Effects of early and late reflections on intelligibility of reverberated speech by cochlear implant listeners

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4834455.The purpose of this study was to determine the overall impact of early and late reflections on the intelligibility of reverberated speech by cochlear implant listeners. Two specific reverberation times were assessed. For each reverberation time, sentences were presented in three different conditions wherein the target signal was filtered through the early, late or entire part of the acoustic impulse response. Results obtained with seven cochlear implant listeners indicated that while early reflections neither enhanced nor reduced overall speech perception performance, late reflections severely reduced speech intelligibility in both reverberant conditions tested

Generalised Predictive Control of a 12-bus Network Using Neutral-Point Clamped Voltage Source Converter UPFC

The paper presents the application of a UPFC to a case study of a 12-bus high power network. The UPFC shunt converter employs 8 3-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) voltage source converters (VSC) and 12 single-phase three-winding phase shifting transformers (PST), generating a 48-pulse output voltage. The 3-phase H-bridge series converter shares the same dc-link with the shunt one. The novel feature of this work lies in the use of a model-based generalised predictive current control law to the shunt converter for voltage and power flow control which has shown superior performance without additional filters compared to a P+I control scheme. In addition with the phase shift and switching angle control of each NPC-VSC output voltage, the topology offers improved harmonic performance and a zero-sequence blocking transformer is used for total triplen harmonics elimination

Prevalence of L.monocytogenes and Listeria spp., in the environment and raw meat products during pig slaughtering, deboning and meat cutting operations.

From 9/2001 –6/2002 we estimated the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria spp., in the environment, and raw pork products of a meat plant. Of 41environmental samples taken before and after initiation of slaughtering, in 2 visits, 10.7% and 7.7% of the samples respectively harbored L. monocytogenes. In each of 2 additional visits we collected 45 samples each time from carcass surfaces. L. monocytogenes was present 2.2% and 2.2% of the samples respectively. Of 109 environmental surface samples from the deboning room before and 104 taken 2-3 h after the beginning of the operation 3.7% and 5.8% harbored L. monocytogenes. Of 132 environmental surfaces samples taken before and 125 after the initiation of work in a special working area handling the cutting and packaging of modified atmosphere (MAP) consumer size meat cuts 3% and 5.6% harbored L. monocytogenes. Of 35 wholesale meat cuts from imported meat collected in the central deboning and cutting room 34.3% harbored L. monocytogenes. Finally of 201 consumer size MAP products prepared from the company`s own pig carcasses, 6% harbored L. monocytogenes. The results indicated the low prevalence of L.monocytogenes on local origin carcasses and MAP cuts prepared from such carcasses under strict sanitary conditions. Cross contaminations of equipment and worker’s hands from imported meats may result in excessive contamination of meat cuts whether the meat is imported or local

Thermoacoustic effects in high-speed compressible transitional and turbulent boundary layers

A numerical investigation of the thermal and acoustic effects in high-speed compressible flows is presented. Two case studies are considered: i) transition to turbulence in supersonic flows over a flat plate, and ii) supersonic shock wave turbulent boundary layer interaction (SWTBLI) over a compression ramp. Implicit Large Eddy Simulations (iLES) are performed using the second and fifth order Monotone-Upstream Central Scheme for Conservation Laws (MUSCL) and the ninth order Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (WENO) schemes. The aim of this study is twofold: i) to examine the acoustic and thermal effects associated with transitional and turbulent boundary layers, particularly in the near wall region; ii) to investigate the effects of numerical accuracy on acoustic and thermal loading. The results are compared with theoretical models, Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) and experiments

Implicit large eddy simulation of acoustic loading in supersonic turbulent boundary layers

This paper investigates the accuracy of implicit Large Eddy Simulation in the prediction of acoustic phenomena associated with pressure fluctuations within a supersonic turbulent boundary layer. We assess the accuracy of implicit Large Eddy Simulation against Direct Numerical Simulation and experiments for attached turbulent supersonic flow with zero-pressure gradient, and further analyze and discuss the effects of turbulent boundary layer pressure fluctuations on acoustic loading both at the high and low frequency regimes. The results of high-order variants of the simulations show good agreement with theoretical models, experiments, as well as previously published Direct Numerical Simulations

What Are You Looking At? Team Fight Prediction Through Player Camera

Esport is a large and still growing industry with vast audiences. Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs), a sub-genre of esports, possess a very complex environment, which often leads to experts missing important coverage while broadcasting live competitions. One common game event that holds significant importance for broadcasting is referred to as a team fight engagement. Professional player's own knowledge and understanding of the game may provide a solution to this problem. This paper suggests a model that predicts and detects ongoing team fights in a live scenario. This approach outlines a novel technique of deriving representations of a complex game environment by relying on player knowledge. This is done by analysing the positions of the in-game characters and their associated cameras, utilising this data to train a neural network. The proposed model is able to both assist in the production of live esport coverage as well as provide a live, expert-derived, analysis of the game without the need of relying on outside sources

Toxicity bioassay of waste cooking oil-based biodiesel on marine microalgae

The world biodiesel production is increasing at a rapid rate. Despite its perceived safety for the environment, more detailed toxicity studies are mandatory, especially in the field of aquatic toxicology. While considerable attention has been paid to biodiesel combustion emissions, the toxicity of biodiesel in the aquatic environment has been poorly understood. In our study, we used an algae culture growth-inhibition test (OECD 201) for the comparison of the toxicity of B100 (pure biodiesel), produced by methanol transesterification of waste cooking oil (yellow grease), B0 (petroleum diesel fuel) and B20 (diesel-biodiesel blended of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel fuel by volume). Two marine diatoms Attheya ussuriensis and Chaetoceros muelleri, the red algae Porphyridium purpureum and Raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo were employed as the aquatic test organisms. A sample of biodiesel from waste cooking oil without dilution with petroleum diesel (B100) showed the highest level of toxicity for the microalgae A. ussuriensis, C. muelleri and H. akashiwo, compared to hexane, methanol, petroleum diesel (B0) and diluted sample (B20). The acute EC50 in the growth-inhibition test (96 h exposure) of B100 for the four species was in the range of 3.75–23.95 g/L whereas the chronic toxicity EC50 (7d exposure) was in the range of 0.42–16.09 g/L

Exploring the relationship between video game expertise and fluid intelligence

Hundreds of millions of people play intellectually-demanding video games every day. What does individual performance on these games tell us about cognition? Here, we describe two studies that examine the potential link between intelligence and performance in one of the most popular video games genres in the world (Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas: MOBAs). In the first study, we show that performance in the popular MOBA League of Legends' correlates with fluid intelligence as measured under controlled laboratory conditions. In the second study, we also show that the age profile of performance in the two most widely-played MOBAs (League of Legends and DOTA II) matches that of raw fluid intelligence. We discuss and extend previous videogame literature on intelligence and videogames and suggest that commercial video games can be useful as 'proxy' tests of cognitive performance at a global population level