Singing information processing: techniques and applications

Por otro lado, se presenta un método para el cambio realista de intensidad de voz cantada. Esta transformación se basa en un modelo paramétrico de la envolvente espectral, y mejora sustancialmente la percepción de realismo al compararlo con software comerciales como Melodyne o Vocaloid. El inconveniente del enfoque propuesto es que requiere intervención manual, pero los resultados conseguidos arrojan importantes conclusiones hacia la modificación automática de intensidad con resultados realistas. Por último, se propone un método para la corrección de disonancias en acordes aislados. Se basa en un análisis de múltiples F0, y un desplazamiento de la frecuencia de su componente sinusoidal. La evaluación la ha realizado un grupo de músicos entrenados, y muestra un claro incremento de la consonancia percibida después de la transformación propuesta.La voz cantada es una componente esencial de la música en todas las culturas del mundo, ya que se trata de una forma increíblemente natural de expresión musical. En consecuencia, el procesado automático de voz cantada tiene un gran impacto desde la perspectiva de la industria, la cultura y la ciencia. En este contexto, esta Tesis contribuye con un conjunto variado de técnicas y aplicaciones relacionadas con el procesado de voz cantada, así como con un repaso del estado del arte asociado en cada caso. En primer lugar, se han comparado varios de los mejores estimadores de tono conocidos para el caso de uso de recuperación por tarareo. Los resultados demuestran que \cite{Boersma1993} (con un ajuste no obvio de parámetros) y \cite{Mauch2014}, tienen un muy buen comportamiento en dicho caso de uso dada la suavidad de los contornos de tono extraídos. Además, se propone un novedoso sistema de transcripción de voz cantada basada en un proceso de histéresis definido en tiempo y frecuencia, así como una herramienta para evaluación de voz cantada en Matlab. El interés del método propuesto es que consigue tasas de error cercanas al estado del arte con un método muy sencillo. La herramienta de evaluación propuesta, por otro lado, es un recurso útil para definir mejor el problema, y para evaluar mejor las soluciones propuestas por futuros investigadores. En esta Tesis también se presenta un método para evaluación automática de la interpretación vocal. Usa alineamiento temporal dinámico para alinear la interpretación del usuario con una referencia, proporcionando de esta forma una puntuación de precisión de afinación y de ritmo. La evaluación del sistema muestra una alta correlación entre las puntuaciones dadas por el sistema, y las puntuaciones anotadas por un grupo de músicos expertos

An Unknown Marriage in Pre-Service Teachers: Beliefs and Their Practices.

To explore the relationship between pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and their teaching practicum at UNIMINUTO.This research explored pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and the relationship that they can do with their teaching practices during the development of the same in the English Bachelor Program at Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios. It is worth to emphasize that this qualitative research with a narrative focus used autobiographical narratives as an instrument of analysis, which four pre-service teachers carried out before and during their teaching practice. Through this instrument, the data supported the three main categories established, being these teacher`s roles, methods, approaches, strategies and materials for English Language Teaching. As results of this research, it was found pre-service teachers’ articulated some of their beliefs related to the teacher’s role in the classroom with their teaching practicum. On the other hand, pre-service teachers changed other beliefs related to the methods, approaches or strategies to teach English language, it due to context where they developed their teaching practicum number one. Finally, the participants remarked their beliefs related to resources and materials to teach English Language during their teaching practicum number one.This research explored pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and the relationship that they can do with their teaching practices during the development of the same in the English Bachelor Program at Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios. It is worth to emphasize that this qualitative research with a narrative focus used autobiographical narratives as an instrument of analysis, which four pre-service teachers carried out before and during their teaching practice. Through this instrument, the data supported the three main categories established, being these teacher`s roles, methods, approaches, strategies and materials for English Language Teaching. As results of this research, it was found pre-service teachers’ articulated some of their beliefs related to the teacher’s role in the classroom with their teaching practicum. On the other hand, pre-service teachers changed other beliefs related to the methods, approaches or strategies to teach English language, it due to context where they developed their teaching practicum number one. Finally, the participants remarked their beliefs related to resources and materials to teach English Language during their teaching practicum number one. Key Words: pre- service teachers’ beliefs about teaching, teaching practic

Delocalization induced by low-frequency driving in disordered superlattices

We study the localization properties of disordered semiconductor superlattices driven by ac-fields. The localization length of the electrons in the superlattice increases when the frequency of the driving field is smaller than the miniband width. We show that there is an optimal value of the amplitude of the driving field for which the localization length of the system is maximal. This maximum localization length increases with the inverse of the driving frequency.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Learning Bayesian Networks for Student Modeling

In the last decade, there has been a growing interest in using Bayesian Networks (BN) in the student modelling problem. This increased interest is probably due to the fact that BNs provide a sound methodology for this difficult task. In order to develop a Bayesian student model, it is necessary to define the structure (nodes and links) and the parameters. Usually the structure can be elicited with the help of human experts (teachers), but the difficulty of the problem of parameter specification is widely recognized in this and other domains. In the work presented here we have performed a set of experiments to compare the performance of two Bayesian Student Models, whose parameters have been specified by experts and learnt from data respectively. Results show that both models are able to provide reasonable estimations for knowledge variables in the student model, in spite of the small size of the dataset available for learning the parametersUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

La necesidad de servicios optométricos en el Sistema Nacional de Salud de El Salvador en periodo de Enero a Junio del 2017

Se realizó un estudio de prevalencia, con un muestreo probabilístico aleatorio para “Determinar la necesidad de servicios en optometría en el Sistema Nacional de Salud de El Salvador” a través de los siguientes objetivos “Establecer la necesidad de los servicios en optometría en el Sistema Nacional de Salud”. “Determinar la calidad de la atención en los servicios de salud visual en los diferentes establecimientos de salud” “Cuantificar los recursos humanos y materiales en el área de optometría en el Sistema Nacional de Salud de El Salvador” Para lo cual se diseñó una encuesta que se aplicó por medio de una entrevista y se procesó por Microsoft Excel obteniéndose los siguientes resultados: La mayoría de los profesionales entrevistados consideran que la atención en salud en su institución está en el rango de muy buena a buena y solo un profesional del hospital nacional Zacamil considera que es mala. La cobertura de licenciados en Optometría en el sistema nacional de salud es casi nula. La patología más frecuente según los profesionales entrevistados es la catarata seguida del pteregión. Las ametropías constituyen una causa frecuente de consulta en las instituciones estudiadas. La mayoría de las instituciones carecen de óptica y laboratorio óptico lo que dificulta el tratamiento de las ametropías y estas se tienen que atender de forma privada. La mayoría de las instituciones estudiadas solo brindan consulta oftalmológica y las ametropías no son tratadas. Solo en el Centro Regional de Salud Valencia que cuenta con un licenciado en Optometría realiza atención optométrica y les da tratamiento a las ametropías. Las instituciones estudiadas no cuentan con recursos humanos ni materiales necesarios para brindar atención optométrica por todo lo antes mencionado recomendamos al Ministerio de Salud: aumentar la cobertura de los servicios de optometría en el sistema nacional de salud

Localization properties of driven disordered one-dimensional systems

We generalize the definition of localization length to disordered systems driven by a time-periodic potential using a Floquet-Green function formalism. We study its dependence on the amplitude and frequency of the driving field in a one-dimensional tight-binding model with different amounts of disorder in the lattice. As compared to the autonomous system, the localization length for the driven system can increase or decrease depending on the frequency of the driving. We investigate the dependence of the localization length with the particle's energy and prove that it is always periodic. Its maximum is not necessarily at the band center as in the non-driven case. We study the adiabatic limit by introducing a phenomenological inelastic scattering rate which limits the delocalizing effect of low-frequency fields.Comment: Accepted for publication in European Physical Journal

Évaluation in situ de l’impact du système de climatisation sur les façades d’un édifice religieux déclaré patrimoine de l’humanité par l’UNESCO

[EN] The maintenance of historic buildings’ optimal indoor environments for structural integrity and collections’ preservation, are inherently complex, multifaceted goals. Moreover, indoor environments do not only affect collections and building—the occupants’ satisfaction must also be considered. This research evaluates the impact of thermal and humidity problems caused by a HVAC condensing unit on a 265-year-old wall in a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the hot and humid climate of San Antonio, Texas (USA). A field investigation of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) particularly focused on the HVAC impact on a wall nearby was carried out. The case study is a unique historic settlement that includes a limestone church which reflects a similar typology to multiple religious buildings distributed across the southwestern USA. Findings of these investigations show that: i)the relocation of the HVAC condensing unit had a dramatic impact on reducing the outdoor wall temperatures and reducing the size of the interior wall moisture area; ii) the porosity of the limestone and large difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures are mainly responsible for the wall deterioration. Finally, outcomes of this article underline the negative impact of a poor intergration of active systems in historic structures, and highlights the necessity for more investigation in this topic.[CA] El manteniment dels ambients interiors òptims dels edificis històrics per a la integritat estructural i la preservació de les col·leccions, són objectius inherentment complexos i multifacètics. A més, els ambients interiors no sols afecten les col·leccions i a l’edifici, sinó que també cal tindre en compte la satisfacció dels ocupants. Aquesta investigació avalua l’impacte dels problemes tèrmics i d’humitat causats per una unitat de condensació de HVAC en una paret de 265 anys d’antiguitat en un lloc del Patrimoni Mundial de la UNESCO en el clima càlid i humit de Sant Antoni, Texas (els EUA). Es va dur a terme una investigació de camp sobre la Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) centrada especialment en l’impacte de la HVAC en un mur pròxim. El cas d’estudi és un assentament històric únic que inclou una església de pedra calcària que reflecteix una tipologia similar a la de múltiples edificis religiosos distribuïts pel sud-oest dels Estats Units. Els resultats d’aquest article subratllen, entre altres qüestions, l’impacte negatiu d’una mala integració dels sistemes actius en les estructures històriques, i destaquen la necessitat de continuar investigant en aquest tema.[ES] El mantenimiento de los ambientes interiores óptimos en edificios históricos para una adecuada integridad estructural y preservación de las colecciones es un objetivo inherentemente complejo y multifacético. Además, los ambientes interiores no sólo afectan a las colecciones y al edificio, ya que la satisfacción de los ocupantes también debe ser considerada. La presente investigación evalúa el impacto de los problemas térmicos y de humedad provocados por una unidad condensadora de climatización en una pared con una antigüedad de 265 años en un monumento declarado patrimonio de la humanidad por la UNESCO en el clima caluroso y húmedo de San Antonio, Tejas, Estados Unidos. Se ha desarrollado una investigación de campo de Calidad Ambiental Interior (IEQ) particularmente enfocada en el impacto producido por la climatización sobre una pared cercana. El estudio de caso es un asentamiento histórico único que incluye una iglesia de piedra caliza que presenta una tipología similar a muchos edificios religiosos distribuidos por el suroeste de los Estados Unidos. Los hallazgos de estas investigaciones reflejan, entre otras cuestiones, el impacto negativo de una integración deficiente de sistemas activos en estructuras históricas y destaca la necesidad de más investigación en esta materia.[FR] : Le maintien des ambiances intérieures optimales dans les bâtiments historiques en vue d’une adéquate intégrité structurale et d’une préservation des collections est un objectif intrinsèquement complexe et multiforme. D’ailleurs, les ambiances intérieures compromettent non seulement les collections et le bâtiment, car il faut aussi considérer la satisfaction des occupants. Cette recherche évalue l’impact des problèmes thermiques et d’humidité provoqués par une unité condensatrice de climatisation sur un mur de 265 ans d’antiquité, placée dans un monument déclaré patrimoine de l’humanité par l’UNESCO et dans le climat chaleureux et humide de San Antonio (Texas, États-Unis). Pour cela, une recherche de terrain de Qualité Environnementale Intérieur (IEQ) a été mise en œuvre, spécialement ciblée sur l’impact produit par la climatisation sur un mur prochain. L’étude de cas est un établissement historique et unique incluant une église de pierre calcaire qui présente une typologie semblable à beaucoup d’autres édifices religieux distribués tout le long du sud-ouest des États-Unis. Les trouvailles de ces recherches montrent, entre autres, l’impact négatif d’une intégration insuffisante de systèmes actifs dans des structures historiques, ce qui signale le besoin de plus de recherche dans ce domaine.Aquesta investigació no hauria sigut possible sense la cooperació de l’Arxidiòcesi de Sant Antoni, Ford, Powell i Carson Inc. i la valuosa contribució del personal de la Mission Concepción de Acuña. Aquesta investigació ha sigut secundada pel Centre of Cultural Sustainability (CCS) de la University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Els autors també desitgen agrair a Mayra Landin i Molly Padilla pel seu suport en la investigació.Williamson, K.; Martinez-Molina, A.; Dupont, W. (2021). Avaluació in situ de l’impacte del sistema de calefacció, ventilació i aire condicionat en les façanes d’un edifici religiós declarat Patrimoni de la Humanitat per la UNESCO. ANUARI d’Arquitectura i Societat. 0(1):146-168. https://doi.org/10.4995/anuari.2021.16331OJS14616801Bisegna, F., Ambrosini, D., Paoletti, D., Sfarra, S., & Gugliermetti, F. 2014. A qualitative method for combining thermal imprints to emerging weak points of ancient wall structures by passive infrared thermography - A case study. Journal of Cultural Heritage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2013.03.006Boarin, P., Bridging the gap between environmental sustainability and heritage preservation: towards a certified sustainable conservation, adaptation and retrofitting of historic buildings, in: J. Zuo, L. Daniel, V. Soebarto (Eds.), Fifty Years Later Revisiting Role Archit. Sci. Des. Pract. 50th Int. Conf. Archit. Sci. Assoc. 2016, School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia, 2016: pp. 675-684.D'Agostino, D. 2013. Moisture dynamics in an historic masonry structure: The Cathedra lof Lecee (South Italy). Building and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2013.02.008Grinzato, E., Cadelano, G. & Bison, P. 2010. Moisture map by IR thermography, Journal of Modern Optics, 57:18. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500341003731597ISO Standard. 2012. ISO 7726. Ergonomics of the thermal environment. Instruments for measuring physical quantities, Internation Organization for Standarization.Lankester, P. and Brimblecombe, P. 2012. The impact of future climate on historic interiors. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.12.026Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2021. THERM https://windows.lbl.gov/software/therm, Date accessed: September 11,.Martinez-Garrido, M.I., Aparicio, S., Fort, R., Anaya, J.J., and Izquierdo, M.A.G. 2013. Effect of solar radiation and humidity on the inner core of walls in historic buildings. Construction and Building Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.10.068Martinez-Molina, A., Tort-Ausina, I., Cho, S., & Vivancos, J.-L. 2016. Energy efficiency and thermal comfort in historic buildings: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.03.018Martins, A.M.T., Carlos, J.S., 2014. The retrofitting of the Bernardas' Convent in Lisbon, Energy Build. 68, 396-402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.07.087Moradias, P.A., Silva, P.D., Castro-Gomes, J.P., Salazar, M.V., and Pires, L. 2012. Experimental study on hygrothermal behavior of retrofit solutions applied to old building walls. Construction and Building Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.04.138National Weather Service. "San Antonio Climate Summary" (PDF). Consultat el 5 d'octubre, 2021.Srithongchai, T., Gadi, M.B. 2018. People's adaptation to thermal conditions inside buildings for religious practice, Build. Environ. 185, 107115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107115Surfer® Golden Software, LLC., SURFER https://www.goldensoftware.com/products/surfer, Date accessed: September 11, 2021.Torres, I. and Peixoto de Freitas, V. 2010. The influence of the thickness of the walls and their properties on the treatment of rising damp in historic buildings. Construction and Building Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.01.004U.S. Department of the Interior. n.d.. Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/subjects/travelspanishmissions/mission-nuestra-senora-de-la-purisima-concepcion-de-acuna.htmValero, L. R., Sasso, V. F., & Vicioso, E. P. 2019. In situ assessment of superficial moisture condition in façades of historic building using non-destructive techniques. Case Studies in Construction Materials.Varas-Muriel, M.J., Martínez-Garrido, M.I., Fort, R., 2014, Monitoring the thermal-hygrometric conditions induced by traditional heating systems in a historic Spanish church (12th-16th C), Energy Build. 75, 119-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.01.049Williamson, Kelsey, Antonio Martinez-Molina i William Dupont "In Situ Assessment of Superficial Moisture Content in Façades of a UNESCO World Heritage Church Using Electrical Resistance Measuring (ERM). The Impact of the HVAC System." En APT & National Trust Joint Conference, Edmonton, Canada (2020)

Effect of Various Process Conditions on the Nutritional and Bioactive Compounds of Amaranth

Amaranth is a pseudocereal with unique nutritional and nutraceutical profiles. Typically, the amaranth grain is consumed after some process such as cooking in water, popping, or extrusion which has been mentioned to affect the nutritional and nutraceutical characteristics. In this chapter, we will analyze the changes in amaranth grain on bioactive compounds (total phenolic content) and nutritional and nutraceutical properties (antioxidant activities) subjected to different processes. It has been shown that phytochemical and nutritional contents of amaranth grain provide health benefits such as antioxidant activity, anti-allergic action, antianemic effect, anticancer activity, and antihypertensive effect, besides the capacity of decreasing plasma levels, stimulating the immune system, and reducing blood glucose levels

Matter-Antimatter : An Accentuation-Attrition Model

A system of matter dissipating antimatter and parallel system of antimatter that contribute to the dissipation of the velocity of production of matter is investigated. It is shown that the time independence of the contributions portrays another system by itself and constitutes the equilibrium solution of the original time independent system. With the methodology reinforced with the explanations, we write the governing equations with the nomenclature for the systems in the foregoing, by concatenation process, ipso facto. We discuss following systems in all its predicational anteriorities, character consonations, ontological consonances, primordial exactitude, accolytish representation, differential relations, and concomitant contiguous similarities. (1) Antimatter as an integral part of the electromagnetic phenomena. (2) Electricity consists of the flow of electrons and positrons in opposite directions along a conductor (not only of electrons, as current accepted knowledge describes), induced by the crossing of a magnetic field through the conductor. (3) When a charged particle passes through matter at rest it will cause the production of electron pairs, that is, electrons and positrons, but if nothing separates them by force, they will reunite after the passing of the charged particle, nullifying each other, and the atoms of matter will be back at rest. (4) In order to preserve the law of conservation of energy, the amount of energy required to break free the electron and the positron from a bielectron (a theoretical dual particle containing an electron and a positron) must be equal to the amount of energy released by a matter-antimatter encounter of the same particles. (5) When a conductor is at rest all the bielectrons are located at their respective orbits in the conductor's atoms, generating no electric charge. (6) When a conductor is placed under a moving magnetic field, its otherwise stable bielectrons will break apart into electrons and positrons, which will flow in opposite directions along the conductor. At the closing of the circuit, electrons and positrons, attracted to each other by their opposite charge, reunite into bielectrons releasing an equal amount of energy as initially required to separate them. (7) Matter gormandizes antimatter (Antimatter has to pre-exist to be able to appear in a collision of particles. We are not creating antimatter; antimatter is there, intermingled with matter. Particle collisions do not “produce” antimatter; they separate antimatter from the particles of which it is part). (8) We assume that should there be another force in physics: the force of attraction between matter and antimatter and give a model. We shall call it Bundeswehr (German for "Federal Defense"). So Bundeswehr binds matter and antimatter. (9) At the closing of the circuit the free electrons and positrons, pushed forward by their own “pressure”, are irresistibly pulled by the attraction of their antimatter counterpart. It is this process of mutual attraction and continuous reunification into bielectrons which causes the flow of electrons and positrons along the conductors. Paper answers, not wholly or in full measure, but substantially the relationship between dark matter and antimatter and speculates in epiphenomena and phenomenological form the circumspective jurisprudence of consideration of the antimatter as dark matter. This also answers the long standing question in cosmology that why matter is prevalent in the universe in contrast to antimatter. The paper seems to confirm antimatter as an intrinsic constituent of ordinary matter; antimatter as an integral part of the electromagnetic phenomena; the existence of a new particle namely bielectron, consisting of an electron and a positron joined together within the atom; that matter and antimatter preceded the big-bang and their violent encounter may have been the actual cause of the big-bang itself; that matter and antimatter have a pacific coexistence in today’s universe, after the big-bang; the possible existence of a new force in physics namely Bundeswehr, which would recombine and keep matter and antimatter particles together. Keywords: matter-antimatter, where antimatter is, dark-matter, theory of electricity, bielectron, Big-Bang, origin of the Universe

First report of virulence and effects of Magnaporthe oryzae isolates causing wheat blast in Argentina

Our results indicate that M. oryzae has established itself in the principle wheat agroecological region of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and may pose a significant threat to wheat production, and therefore poses a significant threat to wheat production in Argentina.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale