Uformer: A Unet based dilated complex & real dual-path conformer network for simultaneous speech enhancement and dereverberation

Complex spectrum and magnitude are considered as two major features of speech enhancement and dereverberation. Traditional approaches always treat these two features separately, ignoring their underlying relationship. In this paper, we propose Uformer, a Unet based dilated complex & real dual-path conformer network in both complex and magnitude domain for simultaneous speech enhancement and dereverberation. We exploit time attention (TA) and dilated convolution (DC) to leverage local and global contextual information and frequency attention (FA) to model dimensional information. These three sub-modules contained in the proposed dilated complex & real dual-path conformer module effectively improve the speech enhancement and dereverberation performance. Furthermore, hybrid encoder and decoder are adopted to simultaneously model the complex spectrum and magnitude and promote the information interaction between two domains. Encoder decoder attention is also applied to enhance the interaction between encoder and decoder. Our experimental results outperform all SOTA time and complex domain models objectively and subjectively. Specifically, Uformer reaches 3.6032 DNSMOS on the blind test set of Interspeech 2021 DNS Challenge, which outperforms all top-performed models. We also carry out ablation experiments to tease apart all proposed sub-modules that are most important.Comment: Accepted by ICASSP 202

Irisin Lowers Blood Pressure by Improvement of Endothelial Dysfunction via AMPK‐Akt‐eNOS‐NO Pathway in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat

Background Exercise is a major nonpharmacological treatment for hypertension, but its underlying mechanisms are still not completely elucidated. Irisin, a polypeptide containing 112 amino acids, which is secreted mainly by skeletal muscle cells during exercise, exerts a protective role in metabolic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus and obesity. Because of the close relationship between irisin and metabolic diseases, we hypothesized that irisin may play a role in the regulation of blood pressure. Methods and Results Blood pressures of male Wistar‐Kyoto (WKY) rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were monitored through the carotid artery. Our study found that acute intravenous injection of irisin reduced blood pressure in SHRs, but not WKY rats. Irisin, by itself, had no direct vasorelaxing effect in phenylephrine‐preconstricted mesenteric arteries from SHRs. However, irisin augmented the acetylcholine‐induced vasorelaxation in mesenteric arteries from SHRs that could be reversed by Nω‐nitro‐L‐arginine‐methyl ester (L‐NAME;100 μmol/L), indicating a role of nitric oxide (NO) in this action. Indeed, irisin increased NO production and phosphorylation of endothelial nirtic oxide synthase (eNOS) in endothelial cells. 5′‐AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) was involved in the vasorelaxing effect of irisin because compound C (20 μmol/L), an AMPKinhibitor, blocked the irisin‐mediated increase in phosphorylation of eNOS and protein kinase B (Akt) in endothelial cells and vasodilation in mesenteric arteries. Conclusions We conclude that acute administration of irisin lowers blood pressure of SHRs by amelioration of endothelial dysfunction of the mesenteric artery through the AMPK‐Akt‐eNOS‐NO signaling pathway

Mechanism of rainfall-induced shallow landslide and stability prediction model

The rainfall-induced shallow landslides are primarily debris landslides, which features simultaneity with significant hazard, and the hydrological response mechanism of water table and soil moisture content to precipitation of this type of landslide is sophisticated, which makes it difficult to predict the slope stability accurately. To further study the influence of the rainfall-triggered internal hydrological responses on slope-stability, on-site precipitation infiltration monitoring, correlation analysis and mechanical analysis were carried out on the Houshanli landslide in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province. The relationship between precipitation and water table was proposed based on climate and hydrological monitoring data obtained within three year interval. The response of rainfall infiltration, soil volumetric water content and water table were analyzed. The results indicate that: (1) groundwater exhibits periodic fluctuations throughout the year, characterized by three phases of slow decline, rapid decline, and rapid ascent; a linear negative correlation between precipitation and water table was found, and no significant correlation was observed with the water table increment; (2) through the infinite slope model and the relationship between precipitation and water table, a prediction model for shallow landslide stability was constructed. The precipitation threshold (81.8 mm/d) and water table threshold (0.73 m) were determined which has good agreement with the actual situations. This provides an early warning method for rainfall-induced shallow landslides by monitoring these two factors

Composite grouting reinforcement technology for deep roadway surrounding rock

The single grouting method and grouting material can not achieve an ideal grouting effect under the complex geological conditions of deep roadway surrounding rock. In order to solve this problem, a composite grouting reinforcement technology for deep roadway surrounding rock is proposed. Taking the 3210 isolated island working face of a mine in Shanxi Province as an example, this paper expounds on the principle and application of the composite grouting reinforcement technology. Firstly, combined with the geomechanical test results of the field test area and the physical and mechanical parameters of coal and rock mass, the range of each cracked zone of 3210 return air roadway is calculated. Secondly, based on the crack characteristics of surrounding rock zones, three-step grouting technology is proposed. The technology includes shallow low-pressure infiltration grouting, deep high-pressure cracking grouting and supplementary grouting. The depth of each borehole in the three-step grouting technology is determined according to the scope of each zone. Then, the corresponding grouting materials are selected according to the crack development degree and crack opening scale in each zone. The inorganic cement grouting materials should be used in high permeability zones. The ultra-fine cement grouting materials should be used in medium permeability zones. The polymer chemical grouting materials should be used for supplementary grouting in low permeability zones. Finally, according to the field grouting test, the grouting pressure parameters of different crack zones are determined. The grouting reinforcement effect of 3210 return air roadway is comprehensively judged by using three indexes. The three indexes include the anchoring force of grouting reinforcement rock mass, the uniaxial compressive strength of grouting reinforcement rock mass, and the integrity of surrounding rock mass. After adopting the composite grouting reinforcement technology, the anchoring force of the roadway side coal body is increased by 144%, reaching 230 kN. The uniaxial compressive strengths of the roof and roadway surrounding rock increase by 10.9% and 18.5% respectively, reaching 50.68 MPa and 23.37 MPa respectively. The wave velocity of the roadway side coal body increases by 15.2%, reaching 750 m/s. From the deformation rate and deformation amount of surrounding rock in grouted area and ungrouted area, the composite grouting reinforcement technology has achieved a good effect

Experimental Research on the Mechanical Performance of the Bolted Rock under Lateral Impact Load: Effect of Prestress, Body Material, and Anchorage Style

In order to reveal the impact mechanical properties and their key influencing factors of the bolted rock under the lateral impact load, through the lateral drop hammer impact test, the time-history curve of impact force, axial force of the bolt, and surface strain of the sample under different combination types of influencing factors is obtained, and the whole process of deformation and failure of the bolted rock is recorded. The test results show that the material of the bolt has a significant influence on the impact force and axial force of the bolt. There is a positive correlation between bolt strength and impact peak and impact attenuation slope and a negative correlation between bolt strength and impact action time. The effect of prestress on the impact resistance of the bolted rock was also evaluated by the test which suggested that prestress of the bolt can significantly reduce both impact time and bolt axial force of the bolted rock but has limited effect on the impact force. It was also found that the time-history curve of the impact force of anchoring rock mass had significant difference with full-length anchoring and nonanchoring. Compared with the nonanchoring bolt, the full-length anchored rock mass has a larger impact peak and shorter action time, which means that the impact resistance of the full-length bolted rock has a certain degree of weakening. Through scientific research, determining the reasonable bolt material, prestress value, and anchorage style can improve the impact resistance of the sample

Structural behaviour and resistances of high strength concrete-filled stainless steel tube (HCFSST) beam-columns

This paper reports experimental and numerical investigations into the structural behaviour and resistances of high strength concrete-filled stainless steel tube (HCFSST) beam-columns under combined compression and bending. An experimental investigation was conducted on sixteen HCFSST beam-columns specimens fabricated from stainless steel tubes with two cross-section sizes and high strength concretes with four material grades, and included concrete cylinder tests, tensile coupon tests, initial global geometric imperfection measurements and eccentric compression tests. The test setups and procedures were fully reported and the experimental observations were discussed and analysed in detail. It was found that the plane cross-section assumption was valid for eccentrically loaded HCFSST sections and the lateral deflection distribution patterns for HCFSST beam-columns were approximately half-sine wave shapes. The test results were used in a subsequent numerical investigation for the validation of finite element models, which were then employed to conduct parametric studies to generate additional numerical data over a wide range of cross-section dimensions, member lengths and loading combinations. Based on the experimental and numerical results, the relevant design rules, as set out in the European code, American specification and Australian/New Zealand standard, were evaluated for their applicability to HCFSST beam-columns. The evaluation results revealed that the European code provided accurate but scattered failure load predictions when used for HCFSST beam-columns, while the American specification and Australian/New Zealand standard resulted in conservative and scattered failure load predictions.Ministry of Education (MOE)The present research work is financially supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 Grant (Award Number: RG122/21)

ICIHRN: An Interpretable Multilabel Hash Retrieval Method for Satellite Cloud Images

Observing clouds to understand the weather is a crucial method for people to forecast upcoming conditions. Utilizing content-based satellite cloud image retrieval allows for the swift discovery of comparable historical cloud images, significantly aiding meteorologists in their advanced investigations. Nevertheless, satellite cloud images often present complexities due to their inclusion of diverse cloud types, leading to inadequate retrieval outcomes when relying on conventionally employed single-label retrieval techniques. Despite notable accomplishments in cloud image retrieval applications utilizing deep neural networks, concerns regarding network interpretability undermine confidence in the model's deductive outcomes. This article introduces the interpretable cloud image hash retrieval network, a framework that employs a singular object-level global unit alongside multiple local feature units for the purpose of generating hash codes tailored to cloud image retrieval. Furthermore, an attention branching network is incorporated to enhance the model's focus on discriminative regions within the image. In addition, a suppression module is implemented to progressively uncover complementary regions through the suppression of prominent areas in preceding layers and the amalgamation of relationships among activated regions. This ensures that each feature unit is endowed with distinctive semantic information, thereby imparting a level of interpretability to the retrieval outcomes. On this foundation, multilabel supervision is seamlessly integrated into the deep hash learning framework. This integration not only enhances the depiction of intricate semantic contents within cloud images but also boosts retrieval efficiency. Comprehensive experimental outcomes, grounded in the publicly accessible satellite cloud map dataset LSCIDMR-V2, demonstrate superior performance relative to other methods