Patterns of behavior in lodgings exposed to traffic noise

Threshold values for public services interferent on the attenuation to noise nuisance were defined. Daily life at home was described and collected on the use of residences, the effects of noise on health and sleep, and the incidence of running away from home. A correlation was made with the equipment and noise insulation of homes. It is shown that there are behavior patterns in the modification of considerable manner in the way of life for people who live in apartments and in individual houses, above 66 dB during daytime

Implicit search trails for video recommendation

In this demo paper we demonstrate our approach and system for using implicit actions involved in video search to provide recommendations to users. The goal of this system is to improve the quality of the results that users find, and in doing so, help users to explore a large and difficult information space and help them consider search options that they may not have considered otherwise. Results of a user evaluation show that this approach achieves all of these goals

Search trails using user feedback to improve video search

In this paper we present an innovative approach for aiding users in the difficult task of video search. We use community based feedback mined from the interactions of previous users of our video search system to aid users in their search tasks. This feedback is the basis for providing recommendations to users of our video retrieval system. The ultimate goal of this system is to improve the quality of the results that users find, and in doing so, help users to explore a large and difficult information space and help them consider search options that they may not have considered otherwise. In particular we wish to make the difficult task of search for video much easier for users. The results of a user evaluation indicate that we achieved our goals, the performance of the users in retrieving relevant videos improved, and users were able to explore the collection to a greater extent

Collaborative search trails for video search

In this paper we present an approach for supporting users in the difficult task of searching for video. We use collaborative feedback mined from the interactions of earlier users of a video search system to help users in their current search tasks. Our objective is to improve the quality of the results that users find, and in doing so also assist users to explore a large and complex information space. It is hoped that this will lead to them considering search options that they may not have considered otherwise. We performed a user centred evaluation. The results of our evaluation indicate that we achieved our goals, the performance of the users in finding relevant video clips was enhanced with our system; users were able to explore the collection of video clips more and users demonstrated a preference for our system that provided recommendations

Mode-locking of incommensurate phase by quantum zero point energy in the Frenkel-Kontorova model

In this paper, it is shown that a configuration modulated system described by the Frenkel-Kontorova model can be locked at an incommensurate phase when the quantum zero point energy is taken into account. It is also found that the specific heat for an incommensurate phase shows different parameter-dependence in sliding phase and pinning phase. These findings provide a possible way for experimentalists to verify the phase transition by breaking of analyticity.Comment: 6 pages in Europhys style, 3 eps figure

Personalized content retrieval in context using ontological knowledge

Personalized content retrieval aims at improving the retrieval process by taking into account the particular interests of individual users. However, not all user preferences are relevant in all situations. It is well known that human preferences are complex, multiple, heterogeneous, changing, even contradictory, and should be understood in context with the user goals and tasks at hand. In this paper, we propose a method to build a dynamic representation of the semantic context of ongoing retrieval tasks, which is used to activate different subsets of user interests at runtime, in a way that out-of-context preferences are discarded. Our approach is based on an ontology-driven representation of the domain of discourse, providing enriched descriptions of the semantics involved in retrieval actions and preferences, and enabling the definition of effective means to relate preferences and context

Influence of the number of vehicles in the emergence of sound events on the annoyance expressed - experimental study

The acoustical index leg was studied to determine its accuracy in predicting annoyance from traffic noise. Annoyance was tested in experimental situations where the frequency of the number of heavy vehicles varied from 3 to 30 HV/30 min for different classes of the Leg level at 50, 55, 60 dB(A) of traffic noise. The results showed that: (1) for a constant Leg level the annoyance increases as a function of the number of HV up to a certain threshold at which the annoyance is stabilized; (2) for a constant frequency of passage of HV, the annoyance increases with the Leg level; (3) composite indexes of the type Leg + Log NHV, L1 + EMER or L1 + L10 give a predictive value greater than that of the Leg pr Log nHV taken alone

Characterization of the Log-Normal Model for Received Signal Strength

Using the classical received signal strength (RSS)-distance log-normal model in wireless sensor network (WSN) applications poses a series of characteristic challenges derived from (a) the model’s structural limitations when it comes to explaining real observations, (b) the inherent hardware (HW) variability typically encountered in the low-cost nodes of WSNs, and (c) the inhomogeneity of the deployment environment. The main goal of this article is to better characterize how these factors impact the model parameters, an issue that has received little attention in the literature. For that matter, I qualitatively elaborate on their effects and interplay, and present the results of two quantitative empirical studies showing how much the parameters can vary depending on (a) the nodes used in the model identification and their position in the environment, and (b) the antenna directionality. I further show that the path loss exponent and the reference power can be highly correlated. In view of all this, I argue that real WSN deployments are better represented by random model parameters jointly accounting for HW and local environmental characteristics, rather than by deterministic independent ones. I further argue that taking this variability into account results in more realistic models and plausible results derived from their usage. The article contains example values of the mean and standard deviation of the model parameters, and of the correlation between the path loss exponent and the reference power. These can be used as a guideline in other studies. Given the sensitivity of localization algorithms to the proper model selection and identification demonstrated in the literature, the structural limitations of the log-normal model, the variability of its parameters and their interrelation are all relevant aspects that practitioners need to be aware of when devising optimal localization algorithms for real WSNs that rely on this popular model

A mechanistic study on the phototoxicity of atorvastatin: singlet oxygen generation by a phenanthrene-like photoproduct

Atorvastatin calcium (ATV) is one of the most frequently prescribed drugs worldwide. Among the adverse effects observed for this lipid-lowering agent, clinical cases of cutaneous adverse reactions have been reported and associated with photosensitivity disorders. Previous work dealing with ATV photochemistry has shown that exposure to natural sunlight in aqueous solution leads to photoproducts resulting from oxidation of the pyrrole ring and from cyclization to a phenanthrene derivative. Laser flash photolysis of ATV, at both 266 and 308 nm, led to a transient spectrum with two maxima at λ ) 360 and λ ) 580 nm (τ ) 41 μs), which was assigned to the primary intermediate of the stilbene-like photocyclization. On the basis of the absence of a triplet-triplet absorption, the role of the parent drug as singlet oxygen photosensitizer can be discarded. By contrast, a stable phenanthrene-like photoproduct would be a good candidate to play this role. Laser flash photolysis of this compound showed a triplet-triplet transient absorption at λmax ) 460 nm with a lifetime of 26 μs, which was efficiently quenched by oxygen (kq ) 3 ((0.2) × 109 M-1 s-1). Its potential to photosensitize formation of singlet oxygen was confirmed by spin trapping experiments, through conversion of TEMP to the stable free radical TEMPO. The photoreactivity of the phenanthrene-like photoproduct was investigated using Trp as a marker. The disappearance of the amino acid fluorescence (λmax ) 340 nm) after increasing irradiation times at 355 nm was taken as a measurement of photodynamic oxidation. To confirm the involvement of a type II mechanism, the same experiment was also performed in D2O; this resulted in a significant enhancement of the reaction rate. On the basis of the obtained photophysical and photochemical results, the phototoxicity of atorvastatin can be attributed to singlet oxygen formation with the phenanthrene-like photoproduct as a photosensitizer