4,573 research outputs found
Music Learning Tools for Android Devices
In this paper, a musical learning application for
mobile devices is presented. The main objective is to design and develop an application capable of offering exercises to practice and improve a selection of music skills, to users interested
in music learning and training. The selected music skills are rhythm, melodic dictation and singing. The application includes an audio signal analysis system implemented making use of the
Goertzel algorithm which is employed in singing exercises to check if the user sings the right musical note. This application also includes a graphical interface to represent musical symbols.
A set of tests were conducted to check the usefulness of the application as musical learning tool. A group of users with different music knowledge have tested the system and reported
to have found it effective, easy and accessible.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional AndalucÃa Tech
Assessing the textural defect of pastiness in dry-cured pork ham using chemical, microstructural, textural and ultrasonic analyses
The dry-cured pork ham industry lacks non-destructive quality control techniques able to characterize relevant textural defects, such as pastiness or softness. The aim of this study is to analyze the feasibility of using different destructive and non-destructive techniques to characterize pastiness in dry-cured ham. Dry-cured ham processing was modified in order to induce different pastiness intensities over a wide range of moisture and salt contents. Afterwards, pastiness was assessed by sensory analysis and samples classified as non-pasty, medium-pasty and highly-pasty. Finally, chemical, textural, microstructural (LM and TEM) and ultrasonic analyses (velocity and attenuation coefficient) were carried out.
Samples with a high degree of pastiness experienced an increase of 16.8% and 16.7% as regards the proteolysis index and relaxation capacity, respectively, and a 67.7% decrease in hardness compared to non-pasty hams. The microstructural analysis revealed that pastiness brought about great structural degradation. Ultrasonic velocity was significantly related to the salt (r = 0.79) and moisture contents (r = 0.69), but no influence of pastiness was found on the velocity. However, the attenuation coefficient increased as the pastiness rose and could be considered as a useful parameter for characterizing this complex textural defect. Therefore, ultrasound could be used not only to carry out a non-destructive characterization of dry-cured ham composition but also to assess pastiness.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Observational constraints to boxy/peanut bulge formation time
Boxy/peanut bulges are considered to be part of the same stellar structure as
bars and both could be linked through the buckling instability. The Milky Way
is our closest example. The goal of this letter is determining if the mass
assembly of the different components leaves an imprint in their stellar
populations allowing to estimate the time of bar formation and its evolution.
To this aim we use integral field spectroscopy to derive the stellar age
distributions, SADs, along the bar and disc of NGC 6032. The analysis shows
clearly different SADs for the different bar areas. There is an underlying old
(>=12 Gyr) stellar population for the whole galaxy. The bulge shows star
formation happening at all times. The inner bar structure shows stars of ages
older than 6 Gyrs with a deficit of younger populations. The outer bar region
presents a SAD similar to that of the disc. To interpret our results, we use a
generic numerical simulation of a barred galaxy. Thus, we constrain, for the
first time, the epoch of bar formation, the buckling instability period and the
posterior growth from disc material. We establish that the bar of NGC 6032 is
old, formed around 10 Gyr ago while the buckling phase possibly happened around
8 Gyr ago. All these results point towards bars being long-lasting even in the
presence of gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
Seasonal variations of carcass characteristics, meat quality and nutrition value in iberian wild red deer
Aim of study: The effects of hunting season (autumn vs. winter) on carcass characteristics and meat quality of Iberian wild red deer were assessed. Area of study: A total of 100 males of wild red deer of Iberian genetic line (Cervus elaphus) were hunted on Ciudad Real (south central Spain). Material and methods: Yields for shoulder (with bone), neck, backbone, loin, tenderloin, leg (with bone), short plate and flank were determined. In addition, samples of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum and Rectus abdominis muscles were collected. Then, pH48, colour measurements, chemical composition, cooking loss, Warner Bratzler shear blade, fatty acid and amino acid profiles and mineral content were analyzed. Main results: Deer hunted in autumn (n=50) had higher (p<0.01) yields of shoulder, backbone and short plate and higher contents of intramuscular fat (IMF), cholesterol and K, Fe and Mn but lower (p<0.001) pH48 and Na, Mg, Zn and Cu contents than deer hunted in winter (n=50). Shear force tended (p=0.05) to be lower for meat collected in autumn than for meat collected in winter. However, loin yield was 59.2% higher (p<0.001) for winter than for autumn carcasses. Deer hunted in winter had higher α-linoleic acid (p<0.05) and long chain n-3 polyunsaturated (p<0.001) percentages than deer hunted in autumn Research highlights: Autumn hunting is recommended to obtain carcasses with higher yields of shoulder, backbone and short plate and meat with higher IMF. Conversely, winter hunting is advisable for higher loin yield and for a profile richer in polyunsaturated fatty acids
Potential Backup Targets for Comet Interceptor
Comet Interceptor is an ESA F-class mission expected to launch in 2028 on the
same launcher as ESA's ARIEL mission. Comet Interceptor's science payload
consists of three spacecraft, a primary spacecraft that will carry two smaller
probes to be released at the target. The three spacecraft will fly-by the
target along different chords, providing multiple simultaneous perspectives of
the comet nucleus and its environment. Each of the spacecraft will be equipped
with different but complementary instrument suites designed to study the far
and near coma environment and surface of a comet or interstellar object (ISO).
The primary spacecraft will perform a fly-by at ~1000 km from the target. The
two smaller probes will travel deeper into the coma, closer to the nucleus. The
mission is being designed and launched without a specific comet designated as
its main target. Comet Interceptor will travel to the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrangian
point with ARIEL and wait in hibernation until a suitable long-period comet
(LPC) is found that will come close enough to the Sun for the spacecraft to
maneuver to an encounter trajectory. To prepare for all eventualities, the
science team has assembled a preliminary set of backup targets from the known
Jupiter family comets, where a suitable fly-by trajectory can be achieved
during the nominal mission timeline (including the possibility of some launch
delay). To better prioritize this list, we are releasing our potential backup
targets in order to solicit the planetary community's help with observations of
these objects over future apparitions and to encourage publication of archival
data on these objects.Comment: Accepted to RNAA
Matching microscopic and macroscopic responses in glasses
We first reproduce on the Janus and Janus II computers a milestone experiment
that measures the spin-glass coherence length through the lowering of
free-energy barriers induced by the Zeeman effect. Secondly we determine the
scaling behavior that allows a quantitative analysis of a new experiment
reported in the companion Letter [S. Guchhait and R. Orbach, Phys. Rev. Lett.
118, 157203 (2017)]. The value of the coherence length estimated through the
analysis of microscopic correlation functions turns out to be quantitatively
consistent with its measurement through macroscopic response functions.
Further, non-linear susceptibilities, recently measured in glass-forming
liquids, scale as powers of the same microscopic length.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
An in-depth view of the microscopic dynamics of Ising spin glasses at fixed temperature
Using the dedicated computer Janus, we follow the nonequilibrium dynamics of
the Ising spin glass in three dimensions for eleven orders of magnitude. The
use of integral estimators for the coherence and correlation lengths allows us
to study dynamic heterogeneities and the presence of a replicon mode and to
obtain safe bounds on the Edwards-Anderson order parameter below the critical
temperature. We obtain good agreement with experimental determinations of the
temperature-dependent decay exponents for the thermoremanent magnetization.
This magnitude is observed to scale with the much harder to measure coherence
length, a potentially useful result for experimentalists. The exponents for
energy relaxation display a linear dependence on temperature and reasonable
extrapolations to the critical point. We conclude examining the time growth of
the coherence length, with a comparison of critical and activated dynamics.Comment: 38 pages, 26 figure
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