Characterization of volatile organic compounds at a roadside environment in Hong Kong: An investigation of influences after air pollution control strategies

Vehicular emission is one of the important anthropogenic pollution sources for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Four characterization campaigns were conducted at a representative urban roadside environment in Hong Kong between May 2011 and February 2012. Carbon monoxide (CO) and VOCs including methane (CH4), non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), halocarbons, and alkyl nitrates were quantified. Both mixing ratios and compositions of the target VOCs show ignorable seasonal variations. Except CO, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tracers of propane, i-butane and n-butane are the three most abundant VOCs, which increased significantly as compared with the data measured at the same location in 2003. Meanwhile, the mixing ratios of diesel- and gasoline tracers such as ethyne, alkenes, aromatics, halogenated, and nitrated hydrocarbons decreased by at least of 37%. The application of advanced multivariate receptor modeling technique of positive matrix factorization (PMF) evidenced that the LPG fuel consumption is the largest pollution source, accounting for 60 ± 5% of the total quantified VOCs at the roadside location. The sum of ozone formation potential (OFP) for the target VOCs was 300.9 μg-O3 m-3, which was 47% lower than the value of 567.3 μg-O3 m-3 measured in 2003. The utilization of LPG as fuel in public transport (i.e., taxis and mini-buses) contributed 51% of the sum of OFP, significantly higher than the contributions from gasoline- (16%) and diesel-fueled (12%) engine emissions. Our results demonstrated the effectiveness of the switch from diesel to LPG-fueled engine for taxis and mini-buses implemented by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government between the recent ten years, in additional to the execution of substitution to LPG-fueled engine and restrictions of the vehicular emissions in compliance with the updated European emission standards

Solving a static repositioning problem in bike-sharing systems using iterated tabu search

In this paper, we study the static bike repositioning problem where the problem consists of selecting a subset of stations to visit, sequencing them, and determining the pick-up/drop-off quantities (associated with each of the visited stations) under the various operational constraints. The objective is to minimize the total penalties incurred at all the stations. We present an iterated tabu search heuristic to solve the described problem. Experimental results show that this simple heuristic can generate high quality solutions using small computing times.postprin

A new method for designing FIR filters with variable characteristics

This letter proposes a new method for designing finite-impulse response (FIR) filters with variable characteristics. The impulse response of the variable digital filter (VDF) is parameterized as a linear combination of functions in the spectral or tuning parameters. Using the least square objective function, the optimal solution is obtained by solving a system of linear equations. Design results show that this method is simple and effective in designing FIR VDF with good frequency characteristics. Furthermore, by using piecewise polynomial, instead of ordinary polynomial, more complicated frequency characteristics, or larger tuning range can be approximated.published_or_final_versio

New sequential partial-update least mean M-estimate algorithms for robust adaptive system identification in impulsive noise

The sequential partial-update least mean square (S-LMS)-based algorithms are efficient methods for reducing the arithmetic complexity in adaptive system identification and other industrial informatics applications. They are also attractive in acoustic applications where long impulse responses are encountered. A limitation of these algorithms is their degraded performances in an impulsive noise environment. This paper proposes new robust counterparts for the S-LMS family based on M-estimation. The proposed sequential least mean M-estimate (S-LMM) family of algorithms employ nonlinearity to improve their robustness to impulsive noise. Another contribution of this paper is the presentation of a convergence performance analysis for the S-LMS/S-LMM family for Gaussian inputs and additive Gaussian or contaminated Gaussian noises. The analysis is important for engineers to understand the behaviors of these algorithms and to select appropriate parameters for practical realizations. The theoretical analyses reveal the advantages of input normalization and the M-estimation in combating impulsive noise. Computer simulations on system identification and joint active noise and acoustic echo cancellations in automobiles with double-talk are conducted to verify the theoretical results and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. © 2010 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Design of two-channel PR FIR filter banks with low system delay

IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Geneva, Switzerland, 28-31 May 2000In this paper, a new approach for designing two-channel PR FIR filter banks with low system delay is proposed. It is based on the generalization of the structure previously proposed by Phoong et al. Such structurally PR filter banks are parameterized by two functions α(z) and β(z) which can be chosen as linear-phase FIR or allpass functions to construct FIR/IIR filter banks with good frequency characteristics. In this paper, the more general case of using different nonlinear-phase FIR functions for β(z) and α(z) is studied. As the linear-phase requirement is relaxed, higher stopband attenuation can still be achieved at low system delay. The design of the proposed low-delay filter banks is formulated as a complex polynomial approximation problem, which can be solved by the Remez exchange algorithm or analytic formula with very low complexity. The usefulness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by several design examples.published_or_final_versio

Adaptive beamforming using frequency invariant uniform concentric circular arrays

This paper proposes new adaptive beamforming algorithms for a class of uniform concentric circular arrays (UCCAs) having near-frequency invariant characteristics. The basic principle of the UCCA frequency invariant beamformer (FIB) is to transform the received signals to the phase mode representation and remove the frequency dependence of individual phase modes through the use of a digital beamforming or compensation network. As a result, the far field pattern of the array is electronic steerable and is approximately invariant over a wider range of frequencies than the uniform circular arrays (UCAs). The beampattern is governed by a small set of variable beamformer weights. Based on the minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) and generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) methods, new recursive adaptive beamforming algorithms for UCCA-FIB are proposed. In addition, robust versions of these adaptive beamforming algorithms for mitigating direction-of-arrival (DOA) and sensor position errors are developed. Simulation results show that the proposed adaptive UCCA-FIBs converge much faster and reach a considerable lower steady-state error than conventional broadband UCCA beamformers without using the compensation network. Since fewer variable multipliers are required in the proposed algorithms, it also leads to lower arithmetic complexity and faster tracking performance than conventional methods. © 2007 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

A visual model for subband image coding

In this paper, we propose a visual model for the general subband coding system. This model is a generalization of Watson's visual model for DCT. Based on this model, a new perceptual distortion is proposed which can be used together with an efficient bit allocation algorithm to determine the quantizer stepsizes of subband coders. Simulation results and subjective viewing tests demonstrate that the proposed approach is very effective in improving the subjective quality of the encoded image at low bit rate.published_or_final_versio

M-channel cosine-modulated wavelet bases

The 13th International Conference on Digital Signal Processing, Santorini, Greece, 2-4 July 1997In this paper, we propose a new M-channel wavelet bases called the cosine-modulated wavelets. We first generalize the theory of two-channel biorthogonal compactly supported wavelet bases to the M-channel case. A sufficient condition for the M-channel perfect reconstruction filter banks to construct M-channel compactly supported wavelet bases is given. By using this condition, a family of orthogonal and biorthogonal M-channel cosine-modulated wavelet bases is constructed by iterations of cosine-modulated filter banks (CMFB). The advantages of the approach are their simple design procedure, efficient implementation and good filter quality. A method for imposing the regularity on the cosine-modulated filter banks is also introduced and design example is given.published_or_final_versio

Theory and design of a class of M-channel IIR cosine-modulated filter banks

This letter proposes a method for designing a class of M-channel, causal, stable, perfect reconstruction (PR) IIR cosine-modulated filter banks (CMFB). The proposed CMFB has the same denominator for all its polyphase components in the prototype filter. Therefore, the PR condition is considerably simplified, and it is relatively simple to satisfy the PR and the casual-stable requirements of the IIR CMFB. Design examples show that the proposed IIR CMFB has sharper cutoff, higher stopband attenuation, and passband flatness than its FIR counterparts, especially when the system delay is small.published_or_final_versio

New method for designing two-channel causal stable IIR perfect reconstruction filter banks and wavelet bases

A new method for designing two-channel causal stable IIR PR filter banks and wavelet bases is proposed. It is based on the structure previously proposed by Phoong et al. (1995). Such a filter bank is parameterized by two functions α(z) and β(z), which can be chosen as an all-pass function to obtain IIR filterbanks with very high stopband attenuation. One of the problems with this choice is that a bump of about 4 dB always exists near the transition band of the analysis and synthesis filters. The stopband attenuation of the high-pass analysis filter is also 10 dB lower than that of the low-pass filter. By choosing β(z) and α(z) as an all-pass function and a type-II linear-phase finite impulse response (FIR) function, respectively, the bumping can be significantly suppressed. In addition, the stopband attenuation of the high-pass filter can be controlled easily. The design problem is formulated as a polynomial approximation problem and is solved efficiently by the Remez exchange algorithm. The extension of this method to the design of a class of IIR wavelet bases is also considered.published_or_final_versio