied in the Department of Oral Surgery of the Barcelona University Dental Clinic (Barcelona). Study design: a retrospective descriptive study was made of the biopsies performed between January 2007 and April 2009 in our Department of Oral Surgery. The following variables were recorded: age, the sex, location of the lesion, the biopsy technique, the reason for consultation, and the histological result obtained. Results: a total of 460 lesions amenable to histological analysis and corresponding to 450 patients were analyzed. The most frequently biopsied lesions were maxillary cysts, including particularly root cysts (20%). Other very common disorders in our series were epithelial hyperplasias (10.6%) and fibromas (10%). There was a broad range of histopathological results, with un total of 36 different diagnoses. Three of the 460 biopsies yielded two squamous cell carcinomas and one ameloblastoma. Conclusions: the most prevalent hard tissue lesions were chronic maxillary periapical lesions, while epithelial hyperplasias and fibromas were the most frequent soft tissue lesions. Emphasis is placed on the need for biopsy particularly for studying premalignant and malignant lesions, in view of the importance of securing an early diagnosis

A revisit to the regions of some van den Bergh open clusters using photometric and astrometric parameters

We present results of a study that combines photometry and astrometry for the open clusters vdB80, vdB85 and vdB130. We apply a model which analyses the proper motion distribution and the stellar density to find the kinematic parameters and stellar membership in the region of the mentioned open clusters. The astrometric data are obtained from UCAC4 catalogue. For each cluster, we report the centre coordinates, the components of mean proper motion, the angular diameter and the astrometric members. They are: α=97°.73938±0°.00846,δ=-9°.66953±0°.01177,μαcosδ=-2.13±0.47mas/yr,μδ=-0.95±0.47mas/yr,12′ , 15 members; vdB85: α=101°.71670±0°.00808,δ=1°.34392±0°.01253,μαcosδ=0.89±0.43mas/yr,μδ=3.24±0.43mas/yr,8′ members; vdB130: α=304°.44001±0°.01407,δ=39°.32745±0°.00726,μαcosδ=-4.14±0.25mas/yr,μδ=-5.15±0.25mas/yr,9′ 9 members. We analyse the incidence of the proper motion errors in the determination of the cluster parameters and of the stellar membership and find that they are not significantly changed. We finally compare the astrometric members with the photometric ones given in the literature.Instituto de Astrofísica de La PlataFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Design of an Artificial Neural Network for the Analysis of Stellar Spectra

We have developed an artificial neural network, whose purpose is to automatically find in a database of synthetic stellar spectra the one which best reproduces an observed spectrum. Using the equivalent widths of selected spectral lines, the network fits a set of lines related to the physical parameters in the stellar atmosphere (i.e., temperature, gravity and mass loss rate). The main advantage of this approach is its scalability

ASIC3, an acid-sensing ion channel, is expressed in metaboreceptive sensory neurons

BACKGROUND: ASIC3, the most sensitive of the acid-sensing ion channels, depolarizes certain rat sensory neurons when lactic acid appears in the extracellular medium. Two functions have been proposed for it: 1) ASIC3 might trigger ischemic pain in heart and muscle; 2) it might contribute to some forms of touch mechanosensation. Here, we used immunocytochemistry, retrograde labelling, and electrophysiology to ask whether the distribution of ASIC3 in rat sensory neurons is consistent with either of these hypotheses. RESULTS: Less than half (40%) of dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons react with anti-ASIC3, and the population is heterogeneous. They vary widely in cell diameter and express different growth factor receptors: 68% express TrkA, the receptor for nerve growth factor, and 25% express TrkC, the NT3 growth factor receptor. Consistent with a role in muscle nociception, small (<25 μm) sensory neurons that innervate muscle are more likely to express ASIC3 than those that innervate skin (51% of small muscle afferents vs. 28% of small skin afferents). Over 80% of ASIC3+ muscle afferents co-express CGRP (a vasodilatory peptide). Remarkably few (9%) ASIC3+ cells express P2X3 receptors (an ATP-gated ion channel), whereas 31% express TRPV1 (the noxious heat and capsaicin-activated ion channel also known as VR1). ASIC3+/CGRP+ sensory nerve endings were observed on muscle arterioles, the blood vessels that control vascular resistance; like the cell bodies, the endings are P2X3- and can be TRPV1+. The TrkC+/ASIC3+ cell bodies are uniformly large, possibly consistent with non-nociceptive mechanosensation. They are not proprioceptors because they fail two other tests: ASIC3+ cells do not express parvalbumin and they are absent from the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus. CONCLUSION: Our data indicates that: 1) ASIC3 is expressed in a restricted population of nociceptors and probably in some non-nociceptors; 2) co-expression of ASIC3 and CGRP, and the absence of P2X3, are distinguishing properties of a class of sensory neurons, some of which innervate blood vessels. We suggest that these latter afferents may be muscle metaboreceptors, neurons that sense the metabolic state of muscle and can trigger pain when there is insufficient oxygen