Melody contour identification and instrument recognition using semitone mapping in Nucleus Cochlear Implant recipients

Cochlear implants (CIs) were originally aimed at restoring speech perception for patients with profound hearing loss. Many postlingually deafened CI patients report that music is not well perceived while others enjoy it. Music consists of complex sounds composed of tones with harmonic structure of overtones and temporal fine structure. The harmonic structure is not preserved by the current standard (Std) ACE (advanced combination encoders) mapping and the temporal fine structure is not well encoded. The mapping is believed to produce distortion due to compression oin the low frequency range. In 2008 we proposed two new semitone (Smt) mappings (Smt-LF and Smt-MF) in two frequency ranges (130-1502 Hz and 440-5040 Hz) respectively (Omran et al. 2008). Smt mapping is expected to preserve the harmonic structure representation of overtones and this may improve melody recognition with CIs. In this paper two psychoacoustic experiments (melody contour identification (MCI) (Galvin et al. 2007) and instrument recognition (IR)) were conducted with three different conditions (Std, Smt-MF and Smt-LF mappings) with CI recipients by streaming processed stimuli directly to the implant. The MCI test included five patterns (rising - rising falling - flat - falling rising – falling). Each pattern consisted of five tones; each tone had a fundamental frequency and four overtones. The lowest fundamental frequency of each pattern is called “root”. Signals had two different roots A3 (220 Hz) and A4 (440 Hz). Proposed nine patterns with three roots (A3, A4 and A5) by Galvin et al. (2007) were examined in a pilot test. This test took a long time and the preliminary results showed a possibility to reduce the number of patterns to five and eliminate the fifth octave root (A5). In the IR test, four pairs of instruments (Trumpet and Trombone, Flute and Clarinet, Violin and Cello, Guitar and Piano) from four groups (Brass, Woodwind, Struck and String instruments) respectively were used. MCI and IR tests were conducted with 8 CI recipients. Results from MCI tests showed an improvement with Smt mapping in respect to Std mapping or at least similar results. However, wrong identification occurred with notes having filtered out partials. CI recipients showed an increase in identifying melody contour patterns with Smt mappings. Instrument identification performance decreased with semitone mappings

A Biosensor-CMOS Platform and Integrated Readout Circuit in 0.18-μm CMOS Technology for Cancer Biomarker Detection

This paper presents a biosensor-CMOS platform for measuring the capacitive coupling of biorecognition elements. The biosensor is designed, fabricated, and tested for the detection and quantification of a protein that reveals the presence of early-stage cancer. For the first time, the spermidine/spermine N1 acetyltransferase (SSAT) enzyme has been screened and quantified on the surface of a capacitive sensor. The sensor surface is treated to immobilize antibodies, and the baseline capacitance of the biosensor is reduced by connecting an array of capacitors in series for fixed exposure area to the analyte. A large sensing area with small baseline capacitance is implemented to achieve a high sensitivity to SSAT enzyme concentrations. The sensed capacitance value is digitized by using a 12-bit highly digital successive-approximation capacitance-to-digital converter that is implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The readout circuit operates in the near-subthreshold regime and provides power and area efficient operation. The capacitance range is 16.137 pF with a 4.5 fF absolute resolution, which adequately covers the concentrations of 10 mg/L, 5 mg/L, 2.5 mg/L, and 1.25 mg/L of the SSAT enzyme. The concentrations were selected as a pilot study, and the platform was shown to demonstrate high sensitivity for SSAT enzymes on the surface of the capacitive sensor. The tested prototype demonstrated 42.5 μS of measurement time and a total power consumption of 2.1 μW

The Minimum Shared Edges Problem on Grid-like Graphs

We study the NP-hard Minimum Shared Edges (MSE) problem on graphs: decide whether it is possible to route $p$ paths from a start vertex to a target vertex in a given graph while using at most $k$ edges more than once. We show that MSE can be decided on bounded (i.e. finite) grids in linear time when both dimensions are either small or large compared to the number $p$ of paths. On the contrary, we show that MSE remains NP-hard on subgraphs of bounded grids. Finally, we study MSE from a parametrised complexity point of view. It is known that MSE is fixed-parameter tractable with respect to the number $p$ of paths. We show that, under standard complexity-theoretical assumptions, the problem parametrised by the combined parameter $k$, $p$, maximum degree, diameter, and treewidth does not admit a polynomial-size problem kernel, even when restricted to planar graphs

Reed-Muller Codec Simulation Performance

The approach to error correction coding taken by modern digital communication systems started in the late 1940’s with the ground breaking work of Shannon, Hamming and Golay. Reed- Muller (RM) codes were an important step beyond the Hamming and Golay codes because they allowed more flexibility in the size of the code word and the number of correctable errors per code word. Whereas the Hamming and Golay codes were specific codes with particular values for q; n; k; and t, the RM codes were a class of binary codes with a wide range of allowable design parameters. Binary Reed-Muller codes are among the most prominent families of codes in coding theory. They have been extensively studied and employed for practical applications. In this research, the performance simulation of Reed-Muller Codec was presented. An introduction on Reed-Muller codes, were introduced that consists of defining the key terms and operation used with the binary numbers. Reed-Muller codes were defined and encoding matrices were discussed. The decoding process was given and some examples were demonstrated to clarify the method. The results and the performance of Reed-Muller encoding were presented and the messages been encoded using the defined matrices were shown. The simulation of the decoding part also been shown. The performance of Reed-Muller codes were then analyzed in terms of its code rate, code length and minimum Hamming distance. The analysis that performed also successfully examines the relationship between the parameters of Reed- Muller coding. The decoding part of the Reed-Muller codes can detect one error and correct it as shown in the examples

Audit of Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy in 210 Sudanese Patients at Gezera Hospital for Renal Diseases & Surgery (GHRD&S) Sudan

Background: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) was the breakthrough in urolithiasis management in the 20th century. Objectives: to audit the outcome of ESWL and evaluate its cost effectiveness on the treatment of stone disease in Gezira Hospital for Renal Disease and Surgery (GHRD&S), Sudan Methods: This is a prospective study of 210 patients. ESWL was performed with SLX MX STORZ machine. The number of shocks administered, and the degree of energy were supervised with maximum allowance of 2500-3000 shocks and 5-7 energy in kidney and/or 3000-3500 shock 7-8 energy level for ureteral stone with modification when it was indicated Results: Out of 210 patients; 28, 12, 28 and 2 patients had upper, mid, lower ureteric and vesical stones respectively. Where as 140 patients had renal stones. The success rate of fragmentation of the stones with ESWL was 97.1% for the renal, 92 % for the upper and lower ureter and 83.3% for mid ureteric stones. Vesical stones were not amenable for fragmentation in this study. The overall success rate was 95%. The complications were haematuria in one patient, pain and steinstrasse in two patients. There were no cases of post ESWL renal failure, hypertension and/or residual calculi. Conclusion: This modality of treatment was found to be less costly, acceptable with short hospital stay and short work absence. Keywords: Gezera, extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 3 (1) 2008: pp. 11-1

Chicory abrogates oxidative stress, inflammation and caspase-dependent apoptosis in acute hepatic injury model induced by acetaminophen in rats

In this study the protective effect of chicory leaves hydroalcoholic extract (CIE) against acute liver injury induced by a single dose of acetaminophen (700 mg/kg, i.p.) was investigated in rats. The CIE and silymarin treatment (standard reference) were given in a dose of (100 mg/kg, p.o.) for 3 days before and at 1 and 12 h following acetaminophen administration. Treatment with CIE significantly reduced the levels of serum ALT, AST, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, creatinine, TNF-α and hepatic contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide, caspase-3 and hydroxyproline, with significant increases in serum total protein, albumin, HDL- cholesterol and hepatic activities of reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) as compared with the acetaminophen group. The histopathological alterations mediated by acetaminophen were ameliorated by CIE. It was concluded that CIE protects rat liver against acetaminophen hepatotoxicity, most probably through abrogation of oxidative stress, inflammation and caspase-3 dependent apoptosis

Biallelic mutations in valyl-tRNA synthetase gene VARS are associated with a progressive neurodevelopmental epileptic encephalopathy.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) function to transfer amino acids to cognate tRNA molecules, which are required for protein translation. To date, biallelic mutations in 31 ARS genes are known to cause recessive, early-onset severe multi-organ diseases. VARS encodes the only known valine cytoplasmic-localized aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase. Here, we report seven patients from five unrelated families with five different biallelic missense variants in VARS. Subjects present with a range of global developmental delay, epileptic encephalopathy and primary or progressive microcephaly. Longitudinal assessment demonstrates progressive cortical atrophy and white matter volume loss. Variants map to the VARS tRNA binding domain and adjacent to the anticodon domain, and disrupt highly conserved residues. Patient primary cells show intact VARS protein but reduced enzymatic activity, suggesting partial loss of function. The implication of VARS in pediatric neurodegeneration broadens the spectrum of human diseases due to mutations in tRNA synthetase genes

Application of the Shiono and Knight Method in asymmetric compound channels with different side slopes of the internal wall

The Shiono and Knight Method (SKM) is widely used to predict the lateral distribution of depth-averaged velocity and boundary shear stress for flows in compound channels. Three calibrating coefficients need to be estimated for applying the SKM, namely eddy viscosity coefficient (λ), friction factor (f) and secondary flow coefficient (k). There are several tested methods which can satisfactorily be used to estimate λ, f. However, the calibration of secondary flow coefficients k to account for secondary flow effects correctly is still problematic. In this paper, the calibration of secondary flow coefficients is established by employing two approaches to estimate correct values of k for simulating asymmetric compound channel with different side slopes of the internal wall. The first approach is based on Abril and Knight (2004) who suggest fixed values for main channel and floodplain regions. In the second approach, the equations developed by Devi and Khatua (2017) that relate the variation of the secondary flow coefficients with the relative depth (β) and width ratio (α) are used. The results indicate that the calibration method developed by Devi and Khatua (2017) is a better choice for calibrating the secondary flow coefficients than using the first approach which assumes a fixed value of k for different flow depths. The results also indicate that the boundary condition based on the shear force continuity can successfully be used for simulating rectangular compound channels, while the continuity of depth-averaged velocity and its gradient is accepted boundary condition in simulations of trapezoidal compound channels. However, the SKM performance for predicting the boundary shear stress over the shear layer region may not be improved by only imposing the suitable calibrated values of secondary flow coefficients. This is because difficulties of modelling the complex interaction that develops between the flows in the main channel and on the floodplain in this region

Application of the Shiono and Knight Method in asymmetric compound channels with different side slopes of the internal wall

The Shiono and Knight Method (SKM) is widely used to predict the lateral distribution of depth-averaged velocity and boundary shear stress for flows in compound channels. Three calibrating coefficients need to be estimated for applying the SKM, namely eddy viscosity coefficient (λ), friction factor (f) and secondary flow coefficient (k). There are several tested methods which can satisfactorily be used to estimate λ, f. However, the calibration of secondary flow coefficients k to account for secondary flow effects correctly is still problematic. In this paper, the calibration of secondary flow coefficients is established by employing two approaches to estimate correct values of k for simulating asymmetric compound channel with different side slopes of the internal wall. The first approach is based on Abril and Knight (2004) who suggest fixed values for main channel and floodplain regions. In the second approach, the equations developed by Devi and Khatua (2017) that relate the variation of the secondary flow coefficients with the relative depth (β) and width ratio (α) are used. The results indicate that the calibration method developed by Devi and Khatua (2017) is a better choice for calibrating the secondary flow coefficients than using the first approach which assumes a fixed value of k for different flow depths. The results also indicate that the boundary condition based on the shear force continuity can successfully be used for simulating rectangular compound channels, while the continuity of depth-averaged velocity and its gradient is accepted boundary condition in simulations of trapezoidal compound channels. However, the SKM performance for predicting the boundary shear stress over the shear layer region may not be improved by only imposing the suitable calibrated values of secondary flow coefficients. This is because difficulties of modelling the complex interaction that develops between the flows in the main channel and on the floodplain in this region

Observation of mesoscopic crystalline structures in a two-dimensional Rydberg gas

The ability to control and tune interactions in ultracold atomic gases has paved the way towards the realization of new phases of matter. Whereas experiments have so far achieved a high degree of control over short-ranged interactions, the realization of long-range interactions would open up a whole new realm of many-body physics and has become a central focus of research. Rydberg atoms are very well-suited to achieve this goal, as the van der Waals forces between them are many orders of magnitude larger than for ground state atoms. Consequently, the mere laser excitation of ultracold gases can cause strongly correlated many-body states to emerge directly when atoms are transferred to Rydberg states. A key example are quantum crystals, composed of coherent superpositions of different spatially ordered configurations of collective excitations. Here we report on the direct measurement of strong correlations in a laser excited two-dimensional atomic Mott insulator using high-resolution, in-situ Rydberg atom imaging. The observations reveal the emergence of spatially ordered excitation patterns in the high-density components of the prepared many-body state. They have random orientation, but well defined geometry, forming mesoscopic crystals of collective excitations delocalised throughout the gas. Our experiment demonstrates the potential of Rydberg gases to realise exotic phases of matter, thereby laying the basis for quantum simulations of long-range interacting quantum magnets.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure