Noise Cancellation using Selectable Adaptive Algorithm for Speech in Variable Noise Environment

Some of the teething problems associated in the use of two-sensor noise cancellation systems are the nature of the noise signals—a problem that imposes the use of highly complex algorithms in reducing the noise. The usage of such methods can be impractical for many real time applications, where speed of convergence and processing time are critical. At the same time, the existing approaches are based on using a single, often complex adaptive filter to minimize noise, which has been determined to be inadequate and ineffective. In this paper, a new mechanism is proposed to reduce background noise from speech communications. The procedure is based on a two-sensor adaptive noise canceller that is capable of assigning an appropriate filter adapting to properties of the noise. The criterion to achieve this is based on measuring the eigenvalue spread based on the autocorrelation of the input noise. The proposed noise canceller (INC) applies an adaptive algorithm according to the characteristics of the input signal. Various experiments based on this technique using real-world signals are conducted to gauge the effectiveness of the approach. Initial results illustrated the system capabilities in executing noise cancellation under different types of environmental noise. The results based on the INC technique indicate fast convergence rates; improvements up to 30 dB in signal-to-noise ratio and at the same time shows 65% reduction of computational power compared to conventional method

Association of genomic domains in BRCA1 and BRCA2 with prostate cancer risk and aggressiveness

Pathogenic sequence variants (PSV) in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) are associated with increased risk and severity of prostate cancer. Weevaluated whether PSVs inBRCA1/2 were associated with risk of overall prostate cancer or high grade (Gleason 8+) prostate cancer using an international sample of 65 BRCA1 and 171 BRCA2 male PSV carriers with prostate cancer, and 3,388 BRCA1 and 2,880 BRCA2 male PSV carriers without prostate cancer. PSVs in the 30 region of BRCA2 (c.7914+) were significantly associated with elevated risk of prostate cancer compared with reference bin c.1001c.7913 [HR = 1.78; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.25-2.52; P = 0.001], as well as elevated risk of Gleason 8+ prostate cancer (HR = 3.11; 95% CI, 1.63-5.95; P = 0.001). c.756-c.1000 was also associated with elevated prostate cancer risk (HR = 2.83; 95% CI, 1.71-4.68; P = 0.00004) and elevated risk of Gleason 8+prostate cancer (HR = 4.95; 95% CI, 2.12-11.54; P = 0.0002). No genotype-phenotype associations were detected for PSVs in BRCA1. These results demonstrate that specific BRCA2 PSVs may be associated with elevated risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer. Significance: Aggressive prostate cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers may vary according to the specific BRCA2 mutation inherited by the at-risk individual.Peer reviewe

Intravitreal implantation of a peripheral nerve enhances axonal regeneration following crush injury of the optic nerve

The grammage, ie., mass per unit area, is one of the most important quality factors in paper industry. The grammage of the paper web is constantly monitored during the paper manufacturing, and the ever rising pulling speeds and wider reels demand more accurate and faster methods to monitor the grammage changes in both the cross direction and in the machine direction. Nowadays, the standard method is to use radioactive beta rays, which method was invented in 1950s. The beta radiation is attenuated as a function of sample grammage, but the temperature of surrounding air, and the atomic number of the sample also affect the measured intensity of the beta rays. These effects can be conquered by calibration and by monitoring the temperature. But one technical difficulty remains, though. Only one measuring head is traversing across the paper web, which is quite a slow method to achieve the cross profile of the paper web [1–2]