A synthesis-based method for pitch extraction

A synthesis-based method for pitch extraction of the speech signal is proposed. The method synthesizes a number of log power spectra for different values of fundamental frequency and compares them with the log power spectrum of the input speech segment. The average magnitude (AM) difference between the two spectra is used for comparison. The value of fundamental frequency that gives the minimum AM difference between the synthesized spectrum and the input spectrum is chosen as the estimated value of fundamental frequency. The voiced/unvoiced decision is made on the basis of the value of the AM difference at the minimum. For synthesizing the log power spectrum, the speech signal is assumed to be the output of an all-pole filter. The transfer function of the all-pole filter is estimated from the input speech segment by using the autocorrelation method of linear prediction. The synthesis-based method is tried out on real speech data and the results are discussed

North-Holland Publishing Company SHORT COMMUNICATION EVALUATION OF VARIOUS LINEAR PREDICTION PARAMETRIC REPRESENTATIONS IN VOWEL RECOGNITION

Abstract. Several alternate linear prediction parametric representations are experimentally compared as to their vowel recognition performance. The speech data used for this purpose consist of 900 utterances of 10 different vowels spoken by 3 speakers in a/b/-vowel-/b/context. The cepstral coefficients representation is found to be the best linear prediction parametric representation. Zusammeniassu'ag. In diesem Beitrag werden verschiedene parametrische Darstellungen yon Sprachsignalen, die auf dem Prinzip der linearen Pr;,idiktion (LPC) basieren, auf ihre Verwendbarkeit in einem Spracherkennungssystem f~r Vokale experimentell untersucht. Das verwendete Sprachmaterial besteht hierbei aus 900 Beispielen yon 10 verschiedenen Vokale

Transparent Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells

Single layer light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) are amongst the simplest electroluminescent devices and operate with air-stable electrodes. Transparent light-emitting devices are of great interest as they can enable new applications in consumer electronics. In this work, a transparent ionic transition metal complex based LEC is fabricated by developing a transparent top contact based on tin (IV) oxide (SnO2) and indium-tin oxide, processed by low-temperature atomic layer deposition and pulsed laser deposition, respectively. The resulting devices present transparency in excess of 75% over the full visible spectrum (380-750 nm), with 82% transmission at the emission peak (563 nm). The devices emit from the front and the rear with high luminance (260 cd m−2) and long lifetime (176 h). These parameters place them among the highest performing single layer transparent electroluminescent devices

Subjective estimates of uncertainty during gambling and impulsivity after subthalamic deep brain stimulation for Parkinson\u2019s disease

Subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) may modulate chronometric and instrumental aspects of choice behaviour, including motor inhibition, decisional slowing, and value sensitivity. However, it is not well known whether subthalamic DBS affects more complex aspects of decision-making, such as the influence of subjective estimates of uncertainty on choices. In this study, 38 participants with PD played a virtual casino prior to subthalamic DBS (whilst \u2018on\u2019 medication) and again, 3-months postoperatively (whilst \u2018on\u2019 stimulation). At the group level, there was a small but statistically significant decrease in impulsivity postoperatively, as quantified by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). The gambling behaviour of participants (bet increases, slot machine switches and double or nothing gambles) was associated with this self-reported measure of impulsivity. However, there was a large variance in outcome amongst participants, and we were interested in whether individual differences in subjective estimates of uncertainty (specifically, volatility) were related to differences in pre- and postoperative impulsivity. To examine these individual differences, we fit a computational model (the Hierarchical Gaussian Filter, HGF), to choices made during slot machine game play as well as a simpler reinforcement learning model based on the Rescorla-Wagner formalism. The HGF was superior in accounting for the behaviour of our participants, suggesting that participants incorporated beliefs about environmental uncertainty when updating their beliefs about gambling outcome and translating these beliefs into action. A specific aspect of subjective uncertainty, the participant\u2019s estimate of the tendency of the slot machine\u2019s winning probability to change (volatility), increased subsequent to DBS. Additionally, the decision temperature of the response model decreased post-operatively, implying greater stochasticity in the belief-to-choice mapping of participants. Model parameter estimates were significantly associated with impulsivity; specifically, increased uncertainty was related to increased postoperative impulsivity. Moreover, changes in these parameter estimates were significantly associated with the maximum post-operative change in impulsivity over a six month follow up period. Our findings suggest that impulsivity in PD patients may be influenced by subjective estimates of uncertainty (environmental volatility) and implicate a role for the subthalamic nucleus in the modulation of outcome certainty. Furthermore, our work outlines a possible approach to characterising those persons who become more impulsive after subthalamic DBS, an intervention in which non-motor outcomes can be highly variable

Sunstein, Statutes, and the Common Law – Reconciling Markets, the Communal Impulse, and the Mammoth State

Professor Cass Sunstein\u27s new book, After the Rights Revolution: Reconceiving the Regulatory State, builds upon, and in important ways seeks to integrate, much of Professor Sunstein\u27s work over the past several years. He has been one of our most prolific and influential writers on issues of governmental structure, approaching the subject both from more or less conventional administrative law perspectives and from the constitutional perspectives of separation of powers. His work has dealt with a tension often addressed in the literature, that between the eighteenth-century Madisonian constitutional engine of limited, internally checked government and the realities of our sprawling contemporary structures. A particular contribution of Sunstein\u27s has been to insist on bringing forward the Madisonian visions, on their accommodation, not their abandonment. This contribution entails rather vigorous disagreement with the economics-driven theorists of public choice, on the right, and those of deconstructionism, on the left. Sunstein wants to build a conceptual framework for contemporary government that embraces the Madisonian ideal of government structured to serve genuinely public ends in face of the risk of faction; that vision entails both reaching agreement on appropriate distinctions between public and private ends, and finding effective contemporary expression of such ideas as checks and balances

Vacuum-Deposited Microcavity Perovskite Photovoltaic Devices

The interaction between semiconductor materials and electromagnetic fields resonating in microcavities or the light−matter coupling is of both fundamental and practical significance for improving the performance of various photonic technologies. The demonstration of light−matter coupling effects in the emerging perovskite-based optoelectronic devices via optical pumping and electrical readout (e.g., photovoltaics) and vice versa (e.g., lightemitting diodes), however, is still scarce. Here, we demonstrate the microcavity formation in vacuum-deposited methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3, MAPI) p-i-n photovoltaic devices fabricated between two reflecting silver electrodes. We tune the position of the microcavity mode across MAPI's absorption edge and study the effect on the microcavity absorption enhancement. Tuning the microcavity mode toward lower energies enhances the absorption of the lower energy photons and steepens the absorption onset which reduces the effective optical gap (Eg) of the devices. This leads to a reduction in the open circuit voltage deficit

Development of a fuzzy logic-based solar charge controller for charging lead-acid batteries

Este documento se considera que es una ponencia de congresos en lugar de un artículo.International Conference on Computer Science, Electronics and Industrial Engineering (CSEI 2019), Oct. 28-31 2019, Ambato (Ecuador)The design and implementation of a solar charge controller for lead-acid batteries is intended to supplement a component of the water purification module of the water treatment unit for natural disaster relief. This unit contains a solar panel system that supplies power to the module by charging batteries through a controller comprising an Atmega 328 processor. The solar panel feeds voltage to the batteries through fuzzy logic-based software, which allows up to 6 A DC to pass through the controller's power circuit. Consequently, the battery was charged in less time (an average of 7 h to reach maximum capacity), wherein battery lifespan is related to the charge wave frequency. Thus, our software may be adapted in different control algorithms without having to change hardware

Important synoptic features during INDOEX IFP-99

INDOEX IFP-99 was undertaken as part of the international experiment in the Indian Ocean to take observations pertaining to aerosols, radiation, cloud physics and other related meteorological parameters. The important-aim of the INDOEX was to quantify radiative forcing due to natural and anthropogenic aerosols and their feedback on regional and global climate systems. Since prevailing circulation features transports aerosols, it is essential that important synoptic patterns during the expedition phase, i.e. 20 January to 10 March 1999 be examined. Based on the synoptic features it was noticed that crossequatorial flow in lower levels from western Arabian Sea to southern Indian Ocean was significantly higher than the eastern Arabian Sea. Two cyclonic storms, one in the south Bay of Bengal during 1-3 February and another in the south Indian Ocean during 4-13 March were observed. Significant changes in the cross-equatorial flow in the lower/upper tropospheric levels and ITCZ locations were noticed

Controlled release from zein matrices: Interplay of drug hydrophobicity and pH

Purpose: In earlier studies, the corn protein zein is found to be suitable as a sustained release agent, yet the range of drugs for which zein has been studied remains small. Here, zein is used as a sole excipient for drugs differing in hydrophobicity and isoelectric point: indomethacin, paracetamol and ranitidine. Methods: Caplets were prepared by hot-melt extrusion (HME) and injection moulding (IM). Each of the three model drugs were tested on two drug loadings in various dissolution media. The physical state of the drug, microstructure and hydration behaviour were investigated to build up understanding for the release behaviour from zein based matrix for drug delivery. Results: Drug crystallinity of the caplets increases with drug hydrophobicity. For ranitidine and indomethacin, swelling rates, swelling capacity and release rates were pH dependent as a consequence of the presence of charged groups on the drug molecules. Both hydration rates and release rates could be approached by existing models. Conclusion: Both the drug state as pH dependant electrostatic interactions are hypothesised to influence release kinetics. Both factors can potentially be used factors influencing release kinetics release, thereby broadening the horizon for zein as a tuneable release agent