Semi-blind speech-music separation using sparsity and continuity priors

In this paper we propose an approach for the problem of single channel source separation of speech and music signals. Our approach is based on representing each source's power spectral density using dictionaries and nonlinearly projecting the mixture signal spectrum onto the combined span of the dictionary entries. We encourage sparsity and continuity of the dictionary coefficients using penalty terms (or log-priors) in an optimization framework. We propose to use a novel coordinate descent technique for optimization, which nicely handles nonnegativity constraints and nonquadratic penalty terms. We use an adaptive Wiener filter, and spectral subtraction to reconstruct both of the sources from the mixture data after corresponding power spectral densities (PSDs) are estimated for each source. Using conventional metrics, we measure the performance of the system on simulated mixtures of single person speech and piano music sources. The results indicate that the proposed method is a promising technique for low speech-to-music ratio conditions and that sparsity and continuity priors help improve the performance of the proposed system

Waveform-level time-domain simulation comparison study of three shipboard power system architectures

Detailed waveform-level modeling and simulation of three alternative shipboard power system architectures is presented herein. The three system architectures are based on conventional 60Hz medium-voltage ac (MVAC), higherfrequency 240Hz medium-voltage ac (HFAC) and mediumvoltage dc (MVDC) technologies. To support the quantitative assessment and comparison of these three different power system architectures, each technology was modeled using a common representative, notional baseline ship. The baseline ship represents a multi-mission destroyer fitted with an 80MW next generation integrated power system (NGIPS). Modeling of each power system architecture is set forth along with simulation studies for three fault scenarios. Each of the three power system architectures was implemented within the MATLAB/ Simulink environment. Continuity of service was evaluated for each architecture along with a fault scenario using an operability metric. After a brief description of the three power system architectures and the operability metric, quantitative results are presented.Center for Electromechanic

Quantifying the global atmospheric power budget

The power of atmospheric circulation is a key measure of the Earth's climate system. The mismatch between predictions and observations under a warming climate calls for a reassessment of how atmospheric power $W$ is defined, estimated and constrained. Here we review published formulations for $W$ and show how they differ when applied to a moist atmosphere. Three factors, a non-zero source/sink in the continuity equation, the difference between velocities of gaseous air and condensate, and interaction between the gas and condensate modifying the equations of motion, affect the formulation of $W$. Starting from the thermodynamic definition of mechanical work, we derive an expression for $W$ from an explicit consideration of the equations of motion and continuity. Our analyses clarify how some past formulations are incomplete or invalid. Three caveats are identified. First, $W$ critically depends on the boundary condition for gaseous air velocity at the Earth's surface. Second, confusion between gaseous air velocity and mean velocity of air and condensate in the expression for $W$ results in gross errors despite the observed magnitudes of these velocities are very close. Third, $W$ expressed in terms of measurable atmospheric parameters, air pressure and velocity, is scale-specific; this must be taken into account when adding contributions to $W$ from different processes. We present a formulation of the atmospheric power budget, which distinguishes three components of $W$: the kinetic power associated with horizontal pressure gradients ($W_K$), the gravitational power of precipitation ($W_P$) and the condensate loading ($W_c$). We use MERRA and NCAR/NCEP re-analyses to evaluate the atmospheric power budget at different scales: $W_K$ increases with temporal resolution approaching our theoretical estimate for condensation-induced circulation when all convective motion is resolved.Comment: 55 pages, 14 figures; minor revisions after another discussion, see https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-17-AC7 and www.bioticregulation.ru/ab.php?id=h

Boundary-mode operation of the boost converter for thermoelectric generator maximum power tracking

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Performance-favourable and noteworthy characteristics of the Boost converter are reported, when the latter operates in Maximum Power Tracking (MPT) mode, while fed from a fixed internal resistance power source specifically a Thermo Electric Generator (TEG). It is found that if the converter is controlled with Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM), for a specific value of inductance, the inductor current inherently remains on the boundary of continuity for the whole control range, that is under all conditions, resulting in reduced switching losses. Furthermore, MPT is possible without the sampling of any current but only with the sampling of the converter input and output voltages. The above theoretical findings have been verified by an experimental prototype

A Preliminary Exergy Analysis of the EU DEMO Fusion Reactor

Purpose of the present study is the exergy analysis of EU DEMO pulsed fusion power plant considering the Primary Heat Transfer Systems, the Intermediate Heat Transfer System (IHTS) including the Energy Storage System (ESS) as a first option to ensure the continuity of electric power released to the grid. A second option here considered is a methane fired auxiliary boiler replacing the ESS. The Power Conversion System (PCS) performance is evaluated as well in the overall balance. The performance analysis is based on the exergy method to specifically assess the amount of exergy destruction determined by irreversible phenomena along the whole cyclic process. The pulse and dwell phases of the reactor operation are evaluated considering the state of the art of the ESS adopting molten salts alternate heating and storage in a hot tank followed by a cooling and recovery of molten salt in a cold tank to ensure the continuity of power release to the electrical grid. The second option of the plant configuration is evaluated on the basis of an auxiliary boiler replacing the ESS with a 10% of the power produced by the reactor during both pulse and dwell modes

Transitioning of power flow in beam models with bends

The propagation of power flow through a dynamically loaded beam model with 90 degree bends is investigated using NASTRAN and McPOW. The transitioning of power flow types (axial, torsional, and flexural) is observed throughout the structure. To get accurate calculations of the torsional response of beams using NASTRAN, torsional inertia effects had to be added to the mass matrix calculation section of the program. Also, mass effects were included in the calculation of BAR forces to improve the continuity of power flow between elements. The importance of including all types of power flow in an analysis, rather than only flexural power, is indicated by the example. Trying to interpret power flow results that only consider flexural components in even a moderately complex problem will result in incorrect conclusions concerning the total power flow field

Second order scattering descriptors predict fMRI activity due to visual textures

Second layer scattering descriptors are known to provide good classification performance on natural quasi-stationary processes such as visual textures due to their sensitivity to higher order moments and continuity with respect to small deformations. In a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) experiment we present visual textures to subjects and evaluate the predictive power of these descriptors with respect to the predictive power of simple contour energy - the first scattering layer. We are able to conclude not only that invariant second layer scattering coefficients better encode voxel activity, but also that well predicted voxels need not necessarily lie in known retinotopic regions.Comment: 3nd International Workshop on Pattern Recognition in NeuroImaging (2013