Cepstral analysis based on the Glimpse proportion measure for improving the intelligibility of HMM-based synthetic speech in noise

In this paper we introduce a new cepstral coefficient extraction method based on an intelligibility measure for speech in noise, the Glimpse Proportion measure. This new method aims to increase the intelligibility of speech in noise by modifying the clean speech, and has applications in scenarios such as public announcement and car navigation systems. We first explain how the Glimpse Proportion measure operates and further show how we approximated it to integrate it into an existing spectral envelope parameter extraction method commonly used in the HMM-based speech synthesis framework. We then demonstrate how this new method changes the modelled spectrum according to the characteristics of the noise and show results for a listening test with vocoded and HMM-based synthetic speech. The test indicates that the proposed method can significantly improve intelligibility of synthetic speech in speech shaped noise. Index Terms — cepstral coefficient extraction, objective measure for speech intelligibility, Lombard speech, HMM-based speech synthesis 1

Near- to mid-infrared spectroscopy of the heavily obscured AGN LEDA 1712304 with AKARI/IRC

Context. Although heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have been found by many observational studies, the properties of the surrounding dust are poorly understood. Using AKARI/IRC spectroscopy, we discover a new sample of a heavily obscured AGN in LEDA 1712304 which shows a deep spectral absorption feature due to silicate dust. Aims. We study the infrared (IR) spectral properties of circumnuclear silicate dust in LEDA 1712304. Methods. We perform IR spectral fitting, considering silicate dust properties such as composition, porosity, size and crystallinity. Spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting is also performed to the flux densities in the UV to sub-millimeter range to investigate the global spectral properties. Results. The best-fit model indicates 0.1 $\mu$m-sized porous amorphous olivine (${\rm Mg_{2x}Fe_{2-2x}SiO_4}$; $x=0.4$) with $4\%$ crystalline pyroxene. The optical depth is $\tau_{\rm sil}{\sim}2.3$, while the total IR luminosity and stellar mass are estimated to be $L_{\rm IR}=(5\pm1){\times}10^{10}\,L_{\odot}$ and $M_{\rm star}=(2.7\pm0.8){\times}10^{9}\,M_{\odot}$, respectively. In such low $L_{\rm IR}$ and $M_{\rm star}$ ranges, there are few galaxies which show that large ${\tau}_{\rm sil}$. Conclusions. The silicate dust in the AGN torus of LEDA 1712304 has properties notably similar to those in other AGNs as a whole, but slightly different in the wing shape of the absorption profile. The porosity of the silicate dust suggests dust coagulation or processing in the circumnuclear environments, while the crystallinity suggests that the silicate dust is relatively fresh.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Detection of regional scale sea-to-air oxygen emission related to spring bloom near Japan by using in-situ measurements of atmospheric oxygen/nitrogen ratio

International audienceWe have been carrying out in-situ monitoring of atmospheric O2/N2 ratio at Cape Ochi-ishi (COI; 43°10´ N, 145°30´ E) in the northern part of Japan since March 2005 by using a modified gas chromatography/thermal conductivity detector (GC/TCD). The standard deviation of the O2/N2 ratio is estimated to be about ±14 per meg (?3 ppm) with intervals of 10 min. Thus, the in-situ measurement system has a 1? precision of ±6 per meg ((?1.2 ppm) for one-hour mean O2/N2 ratio. Atmospheric potential oxygen (APO ?O2+1.1CO2), which is conserved with respect to terrestrial photosynthesis and respiration but reflects changes in air-sea O2 and CO2 fluxes, shows large variabilities from April to early July 2005. Distribution of satellite-derived marine primary production indicates occurrences of strong bloom in the Japan Sea in April and in the Okhotsk Sea and the western North Pacific near Hokkaido Island in June. Back trajectory analysis of air masses indicates that high values of APO, which last for several hours or several days, can be attributed to the oxygen emission associated with the spring bloom of active primary production

Uma ferramenta WEB para identificação e visualização de sequências repetitivas em lócus gênico de animais e plantas.

Sequências repetitivas (SR) em lócus gênico de animais e plantas podem estar envolvidas em diversos fenômenos biológicos, como interferência por RNAi (Fire et al., 1998) e trans-splicing (Di Segni et al., 2008). A maioria das SR localiza-se em regiões de introns e, usualmente, seus estudos envolvem apenas sequências de mRNA, sendo necessário a estrutura intron-exon dos genes. Desta forma, é preciso realizar um mapeamento dos genes em seu respectivo genoma de referência para identificação de quatro tipos de SR: repetição reversa e complementar, repetição direta e complementar, repetição reversa e repetição direta. Este trabalho apresenta uma ferramenta WEB, chamada RepGraph, a qual integra algoritmos e ferramentas de bioinformática para identificar os pares que formam cada tipo de SR e uma representação gráfica para ilustrar sua relação em dois lócus gênicos.Trabalho apresentado na V Mostra de Trabalhos de Estagiários e Bolsistas, Campinas, out. 2009