A Ground Truth on Room Acoustical Analysis and Perception (GRAP)

A database of 35 virtual room models was created that can serve as a ground truth for the future development of room acoustical parameters beyond ISO 3382-1. Some of the room models are based on existing performance venues, however without yielding a perfect match of measured and simulated acoustical parameters. Others are artificial designs which were made to systematically cover a wide variety of room acoustical properties. Each of the 35 acoustical environments included in the GRAP database consists of three components: (1) the room model which specifies source and receiver positions and the acoustic properties of the surfaces, (2) the simulated monaural and binaural impulse responses, as well as (3) the item and factor scores, based on a listening test using the Room Acoustic Quality Inventory (RAQI).DFG, FOR 1557, Simulation and Evaluation of Acoustical Environments (SEACEN

Leistungssteigerung einer Verpackungsmaschine durch anwendungsorientierte Getriebeauslegung

Getrieben durch einen rapid wachsenden Verbrauchermarkt für Lebensmittel und Getränke, insbesondere in Schwellenländern wie China, Brasilien und Indien, werden an den Verpackungssektor hohe Anforderungen hinsichtlich der Verpackungsqualität und -formen und nicht zuletzt der Stückzahl gestellt. Bei der Entwicklung von Verpackungssystemen stellt die Leistungssteigerung das vorrangige Ziel für die Verpackungsmaschinen- und Packstoffhersteller stellt dar. Die SIG Combibloc Systems GmbH, einer der weltweit führenden Systemanbieter von Packstoff und entsprechenden Füllmaschinen für Getränke und Lebensmittel, hat sich als Ziel gesetzt, die Leistung eines ihrer Verpackungssysteme um 50 % zu steigern

Leistungssteigerung einer Verpackungsmaschine durch anwendungsorientierte Getriebeauslegung

Getrieben durch einen rapid wachsenden Verbrauchermarkt für Lebensmittel und Getränke, insbesondere in Schwellenländern wie China, Brasilien und Indien, werden an den Verpackungssektor hohe Anforderungen hinsichtlich der Verpackungsqualität und -formen und nicht zuletzt der Stückzahl gestellt. Bei der Entwicklung von Verpackungssystemen stellt die Leistungssteigerung das vorrangige Ziel für die Verpackungsmaschinen- und Packstoffhersteller stellt dar. Die SIG Combibloc Systems GmbH, einer der weltweit führenden Systemanbieter von Packstoff und entsprechenden Füllmaschinen für Getränke und Lebensmittel, hat sich als Ziel gesetzt, die Leistung eines ihrer Verpackungssysteme um 50 % zu steigern

A Cross-Evaluated Database of Measured and Simulated HRTFs Including 3D Head Meshes, Anthropometric Features, and Headphone Impulse Responses

The individualization of head related transfer functions (HRTFs) can make an important contribution to improving the quality of binaural technology applications. One approach to individualization is to exploit the relationship between the shape of HRTFs and the anthropometric features of the ears, head, and torso of the corresponding listeners. To identify statistically significant relationships between the two sets of variables, a relatively large database is required. For this purpose full-spherical HRTFs of 96 subjects were acoustically measured and numerically simulated. A detailed cross-evaluation showed a good agreement to previous data between repeated measurements and between measured and simulated data. In addition to 96 HRTFs, the database includes high-resolution head-meshes, a list of 25 anthropometric features per subject, and headphone transfer functions for two headphone models

Elevated faecal ovotransferrin concentrations are indicative for intestinal barrier failure in broiler chickens

Intestinal health is critically important for the welfare and performance of poultry. Enteric diseases that cause gut barrier failure result in high economic losses. Up till now there is no reliable faecal marker to measure gut barrier failure under field conditions. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify a faecal protein marker for diminished intestinal barrier function due to enteric diseases in broilers. To assess this, experimental necrotic enteritis and coccidiosis in broilers were used as models for gut barrier failure. Ovotransferrin was identified as a marker for gut barrier failure using a proteomics approach on samples from chickens with necrotic enteritis. These results were confirmed via ELISA on samples derived from both necrotic enteritis and coccidiosis trials, where faecal ovotransferrin levels were significantly correlated with the severity of gut barrier failure caused by either coccidiosis or necrotic enteritis. This indicates that faecal ovotransferrin quantification may represent a valuable tool to measure gut barrier failure caused by enteric pathogens

Protein truncating variants of colA in clostridium perfringens type G strains

Extracellular matrix (ECM) degrading enzymes produced by Clostridium perfringens may play an important role during the initial phases of avian necrotic enteritis by facilitating toxin entry in the intestinal mucosa and destruction of the tissue. C. perfringens is known to produce several ECM-degrading proteases, such as kappa toxin, an extracellular collagenase that is encoded by the colA gene. In this study, the colA gene sequence of a collection of 48 C. perfringens strains, including pathogenic (i.e. toxinotype G) and commensal (i.e. toxinotype A) chicken derived strains and strains originating from other host species, was analyzed. Although the colA gene showed a high level of conservation (>96% nucleotide sequence identity), several gene variants carrying different nonsense mutations in the colA gene were identified, leading to the definition of four truncated collagenase variant types (I-IV). Collagenase variant types I, III and IV have a (nearly) complete collagenase unit but lack parts of the C-terminal recruitment domains, whereas collagenase variant types II misses the N-terminal part of collagenase unit. Gene fragments encoding a truncated collagenase were mainly linked with necrotic enteritis associated C. perfringens type G strains with collagenase variant types I and II being the most prevalent types. Gelatin zymography revealed that both recombinant full-length and variant type I collagenase have active auto-cleavage products. Moreover, both recombinant fragments were capable of degrading type I as well as type IV collagen, although variant type I collagenase showed a higher relative activity against collagen type IV as compared to full-length collagenase. Consequently, these smaller truncated collagenases might be able to break down collagen type IV in the epithelial basement membrane of the intestinal villi and so contribute to the initiation of the pathological process leading to necrotic enteritis

Perceptually Motivated Analysis of Numerically Simulated Head-Related Transfer Functions Generated By Various 3D Surface Scanning Systems

Numerical simulations offer a feasible alternative to the direct acoustic measurement of individual head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). For the acquisition of high quality 3D surface scans, as required for these simulations, several approaches exist. In this paper, we systematically analyze the variations between different approaches and evaluate the influence of the accuracy of 3D scans on the resulting simulated HRTFs. To assess this effect, HRTFs were numerically simulated based on 3D scans of the head and pinna of the FABIAN dummy head generated with 6 different methods. These HRTFs were analyzed in terms of interaural time difference, interaural level difference, energetic error in auditory filters and by their modeled localization performance. From the results, it is found that a geometric precision of about 1 mm is needed to maintain accurate localization cues, while a precision of about 4 mm is sufficient to maintain the overall spectral shape

The HUTUBS head-related transfer function (HRTF) database

The database contains head-related transfer functions, 3D head meshes, anthropometric features, and headphone transfer functions of 96 subjects