Sound Source Separation

This is the author's accepted pre-print of the article, first published as G. Evangelista, S. Marchand, M. D. Plumbley and E. Vincent. Sound source separation. In U. Zölzer (ed.), DAFX: Digital Audio Effects, 2nd edition, Chapter 14, pp. 551-588. John Wiley & Sons, March 2011. ISBN 9781119991298. DOI: 10.1002/9781119991298.ch14file: Proof:e\EvangelistaMarchandPlumbleyV11-sound.pdf:PDF owner: markp timestamp: 2011.04.26file: Proof:e\EvangelistaMarchandPlumbleyV11-sound.pdf:PDF owner: markp timestamp: 2011.04.2

Earthquake-induced landslide-susceptibility mapping using an artificial neural network

The purpose of this study was to apply and verify landslide-susceptibility analysis techniques using an artificial neural network and a Geographic Information System (GIS) applied to Baguio City, Philippines. The 16 July 1990 earthquake-induced landslides were studied. Landslide locations were identified from interpretation of aerial photographs and field survey, and a spatial database was constructed from topographic maps, geology, land cover and terrain mapping units. Factors that influence landslide occurrence, such as slope, aspect, curvature and distance from drainage were calculated from the topographic database. Lithology and distance from faults were derived from the geology database. Land cover was identified from the topographic database. Terrain map units were interpreted from aerial photographs. These factors were used with an artificial neural network to analyze landslide susceptibility. Each factor weight was determined by a back-propagation exercise. Landslide-susceptibility indices were calculated using the back-propagation weights, and susceptibility maps were constructed from GIS data. The susceptibility map was compared with known landslide locations and verified. The demonstrated prediction accuracy was 93.20%

Partial nutrient balances from agronomic and economic viewpoints: the case of corn cultivation in the acid upland soils of Isabela, the Philippines

Soil propertiesMaizeEconomic aspects

Editorial – Musculoskeletal pain: Which role for tapentadol?

Chronic pain is defined as pain persisting after healing of an underlying pathology or as persisting pain in the absence of tissue damage. In the last decade, the understanding of mechanisms involved in chronic pain led to an improved approach to patient management, with the aim to reduce discomfort, improve quality of life (QoL) and enhance functional recovery. Chronic musculoskeletal pain, which is frequently encountered in clinical practice, can affect patients of all ages and is particularly common in older patients. Indeed, low back pain is the most frequent chronic pain condition worldwide, with a lifetime prevalence of >70% in western countries1,2. Neck pain is also a common disabling disease, with a prevalence of 23%, and is associated with high costs for medical visits and physiotherapy. Both low back pain and neck pain involve nociceptive and neuropathic pain mechanism

Nanometric pitch in modulated structures of twist-bend nematic liquid crystals

The extended Frank elastic energy density is used to investigate the existence of a stable periodically modulate structure that appears as a ground state exhibiting a twist-bend molecular arrangement. For an unbounded sample, we show that the twist-bend nematic phase $N_{TB}$ is characterized by a heliconical structure with a pitch in the nano-metric range, in agreement with experimental results. For a sample of finite thickness, we show that the wave vector of the stable periodic structure depends not only on the elastic parameters but also on the anchoring energy, easy axis direction, and the thickness of the sample.Comment: 11 page

The Contribution of the Smectic-Nematic Interface to the Surface Energy

The contribution of the smectic-nematic interface to the surface energy of a nematic liquid crystal sample is analyzed. By means of a simple model it is shown that the surface energy depends on the thickness of the region over which the transition smectic-nematic takes place. For perfectly flat substrates this thickness is of the order of the correlation length entering in the transition. An estimate of this contribution shows that it is greater than the one arising from the nematic-substrate interaction. Moreover, it is also shown that the surface energy determined in this way presents a non-monotonic behavior with the temperature.Comment: 10 pages, revte

1D Seismic Response Analysis of Soil-building Systems Including Failure Shear Mechanisms

Modelling of soil shear rupture due to an earthquake is not generally implemented in the common codes for 1D seismic response analysis. It requires the use of advanced plasticity-based constitutive models of soil, that are often neglected in practice. A good balance between simplicity and reliability can be achieved with methods based on simplified formulations of the mathematical equations and of the constitutive models. The paper presents a computer code based on this philosophy conceived, addressed and optimised to reliably model both the 'transient' seismic response ('stick' mode) and the permanent deformation mechanisms accounting for the coupled effects of deformability and strength ('slip' mode). The code can be adopted to evaluate the seismic performance of different geotechnical systems that can be reasonably approximated to a 1D problem. In the paper, the code is applied to model a soft-storey failure occurred in a framed structure heavily damaged during a strong-motion earthquake

The effect of the displacement damage on the Charge Collection Efficiency in Silicon Drift Detectors for the LOFT satellite

The technology of Silicon Drift Detectors (SDDs) has been selected for the two instruments aboard the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing (LOFT) space mission. LOFT underwent a three year long assessment phase as candidate for the M3 launch opportunity within the "Cosmic Vision 2015 -- 2025" long-term science plan of the European Space Agency. During the LOFT assessment phase, we studied the displacement damage produced in the SDDs by the protons trapped in the Earth's magnetosphere. In a previous paper we discussed the effects of the Non Ionising Energy Losses from protons on the SDD leakage current. In this paper we report the measurement of the variation of Charge Collection Efficiency produced by displacement damage caused by protons and the comparison with the expected damage in orbit.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication by Journal of Instrumentatio