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Sample records for noise reduction technique

  1. Principal Components as a Data Reduction and Noise Reduction Technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imhoff, M. L.; Campbell, W. J.

    1982-01-01

    The potential of principal components as a pipeline data reduction technique for thematic mapper data was assessed and principal components analysis and its transformation as a noise reduction technique was examined. Two primary factors were considered: (1) how might data reduction and noise reduction using the principal components transformation affect the extraction of accurate spectral classifications; and (2) what are the real savings in terms of computer processing and storage costs of using reduced data over the full 7-band TM complement. An area in central Pennsylvania was chosen for a study area. The image data for the project were collected using the Earth Resources Laboratory's thematic mapper simulator (TMS) instrument.

  2. A Background Noise Reduction Technique Using Adaptive Noise Cancellation for Microphone Arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spalt, Taylor B.; Fuller, Christopher R.; Brooks, Thomas F.; Humphreys, William M., Jr.; Brooks, Thomas F.

    2011-01-01

    Background noise in wind tunnel environments poses a challenge to acoustic measurements due to possible low or negative Signal to Noise Ratios (SNRs) present in the testing environment. This paper overviews the application of time domain Adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) to microphone array signals with an intended application of background noise reduction in wind tunnels. An experiment was conducted to simulate background noise from a wind tunnel circuit measured by an out-of-flow microphone array in the tunnel test section. A reference microphone was used to acquire a background noise signal which interfered with the desired primary noise source signal at the array. The technique s efficacy was investigated using frequency spectra from the array microphones, array beamforming of the point source region, and subsequent deconvolution using the Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources (DAMAS) algorithm. Comparisons were made with the conventional techniques for improving SNR of spectral and Cross-Spectral Matrix subtraction. The method was seen to recover the primary signal level in SNRs as low as -29 dB and outperform the conventional methods. A second processing approach using the center array microphone as the noise reference was investigated for more general applicability of the ANC technique. It outperformed the conventional methods at the -29 dB SNR but yielded less accurate results when coherence over the array dropped. This approach could possibly improve conventional testing methodology but must be investigated further under more realistic testing conditions.

  3. Noise Reduction Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallas, Tony

    There are two distinct kinds of noise - structural and color. Each requires a specific method of attack to minimize. The great challenge is to reduce the noise without reducing the faint and delicate detail in the image. My most-used and favorite noise suppression is found in Photoshop CS 5 Camera Raw. If I cannot get the desired results with the first choice, I will use Noise Ninja, which has certain advantages in some situations that we will cover.

  4. Supersonic impinging jet noise reduction using a hybrid control technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiley, Alex; Kumar, Rajan

    2015-07-01

    Control of the highly resonant flowfield associated with supersonic impinging jet has been experimentally investigated. Measurements were made in the supersonic impinging jet facility at the Florida State University for a Mach 1.5 ideally expanded jet. Measurements included unsteady pressures on a surface plate near the nozzle exit, acoustics in the nearfield and beneath the impingement plane, and velocity field using particle image velocimetry. Both passive control using porous surface and active control with high momentum microjet injection are effective in reducing nearfield noise and flow unsteadiness over a range of geometrical parameters; however, the type of noise reduction achieved by the two techniques is different. The passive control reduces broadband noise whereas microjet injection attenuates high amplitude impinging tones. The hybrid control, a combination of two control methods, reduces both broadband and high amplitude impinging tones and surprisingly its effectiveness is more that the additive effect of the two control techniques. The flow field measurements show that with hybrid control the impinging jet is stabilized and the turbulence quantities such as streamwise turbulence intensity, transverse turbulence intensity and turbulent shear stress are significantly reduced.

  5. Noise reduction techniques used on the high power klystron modulators at Argonne National Laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Russell, T.J.

    1993-01-01

    The modulators used in the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory have been redesigned with an emphasis on electrical noise reduction. Since the modulators are 100 MW modulators with <700 ns rise time, electrical noise can be coupled very easily to other electronic equipment in the area. This paper will detail the efforts made to reduce noise coupled to surrounding equipment. Shielding and sound grounding techniques accomplished the goal of drastically reducing the noise induced in surrounding equipment. The approach used in grounding and shielding will be discussed, and data will be presented comparing earlier designs to the improved design

  6. Passive Techniques for Fan Noise Reduction in New Turbofan Engines: Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.Gorj-Bandpy

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Among the various environmental concerns, the aircraft noise item has been constantly growing in importance over the past years. Measures for its reduction at the source as well its mitigation around airports must take into account aspects of medicine and technical design as well as legal and land use planning aspects. Fan noise is one of the principal noise sources in turbofan aero-engines. In this paper a review of the main technologies employed for the reduction of fan noise turbofan engines is presented.

  7. Active3 noise reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holzfuss, J.

    1996-01-01

    Noise reduction is a problem being encountered in a variety of applications, such as environmental noise cancellation, signal recovery and separation. Passive noise reduction is done with the help of absorbers. Active noise reduction includes the transmission of phase inverted signals for the cancellation. This paper is about a threefold active approach to noise reduction. It includes the separation of a combined source, which consists of both a noise and a signal part. With the help of interaction with the source by scanning it and recording its response, modeling as a nonlinear dynamical system is achieved. The analysis includes phase space analysis and global radial basis functions as tools for the prediction used in a subsequent cancellation procedure. Examples are given which include noise reduction of speech. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

  8. Speckle noise reduction technique for Lidar echo signal based on self-adaptive pulse-matching independent component analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Fan; Wang, Jiaxing; Zhu, Daiyin; Tu, Qi

    2018-04-01

    Speckle noise has always been a particularly tricky problem in improving the ranging capability and accuracy of Lidar system especially in harsh environment. Currently, effective speckle de-noising techniques are extremely scarce and should be further developed. In this study, a speckle noise reduction technique has been proposed based on independent component analysis (ICA). Since normally few changes happen in the shape of laser pulse itself, the authors employed the laser source as a reference pulse and executed the ICA decomposition to find the optimal matching position. In order to achieve the self-adaptability of algorithm, local Mean Square Error (MSE) has been defined as an appropriate criterion for investigating the iteration results. The obtained experimental results demonstrated that the self-adaptive pulse-matching ICA (PM-ICA) method could effectively decrease the speckle noise and recover the useful Lidar echo signal component with high quality. Especially, the proposed method achieves 4 dB more improvement of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than a traditional homomorphic wavelet method.

  9. A quantitative comparison of noise reduction across five commercial (hybrid and model-based) iterative reconstruction techniques: an anthropomorphic phantom study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patino, Manuel; Fuentes, Jorge M; Hayano, Koichi; Kambadakone, Avinash R; Uyeda, Jennifer W; Sahani, Dushyant V

    2015-02-01

    OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to compare the performance of three hybrid iterative reconstruction techniques (IRTs) (ASiR, iDose4, SAFIRE) and their respective strengths for image noise reduction on low-dose CT examinations using filtered back projection (FBP) as the standard reference. Also, we compared the performance of these three hybrid IRTs with two model-based IRTs (Veo and IMR) for image noise reduction on low-dose examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS. An anthropomorphic abdomen phantom was scanned at 100 and 120 kVp and different tube current-exposure time products (25-100 mAs) on three CT systems (for ASiR and Veo, Discovery CT750 HD; for iDose4 and IMR, Brilliance iCT; and for SAFIRE, Somatom Definition Flash). Images were reconstructed using FBP and using IRTs at various strengths. Nine noise measurements (mean ROI size, 423 mm(2)) on extracolonic fat for the different strengths of IRTs were recorded and compared with FBP using ANOVA. Radiation dose, which was measured as the volume CT dose index and dose-length product, was also compared. RESULTS. There were no significant differences in radiation dose and image noise among the scanners when FBP was used (p > 0.05). Gradual image noise reduction was observed with each increasing increment of hybrid IRT strength, with a maximum noise suppression of approximately 50% (48.2-53.9%). Similar noise reduction was achieved on the scanners by applying specific hybrid IRT strengths. Maximum noise reduction was higher on model-based IRTs (68.3-81.1%) than hybrid IRTs (48.2-53.9%) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION. When constant scanning parameters are used, radiation dose and image noise on FBP are similar for CT scanners made by different manufacturers. Significant image noise reduction is achieved on low-dose CT examinations rendered with IRTs. The image noise on various scanners can be matched by applying specific hybrid IRT strengths. Model-based IRTs attain substantially higher noise reduction than hybrid

  10. Innovative Technique for Noise Reduction in Spacecraft Doppler Tracking for Planetary Interior Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Notaro, V.; Armstrong, J. W.; Asmar, S.; Di Ruscio, A.; Iess, L.; Mariani, M., Jr.

    2017-12-01

    Precise measurements of spacecraft range rate, enabled by two-way microwave links, are used in radio science experiments for planetary geodesy including the determination of planetary gravitational fields for the purpose of modeling the interior structure. The final accuracies in the estimated gravity harmonic coefficients depend almost linearly on the Doppler noise in the link. We ran simulations to evaluate the accuracy improvement attainable in the estimation of the gravity harmonic coefficients of Venus (with a representative orbiter) and Mercury (with the BepiColombo spacecraft), using our proposed innovative noise-cancellation technique. We showed how the use of an additional, smaller and stiffer, receiving-only antenna could reduce the leading noise sources in a Ka-band two-way link such as tropospheric and antenna mechanical noises. This is achieved through a suitable linear combination (LC) of Doppler observables collected at the two antennas at different times. In our simulations, we considered a two-way link either from NASA's DSS 25 antenna in California or from ESA's DSA-3 antenna in Malargüe (Argentina). Moreover, we selected the 12-m Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) in Chile as the three-way antenna and developed its tropospheric noise model using available atmospheric data and mechanical stability specifications. For an 8-hour Venus orbiter tracking pass in Chajnantor's winter/night conditions, the accuracy of the simulated LC Doppler observable at 10-s integration time is 6 mm/s, to be compared to 23 mm/s for the two-way link. For BepiColombo, we obtained 16.5 mm/s and 35 mm/s, respectively for the LC and two-way links. The benefits are even larger at longer time scales. Numerical simulations indicate that such noise reduction would provide significant improvements in the determination of Venus's and Mercury's gravity field coefficients. If implemented, this noise-reducing technique will be valuable for planetary geodesy missions, where the

  11. Noise reduction with complex bilateral filter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsumoto, Mitsuharu

    2017-12-01

    This study introduces a noise reduction technique that uses a complex bilateral filter. A bilateral filter is a nonlinear filter originally developed for images that can reduce noise while preserving edge information. It is an attractive filter and has been used in many applications in image processing. When it is applied to an acoustical signal, small-amplitude noise is reduced while the speech signal is preserved. However, a bilateral filter cannot handle noise with relatively large amplitudes owing to its innate characteristics. In this study, the noisy signal is transformed into the time-frequency domain and the filter is improved to handle complex spectra. The high-amplitude noise is reduced in the time-frequency domain via the proposed filter. The features and the potential of the proposed filter are also confirmed through experiments.

  12. Aircraft Noise Reduction Subproject Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez, Hamilton; Nark, Douglas M.; Van Zante, Dale E.

    2016-01-01

    The material presents highlights of propulsion and airframe noise research being completed for the Advanced Air Transport Technology Project. The basis of noise reduction plans along with representative work for the airframe, propulsion, and propulsion-airframe integration is discussed for the Aircraft Noise reduction Subproject.

  13. SU-C-207B-02: Maximal Noise Reduction Filter with Anatomical Structures Preservation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maitree, R; Guzman, G; Chundury, A; Roach, M; Yang, D [Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: All medical images contain noise, which can result in an undesirable appearance and can reduce the visibility of anatomical details. There are varieties of techniques utilized to reduce noise such as increasing the image acquisition time and using post-processing noise reduction algorithms. However, these techniques are increasing the imaging time and cost or reducing tissue contrast and effective spatial resolution which are useful diagnosis information. The three main focuses in this study are: 1) to develop a novel approach that can adaptively and maximally reduce noise while preserving valuable details of anatomical structures, 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of available noise reduction algorithms in comparison to the proposed algorithm, and 3) to demonstrate that the proposed noise reduction approach can be used clinically. Methods: To achieve a maximal noise reduction without destroying the anatomical details, the proposed approach automatically estimated the local image noise strength levels and detected the anatomical structures, i.e. tissue boundaries. Such information was used to adaptively adjust strength of the noise reduction filter. The proposed algorithm was tested on 34 repeating swine head datasets and 54 patients MRI and CT images. The performance was quantitatively evaluated by image quality metrics and manually validated for clinical usages by two radiation oncologists and one radiologist. Results: Qualitative measurements on repeated swine head images demonstrated that the proposed algorithm efficiently removed noise while preserving the structures and tissues boundaries. In comparisons, the proposed algorithm obtained competitive noise reduction performance and outperformed other filters in preserving anatomical structures. Assessments from the manual validation indicate that the proposed noise reduction algorithm is quite adequate for some clinical usages. Conclusion: According to both clinical evaluation (human expert ranking) and

  14. SU-C-207B-02: Maximal Noise Reduction Filter with Anatomical Structures Preservation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maitree, R; Guzman, G; Chundury, A; Roach, M; Yang, D

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: All medical images contain noise, which can result in an undesirable appearance and can reduce the visibility of anatomical details. There are varieties of techniques utilized to reduce noise such as increasing the image acquisition time and using post-processing noise reduction algorithms. However, these techniques are increasing the imaging time and cost or reducing tissue contrast and effective spatial resolution which are useful diagnosis information. The three main focuses in this study are: 1) to develop a novel approach that can adaptively and maximally reduce noise while preserving valuable details of anatomical structures, 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of available noise reduction algorithms in comparison to the proposed algorithm, and 3) to demonstrate that the proposed noise reduction approach can be used clinically. Methods: To achieve a maximal noise reduction without destroying the anatomical details, the proposed approach automatically estimated the local image noise strength levels and detected the anatomical structures, i.e. tissue boundaries. Such information was used to adaptively adjust strength of the noise reduction filter. The proposed algorithm was tested on 34 repeating swine head datasets and 54 patients MRI and CT images. The performance was quantitatively evaluated by image quality metrics and manually validated for clinical usages by two radiation oncologists and one radiologist. Results: Qualitative measurements on repeated swine head images demonstrated that the proposed algorithm efficiently removed noise while preserving the structures and tissues boundaries. In comparisons, the proposed algorithm obtained competitive noise reduction performance and outperformed other filters in preserving anatomical structures. Assessments from the manual validation indicate that the proposed noise reduction algorithm is quite adequate for some clinical usages. Conclusion: According to both clinical evaluation (human expert ranking) and

  15. Noise reduction in optically controlled quantum memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Lijun; Slattery, Oliver; Tang, Xiao

    2018-05-01

    Quantum memory is an essential tool for quantum communications systems and quantum computers. An important category of quantum memory, called optically controlled quantum memory, uses a strong classical beam to control the storage and re-emission of a single-photon signal through an atomic ensemble. In this type of memory, the residual light from the strong classical control beam can cause severe noise and degrade the system performance significantly. Efficiently suppressing this noise is a requirement for the successful implementation of optically controlled quantum memories. In this paper, we briefly introduce the latest and most common approaches to quantum memory and review the various noise-reduction techniques used in implementing them.

  16. The effects of noise reduction technologies on the acceptance of background noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowery, Kristy Jones; Plyler, Patrick N

    2013-09-01

    Directional microphones (D-Mics) and digital noise reduction (DNR) algorithms are used in hearing aids to reduce the negative effects of background noise on performance. Directional microphones attenuate sounds arriving from anywhere other than the front of the listener while DNR attenuates sounds with physical characteristics of noise. Although both noise reduction technologies are currently available in hearing aids, it is unclear if the use of these technologies in isolation or together affects acceptance of noise and/or preference for the end user when used in various types of background noise. The purpose of the research was to determine the effects of D-Mic, DNR, or the combination of D-Mic and DNR on acceptance of noise and preference when listening in various types of background noise. An experimental study in which subjects were exposed to a repeated measures design was utilized. Thirty adult listeners with mild sloping to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss participated (mean age 67 yr). Acceptable noise levels (ANLs) were obtained using no noise reduction technologies, D-Mic only, DNR only, and the combination of the two technologies (Combo) for three different background noises (single-talker speech, speech-shaped noise, and multitalker babble) for each listener. In addition, preference rankings of the noise reduction technologies were obtained within each background noise (1 = best, 3 = worst). ANL values were significantly better for each noise reduction technology than baseline; and benefit increased significantly from DNR to D-Mic to Combo. Listeners with higher (worse) baseline ANLs received more benefit from noise reduction technologies than listeners with lower (better) baseline ANLs. Neither ANL values nor ANL benefit values were significantly affected by background noise type; however, ANL benefit with D-Mic and Combo was similar when speech-like noise was present while ANL benefit was greatest for Combo when speech spectrum noise was

  17. A noise reduction technique based on nonlinear kernel function for heart sound analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mondal, Ashok; Saxena, Ishan; Tang, Hong; Banerjee, Poulami

    2017-02-13

    The main difficulty encountered in interpretation of cardiac sound is interference of noise. The contaminated noise obscures the relevant information which are useful for recognition of heart diseases. The unwanted signals are produced mainly by lungs and surrounding environment. In this paper, a novel heart sound de-noising technique has been introduced based on a combined framework of wavelet packet transform (WPT) and singular value decomposition (SVD). The most informative node of wavelet tree is selected on the criteria of mutual information measurement. Next, the coefficient corresponding to the selected node is processed by SVD technique to suppress noisy component from heart sound signal. To justify the efficacy of the proposed technique, several experiments have been conducted with heart sound dataset, including normal and pathological cases at different signal to noise ratios. The significance of the method is validated by statistical analysis of the results. The biological information preserved in de-noised heart sound (HS) signal is evaluated by k-means clustering algorithm and Fit Factor calculation. The overall results show that proposed method is superior than the baseline methods.

  18. Critical Low-Noise Technologies Being Developed for Engine Noise Reduction Systems Subproject

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grady, Joseph E.; Civinskas, Kestutis C.

    2004-01-01

    NASA's previous Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) Noise Reduction Program delivered the initial technologies for meeting a 10-year goal of a 10-dB reduction in total aircraft system noise. Technology Readiness Levels achieved for the engine-noise-reduction technologies ranged from 4 (rig scale) to 6 (engine demonstration). The current Quiet Aircraft Technology (QAT) project is building on those AST accomplishments to achieve the additional noise reduction needed to meet the Aerospace Technology Enterprise's 10-year goal, again validated through a combination of laboratory rig and engine demonstration tests. In order to meet the Aerospace Technology Enterprise goal for future aircraft of a 50- reduction in the perceived noise level, reductions of 4 dB are needed in both fan and jet noise. The primary objectives of the Engine Noise Reduction Systems (ENRS) subproject are, therefore, to develop technologies to reduce both fan and jet noise by 4 dB, to demonstrate these technologies in engine tests, and to develop and experimentally validate Computational Aero Acoustics (CAA) computer codes that will improve our ability to predict engine noise.

  19. Noise Reduction Evaluation of Multi-Layered Viscoelastic Infinite Cylinder under Acoustical Wave Excitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.R. Mofakhami

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper sound transmission through the multilayered viscoelastic air filled cylinders subjected to the incident acoustic wave is studied using the technique of separation of variables on the basis of linear three dimensional theory of elasticity. The effect of interior acoustic medium on the mode maps (frequency vs geometry and noise reduction is investigated. The effects of internal absorption and external moving medium on noise reduction are also evaluated. The dynamic viscoelastic properties of the structure are rigorously taken into account with a power law technique that models the viscoelastic damping of the cylinder. A parametric study is also performed for the two layered infinite cylinders to obtain the effect of viscoelastic layer characteristics such as thickness, material type and frequency dependency of viscoelastic properties on the noise reduction. It is shown that using constant and frequency dependent viscoelastic material with high loss factor leads to the uniform noise reduction in the frequency domain. It is also shown that the noise reduction obtained for constant viscoelastic material property is subjected to some errors in the low frequency range with respect to those obtained for the frequency dependent viscoelastic material.

  20. Adaptive EMG noise reduction in ECG signals using noise level approximation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marouf, Mohamed; Saranovac, Lazar

    2017-12-01

    In this paper the usage of noise level approximation for adaptive Electromyogram (EMG) noise reduction in the Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals is introduced. To achieve the adequate adaptiveness, a translation-invariant noise level approximation is employed. The approximation is done in the form of a guiding signal extracted as an estimation of the signal quality vs. EMG noise. The noise reduction framework is based on a bank of low pass filters. So, the adaptive noise reduction is achieved by selecting the appropriate filter with respect to the guiding signal aiming to obtain the best trade-off between the signal distortion caused by filtering and the signal readability. For the evaluation purposes; both real EMG and artificial noises are used. The tested ECG signals are from the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database Directory, while both real and artificial records of EMG noise are added and used in the evaluation process. Firstly, comparison with state of the art methods is conducted to verify the performance of the proposed approach in terms of noise cancellation while preserving the QRS complex waves. Additionally, the signal to noise ratio improvement after the adaptive noise reduction is computed and presented for the proposed method. Finally, the impact of adaptive noise reduction method on QRS complexes detection was studied. The tested signals are delineated using a state of the art method, and the QRS detection improvement for different SNR is presented.

  1. Adaptive mean filtering for noise reduction in CT polymer gel dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hilts, Michelle; Jirasek, Andrew

    2008-01-01

    X-ray computed tomography (CT) as a method of extracting 3D dose information from irradiated polymer gel dosimeters is showing potential as a practical means to implement gel dosimetry in a radiation therapy clinic. However, the response of CT contrast to dose is weak and noise reduction is critical in order to achieve adequate dose resolutions with this method. Phantom design and CT imaging technique have both been shown to decrease image noise. In addition, image postprocessing using noise reduction filtering techniques have been proposed. This work evaluates in detail the use of the adaptive mean filter for reducing noise in CT gel dosimetry. Filter performance is systematically tested using both synthetic patterns mimicking a range of clinical dose distribution features as well as actual clinical dose distributions. Both low and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) situations are examined. For all cases, the effects of filter kernel size and the number of iterations are investigated. Results indicate that adaptive mean filtering is a highly effective tool for noise reduction CT gel dosimetry. The optimum filtering strategy depends on characteristics of the dose distributions and image noise level. For low noise images (SNR ∼20), the filtered results are excellent and use of adaptive mean filtering is recommended as a standard processing tool. For high noise images (SNR ∼5) adaptive mean filtering can also produce excellent results, but filtering must be approached with more caution as spatial and dose distortions of the original dose distribution can occur

  2. A bulk-controlled ring-VCO with 1/f-noise reduction for frequency ΔΣ modulator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tuan Vu, CAO; Wisland, Dag T.; Lande, Tor Sverre

    The paper introduces a bulk-controlled ring-VCO with a tail transistor utilizing flicker-noise (1/f-noise) reduction techniques for a frequency-based DeltaSigma modulator (FDSM). This VCO converts an analog input voltage to phase information under various bias conditions ranging from sub-threshol......The paper introduces a bulk-controlled ring-VCO with a tail transistor utilizing flicker-noise (1/f-noise) reduction techniques for a frequency-based DeltaSigma modulator (FDSM). This VCO converts an analog input voltage to phase information under various bias conditions ranging from sub...

  3. Spreadsheet tool for estimating noise reduction costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frank, L.; Senden, V.; Leszczynski, Y.

    2009-01-01

    The Northeast Capital Industrial Association (NCIA) represents industry in Alberta's industrial heartland. The organization is in the process of developing a regional noise management plan (RNMP) for their member companies. The RNMP includes the development of a noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool to conduct reviews of practical noise control treatments available for individual plant equipment, inclusive of ranges of noise attenuation achievable, which produces a budgetary prediction of the installed cost of practical noise control treatments. This paper discussed the noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool, with particular reference to noise control best practices approaches and spreadsheet tool development such as prerequisite, assembling data required, approach, and unit pricing database. Use and optimization of the noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool was also discussed. It was concluded that the noise reduction cost spreadsheet tool is an easy interactive tool to estimate implementation costs related to different strategies and options of noise control mitigating measures and was very helpful in gaining insight for noise control planning purposes. 2 tabs.

  4. Improved multi-microphone noise reduction preserving binaural cues

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koutrouvelis, A.; Hendriks, R.C.; Jensen, J; Heusdens, R.; Dong, Min; Zheng, Thomas Fang

    2016-01-01

    We propose a new multi-microphone noise reduction technique for binaural cue preservation of the desired source and the interferers. This method is based on the linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) framework, where the constraints are used for the binaural cue preservation of the desired

  5. A reliable ground bounce noise reduction technique for nanoscale CMOS circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Vijay Kumar; Pattanaik, Manisha

    2015-11-01

    Power gating is the most effective method to reduce the standby leakage power by adding header/footer high-VTH sleep transistors between actual and virtual power/ground rails. When a power gating circuit transitions from sleep mode to active mode, a large instantaneous charge current flows through the sleep transistors. Ground bounce noise (GBN) is the high voltage fluctuation on real ground rail during sleep mode to active mode transitions of power gating circuits. GBN disturbs the logic states of internal nodes of circuits. A novel and reliable power gating structure is proposed in this article to reduce the problem of GBN. The proposed structure contains low-VTH transistors in place of high-VTH footer. The proposed power gating structure not only reduces the GBN but also improves other performance metrics. A large mitigation of leakage power in both modes eliminates the need of high-VTH transistors. A comprehensive and comparative evaluation of proposed technique is presented in this article for a chain of 5-CMOS inverters. The simulation results are compared to other well-known GBN reduction circuit techniques at 22 nm predictive technology model (PTM) bulk CMOS model using HSPICE tool. Robustness against process, voltage and temperature (PVT) variations is estimated through Monte-Carlo simulations.

  6. Noise Reduction Effect of Multiple-Sampling-Based Signal-Readout Circuits for Ultra-Low Noise CMOS Image Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shoji Kawahito

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the noise reduction effect of multiple-sampling-based signal readout circuits for implementing ultra-low-noise image sensors. The correlated multiple sampling (CMS technique has recently become an important technology for high-gain column readout circuits in low-noise CMOS image sensors (CISs. This paper reveals how the column CMS circuits, together with a pixel having a high-conversion-gain charge detector and low-noise transistor, realizes deep sub-electron read noise levels based on the analysis of noise components in the signal readout chain from a pixel to the column analog-to-digital converter (ADC. The noise measurement results of experimental CISs are compared with the noise analysis and the effect of noise reduction to the sampling number is discussed at the deep sub-electron level. Images taken with three CMS gains of two, 16, and 128 show distinct advantage of image contrast for the gain of 128 (noise(median: 0.29 e−rms when compared with the CMS gain of two (2.4 e−rms, or 16 (1.1 e−rms.

  7. A Third-Generation Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction Technique: Phantom Study of Image Noise, Spatial Resolution, Lesion Detectability, and Dose Reduction Potential.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Euler, André; Solomon, Justin; Marin, Daniele; Nelson, Rendon C; Samei, Ehsan

    2018-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess image noise, spatial resolution, lesion detectability, and the dose reduction potential of a proprietary third-generation adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR-V) technique. A phantom representing five different body sizes (12-37 cm) and a contrast-detail phantom containing lesions of five low-contrast levels (5-20 HU) and three sizes (2-6 mm) were deployed. Both phantoms were scanned on a 256-MDCT scanner at six different radiation doses (1.25-10 mGy). Images were reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP), ASIR-V with 50% blending with FBP (ASIR-V 50%), and ASIR-V without blending (ASIR-V 100%). In the first phantom, noise properties were assessed by noise power spectrum analysis. Spatial resolution properties were measured by use of task transfer functions for objects of different contrasts. Noise magnitude, noise texture, and resolution were compared between the three groups. In the second phantom, low-contrast detectability was assessed by nine human readers independently for each condition. The dose reduction potential of ASIR-V was estimated on the basis of a generalized linear statistical regression model. On average, image noise was reduced 37.3% with ASIR-V 50% and 71.5% with ASIR-V 100% compared with FBP. ASIR-V shifted the noise power spectrum toward lower frequencies compared with FBP. The spatial resolution of ASIR-V was equivalent or slightly superior to that of FBP, except for the low-contrast object, which had lower resolution. Lesion detection significantly increased with both ASIR-V levels (p = 0.001), with an estimated radiation dose reduction potential of 15% ± 5% (SD) for ASIR-V 50% and 31% ± 9% for ASIR-V 100%. ASIR-V reduced image noise and improved lesion detection compared with FBP and had potential for radiation dose reduction while preserving low-contrast detectability.

  8. New hybrid technique for impulsive noise suppression in OFDM systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mirza, A.; Zeb, A.; Sheikh, S.A.

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, a new hybrid technique employing RS (Reed Solomon) coding and adaptive filter for impulsive noise suppression in OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) systems is presented. Adaptive filter creates a more accurate estimate of the original OFDM signal after impulsive noise cancellation. The residual impulsive noise is further mitigated by RS decoder in the second stage of proposed technique. Three members of adaptive filters family i.e. NLMS (Normalized Least Mean Square) algorithm, RLS (Recursive Least Square) algorithm and Bhagyashri algorithm are tested with RS decoder in the proposed hybrid technique. Furthermore, the results in terms of steady state MSE (Mean Square Error) reduction, BER (Bit Error Rate) improvement and SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) enhancement confirm the effectiveness of the proposed dual faceted technique when compared with the recently reported techniques in literature. (author)

  9. Air flow measurement techniques applied to noise reduction of a centrifugal blower

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laage, John W.; Armstrong, Ashli J.; Eilers, Daniel J.; Olsen, Michael G.; Mann, J. Adin

    2005-09-01

    The air flow in a centrifugal blower was studied using a variety of flow and sound measurement techniques. The flow measurement techniques employed included Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), pitot tubes, and a five hole spherical probe. PIV was used to measure instantaneous and ensemble-averaged velocity fields over large area of the outlet duct as a function of fan position, allowing for the visualization of the flow as it leave the fan blades and progressed downstream. The results from the flow measurements were reviewed along side the results of the sound measurements with the goal of identifying sources of noise and inefficiencies in flow performance. The radiated sound power was divided into broadband and tone noise and measures of the flow. The changes in the tone and broadband sound were compared to changes in flow quantities such as the turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds stress. Results for each method will be presented to demonstrate the strengths of each flow measurement technique as well as their limitations. Finally, the role that each played in identifying noise sources is described.

  10. Binaural noise reduction via cue-preserving MMSE filter and adaptive-blocking-based noise PSD estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azarpour, Masoumeh; Enzner, Gerald

    2017-12-01

    Binaural noise reduction, with applications for instance in hearing aids, has been a very significant challenge. This task relates to the optimal utilization of the available microphone signals for the estimation of the ambient noise characteristics and for the optimal filtering algorithm to separate the desired speech from the noise. The additional requirements of low computational complexity and low latency further complicate the design. A particular challenge results from the desired reconstruction of binaural speech input with spatial cue preservation. The latter essentially diminishes the utility of multiple-input/single-output filter-and-sum techniques such as beamforming. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive and effective signal processing configuration with which most of the aforementioned criteria can be met suitably. This relates especially to the requirement of efficient online adaptive processing for noise estimation and optimal filtering while preserving the binaural cues. Regarding noise estimation, we consider three different architectures: interaural (ITF), cross-relation (CR), and principal-component (PCA) target blocking. An objective comparison with two other noise PSD estimation algorithms demonstrates the superiority of the blocking-based noise estimators, especially the CR-based and ITF-based blocking architectures. Moreover, we present a new noise reduction filter based on minimum mean-square error (MMSE), which belongs to the class of common gain filters, hence being rigorous in terms of spatial cue preservation but also efficient and competitive for the acoustic noise reduction task. A formal real-time subjective listening test procedure is also developed in this paper. The proposed listening test enables a real-time assessment of the proposed computationally efficient noise reduction algorithms in a realistic acoustic environment, e.g., considering time-varying room impulse responses and the Lombard effect. The listening test outcome

  11. Comparison study of noise reduction algorithms in dual energy chest digital tomosynthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, D.; Kim, Y.-S.; Choi, S.; Lee, H.; Choi, S.; Kim, H.-J.

    2018-04-01

    Dual energy chest digital tomosynthesis (CDT) is a recently developed medical technique that takes advantage of both tomosynthesis and dual energy X-ray images. However, quantum noise, which occurs in dual energy X-ray images, strongly interferes with diagnosis in various clinical situations. Therefore, noise reduction is necessary in dual energy CDT. In this study, noise-compensating algorithms, including a simple smoothing of high-energy images (SSH) and anti-correlated noise reduction (ACNR), were evaluated in a CDT system. We used a newly developed prototype CDT system and anthropomorphic chest phantom for experimental studies. The resulting images demonstrated that dual energy CDT can selectively image anatomical structures, such as bone and soft tissue. Among the resulting images, those acquired with ACNR showed the best image quality. Both coefficient of variation and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) were the highest in ACNR among the three different dual energy techniques, and the CNR of bone was significantly improved compared to the reconstructed images acquired at a single energy. This study demonstrated the clinical value of dual energy CDT and quantitatively showed that ACNR is the most suitable among the three developed dual energy techniques, including standard log subtraction, SSH, and ACNR.

  12. A conceptual framework for noise reduction

    CERN Document Server

    Benesty, Jacob

    2015-01-01

    Though noise reduction and speech enhancement problems have been studied for at least five decades, advances in our understanding and the development of reliable algorithms are more important than ever, as they support the design of tailored solutions for clearly defined applications. In this work, the authors propose a conceptual framework that can be applied to the many different aspects of noise reduction, offering a uniform approach to monaural and binaural noise reduction problems, in the time domain and in the frequency domain, and involving a single or multiple microphones. Moreover, the derivation of optimal filters is simplified, as are the performance measures used for their evaluation.

  13. Definition of 1992 Technology Aircraft Noise Levels and the Methodology for Assessing Airplane Noise Impact of Component Noise Reduction Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumasaka, Henry A.; Martinez, Michael M.; Weir, Donald S.

    1996-01-01

    This report describes the methodology for assessing the impact of component noise reduction on total airplane system noise. The methodology is intended to be applied to the results of individual study elements of the NASA-Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) Noise Reduction Program, which will address the development of noise reduction concepts for specific components. Program progress will be assessed in terms of noise reduction achieved, relative to baseline levels representative of 1992 technology airplane/engine design and performance. In this report, the 1992 technology reference levels are defined for assessment models based on four airplane sizes - an average business jet and three commercial transports: a small twin, a medium sized twin, and a large quad. Study results indicate that component changes defined as program final goals for nacelle treatment and engine/airframe source noise reduction would achieve from 6-7 EPNdB reduction of total airplane noise at FAR 36 Stage 3 noise certification conditions for all of the airplane noise assessment models.

  14. The effect of multimicrophone noise reduction systems on sound source localization by users of binaural hearing aids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van den Bogaert, Tim; Doclo, Simon; Wouters, Jan; Moonen, Marc

    2008-07-01

    This paper evaluates the influence of three multimicrophone noise reduction algorithms on the ability to localize sound sources. Two recently developed noise reduction techniques for binaural hearing aids were evaluated, namely, the binaural multichannel Wiener filter (MWF) and the binaural multichannel Wiener filter with partial noise estimate (MWF-N), together with a dual-monaural adaptive directional microphone (ADM), which is a widely used noise reduction approach in commercial hearing aids. The influence of the different algorithms on perceived sound source localization and their noise reduction performance was evaluated. It is shown that noise reduction algorithms can have a large influence on localization and that (a) the ADM only preserves localization in the forward direction over azimuths where limited or no noise reduction is obtained; (b) the MWF preserves localization of the target speech component but may distort localization of the noise component. The latter is dependent on signal-to-noise ratio and masking effects; (c) the MWF-N enables correct localization of both the speech and the noise components; (d) the statistical Wiener filter approach introduces a better combination of sound source localization and noise reduction performance than the ADM approach.

  15. A simulation study of harmonics regeneration in noise reduction for electric and acoustic stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yi

    2010-05-01

    Recent research results show that combined electric and acoustic stimulation (EAS) significantly improves speech recognition in noise, and it is generally established that access to the improved F0 representation of target speech, along with the glimpse cues, provide the EAS benefits. Under noisy listening conditions, noise signals degrade these important cues by introducing undesired temporal-frequency components and corrupting harmonics structure. In this study, the potential of combining noise reduction and harmonics regeneration techniques was investigated to further improve speech intelligibility in noise by providing improved beneficial cues for EAS. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) noise reduction methods can improve speech intelligibility in noise for EAS; (2) harmonics regeneration after noise reduction can further improve speech intelligibility in noise for EAS; and (3) harmonics sideband constraints in frequency domain (or equivalently, amplitude modulation in temporal domain), even deterministic ones, can provide additional benefits. Test results demonstrate that combining noise reduction and harmonics regeneration can significantly improve speech recognition in noise for EAS, and it is also beneficial to preserve the harmonics sidebands under adverse listening conditions. This finding warrants further work into the development of algorithms that regenerate harmonics and the related sidebands for EAS processing under noisy conditions.

  16. Jet Noise Reduction by Microjets - A Parametric Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaman, K. B. M. Q.

    2010-01-01

    The effect of injecting tiny secondary jets (microjets ) on the radiated noise from a subsonic primary jet is studied experimentally. The microjets are injected on to the primary jet near the nozzle exit with variable port geometry, working fluid and driving pressure. A clear noise reduction is observed that improves with increasing jet pressure. It is found that smaller diameter ports with higher driving pressure, but involving less thrust and mass fraction, can produce better noise reduction. A collection of data from the present as well as past experiments is examined in an attempt to correlate the noise reduction with the operating parameters. The results indicate that turbulent mixing noise reduction, as monitored by OASPL at a shallow angle, correlates with the ratio of jet to primary jet driving pressures normalized by the ratio of corresponding diameters (p d /pjD). With gaseous injection, the spectral amplitudes decrease at lower frequencies while an increase is noted at higher frequencies. It is apparent that this amplitude crossover is at least partly due to shock-associated noise from the underexpanded jets themselves. Such crossover is not seen with water injection since the flow in that case is incompressible and there is no shock-associated noise. Centerline velocity data show that larger noise reduction is accompanied by faster jet decay as well as significant reduction in turbulence intensities. While a physical understanding of the dependence of noise reduction on p d /pjD remains unclear, given this correlation, an analysis explains the observed dependence of the effect on various other parameters.

  17. Prewhitening for Rank-Deficient Noise in Subspace Methods for Noise Reduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Per Christian; Jensen, Søren Holdt

    2005-01-01

    A fundamental issue in connection with subspace methods for noise reduction is that the covariance matrix for the noise is required to have full rank, in order for the prewhitening step to be defined. However, there are important cases where this requirement is not fulfilled, e.g., when the noise...... has narrow-band characteristics, or in the case of tonal noise. We extend the concept of prewhitening to include the case when the noise covariance matrix is rank deficient, using a weighted pseudoinverse and the quotient SVD, and we show how to formulate a general rank-reduction algorithm that works...... also for rank deficient noise. We also demonstrate how to formulate this algorithm by means of a quotient ULV decomposition, which allows for faster computation and updating. Finally we apply our algorithm to a problem involving a speech signal contaminated by narrow-band noise....

  18. Noise Reduction with Microphone Arrays for Speaker Identification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen, Z

    2011-12-22

    Reducing acoustic noise in audio recordings is an ongoing problem that plagues many applications. This noise is hard to reduce because of interfering sources and non-stationary behavior of the overall background noise. Many single channel noise reduction algorithms exist but are limited in that the more the noise is reduced; the more the signal of interest is distorted due to the fact that the signal and noise overlap in frequency. Specifically acoustic background noise causes problems in the area of speaker identification. Recording a speaker in the presence of acoustic noise ultimately limits the performance and confidence of speaker identification algorithms. In situations where it is impossible to control the environment where the speech sample is taken, noise reduction filtering algorithms need to be developed to clean the recorded speech of background noise. Because single channel noise reduction algorithms would distort the speech signal, the overall challenge of this project was to see if spatial information provided by microphone arrays could be exploited to aid in speaker identification. The goals are: (1) Test the feasibility of using microphone arrays to reduce background noise in speech recordings; (2) Characterize and compare different multichannel noise reduction algorithms; (3) Provide recommendations for using these multichannel algorithms; and (4) Ultimately answer the question - Can the use of microphone arrays aid in speaker identification?

  19. Noise reduction in the beam current monitor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arai, Shigeaki.

    1982-02-01

    A simple noise reduction system using a pulse transformer and a pair of L C low pass filters has been introduced to the beam current monitor of a current transformer type at the INS electron linac. With this system, the pick-up noise has been reduced to be 1% of the noise without noise reduction. Signal deformation caused by this system is relatively small and the beam current pulse down to 20 mA is successfully monitored in the actual accelerator operation. (author)

  20. A new technique for noise reduction at coronary CT angiography with multi-phase data-averaging and non-rigid image registration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tatsugami, Fuminari; Higaki, Toru; Nakamura, Yuko; Yamagami, Takuji; Date, Shuji; Awai, Kazuo [Hiroshima University, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Minami-ku, Hiroshima (Japan); Fujioka, Chikako; Kiguchi, Masao [Hiroshima University, Department of Radiology, Minami-ku, Hiroshima (Japan); Kihara, Yasuki [Hiroshima University, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Minami-ku, Hiroshima (Japan)

    2015-01-15

    To investigate the feasibility of a newly developed noise reduction technique at coronary CT angiography (CTA) that uses multi-phase data-averaging and non-rigid image registration. Sixty-five patients underwent coronary CTA with prospective ECG-triggering. The range of the phase window was set at 70-80 % of the R-R interval. First, three sets of consecutive volume data at 70 %, 75 % and 80 % of the R-R interval were prepared. Second, we applied non-rigid registration to align the 70 % and 80 % images to the 75 % image. Finally, we performed weighted averaging of the three images and generated a de-noised image. The image noise and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the proximal coronary arteries between the conventional 75 % and the de-noised images were compared. Two radiologists evaluated the image quality using a 5-point scale (1, poor; 5, excellent). On de-noised images, mean image noise was significantly lower than on conventional 75 % images (18.3 HU ± 2.6 vs. 23.0 HU ± 3.3, P < 0.01) and the CNR was significantly higher (P < 0.01). The mean image quality score for conventional 75 % and de-noised images was 3.9 and 4.4, respectively (P < 0.01). Our method reduces image noise and improves image quality at coronary CTA. (orig.)

  1. Helicopter Flight Procedures for Community Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenwood, Eric

    2017-01-01

    A computationally efficient, semiempirical noise model suitable for maneuvering flight noise prediction is used to evaluate the community noise impact of practical variations on several helicopter flight procedures typical of normal operations. Turns, "quick-stops," approaches, climbs, and combinations of these maneuvers are assessed. Relatively small variations in flight procedures are shown to cause significant changes to Sound Exposure Levels over a wide area. Guidelines are developed for helicopter pilots intended to provide effective strategies for reducing the negative effects of helicopter noise on the community. Finally, direct optimization of flight trajectories is conducted to identify low noise optimal flight procedures and quantify the magnitude of community noise reductions that can be obtained through tailored helicopter flight procedures. Physically realizable optimal turns and approaches are identified that achieve global noise reductions of as much as 10 dBA Sound Exposure Level.

  2. Occupational Noise Reduction in CNC Striping Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmad Khairai, Kamarulzaman; Shamime Salleh, Nurul; Razlan Yusoff, Ahmad

    2018-03-01

    Occupational noise hearing loss with high level exposure is common occupational hazards. In CNC striping process, employee that exposed to high noise level for a long time as 8-hour contributes to hearing loss, create physical and psychological stress that reduce productivity. In this paper, CNC stripping process with high level noises are measured and reduced to the permissible noise exposure. First condition is all machines shutting down and second condition when all CNC machine under operations. For both conditions, noise exposures were measured to evaluate the noise problems and sources. After improvement made, the noise exposures were measured to evaluate the effectiveness of reduction. The initial average noise level at the first condition is 95.797 dB (A). After the pneumatic system with leakage was solved, the noise reduced to 55.517 dB (A). The average noise level at the second condition is 109.340 dB (A). After six machines were gathered at one area and cover that area with plastic curtain, the noise reduced to 95.209 dB (A). In conclusion, the noise level exposure in CNC striping machine is high and exceed the permissible noise exposure can be reduced to acceptable levels. The reduction of noise level in CNC striping processes enhanced productivity in the industry.

  3. Prediction and Reduction of Aerodynamic Noise of the Multiblade Centrifugal Fan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuiqing Zhou

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available An aerodynamic and aeroacoustic investigation of the multiblade centrifugal fan is proposed in this paper, and a hybrid technique of combining flow field calculation and acoustic analysis is applied to solve the aeroacoustic problem of multiblade centrifugal fan. The unsteady flow field of the multiblade centrifugal fan is predicted by solving the incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS equations with conventional computing techniques for fluid dynamics. The principal noise source induced is extracted from the calculation of the flow field by using acoustic principles, and the modeled sources on inner and outer surfaces of the volute are calculated with multiregional boundary element method (BEM. Through qualitative analysis, the sound pressure amplitude distribution of the multiblade centrifugal fan in near field is given and the sound pressure level (SPL spectrum diagram of monitoring points in far field is obtained. Based on the analysis results, the volute tongue structure is adjusted and then a low-noise design for the centrifugal fan is proposed. The comparison of noise tests shows the noise reduction of improved fan model is more obvious, which is in good agreement with the prediction using the hybrid techniques.

  4. Subspace-Based Noise Reduction for Speech Signals via Diagonal and Triangular Matrix Decompositions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Per Christian; Jensen, Søren Holdt

    2007-01-01

    We survey the definitions and use of rank-revealing matrix decompositions in single-channel noise reduction algorithms for speech signals. Our algorithms are based on the rank-reduction paradigm and, in particular, signal subspace techniques. The focus is on practical working algorithms, using both...... with working Matlab code and applications in speech processing....

  5. Spatial-temporal noise reduction method optimized for real-time implementation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romanenko, I. V.; Edirisinghe, E. A.; Larkin, D.

    2013-02-01

    Image de-noising in the spatial-temporal domain has been a problem studied in-depth in the field of digital image processing. However complexity of algorithms often leads to high hardware resource usage, or computational complexity and memory bandwidth issues, making their practical use impossible. In our research we attempt to solve these issues with an optimized implementation of a practical spatial-temporal de-noising algorithm. Spatial-temporal filtering was performed in Bayer RAW data space, which allowed us to benefit from predictable sensor noise characteristics and reduce memory bandwidth requirements. The proposed algorithm efficiently removes different kinds of noise in a wide range of signal to noise ratios. In our algorithm the local motion compensation is performed in Bayer RAW data space, while preserving the resolution and effectively improving the signal to noise ratios of moving objects. The main challenge for the use of spatial-temporal noise reduction algorithms in video applications is the compromise between the quality of the motion prediction and the complexity of the algorithm and required memory bandwidth. In photo and video applications it is very important that moving objects should stay sharp, while the noise is efficiently removed in both the static background and moving objects. Another important use case is the case when background is also non-static as well as the foreground where objects are also moving. Taking into account the achievable improvement in PSNR (on the level of the best known noise reduction techniques, like VBM3D) and low algorithmic complexity, enabling its practical use in commercial video applications, the results of our research can be very valuable.

  6. Finite element analysis using NASTRAN applied to helicopter transmission vibration/noise reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howells, R. W.; Sciarra, J. J.

    1975-01-01

    A finite element NASTRAN model of the complete forward rotor transmission housing for the Boeing Vertol CH-47 helicopter was developed and applied to reduce transmission vibration/noise at its source. In addition to a description of the model, a technique for vibration/noise prediction and reduction is outlined. Also included are the dynamic response as predicted by NASTRAN, test data, the use of strain energy methods to optimize the housing for minimum vibration/noise, and determination of design modifications which will be manufactured and tested. The techniques presented are not restricted to helicopters but are applicable to any power transmission system. The transmission housing model developed can be used further to evaluate static and dynamic stresses, thermal distortions, deflections and load paths, fail-safety/vulnerability, and composite materials.

  7. Kalman filtering techniques for reducing variance of digital speckle displacement measurement noise

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Donghui Li; Li Guo

    2006-01-01

    @@ Target dynamics are assumed to be known in measuring digital speckle displacement. Use is made of a simple measurement equation, where measurement noise represents the effect of disturbances introduced in measurement process. From these assumptions, Kalman filter can be designed to reduce variance of measurement noise. An optical and analysis system was set up, by which object motion with constant displacement and constant velocity is experimented with to verify validity of Kalman filtering techniques for reduction of measurement noise variance.

  8. Application of system concept in vibration and noise reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SHENG Meiping

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Although certain vibration and noise control technologies are maturing, such as vibration absorption, vibration isolation, sound absorption and sound insulation, and new methods for specific frequency bands or special environments have been proposed unceasingly, there is still no guarantee that practical effective vibration and noise reduction can be obtained. An important constraint for vibration and noise reduction is the lack of a system concept, and the integrity and relevance of such practical systems as ship structure have not obtained enough attention. We have tried to use the system engineering theory in guiding vibration and noise reduction, and have already achieved certain effects. Based on the system concept, the noise control of a petroleum pipeline production workshop has been completed satisfactorily, and the abnormal noise source identification of an airplane has been accomplished successfully. We want to share our experience and suggestions to promote the popularization of the system engineering theory in vibration and noise control.

  9. Image noise reduction algorithm for digital subtraction angiography: clinical results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Söderman, Michael; Holmin, Staffan; Andersson, Tommy; Palmgren, Charlotta; Babic, Draženko; Hoornaert, Bart

    2013-11-01

    To test the hypothesis that an image noise reduction algorithm designed for digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in interventional neuroradiology enables a reduction in the patient entrance dose by a factor of 4 while maintaining image quality. This clinical prospective study was approved by the local ethics committee, and all 20 adult patients provided informed consent. DSA was performed with the default reference DSA program, a quarter-dose DSA program with modified acquisition parameters (to reduce patient radiation dose exposure), and a real-time noise-reduction algorithm. Two consecutive biplane DSA data sets were acquired in each patient. The dose-area product (DAP) was calculated for each image and compared. A randomized, blinded, offline reading study was conducted to show noninferiority of the quarter-dose image sets. Overall, 40 samples per treatment group were necessary to acquire 80% power, which was calculated by using a one-sided α level of 2.5%. The mean DAP with the quarter-dose program was 25.3% ± 0.8 of that with the reference program. The median overall image quality scores with the reference program were 9, 13, and 12 for readers 1, 2, and 3, respectively. These scores increased slightly to 12, 15, and 12, respectively, with the quarter-dose program imaging chain. In DSA, a change in technique factors combined with a real-time noise-reduction algorithm will reduce the patient entrance dose by 75%, without a loss of image quality. RSNA, 2013

  10. Dose reduction in pediatric abdominal CT: use of iterative reconstruction techniques across different CT platforms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khawaja, Ranish Deedar Ali; Singh, Sarabjeet; Otrakji, Alexi; Padole, Atul; Lim, Ruth; Nimkin, Katherine; Westra, Sjirk; Kalra, Mannudeep K.; Gee, Michael S.

    2015-01-01

    Dose reduction in children undergoing CT scanning is an important priority for the radiology community and public at large. Drawbacks of radiation reduction are increased image noise and artifacts, which can affect image interpretation. Iterative reconstruction techniques have been developed to reduce noise and artifacts from reduced-dose CT examinations, although reconstruction algorithm, magnitude of dose reduction and effects on image quality vary. We review the reconstruction principles, radiation dose potential and effects on image quality of several iterative reconstruction techniques commonly used in clinical settings, including 3-D adaptive iterative dose reduction (AIDR-3D), adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR), iDose, sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE) and model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR). We also discuss clinical applications of iterative reconstruction techniques in pediatric abdominal CT. (orig.)

  11. Dose reduction in pediatric abdominal CT: use of iterative reconstruction techniques across different CT platforms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khawaja, Ranish Deedar Ali; Singh, Sarabjeet; Otrakji, Alexi; Padole, Atul; Lim, Ruth; Nimkin, Katherine; Westra, Sjirk; Kalra, Mannudeep K.; Gee, Michael S. [MGH Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States)

    2015-07-15

    Dose reduction in children undergoing CT scanning is an important priority for the radiology community and public at large. Drawbacks of radiation reduction are increased image noise and artifacts, which can affect image interpretation. Iterative reconstruction techniques have been developed to reduce noise and artifacts from reduced-dose CT examinations, although reconstruction algorithm, magnitude of dose reduction and effects on image quality vary. We review the reconstruction principles, radiation dose potential and effects on image quality of several iterative reconstruction techniques commonly used in clinical settings, including 3-D adaptive iterative dose reduction (AIDR-3D), adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR), iDose, sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE) and model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR). We also discuss clinical applications of iterative reconstruction techniques in pediatric abdominal CT. (orig.)

  12. Enhanced ground bounce noise reduction in a low-leakage CMOS multiplier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Bipin Kumar; Akashe, Shyam; Sharma, Sanjay

    2015-09-01

    In this paper, various parameters are used to reduce leakage power, leakage current and noise margin of circuits to enhance their performance. A multiplier is proposed with low-leakage current and low ground bounce noise for the microprocessor, digital signal processors (DSP) and graphics engines. The ground bounce noise problem appears when a conventional power-gating circuit transits from sleep-to-active mode. This paper discusses a reduction in leakage current in the stacking power-gating technique by three modes - sleep, active and sleep-to-active. The simulation results are performed on a 4 × 4 carry-save multiplier for leakage current, active power, leakage power and ground bounce noise, and comparison made for different nanoscales. Ground bounce noise is limited to 90%. The leakage current of the circuit is decimated up to 80% and the active power is reduced to 31%. We performed simulations using cadence virtuoso 180 and 45 nm at room temperature at various supply voltages.

  13. Complex diffusion process for noise reduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nadernejad, Ehsan; Barari, A.

    2014-01-01

    equations (PDEs) in image restoration and de-noising prompted many researchers to search for an improvement in the technique. In this paper, a new method is presented for signal de-noising, based on PDEs and Schrodinger equations, named as complex diffusion process (CDP). This method assumes that variations...... for signal de-noising. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, a number of experiments have been performed using Sinusoid, multi-component and FM signals cluttered with noise. The results indicate that the proposed method outperforms the approaches for signal de-noising known in prior art....

  14. Experimental identification of noise reduction properties of honeycomb panels using a small cabin

    OpenAIRE

    D'Ortona, Vittorio; Vivolo, Marianna; Pluymers, Bert; Vandepitte, Dirk; Desmet, Wim

    2013-01-01

    A procedure to identify the noise reduction properties of panels by means of a single cabin test setup is discussed. The complexity of the sound pressure field that builds up in the acoustic volume requires the support of advanced numerical techniques allowing for the evaluation of noise and vibration performances. Numerical models are used to predict the structural dynamics and the vibro-acoustic behaviour of the tested panel. Both Finite Element and Boundary Element simulations are validate...

  15. Analysis of Individual Preferences for Tuning Noise-Reduction Algorithms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Houben, Rolph; Dijkstra, Tjeerd M. H.; Dreschler, Wouter A.

    2012-01-01

    There is little research on user preference for different settings of noise reduction, especially for individual users. We therefore measured individual preferences for pairs of audio streams differing in the trade-off between noise reduction and speech distortion. A logistic probability model was

  16. Propulsion Noise Reduction Research in the NASA Advanced Air Transport Technology Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Zante, Dale; Nark, Douglas; Fernandez, Hamilton

    2017-01-01

    The Aircraft Noise Reduction (ANR) sub-project is focused on the generation, development, and testing of component noise reduction technologies progressing toward the NASA far term noise goals while providing associated near and mid-term benefits. The ANR sub-project has efforts in airframe noise reduction, propulsion (including fan and core) noise reduction, acoustic liner technology, and propulsion airframe aeroacoustics for candidate conventional and unconventional aircraft configurations. The current suite of propulsion specific noise research areas is reviewed along with emerging facility and measurement capabilities. In the longer term, the changes in engine and aircraft configuration will influence the suite of technologies necessary to reduce noise in next generation systems.

  17. Advanced digital signal processing and noise reduction

    CERN Document Server

    Vaseghi, Saeed V

    2008-01-01

    Digital signal processing plays a central role in the development of modern communication and information processing systems. The theory and application of signal processing is concerned with the identification, modelling and utilisation of patterns and structures in a signal process. The observation signals are often distorted, incomplete and noisy and therefore noise reduction, the removal of channel distortion, and replacement of lost samples are important parts of a signal processing system. The fourth edition of Advanced Digital Signal Processing and Noise Reduction updates an

  18. Noise and Fuel Burn Reduction Potential of an Innovative Subsonic Transport Configuration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Yueping; Nickol, Craig L.; Thomas, Russell H.

    2014-01-01

    A study is presented for the noise and fuel burn reduction potential of an innovative double deck concept aircraft with two three-shaft direct-drive turbofan engines. The engines are mounted from the fuselage so that the engine inlet is over the main wing. It is shown that such an aircraft can achieve a cumulative Effective Perceived Noise Level (EPNL) about 28 dB below the current aircraft noise regulations of Stage 4. The combination of high bypass ratio engines and advanced wing design with laminar flow control technologies provide fuel burn reduction and low noise levels simultaneously. For example, the fuselage mounted engine position provides more than 4 EPNLdB of noise reduction by shielding the inlet radiated noise. To identify the potential effect of noise reduction technologies on this concept, parametric studies are presented to reveal the system level benefits of various emerging noise reduction concepts, for both engine and airframe noise reduction. These concepts are discussed both individually to show their respective incremental noise reduction potential and collectively to assess their aggregate effects on the total noise. Through these concepts approximately about 8 dB of additional noise reduction is possible, bringing the cumulative noise level of this aircraft to 36 EPNLdB below Stage 4, if the entire suite of noise reduction technologies would mature to practical application. In a final step, an estimate is made for this same aircraft concept but with higher bypass ratio, geared, turbofan engines. With this geared turbofan propulsion system, the noise is estimated to reach as low as 40-42 dB below Stage 4 with a fuel burn reduction of 43-47% below the 2005 best-in-class aircraft baseline. While just short of the NASA N+2 goals of 42 dB and 50% fuel burn reduction, for a 2025 in service timeframe, this assessment shows that this innovative concept warrants refined study. Furthermore, this design appears to be a viable potential future passenger

  19. Technique Based on Image Pyramid and Bayes Rule for Noise Reduction in Unsupervised Change Detection

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Zhi-qiang; HUO hong; FANG Tao; ZHU Ju-lian; GE Wei-li

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, a technique based on image pyramid and Bayes rule for reducing noise effects in unsupervised change detection is proposed. By using Gaussian pyramid to process two multitemporal images respectively, two image pyramids are constructed. The difference pyramid images are obtained by point-by-point subtraction between the same level images of the two image pyramids. By resizing all difference pyramid images to the size of the original multitemporal image and then making product operator among them, a map being similar to the difference image is obtained. The difference image is generated by point-by-point subtraction between the two multitemporal images directly. At last, the Bayes rule is used to distinguish the changed pixels. Both synthetic and real data sets are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed technique. Experimental results show that the map from the proposed technique is more robust to noise than the difference image.

  20. Wind Noise Reduction in a Non-Porous Subsurface Windscreen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuckerwar, Allan J.; Shams, Qamar A.; Knight, H. Keith

    2012-01-01

    Measurements of wind noise reduction were conducted on a box-shaped, subsurface windscreen made of closed cell polyurethane foam. The windscreen was installed in the ground with the lid flush with the ground surface. The wind was generated by means of a fan, situated on the ground, and the wind speed was measured at the center of the windscreen lid with an ultrasonic anemometer. The wind speed was controlled by moving the fan to selected distances from the windscreen. The wind noise was measured on a PCB Piezotronics 3†electret microphone. Wind noise spectra were measured with the microphone exposed directly to the wind (atop the windscreen lid) and with the microphone installed inside the windscreen. The difference between the two spectra comprises the wind noise reduction. At wind speeds of 3, 5, and 7 m/s, the wind noise reduction is typically 15 dB over the frequency range of 0.1-20 Hz.

  1. Measurements techniques for transportation noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brambilla, G.

    2001-01-01

    The noise from transport systems (roads, railways and aircraft) are increasing more and more both in space and in time and, therefore, they are still the major factor responsible for environmental noise pollution. The population exposed to transport noise is also increasing, and the corresponding health effects on people (i.e. annoyance and sleep disturbance) become more severe. Due to this current situation international and national legislation has been issued and implemented to reduce the harmful effects of such noise. This paper describes the techniques prescribed by recent Italian legislation to measure road, railway and aircraft noise. (author)

  2. Experimental Study of Wake / Flap Interaction Noise and the Reduction of Flap Side Edge Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutcheson, Florence V.; Stead, Daniel J.; Plassman, Gerald E.

    2016-01-01

    The effects of the interaction of a wake with a half-span flap on radiated noise are examined. The incident wake is generated by bars of various widths and lengths or by a simplified landing gear model. Single microphone and phased array measurements are used to isolate the effects of the wake interaction on the noise radiating from the flap side edge and flap cove regions. The effects on noise of the wake generator's geometry and relative placement with respect to the flap are assessed. Placement of the wake generators upstream of the flap side edge is shown to lead to the reduction of flap side edge noise by introducing a velocity deficit and likely altering the instabilities in the flap side edge vortex system. Significant reduction in flap side edge noise is achieved with a bar positioned directly upstream of the flap side edge. The noise reduction benefit is seen to improve with increased bar width, length and proximity to the flap edge. Positioning of the landing gear model upstream of the flap side edge also leads to decreased flap side edge noise. In addition, flap cove noise levels are significantly lower than when the landing gear is positioned upstream of the flap mid-span. The impact of the local flow velocity on the noise radiating directly from the landing gear is discussed. The effects of the landing gear side-braces on flap side edge, flap cove and landing gear noise are shown.

  3. Meta-Analysis of Free-Response Studies, 1992-2008: Assessing the Noise Reduction Model in Parapsychology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Storm, Lance; Tressoldi, Patrizio E.; Di Risio, Lorenzo

    2010-01-01

    We report the results of meta-analyses on 3 types of free-response study: (a) ganzfeld (a technique that enhances a communication anomaly referred to as "psi"); (b) nonganzfeld noise reduction using alleged psi-enhancing techniques such as dream psi, meditation, relaxation, or hypnosis; and (c) standard free response (nonganzfeld, no noise…

  4. Jet noise reduction via dispersed phase injection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greska, Brent; Krothapalli, Anjaneyulu; Arakeri, Vijay

    2001-11-01

    A recently developed hot jet aeroacoustics facility at FMRL,FAMU-FSU College of Engineering has been used to study the far field noise characteristics of hot supersonic jets as influenced by the injection of a dispersed phase with low mass loading.The measured SPL from a fully expanded Mach 1.36 hot jet shows a peak value of about 139 dB at 40 deg from the jet axis.By injecting atomized water,the SPL are reduced in the angular region of about 30 deg to 50 deg with the maximum reduction being about 2 dB at 40 deg.However,with the use of non atomized aqueous polymer solution as a dispersed phase the noise levels are reduced over all angular positions by at least 1 dB with the maximum reduction being about 3 dB at 40 deg.The injection of a dispersed phase readily kills the screech; the initial results show promise and optimization studies are underway to find methods of further noise reduction.

  5. Noise Reduction of Measurement Data using Linear Digital Filters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hitzmann B.

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper Butterworth, Chebyshev (Type I and II and Elliptic digital filters are designed for signal noise reduction. On-line data measurements of substrate concentration from E. coli fed-batch cultivation process are used. Application of the designed filters leads to a successful noise reduction of on-line glucose measurements. The digital filters presented here are simple, easy to implement and effective - the used filters allow for a smart compromise between signal information and noise corruption.

  6. Digitally controlled active noise reduction with integrated speech communication

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steeneken, H.J.M.; Verhave, J.A.

    2004-01-01

    Active noise reduction is a successful addition to passive ear-defenders for improvement of the sound attenuation at low frequencies. Design and assessment methods are discussed, focused on subjective and objective attenuation measurements, stability, and high noise level applications. Active noise

  7. A new neutron noise technique for fast reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhuo Fengguan; Jin Manyi; Yao Shigui; Su Zhuting

    1987-12-01

    This paper gives a new neutron noise technique for fast reactors, which is known as thermalization measurement technique of the neutron noise. The theoretical formulas of the technique were developed, and a digital delayed coincidence time analyzer consisted of TTL integrated circuits was constructed for the study of this technique. The technique has been tested and applied practically at Df-VI fast zero power reactor. It was shown that the provided technique in this work has a number of significant advantages in comparison with the conventional neutron noise method

  8. Wind Noise Reduction using Non-negative Sparse Coding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Mikkel N.; Larsen, Jan; Hsiao, Fu-Tien

    2007-01-01

    We introduce a new speaker independent method for reducing wind noise in single-channel recordings of noisy speech. The method is based on non-negative sparse coding and relies on a wind noise dictionary which is estimated from an isolated noise recording. We estimate the parameters of the model ...... and discuss their sensitivity. We then compare the algorithm with the classical spectral subtraction method and the Qualcomm-ICSI-OGI noise reduction method. We optimize the sound quality in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and provide results on a noisy speech recognition task....

  9. An Exceptional Purity of Sound: Noise Reduction Technology and the Inevitable Noise of Sound Recording

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kromhout, M.

    2014-01-01

    The phenomenon of noise has resisted many attempts at framing it within a singular conceptual framework. Critically questioning the tendency to do so, this article asserts the complexities of different noise-phenomena by analysing a specific technology: technological noise reduction systems. Whereas

  10. Market Analysis of Soundproof and Noise Reduction Plate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang Heyu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Since the reform and opening up, China has a booming economy development, transportation industry as an important part of the economic processes has made a considerable progress, and continue to promote the rapid economic development. At the end of 2012, China's highway mileage has reached 4.238 million km and highway mileage ranks first in the world. Transportation in promoting rapid economic development, but also brings the traffic noise which has a tremendous influence on residents’ daily life, and this influence has gradually deepening and widening, in this situation the production of noise reduction panel gradually emerged. In this paper, a noise barriers manufacturer’ business model in Beijing Daxing District and analyze existing data will be analyzed, it will give much guidance and reference for a new noise reduction factory. The study has shown that plant will target all levels of government departments in charge of roads and the property of management department of residence as our customer groups, increasing technological innovation and improving product quality to establish a more extensive business relationships, and gradually formed noise barriers market competitiveness.

  11. METHODS OF NOISE LEVEL REDUCTION OF DRIVE IN LATHES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janusz ROGULA

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this work is method presentation to noise level reduction of fixed headstock of the lathe. It is connected with the causes finding of non-uniform work of lathe headstock, description of recent design and its analysis. Problem of the excessive noise level concern to near 35% of the lathes have been produced. In spite of lack of noise reduction possibility there were no system solution of problem. Design optimisation weren’t done after application the electric motor with inverter. New solution of electric motor control let to reduce number of gear wheels in lathe drive system. For this drive solution there weren’t made the analysis of drive particular parts influence on the noise generation.

  12. Background Noise Reduction Using Adaptive Noise Cancellation Determined by the Cross-Correlation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spalt, Taylor B.; Brooks, Thomas F.; Fuller, Christopher R.

    2012-01-01

    Background noise due to flow in wind tunnels contaminates desired data by decreasing the Signal-to-Noise Ratio. The use of Adaptive Noise Cancellation to remove background noise at measurement microphones is compromised when the reference sensor measures both background and desired noise. The technique proposed modifies the classical processing configuration based on the cross-correlation between the reference and primary microphone. Background noise attenuation is achieved using a cross-correlation sample width that encompasses only the background noise and a matched delay for the adaptive processing. A present limitation of the method is that a minimum time delay between the background noise and desired signal must exist in order for the correlated parts of the desired signal to be separated from the background noise in the crosscorrelation. A simulation yields primary signal recovery which can be predicted from the coherence of the background noise between the channels. Results are compared with two existing methods.

  13. A Hybrid Semi-Digital Transimpedance Amplifier With Noise Cancellation Technique for Nanopore-Based DNA Sequencing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Chung-Lun; Jiang, Haowei; Venkatesh, A G; Hall, Drew A

    2015-10-01

    Over the past two decades, nanopores have been a promising technology for next generation deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing. Here, we present a hybrid semi-digital transimpedance amplifier (HSD-TIA) to sense the minute current signatures introduced by single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) translocating through a nanopore, while discharging the baseline current using a semi-digital feedback loop. The amplifier achieves fast settling by adaptively tuning a DC compensation current when a step input is detected. A noise cancellation technique reduces the total input-referred current noise caused by the parasitic input capacitance. Measurement results show the performance of the amplifier with 31.6 M Ω mid-band gain, 950 kHz bandwidth, and 8.5 fA/ √Hz input-referred current noise, a 2× noise reduction due to the noise cancellation technique. The settling response is demonstrated by observing the insertion of a protein nanopore in a lipid bilayer. Using the nanopore, the HSD-TIA was able to measure ssDNA translocation events.

  14. Noise-based tube current reduction method with iterative reconstruction for reduction of radiation exposure in coronary CT angiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Junlin; Du, Xiangying; Guo, Daode; Cao, Lizhen; Gao, Yan; Bai, Mei; Li, Pengyu; Liu, Jiabin; Li, Kuncheng

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate the potential of noise-based tube current reduction method with iterative reconstruction to reduce radiation exposure while achieving consistent image quality in coronary CT angiography (CCTA). Materials and methods: 294 patients underwent CCTA on a 64-detector row CT equipped with iterative reconstruction. 102 patients with fixed tube current were assigned to Group 1, which was used to establish noise-based tube current modulation formulas, where tube current was modulated by the noise of test bolus image. 192 patients with noise-based tube current were randomly assigned to Group 2 and Group 3. Filtered back projection was applied for Group 2 and iterative reconstruction for Group 3. Qualitative image quality was assessed with a 5 point score. Image noise, signal intensity, volume CT dose index, and dose-length product were measured. Results: The noise-based tube current modulation formulas were established through regression analysis using image noise measurements in Group 1. Image noise was precisely maintained at the target value of 35.00 HU with small interquartile ranges for Group 2 (34.17–35.08 HU) and Group 3 (34.34–35.03 HU), while it was from 28.41 to 36.49 HU for Group 1. All images in the three groups were acceptable for diagnosis. A relative 14% and 41% reduction in effective dose for Group 2 and Group 3 were observed compared with Group 1. Conclusion: Adequate image quality could be maintained at a desired and consistent noise level with overall 14% dose reduction using noise-based tube current reduction method. The use of iterative reconstruction further achieved approximately 40% reduction in effective dose

  15. Road traffic air and noise pollution exposure assessment - A review of tools and techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Jibran; Ketzel, Matthias; Kakosimos, Konstantinos; Sørensen, Mette; Jensen, Steen Solvang

    2018-09-01

    Road traffic induces air and noise pollution in urban environments having negative impacts on human health. Thus, estimating exposure to road traffic air and noise pollution (hereafter, air and noise pollution) is important in order to improve the understanding of human health outcomes in epidemiological studies. The aims of this review are (i) to summarize current practices of modelling and exposure assessment techniques for road traffic air and noise pollution (ii) to highlight the potential of existing tools and techniques for their combined exposure assessment for air and noise together with associated challenges, research gaps and priorities. The study reviews literature about air and noise pollution from urban road traffic, including other relevant characteristics such as the employed dispersion models, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tool, spatial scale of exposure assessment, study location, sample size, type of traffic data and building geometry information. Deterministic modelling is the most frequently used assessment technique for both air and noise pollution of short-term and long-term exposure. We observed a larger variety among air pollution models as compared to the applied noise models. Correlations between air and noise pollution vary significantly (0.05-0.74) and are affected by several parameters such as traffic attributes, building attributes and meteorology etc. Buildings act as screens for the dispersion of pollution, but the reduction effect is much larger for noise than for air pollution. While, meteorology has a greater influence on air pollution levels as compared to noise, although also important for noise pollution. There is a significant potential for developing a standard tool to assess combined exposure of traffic related air and noise pollution to facilitate health related studies. GIS, due to its geographic nature, is well established and has a significant capability to simultaneously address both exposures. Copyright

  16. Blade-Mounted Flap Control for BVI Noise Reduction Proof-of-Concept Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawson, Seth; Hassan, Ahmed; Straub, Friedrich; Tadghighi, Hormoz

    1995-01-01

    This report describes a wind tunnel test of the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) Active Flap Model Rotor at the NASA Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. The test demonstrated that BVI noise reductions and vibration reductions were possible with the use of an active flap. Aerodynamic results supported the acoustic data trends, showing a reduction in the strength of the tip vortex with the deflection of the flap. Acoustic results showed that the flap deployment, depending on the peak deflection angle and azimuthal shift in its deployment schedule, can produce BVI noise reductions as much as 6 dB on the advancing and retreating sides. The noise reduction was accompanied by an increase in low frequency harmonic noise and high frequency broadband noise. A brief assessment of the effect of the flap on vibration showed that significant reductions were possible. The greatest vibration reductions (as much as 76%) were found in the four per rev pitching moment at the hub. Performance improvement cam results were inconclusive, as the improvements were predicted to be smaller than the resolution of the rotor balance.

  17. Noise reduction in Lidar signal using correlation-based EMD combined with soft thresholding and roughness penalty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Jianhua; Zhu, Lingyan; Li, Hongxu; Xu, Fan; Liu, Binggang; Yang, Zhenbo

    2018-01-01

    Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is widely used to analyze the non-linear and non-stationary signals for noise reduction. In this study, a novel EMD-based denoising method, referred to as EMD with soft thresholding and roughness penalty (EMD-STRP), is proposed for the Lidar signal denoising. With the proposed method, the relevant and irrelevant intrinsic mode functions are first distinguished via a correlation coefficient. Then, the soft thresholding technique is applied to the irrelevant modes, and the roughness penalty technique is applied to the relevant modes to extract as much information as possible. The effectiveness of the proposed method was evaluated using three typical signals contaminated by white Gaussian noise. The denoising performance was then compared to the denoising capabilities of other techniques, such as correlation-based EMD partial reconstruction, correlation-based EMD hard thresholding, and wavelet transform. The use of EMD-STRP on the measured Lidar signal resulted in the noise being efficiently suppressed, with an improved signal to noise ratio of 22.25 dB and an extended detection range of 11 km.

  18. Adaptive noise reduction circuit for a sound reproduction system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engebretson, A. Maynard (Inventor); O'Connell, Michael P. (Inventor)

    1995-01-01

    A noise reduction circuit for a hearing aid having an adaptive filter for producing a signal which estimates the noise components present in an input signal. The circuit includes a second filter for receiving the noise-estimating signal and modifying it as a function of a user's preference or as a function of an expected noise environment. The circuit also includes a gain control for adjusting the magnitude of the modified noise-estimating signal, thereby allowing for the adjustment of the magnitude of the circuit response. The circuit also includes a signal combiner for combining the input signal with the adjusted noise-estimating signal to produce a noise reduced output signal.

  19. Noise reduction by wavelet thresholding

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Jansen, Maarten

    2001-01-01

    .... I rather present new material and own insights in the que stions involved with wavelet based noise reduction . On the other hand , the presented material does cover a whole range of methodologies, and in that sense, the book may serve as an introduction into the domain of wavelet smoothing. Throughout the text, three main properties show up ever again: spar...

  20. Subspace-Based Noise Reduction for Speech Signals via Diagonal and Triangular Matrix Decompositions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Per Christian; Jensen, Søren Holdt

    We survey the definitions and use of rank-revealing matrix decompositions in single-channel noise reduction algorithms for speech signals. Our algorithms are based on the rank-reduction paradigm and, in particular, signal subspace techniques. The focus is on practical working algorithms, using both...... diagonal (eigenvalue and singular value) decompositions and rank-revealing triangular decompositions (ULV, URV, VSV, ULLV and ULLIV). In addition we show how the subspace-based algorithms can be evaluated and compared by means of simple FIR filter interpretations. The algorithms are illustrated...... with working Matlab code and applications in speech processing....

  1. Potential for Landing Gear Noise Reduction on Advanced Aircraft Configurations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Russell H.; Nickol, Craig L.; Burley, Casey L.; Guo, Yueping

    2016-01-01

    The potential of significantly reducing aircraft landing gear noise is explored for aircraft configurations with engines installed above the wings or the fuselage. An innovative concept is studied that does not alter the main gear assembly itself but does shorten the main strut and integrates the gear in pods whose interior surfaces are treated with acoustic liner. The concept is meant to achieve maximum noise reduction so that main landing gears can be eliminated as a major source of airframe noise. By applying this concept to an aircraft configuration with 2025 entry-into-service technology levels, it is shown that compared to noise levels of current technology, the main gear noise can be reduced by 10 EPNL dB, bringing the main gear noise close to a floor established by other components such as the nose gear. The assessment of the noise reduction potential accounts for design features for the advanced aircraft configuration and includes the effects of local flow velocity in and around the pods, gear noise reflection from the airframe, and reflection and attenuation from acoustic liner treatment on pod surfaces and doors. A technical roadmap for maturing this concept is discussed, and the possible drag increase at cruise due to the addition of the pods is identified as a challenge, which needs to be quantified and minimized possibly with the combination of detailed design and application of drag reduction technologies.

  2. Engine-propeller power plant aircraft community noise reduction key methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moshkov P., A.; Samokhin V., F.; Yakovlev A., A.

    2018-04-01

    Basic methods of aircraft-type flying vehicle engine-propeller power plant noise reduction were considered including single different-structure-and-arrangement propellers and piston engines. On the basis of a semiempirical model the expressions for blade diameter and number effect evaluation upon propeller noise tone components under thrust constancy condition were proposed. Acoustic tests performed at Moscow Aviation institute airfield on the whole qualitatively proved the obtained ratios. As an example of noise and detectability reduction provision a design-and-experimental estimation of propeller diameter effect upon unmanned aircraft audibility boundaries was performed. Future investigation ways were stated to solve a low-noise power plant design problem for light aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

  3. Noise diagnostic: An advanced technique in Cuba

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aguilar, O.

    1992-01-01

    This paper examines the main steps of the noise analysis technique implementation in our country from 1988. The review identifies two main areas, improvements of Nuclear Power Plant operational surveillance techniques and non-nuclear industrial applications. Also reported are some of the on going researches programs including projects on noise analysis instrumentation developments at the Higher Institute for Nuclear Sciences and Technology

  4. Perceptual effects of noise reduction by time-frequency masking of noisy speech.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brons, Inge; Houben, Rolph; Dreschler, Wouter A

    2012-10-01

    Time-frequency masking is a method for noise reduction that is based on the time-frequency representation of a speech in noise signal. Depending on the estimated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), each time-frequency unit is either attenuated or not. A special type of a time-frequency mask is the ideal binary mask (IBM), which has access to the real SNR (ideal). The IBM either retains or removes each time-frequency unit (binary mask). The IBM provides large improvements in speech intelligibility and is a valuable tool for investigating how different factors influence intelligibility. This study extends the standard outcome measure (speech intelligibility) with additional perceptual measures relevant for noise reduction: listening effort, noise annoyance, speech naturalness, and overall preference. Four types of time-frequency masking were evaluated: the original IBM, a tempered version of the IBM (called ITM) which applies limited and non-binary attenuation, and non-ideal masking (also tempered) with two different types of noise-estimation algorithms. The results from ideal masking imply that there is a trade-off between intelligibility and sound quality, which depends on the attenuation strength. Additionally, the results for non-ideal masking suggest that subjective measures can show effects of noise reduction even if noise reduction does not lead to differences in intelligibility.

  5. Active noise control in a duct to cancel broadband noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Kuan-Chun; Chang, Cheng-Yuan; Kuo, Sen M.

    2017-09-01

    The paper presents cancelling duct noises by using the active noise control (ANC) techniques. We use the single channel feed forward algorithm with feedback neutralization to realize ANC. Several kinds of ducts noises including tonal noises, sweep tonal signals, and white noise had investigated. Experimental results show that the proposed ANC system can cancel these noises in a PVC duct very well. The noise reduction of white noise can be up to 20 dB.

  6. 40 CFR 211.207 - Computation of the noise -reduction rating (NRR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Computation of the noise -reduction... of the noise -reduction rating (NRR). Calculate the NRR for hearing protective devices by... “A”-weighting relative response corrections applied to any sound levels at the indicated octave band...

  7. Research on Noise Reduction of Reed Valves of a Hermetic Refrigerator Compressor

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Zhilong; Chen, Qian; Li, Dantong; Wang, Ju; Xia, Pu; Wang, Tao

    2017-08-01

    The noise level of the refrigerator compressor has received more and more attention in recent years. As the key component of a compressor, reed valve is its main noise source. In this paper, a new noise reduction technology of coating on reed valve surface is proposed and verified by experiments. Firstly, the reed valves were coated, and their surface characteristics were checked. Then, the refrigerator compressor p-V diagram test was carried out to investigate the influence of doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating on power consumption. Finally, the noise test rig for the refrigerator compressor was set up. Based on the standard test method, noise spectrum was measured in a semi-anechoic room under standard working condition. Research results showed that the compressor noise was significantly reduced by 1.8dB (A) after coating. Moreover, the effect of aerodynamic noise reduction at suction side is better than that at discharge side. However, the influence of the film thickness on noise reduction value is little. The COP was reduced by 0.6% as compared to the compressor with uncoated reed valves.

  8. Blade vortex interaction noise reduction techniques for a rotorcraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charles, Bruce D. (Inventor); Hassan, Ahmed A. (Inventor); Tadghighi, Hormoz (Inventor); JanakiRam, Ram D. (Inventor); Sankar, Lakshmi N. (Inventor)

    1996-01-01

    An active control device for reducing blade-vortex interactions (BVI) noise generated by a rotorcraft, such as a helicopter, comprises a trailing edge flap located near the tip of each of the rotorcraft's rotor blades. The flap may be actuated in any conventional way, and is scheduled to be actuated to a deflected position during rotation of the rotor blade through predetermined regions of the rotor azimuth, and is further scheduled to be actuated to a retracted position through the remaining regions of the rotor azimuth. Through the careful azimuth-dependent deployment and retraction of the flap over the rotor disk, blade tip vortices which are the primary source for BVI noise are (a) made weaker and (b) pushed farther away from the rotor disk (that is, larger blade-vortex separation distances are achieved).

  9. Joint models for noise annoyance and willingness to pay for road noise reduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fosgerau, Mogens; Bue Bjørner, Thomas

    2006-01-01

    Recent contingent valuation (CV) studies of the willingness to pay (WTP) for road noise reduction have used stated annoyance as an independent variable. We argue that this may be inappropriate due to potential endogeneity bias. Instead, an alternative model is proposed that treats both WTP...... and annoyance as endogenous variables in a simultaneous equation model as a combination of a linear regression with an ordered probit with correlated error terms and possibly common parameters. Thus, information on stated annoyance is utilised to estimate WTP with increased efficiency. Application of the model...... to a dataset from Copenhagen indicates a potential for improving the precision of the estimate of WTP for noise reduction with CV data....

  10. Speckle Noise Reduction for the Enhancement of Retinal Layers in Optical Coherence Tomography Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fereydoon Nowshiravan Rahatabad

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Introduction One of the most important pre-processing steps in optical coherence tomography (OCT is reducing speckle noise, resulting from multiple scattering of tissues, which degrades the quality of OCT images. Materials and Methods The present study focused on speckle noise reduction and edge detection techniques. Statistical filters with different masks and noise variances were applied on OCT and test images. Objective evaluation of both types of images was performed, using various image metrics such as peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR, root mean square error, correlation coefficient and elapsed time. For the purpose of recovery, Kuan filter was used as an input for edge enhancement. Also, a spatial filter was applied to improve image quality. Results The obtained results were presented as statistical tables and images. Based on statistical measures and visual quality of OCT images, Enhanced Lee filter (3×3 with a PSNR value of 43.6735 in low noise variance and Kuan filter (3×3 with a PSNR value of 37.2850 in high noise variance showed superior performance over other filters. Conclusion Based on the obtained results, by using speckle reduction filters such as Enhanced Lee and Kuan filters on OCT images, the number of compounded images, required to achieve a given image quality, could be reduced. Moreover, use of Kuan filters for promoting the edges allowed smoothing of speckle regions, while preserving image tissue texture.

  11. Noise Reduction in the Time Domain using Joint Diagonalization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørholm, Sidsel Marie; Benesty, Jacob; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

    2014-01-01

    , an estimate of the desired signal is found by subtraction of the noise estimate from the observed signal. The filter can be designed to obtain a desired trade-off between noise reduction and signal distortion, depending on the number of eigenvectors included in the filter design. This is explored through...... simulations using a speech signal corrupted by car noise, and the results confirm that the output signal-to-noise ratio and speech distortion index both increase when more eigenvectors are included in the filter design....

  12. Development of fault diagnostic technique using reactor noise analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Jin Ho; Kim, J. S.; Oh, I. S.; Ryu, J. S.; Joo, Y. S.; Choi, S.; Yoon, D. B.

    1999-04-01

    The ultimate goal of this project is to establish the analysis technique to diagnose the integrity of reactor internals using reactor noise. The reactor noise analyses techniques for the PWR and CANDU NPP(Nuclear Power Plants) were established by which the dynamic characteristics of reactor internals and SPND instrumentations could be identified, and the noise database corresponding to each plant(both Korean and foreign one) was constructed and compared. Also the change of dynamic characteristics of the Ulchin 1 and 2 reactor internals were simulated under presumed fault conditions. Additionally portable reactor noise analysis system was developed so that real time noise analysis could directly be able to be performed at plant site. The reactor noise analyses techniques developed and the database obtained from the fault simulation, can be used to establish a knowledge based expert system to diagnose the NPP's abnormal conditions. And the portable reactor noise analysis system may be utilized as a substitute for plant IVMS(Internal Vibration Monitoring System). (author)

  13. Development of fault diagnostic technique using reactor noise analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Jin Ho; Kim, J. S.; Oh, I. S.; Ryu, J. S.; Joo, Y. S.; Choi, S.; Yoon, D. B

    1999-04-01

    The ultimate goal of this project is to establish the analysis technique to diagnose the integrity of reactor internals using reactor noise. The reactor noise analyses techniques for the PWR and CANDU NPP(Nuclear Power Plants) were established by which the dynamic characteristics of reactor internals and SPND instrumentations could be identified, and the noise database corresponding to each plant(both Korean and foreign one) was constructed and compared. Also the change of dynamic characteristics of the Ulchin 1 and 2 reactor internals were simulated under presumed fault conditions. Additionally portable reactor noise analysis system was developed so that real time noise analysis could directly be able to be performed at plant site. The reactor noise analyses techniques developed and the database obtained from the fault simulation, can be used to establish a knowledge based expert system to diagnose the NPP's abnormal conditions. And the portable reactor noise analysis system may be utilized as a substitute for plant IVMS(Internal Vibration Monitoring System). (author)

  14. Reduction of airfoil trailing edge noise by trailing edge blowing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerhard, T; Carolus, T; Erbslöh, S

    2014-01-01

    The paper deals with airfoil trailing edge noise and its reduction by trailing edge blowing. A Somers S834 airfoil section which originally was designed for small wind turbines is investigated. To mimic realistic Reynolds numbers the boundary layer is tripped on pressure and suction side. The chordwise position of the blowing slot is varied. The acoustic sources, i.e. the unsteady flow quantities in the turbulent boundary layer in the vicinity of the trailing edge, are quantified for the airfoil without and with trailing edge blowing by means of a large eddy simulation and complementary measurements. Eventually the far field airfoil noise is measured by a two-microphone filtering and correlation and a 40 microphone array technique. Both, LES-prediction and measurements showed that a suitable blowing jet on the airfoil suction side is able to reduce significantly the turbulence intensity and the induced surface pressure fluctuations in the trailing edge region. As a consequence, trailing edge noise associated with a spectral hump around 500 Hz could be reduced by 3 dB. For that a jet velocity of 50% of the free field velocity was sufficient. The most favourable slot position was at 90% chord length

  15. Reduction of Altitude Diffuser Jet Noise Using Water Injection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allgood, Daniel C.; Saunders, Grady P.; Langford, Lester A.

    2011-01-01

    A feasibility study on the effects of injecting water into the exhaust plume of an altitude rocket diffuser for the purpose of reducing the far-field acoustic noise has been performed. Water injection design parameters such as axial placement, angle of injection, diameter of injectors, and mass flow rate of water have been systematically varied during the operation of a subscale altitude test facility. The changes in acoustic far-field noise were measured with an array of free-field microphones in order to quantify the effects of the water injection on overall sound pressure level spectra and directivity. The results showed significant reductions in noise levels were possible with optimum conditions corresponding to water injection at or just upstream of the exit plane of the diffuser. Increasing the angle and mass flow rate of water injection also showed improvements in noise reduction. However, a limit on the maximum water flow rate existed as too large of flow rate could result in un-starting the supersonic diffuser.

  16. An inductorless wideband LNA with a new noise canceling technique

    OpenAIRE

    MOGHADAM, POURIA PAZHOUHESH; ABRISHAMIFAR, ADIB

    2017-01-01

    An inductorless wideband low-noise amplifier (LNA) employing a new noise canceling technique for multistandard applications is presented. The main amplifier has a cascode common gate structure, which provides good input impedance matching and isolation. The proposed noise canceling technique not only improves the noise figure and power gain but also embeds a g$_{m}$-boosting technique in itself, which reduces the power consumption of the main amplifier. Using current-steering and ...

  17. The correlation study of parallel feature extractor and noise reduction approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dewi, Deshinta Arrova; Sundararajan, Elankovan; Prabuwono, Anton Satria [Industrial Computing Research Group, Centre for Artificial Intelligence Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi (Malaysia)

    2015-05-15

    This paper presents literature reviews that show variety of techniques to develop parallel feature extractor and finding its correlation with noise reduction approaches for low light intensity images. Low light intensity images are normally displayed as darker images and low contrast. Without proper handling techniques, those images regularly become evidences of misperception of objects and textures, the incapability to section them. The visual illusions regularly clues to disorientation, user fatigue, poor detection and classification performance of humans and computer algorithms. Noise reduction approaches (NR) therefore is an essential step for other image processing steps such as edge detection, image segmentation, image compression, etc. Parallel Feature Extractor (PFE) meant to capture visual contents of images involves partitioning images into segments, detecting image overlaps if any, and controlling distributed and redistributed segments to extract the features. Working on low light intensity images make the PFE face challenges and closely depend on the quality of its pre-processing steps. Some papers have suggested many well established NR as well as PFE strategies however only few resources have suggested or mentioned the correlation between them. This paper reviews best approaches of the NR and the PFE with detailed explanation on the suggested correlation. This finding may suggest relevant strategies of the PFE development. With the help of knowledge based reasoning, computational approaches and algorithms, we present the correlation study between the NR and the PFE that can be useful for the development and enhancement of other existing PFE.

  18. The correlation study of parallel feature extractor and noise reduction approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dewi, Deshinta Arrova; Sundararajan, Elankovan; Prabuwono, Anton Satria

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents literature reviews that show variety of techniques to develop parallel feature extractor and finding its correlation with noise reduction approaches for low light intensity images. Low light intensity images are normally displayed as darker images and low contrast. Without proper handling techniques, those images regularly become evidences of misperception of objects and textures, the incapability to section them. The visual illusions regularly clues to disorientation, user fatigue, poor detection and classification performance of humans and computer algorithms. Noise reduction approaches (NR) therefore is an essential step for other image processing steps such as edge detection, image segmentation, image compression, etc. Parallel Feature Extractor (PFE) meant to capture visual contents of images involves partitioning images into segments, detecting image overlaps if any, and controlling distributed and redistributed segments to extract the features. Working on low light intensity images make the PFE face challenges and closely depend on the quality of its pre-processing steps. Some papers have suggested many well established NR as well as PFE strategies however only few resources have suggested or mentioned the correlation between them. This paper reviews best approaches of the NR and the PFE with detailed explanation on the suggested correlation. This finding may suggest relevant strategies of the PFE development. With the help of knowledge based reasoning, computational approaches and algorithms, we present the correlation study between the NR and the PFE that can be useful for the development and enhancement of other existing PFE

  19. Active noise control technique and its application on ships

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CHEN Kean

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Due to the rapid development during past three decades, Active Noise Control(ANC has become a highly complementary noise control approach in comparison with traditional approaches, and has formed a complete system including basic theory, investigation approach, key techniques and system implementation. Meanwhile, substantial progress has been achieved in such fields as the practical application, industrialization development and commercial popularization of ANC, and this developed technique provides a practical and feasible choice for the active control of ship noise. In this review paper, its sound field analysis, system setup and key techniques are summarized, typical examples of ANC-based engineering applications including control of cabin noise and duct noise are briefly described, and a variety of forefronts and problems associated with the applications of ANC in ship noise control, such as active sound absorption, active sound insulation and smart acoustic structure, are subsequently discussed.

  20. Dynamical reduction models with general gaussian noises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bassi, Angelo; Ghirardi, GianCarlo

    2002-02-01

    We consider the effect of replacing in stochastic differential equations leading to the dynamical collapse of the statevector, white noise stochastic processes with non white ones. We prove that such a modification can be consistently performed without altering the most interesting features of the previous models. One of the reasons to discuss this matter derives from the desire of being allowed to deal with physical stochastic fields, such as the gravitational one, which cannot give rise to white noises. From our point of view the most relevant motivation for the approach we propose here derives from the fact that in relativistic models the occurrence of white noises is the main responsible for the appearance of untractable divergences. Therefore, one can hope that resorting to non white noises one can overcome such a difficulty. We investigate stochastic equations with non white noises, we discuss their reduction properties and their physical implications. Our analysis has a precise interest not only for the above mentioned subject but also for the general study of dissipative systems and decoherence. (author)

  1. Dynamical reduction models with general Gaussian noises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bassi, Angelo; Ghirardi, GianCarlo

    2002-01-01

    We consider the effect of replacing in stochastic differential equations leading to the dynamical collapse of the state vector, white-noise stochastic processes with nonwhite ones. We prove that such a modification can be consistently performed without altering the most interesting features of the previous models. One of the reasons to discuss this matter derives from the desire of being allowed to deal with physical stochastic fields, such as the gravitational one, which cannot give rise to white noises. From our point of view, the most relevant motivation for the approach we propose here derives from the fact that in relativistic models intractable divergences appear as a consequence of the white nature of the noises. Therefore, one can hope that resorting to nonwhite noises, one can overcome such a difficulty. We investigate stochastic equations with nonwhite noises, we discuss their reduction properties and their physical implications. Our analysis has a precise interest not only for the above-mentioned subject but also for the general study of dissipative systems and decoherence

  2. Effects of directional microphone and adaptive multichannel noise reduction algorithm on cochlear implant performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, King; Zeng, Fan-Gang; Acker, Kyle N

    2006-10-01

    Although cochlear implant (CI) users have enjoyed good speech recognition in quiet, they still have difficulties understanding speech in noise. We conducted three experiments to determine whether a directional microphone and an adaptive multichannel noise reduction algorithm could enhance CI performance in noise and whether Speech Transmission Index (STI) can be used to predict CI performance in various acoustic and signal processing conditions. In Experiment I, CI users listened to speech in noise processed by 4 hearing aid settings: omni-directional microphone, omni-directional microphone plus noise reduction, directional microphone, and directional microphone plus noise reduction. The directional microphone significantly improved speech recognition in noise. Both directional microphone and noise reduction algorithm improved overall preference. In Experiment II, normal hearing individuals listened to the recorded speech produced by 4- or 8-channel CI simulations. The 8-channel simulation yielded similar speech recognition results as in Experiment I, whereas the 4-channel simulation produced no significant difference among the 4 settings. In Experiment III, we examined the relationship between STIs and speech recognition. The results suggested that STI could predict actual and simulated CI speech intelligibility with acoustic degradation and the directional microphone, but not the noise reduction algorithm. Implications for intelligibility enhancement are discussed.

  3. Lidar signal-to-noise ratio improvements: Considerations and techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassebo, Yasser Y.

    The primary objective of this study is to improve lidar signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and hence extend attainable lidar ranges through reduction of the sky background noise (BGP), which dominates other sources of noise in daytime operations. This is particularly important for Raman lidar techniques where the Raman backscattered signal of interest is relatively weak compared with the elastic backscatter lidars. Two approaches for reduction of sky background noise are considered: (1) Improvements in lidar SNR by optimization of the design of the lidar receiver were examined by a series of simulations. This part of the research concentrated on biaxial lidar systems, where overlap between laser beam and receiver field of view (FOV) is an important aspect of noise considerations. The first optimized design evolved is a wedge shaped aperture. While this design has the virtue of greatly reducing background light, it is difficult to implement practically, requiring both changes in area and position with lidar range. A second more practical approach, which preserves some of the advantages of the wedge design, was also evolved. This uses a smaller area circular aperture optimally located in the image plane for desired ranges. Simulated numerical results for a biaxial lidar have shown that the best receiver parameters selection is one using a small circular aperture (field stop) with a small telescope focal length f, to ensure the minimum FOV that accepts all return signals over the entire lidar range while at the same time minimizing detected BGP and hence maximizing lidar SNR and attainable lidar ranges. The improvement in lidar SNR was up to 18%. (2) A polarization selection technique was implemented to reduce sky background signal for linearly polarized monostatic elastic backscatter lidar measurements. The technique takes advantage of naturally occurring polarization properties in scattered sky light, and then ensures that both the lidar transmitter and receiver track and

  4. Study of noise reduction characteristics of double-wall panels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navaneethan, R.; Quayle, B.; Stevenson, S.; Graham, M.

    1983-05-01

    The noise reduction characteristics of general aviation type, flat, double-wall structures were investigated. The experimental study was carried out on 20-by-20 inch panels with an exposed area of 18 by 18 inches. A frequency range from 20 to 5000 Hz was covered. The experimental results, in general, follow the expected trends. At low frequencies the double-wall structures are no better than the single-wall structures. However, for depths normally used in the general aviation industry, the double-wall panels are very attractive. The graphite-spoxy skin panels have higher noise reduction at very low frequencies ( 100 Hz) than the Kevlar skin panels. But the aluminum panels have higher noise reduction in the high frequency region, due to their greater mass. Use of fiberglass insulation is not effective in the low frequency region, and at times it is even negative. But the insulation is effective in the high-frequency region. The theoretical model for predicting the transmission loss of these multilayered panels is also discussed.

  5. A Comparison of seismic instrument noise coherence analysis techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ringler, A.T.; Hutt, C.R.; Evans, J.R.; Sandoval, L.D.

    2011-01-01

    The self-noise of a seismic instrument is a fundamental characteristic used to evaluate the quality of the instrument. It is important to be able to measure this self-noise robustly, to understand how differences among test configurations affect the tests, and to understand how different processing techniques and isolation methods (from nonseismic sources) can contribute to differences in results. We compare two popular coherence methods used for calculating incoherent noise, which is widely used as an estimate of instrument self-noise (incoherent noise and self-noise are not strictly identical but in observatory practice are approximately equivalent; Holcomb, 1989; Sleeman et al., 2006). Beyond directly comparing these two coherence methods on similar models of seismometers, we compare how small changes in test conditions can contribute to incoherent-noise estimates. These conditions include timing errors, signal-to-noise ratio changes (ratios between background noise and instrument incoherent noise), relative sensor locations, misalignment errors, processing techniques, and different configurations of sensor types.

  6. Acoustical and Perceptual Comparison of Noise Reduction and Compression in Hearing Aids

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brons, Inge; Houben, Rolph; Dreschler, Wouter A.

    2015-01-01

    Noise reduction and dynamic-range compression are generally applied together in hearing aids but may have opposite effects on amplification. This study evaluated the acoustical and perceptual effects of separate and combined processing of noise reduction and compression. Recordings of the output of

  7. Noise reduction in Arterial Spin Labeling based Functional Connectivity using nuisance variables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kay Jann

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL perfusion image series have recently been utilized for functional connectivity (FC analysis in healthy volunteers and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD. Noise reduction by using nuisance variables has been shown to be necessary to minimize potential confounding effects of head motion and physiological signals on BOLD based FC analysis. The purpose of the present study is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of different noise reduction strategies using nuisance variables to improve perfusion based FC analysis in two cohorts of healthy adults using state of the art 3D background-suppressed (BS GRASE pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL and dual-echo 2D-EPI pCASL sequences. Five different noise reduction strategies (NRS were performed in healthy volunteers to compare their performance. We then compared seed-based FC analysis using 3D BS GRASE pCASL in a cohort of 12 children with ASD (3f/9m, age 12.8±1.3y and 13 typically developing (TD children (1f/12m; age 13.9±3years in conjunction with noise reduction strategies. Regression of different combinations of nuisance variables affected FC analysis from a seed in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC to other areas of the default mode network (DMN in both BOLD and pCASL data sets. Consistent with existing literature on BOLD-FC, we observed improved spatial specificity after physiological noise reduction and improved long-range connectivity using head movement related regressors. Furthermore, 3D BS GRASE pCASL shows much higher temporal SNR compared to dual-echo 2D-EPI pCASL and similar effects of noise reduction as those observed for BOLD. Seed-based FC analysis using 3D BS GRASE pCASL children with ASD and TD children showed that noise reduction including physiological and motion related signals as nuisance variables is crucial for identifying altered long-range connectivity from PCC to frontal brain areas associated with ASD. This is the first study that

  8. Image processing methods for noise reduction in the TJ-II Thomson Scattering diagnostic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dormido-Canto, S., E-mail: sebas@dia.uned.es [Departamento de Informatica y Automatica, UNED, Madrid 28040 (Spain); Farias, G. [Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Valparaiso (Chile); Vega, J.; Pastor, I. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid 28040 (Spain)

    2012-12-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We describe an approach in order to reduce or mitigate the stray-light on the images and show the exceptional results. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We analyze the parameters to take account in the proposed process. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We report a simplified exampled in order to explain the proposed process. - Abstract: The Thomsom Scattering diagnostic of the TJ-II stellarator provides temperature and density profiles. The CCD camera acquires images corrupted with noise that, in some cases, can produce unreliable profiles. The main source of noise is the so-called stray-light. In this paper we describe an approach that allows mitigation of the effects that stray-light has on the images: extraction regions with connected-components. In addition, the robustness and effectiveness of the noise reduction technique is validated in two ways: (1) supervised classification and (2) comparison of electron temperature profiles.

  9. Deep Learning-Based Noise Reduction Approach to Improve Speech Intelligibility for Cochlear Implant Recipients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Ying-Hui; Tsao, Yu; Lu, Xugang; Chen, Fei; Su, Yu-Ting; Chen, Kuang-Chao; Chen, Yu-Hsuan; Chen, Li-Ching; Po-Hung Li, Lieber; Lee, Chin-Hui

    2018-01-20

    We investigate the clinical effectiveness of a novel deep learning-based noise reduction (NR) approach under noisy conditions with challenging noise types at low signal to noise ratio (SNR) levels for Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant (CI) recipients. The deep learning-based NR approach used in this study consists of two modules: noise classifier (NC) and deep denoising autoencoder (DDAE), thus termed (NC + DDAE). In a series of comprehensive experiments, we conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses on the NC module and the overall NC + DDAE approach. Moreover, we evaluate the speech recognition performance of the NC + DDAE NR and classical single-microphone NR approaches for Mandarin-speaking CI recipients under different noisy conditions. The testing set contains Mandarin sentences corrupted by two types of maskers, two-talker babble noise, and a construction jackhammer noise, at 0 and 5 dB SNR levels. Two conventional NR techniques and the proposed deep learning-based approach are used to process the noisy utterances. We qualitatively compare the NR approaches by the amplitude envelope and spectrogram plots of the processed utterances. Quantitative objective measures include (1) normalized covariance measure to test the intelligibility of the utterances processed by each of the NR approaches; and (2) speech recognition tests conducted by nine Mandarin-speaking CI recipients. These nine CI recipients use their own clinical speech processors during testing. The experimental results of objective evaluation and listening test indicate that under challenging listening conditions, the proposed NC + DDAE NR approach yields higher intelligibility scores than the two compared classical NR techniques, under both matched and mismatched training-testing conditions. When compared to the two well-known conventional NR techniques under challenging listening condition, the proposed NC + DDAE NR approach has superior noise suppression capabilities and gives less distortion

  10. Optimal design of minimum mean-square error noise reduction algorithms using the simulated annealing technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bai, Mingsian R; Hsieh, Ping-Ju; Hur, Kur-Nan

    2009-02-01

    The performance of the minimum mean-square error noise reduction (MMSE-NR) algorithm in conjunction with time-recursive averaging (TRA) for noise estimation is found to be very sensitive to the choice of two recursion parameters. To address this problem in a more systematic manner, this paper proposes an optimization method to efficiently search the optimal parameters of the MMSE-TRA-NR algorithms. The objective function is based on a regression model, whereas the optimization process is carried out with the simulated annealing algorithm that is well suited for problems with many local optima. Another NR algorithm proposed in the paper employs linear prediction coding as a preprocessor for extracting the correlated portion of human speech. Objective and subjective tests were undertaken to compare the optimized MMSE-TRA-NR algorithm with several conventional NR algorithms. The results of subjective tests were processed by using analysis of variance to justify the statistic significance. A post hoc test, Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference, was conducted to further assess the pairwise difference between the NR algorithms.

  11. Time response measurements of pressure sensors using pink noise technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pereira, Iraci Martinez; Santos, Roberto Carlos dos

    2009-01-01

    This work presents an experimental setup for Pink Noise method application on pressure transmitters' response times. The Pink Noise method consists on injecting artificial pressure noise into the pressure transmitter. The artificial pressure noise is generated using a current-to-pressure (I-to-P) converter, which is driven by a random noise signal generator. The output pressure transmitter noise is then analyzed using conventional Noise Analysis Technique. Noise signals may be interpreted using spectral techniques or empirical time series models. The frequency domain method consists of evaluating the Power Spectral Density (PSD) function. The information needed for time constant estimation can be obtained by fitting an all-pole transfer function to this power spectral density. (author)

  12. Research status on aero-acoustic noise from wind turbine blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, B

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes the noise mechanisms and categories of modern large wind turbine and main noise sources. Then the latest progresses in wind turbine noise researches are described from three aspects: noise prediction model, detection of noise sources by microphone array technique and methods for noise reduction. Although the turbine is restricted to horizontal axis wind turbines, the noise prediction model and reduction methods also can be applied to other turbines when the noise mechanisms are similar. Microphone array technique can be applied to locate any kind of noise sources

  13. Detection threshold for sound distortion resulting from noise reduction in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brons, Inge; Dreschler, Wouter A; Houben, Rolph

    2014-09-01

    Hearing-aid noise reduction should reduce background noise, but not disturb the target speech. This objective is difficult because noise reduction suffers from a trade-off between the amount of noise removed and signal distortion. It is unknown if this important trade-off differs between normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners. This study separated the negative effect of noise reduction (distortion) from the positive effect (reduction of noise) to allow the measurement of the detection threshold for noise-reduction (NR) distortion. Twelve NH subjects and 12 subjects with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. The detection thresholds for distortion were determined using an adaptive procedure with a three-interval, two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. Different levels of distortion were obtained by changing the maximum amount of noise reduction. Participants were also asked to indicate their preferred NR strength. The detection threshold for overall distortion was higher for HI subjects than for NH subjects, suggesting that stronger noise reduction can be applied for HI listeners without affecting the perceived sound quality. However, the preferred NR strength of HI listeners was closer to their individual detection threshold for distortion than in NH listeners. This implies that HI listeners tolerate fewer audible distortions than NH listeners.

  14. Bit-rate reduction strategies for noise suppression with a remote wireless microphone

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cvijanovic, N.; Sadiq, O.; Srinivasan, S.

    2012-01-01

    In single channel non-stationary noise reduction it is paramount that a good noise reference is available in a timely manner to maintaina high quality speech signal. Using a remote wireless microphone placed close to a noise source, a good estimate of the noise power spectral density (PSD) can be

  15. Bit rate reduction strategies for noise suppression using a remote wireless microphone

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cvijanovic, N.; Sadiq, O.; Srinivasan, S.

    2012-01-01

    In single-channel non-stationary noise reduction it is paramount that a good noise reference is available in a timely manner to maintain a high quality speech signal. Using a remote wireless microphone placed close to a noise source, a good estimate of the noise power spectral density (PSD) can be

  16. Noise reduction methods for nucleic acid and macromolecule sequencing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuller, Ivan K.; Di Ventra, Massimiliano; Balatsky, Alexander

    2018-05-08

    Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for processing macromolecule sequencing data with substantial noise reduction. In one aspect, a method for reducing noise in a sequential measurement of a macromolecule comprising serial subunits includes cross-correlating multiple measured signals of a physical property of subunits of interest of the macromolecule, the multiple measured signals including the time data associated with the measurement of the signal, to remove or at least reduce signal noise that is not in the same frequency and in phase with the systematic signal contribution of the measured signals.

  17. Quantum Noise Reduction with Pulsed Light in Optical Fibers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergman, Keren

    Optical fibers offer considerable advantages over bulk nonlinear media for the generation of squeezed states. This thesis reports on experimental investigations of reducing quantum noise by means of squeezing in nonlinear fiber optic interferometers. Fibers have low insertion loss which allows for long interaction lengths. High field intensities are easily achieved in the small cores of single mode fibers. Additionally, the nonlinear process employed is self phase modulation or the Kerr effect, whose broad band nature requires no phase matching and can be exploited with ultra-short pulses of high peak intensity. All these advantageous features of fibers result in easily obtained large nonlinear phase shifts and subsequently large squeezing parameters. By the self phase modulation process a correlation is produced between the phase and amplitude fluctuations of the optical field. The attenuated or squeezed quadrature has a lower noise level than the initial level associated with the coherent state field before propagation. The resulting reduced quantum noise quadrature can be utilized to improve the sensitivity of a phase measuring instrument such as an interferometer. Because the Kerr nonlinearity is a degenerate self pumping process, the squeezed noise is at the same frequency as the pump field. Classical pump noise can therefore interfere with the desired measurement of the quantum noise reduction. The most severe noise process is the phase noise caused by thermally induced index modulation of the fiber. This noise termed Guided Acoustic Wave Brillouin Scattering, or GAWBS, by previous researchers is studied and analyzed. Experiments performed to overcome GAWBS successfully with several schemes are described. An experimental demonstration of an interferometric measurement with better sensitivity than the standard quantum limit is described. The results lead to new understandings into the limitations of quantum noise reduction that can be achieved in the

  18. DFT-Domain Based Single-Microphone Noise Reduction for Speech Enhancement

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    C. Hendriks, Richard; Gerkmann, Timo; Jensen, Jesper

    As speech processing devices like mobile phones, voice controlled devices, and hearing aids have increased in popularity, people expect them to work anywhere and at any time without user intervention. However, the presence of acoustical disturbances limits the use of these applications, degrades...... their performance, or causes the user difficulties in understanding the conversation or appreciating the device. A common way to reduce the effects of such disturbances is through the use of single-microphone noise reduction algorithms for speech enhancement. The field of single-microphone noise reduction...

  19. On the prediction of impact noise, V: The noise from drop hammers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, E. J.; Carr, I.; Westcott, M.

    1983-06-01

    In earlier papers in this series, the concepts of "acceleration" and "ringing" noise have been studied in relation to impact machines, and values of radiation efficiency have been obtained for the various types of structural components. In the work reported in this paper the predicted and measured noise radiation from a drop hammer, both in full-scale and in {1}/{3}- scale model form, were examined. It is found that overall noise levels ( Leq per event) can be predicted from vibration measurements to within ± 1·5 dB, and to within ±2·5 dB in one-third octave bands. In turn this has permitted noise reduction techniques to be examined by studies of local component vibration levels rather than overall noise, a method which provides considerable enlightenment at the design stage. It is shown that on one particular drop hammer, the noise energy is shared surprisingly uniformly over four or five sources, and that when these have been reduced, the overall noise reduction is severely limited by the "acceleration" noise from the "tup" or "hammer" itself. As this is difficult to eliminate without a basic change in forging technology, it follows that "tup" enclosure or modification of the sharpness of the final "hard" impact are the only means available for any serious noise reduction. Also indicated is the reliability of using model techniques, suitably scaled in frequency and impulse magnitude, in developing machinery with impact characteristics.

  20. Application of an active device for helicopter noise reduction in JAXA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, Shigeru; Kobiki, Noboru; Tanabe, Yasutada

    2010-01-01

    Important issues in noise problems for current helicopters are described. An active tab (AT) was developed as a new active device for noise/vibration reduction under research cooperation between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Kawada Industries, Inc. The wind tunnel test was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of the AT on the aeroacoustic characteristics of a helicopter. From the wind tunnel test, the capability of reducing blade vortex interaction (BVI) noise by an AT was verified. A new control law using instantaneous pressure change on a blade during BVI phenomena was introduced and applied to the wind tunnel testing. This new control law shows reasonable controllability for helicopter noise reduction. Furthermore, in order to analyze noise characteristics, the advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code named JAXA o v3d was developed in JAXA and extended to include CFD-CSD (computational structure dynamics) coupling by using the beam theory for blade deformation. (invited paper)

  1. Helicopter Non-Unique Trim Strategies for Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malpica, Carlos; Greenwood, Eric; Sim, Ben W.

    2016-01-01

    An acoustics parametric analysis of the effect of fuselage drag and pitching moment on the Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise radiated by a medium lift helicopter (S-70UH-60) in a descending flight condition was conducted. The comprehensive analysis CAMRAD II was used for the calculation of vehicle trim, wake geometry and integrated air loads on the blade. The acoustics prediction code PSU-WOPWOP was used for calculating acoustic pressure signatures for a hemispherical grid centered at the hub. This paper revisits the concept of the X-force controller for BVI noise reduction, and investigates its effectiveness on an S-70 helicopter. The analysis showed that further BVI noise reductions were achievable by controlling the fuselage pitching moment. Reductions in excess of 6 dB of the peak BVI noise radiated towards the ground were demonstrated by compounding the effect of airframe drag and pitching moment simultaneously.

  2. Analysis of Beamformer Directed Single-Channel Noise Reduction System for Hearing Aid Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper; Pedersen, Michael Syskind

    2015-01-01

    We study multi-microphone noise reduction systems consisting of a beamformer and a single-channel (SC) noise reduction stage. In particular, we present and analyse a maximum likelihood (ML) method for jointly estimating the target and noise power spectral densities (psd's) entering the SC filter....... We show that the estimators are minimum variance and unbiased, and provide closed-form expressions for their mean-square error (MSE). Furthermore, we show that the MSE of the noise psd estimator is particularly simple: it is independent of target signal characteristics, frequency, and microphone...

  3. NASVD and MNF techniques and your application noise reduction in gamma-ray spectrometric data; As tecnicas NASVD e MNF e sua aplicacao na reducao de ruidos em dados gamaespectrometricos

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cavallaro, Francisco de Assis, E-mail: assisfc@yahoo.com.br, E-mail: assis@agp-la.org [Departamento de Geologia Sedimentar e Ambiental, DGSA, Instituto de Geociencias, IG, Universidade de Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); AGPLA, AeroGeoPhysica Latinoamerica, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Portugal, Rodrigo S.; Bizuti, Ariathemis M., E-mail: portugal@ige.unicamp.br, E-mail: ambizuti@ige.unicamp.br [Departamento de Geologia e Recursos Naturais, DGRN, Instituto de Geociencias, IG, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil); Silva, Adalene M., E-mail: adalene@unb.br [Universidade de Brasilia (UnB), DF (Brazil). Inst. de Geociencias. Dept. de Geoquimica e Recursos Minerais (GRM)

    2009-04-15

    The radioactive decay is a random process, and the measurement precision is ruled by statistical laws. The counting ratios of the profiles are always noisy when analyzed for short periods, such as one second per measurement. Corrections made at the end of conventional processing in the airborne gamma-ray spectrometric method data are not enough to remove and minimize, or even reduce considerably, the spectrum's originated noise. Two statistic methods that act locally in collected data, in the spectrum domain, have been suggested by literature to remove such remaining noises, the Noise-Adjusted Singular Value Decomposition - NASVD and Maximum Noise Fraction - MNF. These methods produce a significantly noise reduction. In this work both methods were applied in an area comprehended by two blocks, I and II, of the airborne survey that covers the west area of Mineral Province of Tapajos between Para and Amazon states. The filtered and non-filtered data with the NASVD and MNF techniques were processed with the Lasa's parameters. The comparison of results between maps and profiles shows that both methods are valuable, since there was resolution gain in these products. (author)

  4. Objective Measures of Listening Effort: Effects of Background Noise and Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarampalis, Anastasios; Kalluri, Sridhar; Edwards, Brent; Hafter, Ervin

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: This work is aimed at addressing a seeming contradiction related to the use of noise-reduction (NR) algorithms in hearing aids. The problem is that although some listeners claim a subjective improvement from NR, it has not been shown to improve speech intelligibility, often even making it worse. Method: To address this, the hypothesis…

  5. A Noise Reduction Preprocessor for Mobile Voice Communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rainer Martin

    2004-07-01

    Full Text Available We describe a speech enhancement algorithm which leads to significant quality and intelligibility improvements when used as a preprocessor to a low bit rate speech coder. This algorithm was developed in conjunction with the mixed excitation linear prediction (MELP coder which, by itself, is highly susceptible to environmental noise. The paper presents novel as well as known speech and noise estimation techniques and combines them into a highly effective speech enhancement system. The algorithm is based on short-time spectral amplitude estimation, soft-decision gain modification, tracking of the a priori probability of speech absence, and minimum statistics noise power estimation. Special emphasis is placed on enhancing the performance of the preprocessor in nonstationary noise environments.

  6. Detection threshold for sound distortion resulting from noise reduction in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brons, Inge; Dreschler, Wouter A.; Houben, Rolph

    2014-01-01

    Hearing-aid noise reduction should reduce background noise, but not disturb the target speech. This objective is difficult because noise reduction suffers from a trade-off between the amount of noise removed and signal distortion. It is unknown if this important trade-off differs between

  7. Research of noise emission sources in railway transport and effective ways of their reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zvolenský Peter

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the EU conditions attention is systematically paid to noise reduction on the railways. Because TSI rules systematically tighten limits for noise emissions from railway vehicles, noise research must be addressed by all Member States, as the main technical solutions for railway vehicles and construction technological aspects of railway operations can result in lower noise exposure of affected areas or objects. The paper focuses on theoretical investigation of sources and paths of sound propagation, possibilities of noise reduction both on vehicles and by infrastructure and experimental measurements of the situation in transport practice. Methodology for reducing railway noise around tracks has been presented, too.

  8. Optimization of the poro-serrated trailing edges for airfoil broadband noise reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chong, Tze Pei; Dubois, Elisa

    2016-08-01

    This paper reports an aeroacoustic investigation of a NACA0012 airfoil with a number of poro-serrated trailing edge devices that contain porous materials of various air flow resistances at the gaps between adjacent members of the serrated-sawtooth trailing edge. The main objective of this work is to determine whether multiple-mechanisms on the broadband noise reduction can co-exist on a poro-serrated trailing edge. When the sawtooth gaps are filled with porous material of low-flow resistivity, the vortex shedding tone at low-frequency could not be completely suppressed at high-velocity, but a reasonably good broadband noise reduction can be achieved at high-frequency. When the sawtooth gaps are filled with porous material of very high-flow resistivity, no vortex shedding tone is present, but the serration effect on the broadband noise reduction becomes less effective. An optimal choice of the flow resistivity for a poro-serrated configuration has been identified, where it can surpass the conventional serrated trailing edge of the same geometry by achieving a further 1.5 dB reduction in the broadband noise while completely suppressing the vortex shedding tone. A weakened turbulent boundary layer noise scattering at the poro-serrated trailing edge is reflected by the lower-turbulence intensity at the near wake centreline across the whole spanwise wavelength of the sawtooth.

  9. Gene regulation and noise reduction by coupling of stochastic processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Alexandre F.; Hornos, José Eduardo M.; Reinitz, John

    2015-02-01

    Here we characterize the low-noise regime of a stochastic model for a negative self-regulating binary gene. The model has two stochastic variables, the protein number and the state of the gene. Each state of the gene behaves as a protein source governed by a Poisson process. The coupling between the two gene states depends on protein number. This fact has a very important implication: There exist protein production regimes characterized by sub-Poissonian noise because of negative covariance between the two stochastic variables of the model. Hence the protein numbers obey a probability distribution that has a peak that is sharper than those of the two coupled Poisson processes that are combined to produce it. Biochemically, the noise reduction in protein number occurs when the switching of the genetic state is more rapid than protein synthesis or degradation. We consider the chemical reaction rates necessary for Poisson and sub-Poisson processes in prokaryotes and eucaryotes. Our results suggest that the coupling of multiple stochastic processes in a negative covariance regime might be a widespread mechanism for noise reduction.

  10. Gene regulation and noise reduction by coupling of stochastic processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Alexandre F; Hornos, José Eduardo M; Reinitz, John

    2015-02-01

    Here we characterize the low-noise regime of a stochastic model for a negative self-regulating binary gene. The model has two stochastic variables, the protein number and the state of the gene. Each state of the gene behaves as a protein source governed by a Poisson process. The coupling between the two gene states depends on protein number. This fact has a very important implication: There exist protein production regimes characterized by sub-Poissonian noise because of negative covariance between the two stochastic variables of the model. Hence the protein numbers obey a probability distribution that has a peak that is sharper than those of the two coupled Poisson processes that are combined to produce it. Biochemically, the noise reduction in protein number occurs when the switching of the genetic state is more rapid than protein synthesis or degradation. We consider the chemical reaction rates necessary for Poisson and sub-Poisson processes in prokaryotes and eucaryotes. Our results suggest that the coupling of multiple stochastic processes in a negative covariance regime might be a widespread mechanism for noise reduction.

  11. Objective measures of listening effort: effects of background noise and noise reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarampalis, Anastasios; Kalluri, Sridhar; Edwards, Brent; Hafter, Ervin

    2009-10-01

    This work is aimed at addressing a seeming contradiction related to the use of noise-reduction (NR) algorithms in hearing aids. The problem is that although some listeners claim a subjective improvement from NR, it has not been shown to improve speech intelligibility, often even making it worse. To address this, the hypothesis tested here is that the positive effects of NR might be to reduce cognitive effort directed toward speech reception, making it available for other tasks. Normal-hearing individuals participated in 2 dual-task experiments, in which 1 task was to report sentences or words in noise set to various signal-to-noise ratios. Secondary tasks involved either holding words in short-term memory or responding in a complex visual reaction-time task. At low values of signal-to-noise ratio, although NR had no positive effect on speech reception thresholds, it led to better performance on the word-memory task and quicker responses in visual reaction times. Results from both dual tasks support the hypothesis that NR reduces listening effort and frees up cognitive resources for other tasks. Future hearing aid research should incorporate objective measurements of cognitive benefits.

  12. Reduction of Poisson noise in measured time-resolved data for time-domain diffuse optical tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okawa, S; Endo, Y; Hoshi, Y; Yamada, Y

    2012-01-01

    A method to reduce noise for time-domain diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is proposed. Poisson noise which contaminates time-resolved photon counting data is reduced by use of maximum a posteriori estimation. The noise-free data are modeled as a Markov random process, and the measured time-resolved data are assumed as Poisson distributed random variables. The posterior probability of the occurrence of the noise-free data is formulated. By maximizing the probability, the noise-free data are estimated, and the Poisson noise is reduced as a result. The performances of the Poisson noise reduction are demonstrated in some experiments of the image reconstruction of time-domain DOT. In simulations, the proposed method reduces the relative error between the noise-free and noisy data to about one thirtieth, and the reconstructed DOT image was smoothed by the proposed noise reduction. The variance of the reconstructed absorption coefficients decreased by 22% in a phantom experiment. The quality of DOT, which can be applied to breast cancer screening etc., is improved by the proposed noise reduction.

  13. Novel noise reduction filter for improving visibility of early computed tomography signs of hyperacute stroke. Evaluation of the filter's performance. Preliminary clinical experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Noriyuki; Ishii, Kiyoshi; Lee, Y.; Tsai, D.Y.

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a novel noise reduction filter for improving the visibility of early computed tomography (CT) signs of hyperacute stroke on nonenhanced CT images. Fourteen patients with a middle cerebral artery occlusion within 4.5 h after onset were evaluated. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the processed images with the noise reduction filter and that of original images were measured. Two neuroradiologists visually rated all the processed and original images on the visibility of normal and abnormal gray-white matter interfaces. The SNR value of the processed images was approximately eight times as high as that of the original images, and a 87% reduction of noise was achieved using this technique. For the visual assessment, the results showed that the visibility of normal gray-white matter interface and that of the loss of the gray-white matter interface were significantly improved using the proposed method (P<0.05). The noise reduction filter proposed in the present study has the potential to improve the visibility of early CT signs of hyperacute stroke on nonenhanced CT images. (author)

  14. Utilisation of polyurethane composit with 50% composition of roystonea regia fiber as noise reduction panel on car hood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikhwansyah; Mulia; Gunawan, S.; Lubis, R. D. W.

    2018-02-01

    The objective is to get the characteristics of noise reduction, noise reduction level, variety of measurement spaces, and knowing the process in making acoustic material of natural fiber becomes noise reduction on a car hood. The process of making noise reduction material used casting method and pressed by using molded press. The composition of noise reduction material consist of 50% roystonea regia by 32 mesh and 50% combined by gypsum and polyurethane. The result shows that the average result of noise reduction at X1- side is 5,7% and X2- side is 3,9%, X1+ side is 0,9% and X2+ side is 6,2%, Z1- side is 8,9% and Z2- side is 10,1%, Z1+ side is 9,7% and Z2+ side is 10,01%. The main conclusion of the study shows that a noise reduction which made of roystonea regia with 32 mesh mixed by matrix of polyurethane and gypsum is appropriate for noise reduction on car hood.

  15. The reduction of noise from hydraulic equipments; La reduction du bruit provenant des equipements hydrauliques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gential, R.

    1996-09-01

    Noise pollution from hydraulic equipments (bath filling, toilets taps, waste waters flow, vibrations, knocks in water pipes, dilatation clattering in heating pipes, hissing of heater taps etc..) are one of the principal causes of nuisance inside residential buildings. Solutions exist and consist in the replacement of old cocks and fittings, the use of soundproof clamps for pipes and noise absorbing supports for baths etc.. This paper summarizes the available modern equipments with a low-noise warranty (cocks and fittings, noise dampers, anti-backflow valves, pressure reducers) and the practical solutions for the modification of existing installations (increase of pipe diameters, reduction of pipe lengths, use of flexible fittings, hydraulic counterbalancing of water flows in heaters etc..). (J.S.)

  16. Sound quality measures for speech in noise through a commercial hearing aid implementing digital noise reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricketts, Todd A; Hornsby, Benjamin W Y

    2005-05-01

    This brief report discusses the affect of digital noise reduction (DNR) processing on aided speech recognition and sound quality measures in 14 adults fitted with a commercial hearing aid. Measures of speech recognition and sound quality were obtained in two different speech-in-noise conditions (71 dBA speech, +6 dB SNR and 75 dBA speech, +1 dB SNR). The results revealed that the presence or absence of DNR processing did not impact speech recognition in noise (either positively or negatively). Paired comparisons of sound quality for the same speech in noise signals, however, revealed a strong preference for DNR processing. These data suggest that at least one implementation of DNR processing is capable of providing improved sound quality, for speech in noise, in the absence of improved speech recognition.

  17. Techniques for the reduction of low frequency noise in buildings

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zuada Coelho, B.A.; Koopman, A.

    2012-01-01

    Vibration isolation of buildings is often achieved by introducing spring systems at the foundation level. This can be an effective measure, especially against vibrations induced by noise, but it is also very costly. Due to the current usage of the cities space, where buildings and infrastructures

  18. Noise pollution of air compressor and its noise reduction procedures by using an enclosure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farhad Forouharmajd

    2012-01-01

    Conclusions: An overall noise reduction by 25 dB with the use of mineral wool as an extra liner on the inside of the enclosure, suggests that the effectiveness of the enclosure can be increased by using such absorber materials.

  19. Comparisons of receive array interference reduction techniques under erroneous generalized transmit beamforming

    KAUST Repository

    Radaydeh, Redha Mahmoud

    2014-02-01

    This paper studies generalized single-stream transmit beamforming employing receive array co-channel interference reduction algorithms under slow and flat fading multiuser wireless systems. The impact of imperfect prediction of channel state information for the desired user spatially uncorrelated transmit channels on the effectiveness of transmit beamforming for different interference reduction techniques is investigated. The case of over-loaded receive array with closely-spaced elements is considered, wherein it can be configured to specified interfering sources. Both dominant interference reduction and adaptive interference reduction techniques for statistically ordered and unordered interferers powers, respectively, are thoroughly studied. The effect of outdated statistical ordering of the interferers powers on the efficiency of dominant interference reduction is studied and then compared against the adaptive interference reduction. For the system models described above, new analytical formulations for the statistics of combined signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio are presented, from which results for conventional maximum ratio transmission and single-antenna best transmit selection can be directly deduced as limiting cases. These results are then utilized to obtain quantitative measures for various performance metrics. They are also used to compare the achieved performance of various configuration models under consideration. © 1972-2012 IEEE.

  20. Development of a technique for inflight jet noise simulation. I, II

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clapper, W. S.; Stringas, E. J.; Mani, R.; Banerian, G.

    1976-01-01

    Several possible noise simulation techniques were evaluated, including closed circuit wind tunnels, free jets, rocket sleds and high speed trains. The free jet technique was selected for demonstration and verification. The first paper describes the selection and development of the technique and presents results for simulation and in-flight tests of the Learjet, F106, and Bertin Aerotrain. The second presents a theoretical study relating the two sets of noise signatures. It is concluded that the free jet simulation technique provides a satisfactory assessment of in-flight noise.

  1. Detecting low-dimensional chaos by the “noise titration” technique: Possible problems and remedies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Jianbo; Hu Jing; Mao Xiang; Tung Wenwen

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Distinguishing low-dimensional chaos from noise is an important issue. ► Noise titration technique is one of the main approaches on the issue. ► Problems of noise titration technique are systematically discussed. ► Solutions to the problems of noise titration technique are provided. - Abstract: Distinguishing low-dimensional chaos from noise is an important issue in time series analysis. Among the many methods proposed for this purpose is the noise titration technique, which quantifies the amount of noise that needs to be added to the signal to fully destroy its nonlinearity. Two groups of researchers recently have questioned the validity of the technique. In this paper, we report a broad range of situations where the noise titration technique fails, and offer solutions to fix the problems identified.

  2. Usefulness of acoustic noise reduction in brain MRI using Quiet-T{sub 2}-

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Se Jy [Dept. of Medical science Graduate school, Chonnam National University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Young Keun [Dept. of Radiotechnology, Gwangju Health university, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-03-15

    Acoustic noise during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the main source for patient discomfort. we report our preliminary experience with this technique in neuroimaging with regard to subjective and objective noise levels and image quality. 60 patients(29 males, 31 females, average age of 60.1) underwent routine brain MRI with 3.0 Tesla (MAGNETOM Tim Trio; Siemens, Germany) system and 12-channel head coil. Q-T{sub 2} and T{sub 2} sequence were performed. Measurement of sound pressure levels (SPL) and heart rate on Q-T{sub 2} and T{sub 2} was performed respectively. Quantitative analysis was carried out by measuring the SNR, CNR, and SIR values of Q-T{sub 2}, T{sub 2} and a statistical analysis was performed using independent sample T-test. Qualitative analysis was evaluated by the eyes for the overall quality image of Q-T{sub 2} and T{sub 2}. A 5-point evaluation scale was used, including excellent(5), good(4), fair(3), poor(2), and unacceptable(1). The average noise and peak noise decreased by 15dBA and 10dBA on T2 and Q-T2 test. Also, the average value of heartbeat rate was lower in Q-T2 for 120 seconds in each test, but there was no statistical significance. The quantitative analysis showed that there was no significant difference between CNR and SIR, and there was a significant difference (p<0.05) as SNR had a lower average value on Q-T{sub 2}. According to the qualitative analysis, the overall quality image of 59 case T{sub 2} and Q-T{sub 2} was evaluated as excellent at 5 points, and 1 case was evaluated as good at 4 points due to a motion artifact. Q-T{sub 2} is a promising technique for acoustic noise reduction and improved patient comfort.

  3. Comparison of de-noising techniques of scintigraphic images; Comparaison de techniques de debruitage des images scintigraphiques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kirkove, M.; Seret, A. [Liege Univ., Imagerie Medicale Experimentale, Institut de Physique (Belgium)

    2007-05-15

    Scintigraphic images are strongly affected by Poisson noise. This article presents the results of a comparison between de-noising methods for Poisson noise according to different criteria: the gain in signal-to-noise ratio, the preservation of resolution and contrast. and the visual quality. The wavelet techniques recently developed to de-noise Poisson noise limited images are divided into two groups based on: (1) the Haar representation. 1 (2) the transformation of Poisson noise into white Gaussian noise by the Haar-Fisz transform followed by a de-noising. In this study, three variants of the first group and three variants of the second. including the adaptative Wiener filter, four types of wavelet thresholding and the Bayesian method of Pizurica were compared to Metz and Hanning filters and to Shine, a systematic noise elimination process. All these methods, except Shine, are parametric. For each of them, ranges of optimal values for the parameters were highlighted as a function of the aforementioned criteria. The intersection of ranges for the wavelet methods without thresholding was empty, and these methods were therefore not further compared quantitatively. The thresholding techniques and Shine gave the best results in resolution and contrast. The largest improvement in signal-to-noise ratio was obtained by the filters. Ideally, these filters should be accurately defined for each image. This is difficult in the clinical context. Moreover. they generate oscillation artefacts. In addition, the wavelet techniques did not bring significant improvements, and are rather slow. Therefore, Shine, which is fast and works automatically, appears to be an interesting alternative. (authors)

  4. Railway noise reduction by the application of CHFC material on the rail

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brigita ALTENBAHER

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Traffic is the most widespread source of environmental noise. Railway noise has become increasingly common in urban areas in the past few decades. Therefore environmental requirements for railway operations regarding noise are becoming very strict and will become even tighter in future. In the present paper we present actual track-based field test performed on Slovenian Railways. The significant noise reduction (up to 30dBA was achieved by the application of CHFC material on the rail using CL-E1 top anti noise system.

  5. Effect of digital noise reduction on the accuracy of endodontic file length determination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mehdizadeh, Mojdeh; Khademi, Abbas Ali; Shokraneh, Ali; Farhadi, Nastaran

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluate the measurement accuracy of endodontic file length on periapical digital radiography after application of noise reduction digital enhancement. Thirty-five human single-rooted permanent teeth with canals measuring 20-24 mm in length were selected. ISO no.08 endodontic files were placed in the root canals of the teeth. The file lengths were measured with a digital caliper as the standard value. Standard periapical digital images were obtained using the Digora digital radiographic system and a dental X-ray unit. In order to produce the enhanced images, the noise reduction option was applied. Two blinded radiologists measured the file lengths on the original and enhanced images. The measurements were compared by repeated measures ANOVA and the Bonferroni test (a=0.05). Both the original and enhanced digital images provided significantly longer measurements compared with the standard value (P 0.05). Noise reduction digital enhancement did not influence the measurement accuracy of the length of the thin endodontic files on the digital periapical radiographs despite the fact that noise reduction could result in the elimination of fine details of the images.

  6. Reduction of HCCI combustion noise through piston crown design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Troels Dyhr; Schramm, Jesper

    2010-01-01

    . The largest and most consistent reduction in noise level was however achieved with a diesel bowl type piston. The increased surface area as well as the larger crevice volumes of the experimental piston crowns generally resulted in lower IMEP than the flat piston. While the crevice volumes can be reduced...... away from the engine. The experiments were conducted in a diesel engine that was run in HCCI combustion mode with a fixed quantity of DME as fuel. The results show that combustion knock is effectively suppressed by limiting the size of the volume in which the combustion occurs. Splitting...... the compression volume into four smaller volumes placed between the perimeter of the piston and the cylinder liner increased the noise to a higher level than that generated with a flat piston crown. This was due to resonance between the four volumes. Using eight volumes instead decreased the noise. The noise...

  7. Low-Frequency Noise Reduction by Earmuffs with Flax Fibre-Reinforced Polypropylene Ear Cups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linus Yinn Leng Ang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Soldiers and supporting engineers are frequently exposed to high low-frequency (<500 Hz cabin noise in military vehicles. Despite the use of commercial hearing protection devices, the risk of auditory damage is still imminent because the devices may not be optimally customised for such applications. This study considers flax fibre-reinforced polypropylene (Flax-PP as an alternative to the material selection for the ear cups of commercial earmuffs, which are typically made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS. Different weaving configurations (woven and nonwoven and various noise environments (pink noise, cabin booming noise, and firing noise were considered to investigate the feasibility of the proposed composite earmuffs for low-frequency noise reduction. The remaining assembly components of the earmuff were kept consistent with those of a commercial earmuff, which served as a benchmark for results comparison. In contrast to the commercial earmuff, the composite earmuffs were shown to be better in mitigating low-frequency noise by up to 16.6 dB, while compromising midfrequency acoustical performance. Consequently, the proposed composite earmuffs may be an alternative for low-frequency noise reduction in vehicle cabins, at airports, and at construction sites involving heavy machineries.

  8. Study of performance of acoustic fixture for using in noise reduction rate tests of hearing protection devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    zam Biabani

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction:One of the recommended methods for evaluation effectiveness of hearing protection is use the acoustic fixture accordance with standard ISO 4869-3. The aim of this study was evaluate the acoustic performance of fixture for using in noise reduction rate tests of hearing protection devices in the laboratory. Methods: In this cross-sectional study , noise reduction rates of five common ear muffs used in the Iran industries were investigated based on the ISO 11904 standard, microphone in real ear method, using noise dosimeter (SVANTEK , Model SV102 equipped with microphone SV25 model which can install inside the ear on 30 subjects under laboratory conditions. Also, noise reduction rate of earmuffs was determined using the fixture model AVASINA9402 accordance with standard procedures. Data were analyzed using the software SPSS21. Results: The results showed the real noise reduction rates of the earmuffs on the studied subjects are from 59% to 94% nominal reduction rates. That rates for the ear muffs on the studied fixture are from 64% to 92.The results showed that the noise reduction rates of the ear muffs on subjects compared with and noise reduction rates of the ear muffs on fixture were not statistically significant (p> 0.05. Conclusion: The results showed the accuracy of noise reduction rate of earmuffs using the fixture compared with real subjects is acceptable. Hence, the fixture is good choice for environments where there’s no possibility of acoustic evaluation on real subjects, also for quality control of productions in the earmuff manufacturers.

  9. Coherent network analysis technique for discriminating gravitational-wave bursts from instrumental noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chatterji, Shourov; Lazzarini, Albert; Stein, Leo; Sutton, Patrick J.; Searle, Antony; Tinto, Massimo

    2006-01-01

    The sensitivity of current searches for gravitational-wave bursts is limited by non-Gaussian, nonstationary noise transients which are common in real detectors. Existing techniques for detecting gravitational-wave bursts assume the output of the detector network to be the sum of a stationary Gaussian noise process and a gravitational-wave signal. These techniques often fail in the presence of noise nonstationarities by incorrectly identifying such transients as possible gravitational-wave bursts. Furthermore, consistency tests currently used to try to eliminate these noise transients are not applicable to general networks of detectors with different orientations and noise spectra. In order to address this problem we introduce a fully coherent consistency test that is robust against noise nonstationarities and allows one to distinguish between gravitational-wave bursts and noise transients in general detector networks. This technique does not require any a priori knowledge of the putative burst waveform

  10. CT urography in the urinary bladder: To compare excretory phase images using a low noise index and a high noise index with adaptive noise reduction filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeyama, Nobuyuki; Hayashi, Takaki; Ohgiya, Yoshimitsu

    2011-01-01

    Background: Although CT urography (CTU) is widely used for the evaluation of the entire urinary tract, the most important drawback is the radiation exposure. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a noise reduction filter (NRF) using a phantom and to quantitatively and qualitatively compare excretory phase (EP) images using a low noise index (NI) with those using a high NI and postprocessing NRF (pNRF). Material and Methods: Each NI value was defined for a slice thickness of 5 mm, and reconstructed images with a slice thickness of 1.25 mm were assessed. Sixty patients who were at high risk of developing bladder tumors (BT) were divided into two groups according to whether their EP images were obtained using an NI of 9.88 (29 patients; group A) or an NI of 20 and pNRF (31 patients; group B). The CT dose index volume (CTDI vol ) and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the bladder with respect to the anterior pelvic fat were compared in both groups. Qualitative assessment of the urinary bladder for image noise, sharpness, streak artifacts, homogeneity, and the conspicuity of polypoid or sessile-shaped BTs with a short-axis diameter greater than 10 mm was performed using a 3-point scale. Results: The phantom study showed noise reduction of approximately 40% and 76% dose reduction between group A and group B. CTDI vol demonstrated a 73% reduction in group B (4.6 ± 1.1 mGy) compared with group A (16.9 ± 3.4 mGy). The CNR value was not significantly different (P = 0.60) between group A (16.1 ± 5.1) and group B (16.6 ± 7.6). Although group A was superior (P < 0.01) to group B with regard to image noise, other qualitative analyses did not show significant differences. Conclusion: EP images using a high NI and pNRF were quantitatively and qualitatively comparable to those using a low NI, except with regard to image noise

  11. Generative Adversarial Networks for Noise Reduction in Low-Dose CT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolterink, Jelmer M; Leiner, Tim; Viergever, Max A; Isgum, Ivana

    2017-12-01

    Noise is inherent to low-dose CT acquisition. We propose to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) jointly with an adversarial CNN to estimate routine-dose CT images from low-dose CT images and hence reduce noise. A generator CNN was trained to transform low-dose CT images into routine-dose CT images using voxelwise loss minimization. An adversarial discriminator CNN was simultaneously trained to distinguish the output of the generator from routine-dose CT images. The performance of this discriminator was used as an adversarial loss for the generator. Experiments were performed using CT images of an anthropomorphic phantom containing calcium inserts, as well as patient non-contrast-enhanced cardiac CT images. The phantom and patients were scanned at 20% and 100% routine clinical dose. Three training strategies were compared: the first used only voxelwise loss, the second combined voxelwise loss and adversarial loss, and the third used only adversarial loss. The results showed that training with only voxelwise loss resulted in the highest peak signal-to-noise ratio with respect to reference routine-dose images. However, CNNs trained with adversarial loss captured image statistics of routine-dose images better. Noise reduction improved quantification of low-density calcified inserts in phantom CT images and allowed coronary calcium scoring in low-dose patient CT images with high noise levels. Testing took less than 10 s per CT volume. CNN-based low-dose CT noise reduction in the image domain is feasible. Training with an adversarial network improves the CNNs ability to generate images with an appearance similar to that of reference routine-dose CT images.

  12. Noise reduction and estimation in multiple micro-electro-mechanical inertial systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waegli, Adrian; Skaloud, Jan; Guerrier, Stéphane; Parés, Maria Eulàlia; Colomina, Ismael

    2010-01-01

    This research studies the reduction and the estimation of the noise level within a redundant configuration of low-cost (MEMS-type) inertial measurement units (IMUs). Firstly, independent observations between units and sensors are assumed and the theoretical decrease in the system noise level is analyzed in an experiment with four MEMS-IMU triads. Then, more complex scenarios are presented in which the noise level can vary in time and for each sensor. A statistical method employed for studying the volatility of financial markets (GARCH) is adapted and tested for the usage with inertial data. This paper demonstrates experimentally and through simulations the benefit of direct noise estimation in redundant IMU setups

  13. Reduction of CMOS Image Sensor Read Noise to Enable Photon Counting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guidash, Michael; Ma, Jiaju; Vogelsang, Thomas; Endsley, Jay

    2016-04-09

    Recent activity in photon counting CMOS image sensors (CIS) has been directed to reduction of read noise. Many approaches and methods have been reported. This work is focused on providing sub 1 e(-) read noise by design and operation of the binary and small signal readout of photon counting CIS. Compensation of transfer gate feed-through was used to provide substantially reduced CDS time and source follower (SF) bandwidth. SF read noise was reduced by a factor of 3 with this method. This method can be applied broadly to CIS devices to reduce the read noise for small signals to enable use as a photon counting sensor.

  14. Noise Reduction in Arterial Spin Labeling Based Functional Connectivity Using Nuisance Variables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jann, Kay; Smith, Robert X; Rios Piedra, Edgar A; Dapretto, Mirella; Wang, Danny J J

    2016-01-01

    Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) perfusion image series have recently been utilized for functional connectivity (FC) analysis in healthy volunteers and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Noise reduction by using nuisance variables has been shown to be necessary to minimize potential confounding effects of head motion and physiological signals on BOLD based FC analysis. The purpose of the present study is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of different noise reduction strategies (NRS) using nuisance variables to improve perfusion based FC analysis in two cohorts of healthy adults using state of the art 3D background-suppressed (BS) GRASE pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) and dual-echo 2D-EPI pCASL sequences. Five different NRS were performed in healthy volunteers to compare their performance. We then compared seed-based FC analysis using 3D BS GRASE pCASL in a cohort of 12 children with ASD (3f/9m, age 12.8 ± 1.3 years) and 13 typically developing (TD) children (1f/12m; age 13.9 ± 3 years) in conjunction with NRS. Regression of different combinations of nuisance variables affected FC analysis from a seed in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) to other areas of the default mode network (DMN) in both BOLD and pCASL data sets. Consistent with existing literature on BOLD-FC, we observed improved spatial specificity after physiological noise reduction and improved long-range connectivity using head movement related regressors. Furthermore, 3D BS GRASE pCASL shows much higher temporal SNR compared to dual-echo 2D-EPI pCASL and similar effects of noise reduction as those observed for BOLD. Seed-based FC analysis using 3D BS GRASE pCASL in children with ASD and TD children showed that noise reduction including physiological and motion related signals as nuisance variables is crucial for identifying altered long-range connectivity from PCC to frontal brain areas associated with ASD. This is the first study that systematically evaluated the effects of

  15. Detection of active noise control on the standard motorcycle exhaust Supra X 125 D using PVC pipe technique form Y

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isranuri, I.; Alfisyahrin; Nasution, A. R.

    2018-02-01

    This detection aims to obtain noise reduction on the supra X 125D motorcycle exhaust by using the Active Noise Control Method. The technique is done using a Y-shaped PVC pipe to be bolted on the exhaust, which then branch Y PVC is placed loudspeaker with impermeable conditions. The function of this loudspeaker is as a secondary noise to counter the primary noise of the sound of exhaust motorcycle Supra X 125D. The sound generator in this study is the ISD 4004 module, which serves to generate noise to counter the source noise. How this ISD 4004 module works is by recording source noise then recording the source noise and then reversed the phase 180° by phase reversing circuit. So that, the noise generated by the sound generator will hit the source noise and encounter or such as addition of two different phase of sound will result in noise reduction when detected at the end of the Y-shaped PVC pipe. Inverted phase reversed using feed-back resistor 1 kΩ and 2 kΩ input resistors, 16V capacitor 2500μf and as amplifier using ICL 7660 and TL 702 CP. Test results on the highest 1000 rpm rotation engine speed on the Z axis of 2 dB, and at the highest 2000 rpm rotation engine speed also occurs on the Z axis of 1.5 dB.

  16. Automatic exposure control systems designed to maintain constant image noise: effects on computed tomography dose and noise relative to clinically accepted technique charts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Favazza, Christopher P; Yu, Lifeng; Leng, Shuai; Kofler, James M; McCollough, Cynthia H

    2015-01-01

    To compare computed tomography dose and noise arising from use of an automatic exposure control (AEC) system designed to maintain constant image noise as patient size varies with clinically accepted technique charts and AEC systems designed to vary image noise. A model was developed to describe tube current modulation as a function of patient thickness. Relative dose and noise values were calculated as patient width varied for AEC settings designed to yield constant or variable noise levels and were compared to empirically derived values used by our clinical practice. Phantom experiments were performed in which tube current was measured as a function of thickness using a constant-noise-based AEC system and the results were compared with clinical technique charts. For 12-, 20-, 28-, 44-, and 50-cm patient widths, the requirement of constant noise across patient size yielded relative doses of 5%, 14%, 38%, 260%, and 549% and relative noises of 435%, 267%, 163%, 61%, and 42%, respectively, as compared with our clinically used technique chart settings at each respective width. Experimental measurements showed that a constant noise-based AEC system yielded 175% relative noise for a 30-cm phantom and 206% relative dose for a 40-cm phantom compared with our clinical technique chart. Automatic exposure control systems that prescribe constant noise as patient size varies can yield excessive noise in small patients and excessive dose in obese patients compared with clinically accepted technique charts. Use of noise-level technique charts and tube current limits can mitigate these effects.

  17. Optimised Sound Absorbing Trim Panels for the Reduction of Aircraft Cabin Noise

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hannink, M.H.C.; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; de Boer, Andries; Ivanov, N.I.; Crocker, M.J.

    2004-01-01

    The EU project FACE (Friendly Aircraft Cabin Environment) aims to improve the environmental comfort in aircraft cabins. As part of this project, this paper focuses on the reduction of noise in aircraft cabins. For modern aircraft flying at cruise conditions, this cabin noise is known to be dominated

  18. Technical Note: On the efficiency of variance reduction techniques for Monte Carlo estimates of imaging noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Diksha; Sempau, Josep; Badano, Aldo

    2018-02-01

    Monte Carlo simulations require large number of histories to obtain reliable estimates of the quantity of interest and its associated statistical uncertainty. Numerous variance reduction techniques (VRTs) have been employed to increase computational efficiency by reducing the statistical uncertainty. We investigate the effect of two VRTs for optical transport methods on accuracy and computing time for the estimation of variance (noise) in x-ray imaging detectors. We describe two VRTs. In the first, we preferentially alter the direction of the optical photons to increase detection probability. In the second, we follow only a fraction of the total optical photons generated. In both techniques, the statistical weight of photons is altered to maintain the signal mean. We use fastdetect2, an open-source, freely available optical transport routine from the hybridmantis package. We simulate VRTs for a variety of detector models and energy sources. The imaging data from the VRT simulations are then compared to the analog case (no VRT) using pulse height spectra, Swank factor, and the variance of the Swank estimate. We analyze the effect of VRTs on the statistical uncertainty associated with Swank factors. VRTs increased the relative efficiency by as much as a factor of 9. We demonstrate that we can achieve the same variance of the Swank factor with less computing time. With this approach, the simulations can be stopped when the variance of the variance estimates reaches the desired level of uncertainty. We implemented analytic estimates of the variance of Swank factor and demonstrated the effect of VRTs on image quality calculations. Our findings indicate that the Swank factor is dominated by the x-ray interaction profile as compared to the additional uncertainty introduced in the optical transport by the use of VRTs. For simulation experiments that aim at reducing the uncertainty in the Swank factor estimate, any of the proposed VRT can be used for increasing the relative

  19. Noise Reduction Potential of Cellular Metals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Björn Hinze

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Rising numbers of flights and aircrafts cause increasing aircraft noise, resulting in the development of various approaches to change this trend. One approach is the application of metallic liners in the hot gas path of aero-engines. At temperatures of up to 600 °C only metallic or ceramic structures can be used. Due to fatigue loading and the notch effect of the pores, mechanical properties of porous metals are superior to the ones of ceramic structures. Consequently, cellular metals like metallic foams, sintered metals, or sintered metal felts are most promising materials. However, acoustic absorption depends highly on pore morphology and porosity. Therefore, both parameters must be characterized precisely to analyze the correlation between morphology and noise reduction performance. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between pore morphology and acoustic absorption performance. The absorber materials are characterized using image processing based on two dimensional microscopy images. The sound absorption properties are measured using an impedance tube. Finally, the correlation of acoustic behavior, pore morphology, and porosity is outlined.

  20. Simultaneous Reduction in Noise and Cross-Contamination Artifacts for Dual-Energy X-Ray CT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baojun Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Dual-energy CT imaging tends to suffer from much lower signal-to-noise ratio than single-energy CT. In this paper, we propose an improved anticorrelated noise reduction (ACNR method without causing cross-contamination artifacts. Methods. The proposed algorithm diffuses both basis material density images (e.g., water and iodine at the same time using a novel correlated diffusion algorithm. The algorithm has been compared to the original ACNR algorithm in a contrast-enhanced, IRB-approved patient study. Material density accuracy and noise reduction are quantitatively evaluated by the percent density error and the percent noise reduction. Results. Both algorithms have significantly reduced the noises of basis material density images in all cases. The average percent noise reduction is 69.3% and 66.5% with the ACNR algorithm and the proposed algorithm, respectively. However, the ACNR algorithm alters the original material density by an average of 13% (or 2.18 mg/cc with a maximum of 58.7% (or 8.97 mg/cc in this study. This is evident in the water density images as massive cross-contaminations are seen in all five clinical cases. On the contrary, the proposed algorithm only changes the mean density by 2.4% (or 0.69 mg/cc with a maximum of 7.6% (or 1.31 mg/cc. The cross-contamination artifacts are significantly minimized or absent with the proposed algorithm. Conclusion. The proposed algorithm can significantly reduce image noise present in basis material density images from dual-energy CT imaging, with minimized cross-contaminations compared to the ACNR algorithm.

  1. Underwater noise reduction of marine pile driving using a double pile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Impact pile driving of steel piles in marine environments produces extremely high sound levels in the water. : It has been shown that current pile driving noise attenuation techniques, such as bubble curtains and : cofferdams, provide limited noise r...

  2. Geometric noise reduction for multivariate time series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mera, M Eugenia; Morán, Manuel

    2006-03-01

    We propose an algorithm for the reduction of observational noise in chaotic multivariate time series. The algorithm is based on a maximum likelihood criterion, and its goal is to reduce the mean distance of the points of the cleaned time series to the attractor. We give evidence of the convergence of the empirical measure associated with the cleaned time series to the underlying invariant measure, implying the possibility to predict the long run behavior of the true dynamics.

  3. Noise source identification for ducted fan systems

    OpenAIRE

    BENNETT, GARETH; FITZPATRICK, JOHN AIDAN

    2008-01-01

    PUBLISHED Coherence based source analysis techniques can be used to identify the contribution of combustion noise in the exhaust of a jet engine and hence enable the design of noise reduction devices. However, when the combustion noise propagates in a non-linear fashion the identified contribution using ordinary coherence methods will be inaccurate. In this paper, an analysis technique to enable the contribution of linear and non-linear mechanisms to the propagated sound ...

  4. Quantum noise and stochastic reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brody, Dorje C; Hughston, Lane P

    2006-01-01

    In standard nonrelativistic quantum mechanics the expectation of the energy is a conserved quantity. It is possible to extend the dynamical law associated with the evolution of a quantum state consistently to include a nonlinear stochastic component, while respecting the conservation law. According to the dynamics thus obtained, referred to as the energy-based stochastic Schroedinger equation, an arbitrary initial state collapses spontaneously to one of the energy eigenstates, thus describing the phenomenon of quantum state reduction. In this paper, two such models are investigated: one that achieves state reduction in infinite time and the other in finite time. The properties of the associated energy expectation process and the energy variance process are worked out in detail. By use of a novel application of a nonlinear filtering method, closed-form solutions-algebraic in character and involving no integration-are obtained of both these models. In each case, the solution is expressed in terms of a random variable representing the terminal energy of the system and an independent noise process. With these solutions at hand it is possible to simulate explicitly the dynamics of the quantum states of complicated physical systems

  5. Pediatric CT: implementation of ASIR for substantial radiation dose reduction while maintaining pre-ASIR image noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brady, Samuel L; Moore, Bria M; Yee, Brian S; Kaufman, Robert A

    2014-01-01

    To determine a comprehensive method for the implementation of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) for maximal radiation dose reduction in pediatric computed tomography (CT) without changing the magnitude of noise in the reconstructed image or the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the patient. The institutional review board waived the need to obtain informed consent for this HIPAA-compliant quality analysis. Chest and abdominopelvic CT images obtained before ASIR implementation (183 patient examinations; mean patient age, 8.8 years ± 6.2 [standard deviation]; range, 1 month to 27 years) were analyzed for image noise and CNR. These measurements were used in conjunction with noise models derived from anthropomorphic phantoms to establish new beam current-modulated CT parameters to implement 40% ASIR at 120 and 100 kVp without changing noise texture or magnitude. Image noise was assessed in images obtained after ASIR implementation (492 patient examinations; mean patient age, 7.6 years ± 5.4; range, 2 months to 28 years) the same way it was assessed in the pre-ASIR analysis. Dose reduction was determined by comparing size-specific dose estimates in the pre- and post-ASIR patient cohorts. Data were analyzed with paired t tests. With 40% ASIR implementation, the average relative dose reduction for chest CT was 39% (2.7/4.4 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 72% (5.3/18.8 mGy). The average relative dose reduction for abdominopelvic CT was 29% (4.8/6.8 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 64% (7.6/20.9 mGy). Beam current modulation was unnecessary for patients weighing 40 kg or less. The difference between 0% and 40% ASIR noise magnitude was less than 1 HU, with statistically nonsignificant increases in patient CNR at 100 kVp of 8% (15.3/14.2; P = .41) for chest CT and 13% (7.8/6.8; P = .40) for abdominopelvic CT. Radiation dose reduction at pediatric CT was achieved when 40% ASIR was implemented as a dose reduction tool only; no net change to the magnitude

  6. Background reduction and noise discrimination in the proportional counting of tritium using pulse-shape analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hochel, R C; Hayes, D W [Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, S.C. (USA). Savannah River Lab.

    1975-12-01

    A pulse-shape analysis (PSA) unit of commercial design has been incorporated into a proportional counting system to determine the effectiveness of pulse-shape discrimination in increasing the sensitivity of tritium counting. It was found that a quantitative determination of tritium could be obtained directly from the PSA time spectrum eliminating the need for beta-ray energy selection used in the pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) technique. The performance of the proportional counting system was tested using the PSA unit and anticoincidence shielding, both singly and combined, under several types of background. A background reduction factor of 169 was obtained from the combined PSA-anticoincidence system with only a 2% loss in tritium counting efficiency. The PSA method was also found to offer significant reductions in noise background.

  7. GPR random noise reduction using BPD and EMD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostoori, Roya; Goudarzi, Alireza; Oskooi, Behrooz

    2018-04-01

    Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) exploration is a new high-frequency technology that explores near-surface objects and structures accurately. The high-frequency antenna of the GPR system makes it a high-resolution method compared to other geophysical methods. The frequency range of recorded GPR is so wide that random noise recording is inevitable due to acquisition. This kind of noise comes from unknown sources and its correlation to the adjacent traces is nearly zero. This characteristic of random noise along with the higher accuracy of GPR system makes denoising very important for interpretable results. The main objective of this paper is to reduce GPR random noise based on pursuing denoising using empirical mode decomposition. Our results showed that empirical mode decomposition in combination with basis pursuit denoising (BPD) provides satisfactory outputs due to the sifting process compared to the time-domain implementation of the BPD method on both synthetic and real examples. Our results demonstrate that because of the high computational costs, the BPD-empirical mode decomposition technique should only be used for heavily noisy signals.

  8. Theory And Working Of Noise And Vibration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Il Rok

    1988-09-01

    This book deals with theory of noise including physical property of noise like term and characteristic of sound, occurrence of sound, characteristic of noise pollution and main cause of occurrence of noise, technique of prevention of noise with noise reduction, construction guide for prevention of noise, and measure of interior noise. It also has the theory of vibration such as an introduction of vibration, and technology of prevention of vibration, official test method of environmental pollution, and summary of protection of the environment.

  9. Study on the Noise Reduction of Vehicle Exhaust NOX Spectra Based on Adaptive EEMD Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available It becomes a key technology to measure the concentration of the vehicle exhaust components with the transmission spectra. But in the conventional methods for noise reduction and baseline correction, such as wavelet transform, derivative, interpolation, polynomial fitting, and so forth, the basic functions of these algorithms, the number of decomposition layers, and the way to reconstruct the signal have to be adjusted according to the characteristics of different components in the transmission spectra. The parameter settings of the algorithms above are not transcendental, so with them, it is difficult to achieve the best noise reduction effect for the vehicle exhaust spectra which are sharp and drastic in the waveform. In this paper, an adaptive ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD denoising model based on a special normalized index optimization is proposed and used in the spectral noise reduction of vehicle exhaust NOX. It is shown with the experimental results that the method can effectively improve the accuracy of the spectral noise reduction and simplify the denoising process and its operation difficulty.

  10. Low frequency noise reduction using stiff light composite panels

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    DENG Yongchang; LIN Weizheng

    2003-01-01

    The experiment presented in this paper is to investigate and analyze the noise reduction at low frequency using stiff light composite panels. Since these composite panels are made of lightweight and stiff materials, this actuation strategy will enable the creation of composite panels for duct noise control without using traditional heavy structural mass. The results suggest that the mass-spring resonance absorption in the case of a comparatively stiff thick panel with a thin flexible plate is more efficient with minimum weight, when subjected to low-frequency (<500 Hz). The efficiency of the panel absorber depends on the mass of the thin flexible plate and the stiffness of the panel.

  11. Signal processing techniques for sodium boiling noise detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-05-01

    At the Specialists' Meeting on Sodium Boiling Detection organized by the International Working Group on Fast Reactors (IWGFR) of the International Atomic Energy Agency at Chester in the United Kingdom in 1981 various methods of detecting sodium boiling were reported. But, it was not possible to make a comparative assessment of these methods because the signal condition in each experiment was different from others. That is why participants of this meeting recommended that a benchmark test should be carried out in order to evaluate and compare signal processing methods for boiling detection. Organization of the Co-ordinated Research Programme (CRP) on signal processing techniques for sodium boiling noise detection was also recommended at the 16th meeting of the IWGFR. The CRP on Signal Processing Techniques for Sodium Boiling Noise Detection was set up in 1984. Eight laboratories from six countries have agreed to participate in this CRP. The overall objective of the programme was the development of reliable on-line signal processing techniques which could be used for the detection of sodium boiling in an LMFBR core. During the first stage of the programme a number of existing processing techniques used by different countries have been compared and evaluated. In the course of further work, an algorithm for implementation of this sodium boiling detection system in the nuclear reactor will be developed. It was also considered that the acoustic signal processing techniques developed for boiling detection could well make a useful contribution to other acoustic applications in the reactor. This publication consists of two parts. Part I is the final report of the co-ordinated research programme on signal processing techniques for sodium boiling noise detection. Part II contains two introductory papers and 20 papers presented at four research co-ordination meetings since 1985. A separate abstract was prepared for each of these 22 papers. Refs, figs and tabs

  12. SU-F-18C-15: Model-Based Multiscale Noise Reduction On Low Dose Cone Beam Projection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yao, W; Farr, J

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To improve image quality of low dose cone beam CT for patient positioning in radiation therapy. Methods: In low dose cone beam CT (CBCT) imaging systems, Poisson process governs the randomness of photon fluence at x-ray source and the detector because of the independent binomial process of photon absorption in medium. On a CBCT projection, the variance of fluence consists of the variance of noiseless imaging structure and that of Poisson noise, which is proportional to the mean (noiseless) of the fluence at the detector. This requires multiscale filters to smoothen noise while keeping the structure information of the imaged object. We used a mathematical model of Poisson process to design multiscale filters and established the balance of noise correction and structure blurring. The algorithm was checked with low dose kilo-voltage CBCT projections acquired from a Varian OBI system. Results: From the investigation of low dose CBCT of a Catphan phantom and patients, it showed that our model-based multiscale technique could efficiently reduce noise and meanwhile keep the fine structure of the imaged object. After the image processing, the number of visible line pairs in Catphan phantom scanned with 4 ms pulse time was similar to that scanned with 32 ms, and soft tissue structure from simulated 4 ms patient head-and-neck images was also comparable with scanned 20 ms ones. Compared with fixed-scale technique, the image quality from multiscale one was improved. Conclusion: Use of projection-specific multiscale filters can reach better balance on noise reduction and structure information loss. The image quality of low dose CBCT can be improved by using multiscale filters

  13. Reduction of broadband noise in vehicles by means of active feedforward control

    OpenAIRE

    Misol, Malte; Haase, Thomas; Monner, Hans Peter

    2015-01-01

    Broadband noise in a vehicle’s interior is an important issue because of its negative impact on the passengersʼ comfort and wellbeing. The perception of this broadband noise can increase due to the use of new, less noisy drive concepts and the accompanying loss of masking noise compo-nents. This contribution focuses on the reduction of the transmission of external broadband distur-bances through lightweight panel structures (e.g. a car’s roof liner or an aircraft sidewall panel) by means of a...

  14. Acoustic performance design and optimal allocation of sound package in ship cabin noise reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    YANG Deqing

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The sound package in noise reduction design of ship cabins has become the main approach for the future. The sound package is a specially designed acoustic component consisting of damping materials, absorption materials, sound isolation materials and base structural materials which can achieve the prescribed performance of noise reduction. Based on the Statistical Energy Analysis(SEAmethod, quick evaluation and design methods, and the optimal allocation theory of sound packages are investigated. The standard numerical acoustic performance evaluation model, sound package optimization design model and sound package optimal allocation model are presented. A genetic algorithm is applied to solve the presented optimization problems. Design examples demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the proposed models and solutions. The presented theory and methods benefit the standardization and programming of sound package design, and decrease noise reduction costs.

  15. Prediction of Landing Gear Noise Reduction and Comparison to Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Leonard V.

    2010-01-01

    Noise continues to be an ongoing problem for existing aircraft in flight and is projected to be a concern for next generation designs. During landing, when the engines are operating at reduced power, the noise from the airframe, of which landing gear noise is an important part, is equal to the engine noise. There are several methods of predicting landing gear noise, but none have been applied to predict the change in noise due to a change in landing gear design. The current effort uses the Landing Gear Model and Acoustic Prediction (LGMAP) code, developed at The Pennsylvania State University to predict the noise from landing gear. These predictions include the influence of noise reduction concepts on the landing gear noise. LGMAP is compared to wind tunnel experiments of a 6.3%-scale Boeing 777 main gear performed in the Quiet Flow Facility (QFF) at NASA Langley. The geometries tested in the QFF include the landing gear with and without a toboggan fairing and the door. It is shown that LGMAP is able to predict the noise directives and spectra from the model-scale test for the baseline configuration as accurately as current gear prediction methods. However, LGMAP is also able to predict the difference in noise caused by the toboggan fairing and by removing the landing gear door. LGMAP is also compared to far-field ground-based flush-mounted microphone measurements from the 2005 Quiet Technology Demonstrator 2 (QTD 2) flight test. These comparisons include a Boeing 777-300ER with and without a toboggan fairing that demonstrate that LGMAP can be applied to full-scale flyover measurements. LGMAP predictions of the noise generated by the nose gear on the main gear measurements are also shown.

  16. Research on noise and vibration reduction at DB to improve the environmental friendliness of railway traffic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulte-Werning, B.; Beier, M.; Degen, K. G.; Stiebel, D.

    2006-06-01

    One of the most prominent keywords relating to the environmental friendliness of railway traffic is noise reduction. Thus, the research and development programme "Low Noise Railway" of Deutsche Bahn (DB) is under way to treat the noise of the vehicles and infrastructure. The noise reduction of the trains and the rail/wheel system are being tackled within several projects. The direct noise experienced by railway-lineside residents due to train movements on the track can be reduced by minimising the sound radiation directly at the source. This is the first-choice solution, as it proves to be the most effective countermeasure regarding a cost-benefit relation. The limit values for the noise emission as specified in the technical specification for interoperability are an essential criterion to be confirmed during the procurement process of railway vehicles. A recently developed acoustical quality management scheme establishes systematic noise management to complete the vehicle procurement process in the phases of concept, design, construction and manufacturing. In freight traffic quiet railway wheels for block brake operation will play an important role in the future to meet the goal of a low-noise railway system. A first attempt to realise successfully the low-noise potential of such optimised wheels was performed, even if with mixed results. To show ways of reducing the noise of the cooling ventilation in locomotives, DB is a partner in a development project led by Siemens. A notable 8 dB(A) noise reduction was measured. Concerning bridge noise, a project was started based on an effective and cost-efficient combination of experiments and simulations in order to develop specifications for the construction of generic low-noise bridges.

  17. An inverter-based capacitive trans-impedance amplifier readout with offset cancellation and temporal noise reduction for IR focal plane array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hsin-Han; Hsieh, Chih-Cheng

    2013-09-01

    This paper presents a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) with inverter-based capacitive trans-impedance amplifier (CTIA) and pseudo-multiple sampling technique for infrared focal plane array (IRFPA). The proposed inverter-based CTIA with a coupling capacitor [1], executing auto-zeroing technique to cancel out the varied offset voltage from process variation, is used to substitute differential amplifier in conventional CTIA. The tunable detector bias is applied from a global external bias before exposure. This scheme not only retains stable detector bias voltage and signal injection efficiency, but also reduces the pixel area as well. Pseudo-multiple sampling technique [2] is adopted to reduce the temporal noise of readout circuit. The noise reduction performance is comparable to the conventional multiple sampling operation without need of longer readout time proportional to the number of samples. A CMOS image sensor chip with 55×65 pixel array has been fabricated in 0.18um CMOS technology. It achieves a 12um×12um pixel size, a frame rate of 72 fps, a power-per-pixel of 0.66uW/pixel, and a readout temporal noise of 1.06mVrms (16 times of pseudo-multiple sampling), respectively.

  18. Effect of Two Advanced Noise Reduction Technologies on the Aerodynamic Performance of an Ultra High Bypass Ratio Fan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Christoper E.; Gazzaniga, John A.

    2013-01-01

    A wind tunnel experiment was conducted in the NASA Glenn Research Center anechoic 9- by 15-Foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel to investigate two new advanced noise reduction technologies in support of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program Subsonic Fixed Wing Project. The goal of the experiment was to demonstrate the noise reduction potential and effect on fan model performance of the two noise reduction technologies in a scale model Ultra-High Bypass turbofan at simulated takeoff and approach aircraft flight speeds. The two novel noise reduction technologies are called Over-the-Rotor acoustic treatment and Soft Vanes. Both technologies were aimed at modifying the local noise source mechanisms of the fan tip vortex/fan case interaction and the rotor wake-stator interaction. For the Over-the-Rotor acoustic treatment, two noise reduction configurations were investigated. The results showed that the two noise reduction technologies, Over-the-Rotor and Soft Vanes, were able to reduce the noise level of the fan model, but the Over-the-Rotor configurations had a significant negative impact on the fan aerodynamic performance; the loss in fan aerodynamic efficiency was between 2.75 to 8.75 percent, depending on configuration, compared to the conventional solid baseline fan case rubstrip also tested. Performance results with the Soft Vanes showed that there was no measurable change in the corrected fan thrust and a 1.8 percent loss in corrected stator vane thrust, which resulted in a total net thrust loss of approximately 0.5 percent compared with the baseline reference stator vane set.

  19. Measurement of MOSFET LF Noise Under Large Signal RF Excitation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Wel, A.P.; Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Nauta, Bram

    A new measurement technique is presented that allows measurement of MOSFET LF noise under large signal RF excitation. Measurements indicate that MOSFETS exhibit a reduction in LF noise when they are cycled from inversion to accummulation and that this reduction does not depend on the frequency of

  20. Robust frequency diversity based algorithm for clutter noise reduction of ultrasonic signals using multiple sub-spectrum phase coherence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gongzhang, R.; Xiao, B.; Lardner, T.; Gachagan, A. [Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XW (United Kingdom); Li, M. [School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ (United Kingdom)

    2014-02-18

    This paper presents a robust frequency diversity based algorithm for clutter reduction in ultrasonic A-scan waveforms. The performance of conventional spectral-temporal techniques like Split Spectrum Processing (SSP) is highly dependent on the parameter selection, especially when the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is low. Although spatial beamforming offers noise reduction with less sensitivity to parameter variation, phased array techniques are not always available. The proposed algorithm first selects an ascending series of frequency bands. A signal is reconstructed for each selected band in which a defect is present when all frequency components are in uniform sign. Combining all reconstructed signals through averaging gives a probability profile of potential defect position. To facilitate data collection and validate the proposed algorithm, Full Matrix Capture is applied on the austenitic steel and high nickel alloy (HNA) samples with 5MHz transducer arrays. When processing A-scan signals with unrefined parameters, the proposed algorithm enhances SNR by 20dB for both samples and consequently, defects are more visible in B-scan images created from the large amount of A-scan traces. Importantly, the proposed algorithm is considered robust, while SSP is shown to fail on the austenitic steel data and achieves less SNR enhancement on the HNA data.

  1. Multi-Stage Adaptive Noise Cancellation Technique for Synthetic Hard-α Inclusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jae Joon

    2003-01-01

    Adaptive noise cancellation techniques are ideally suitable for reducing spatially varying noise due to the grain structure of material in ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation. Grain noises have an un-correlation property, while flaw echoes are correlated. Thus, adaptive filtering algorithms use the correlation properties of signals to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the output signal. In this paper, a multi-stage adaptive noise cancellation (MANC) method using adaptive least mean square error (LMSE) filter for enhancing flaw detection in ultrasonic signals is proposed

  2. Wing Leading Edge Concepts for Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shmilovich, Arvin; Yadlin, Yoram; Pitera, David M.

    2010-01-01

    This study focuses on the development of wing leading edge concepts for noise reduction during high-lift operations, without compromising landing stall speeds, stall characteristics or cruise performance. High-lift geometries, which can be obtained by conventional mechanical systems or morphing structures have been considered. A systematic aerodynamic analysis procedure was used to arrive at several promising configurations. The aerodynamic design of new wing leading edge shapes is obtained from a robust Computational Fluid Dynamics procedure. Acoustic benefits are qualitatively established through the evaluation of the computed flow fields.

  3. A Two-Sensor Noise Reduction System: Applications for Hands-Free Car Kit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guérin Alexandre

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a two-microphone speech enhancer designed to remove noise in hands-free car kits. The algorithm, based on the magnitude squared coherence, uses speech correlation and noise decorrelation to separate speech from noise. The remaining correlated noise is reduced using cross-spectral subtraction. Particular attention is focused on the estimation of the different spectral densities (noise and noisy signals power spectral densities which are critical for the quality of the algorithm. We also propose a continuous noise estimation, avoiding the need of vocal activity detector. Results on recorded signals are provided, showing the superiority of the two-sensor approach to single microphone techniques.

  4. HF DBD plasma actuators for reduction of cylinder noise in flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kopiev, V. F.; Kazansky, P. N.; Kopiev, V. A.; Moralev, I. A.; Zaytsev, M. Yu

    2017-11-01

    Surface high frequency dielectric barrier discharge (HF DBD) was used to reduce flow-induced noise, radiated by circular cylinder in cross flow. Effect of HF DBD actuators is studied for flow velocity up to 80 m s-1 (Reynolds numbers up to 2.18 · 105), corresponding to the typical aircraft landing approach speed. Noise measurements were performed by microphone array in anechoic chamber; averaged flow parameters were studied by particle image velocimetry (PIV). Actuator was powered by high-frequency voltage in hundreds kHz range in steady or modulated mode with the modulation frequency of 0.3-20 kHz (Strouhal number St of 0.4 to 20). It is demonstrated that upstream directed plasma actuators are able to reduce the vortex noise of a cylinder by 10 dB. Noise reduction is accompanied by significant reorganization of the wake behind a cylinder, decreasing both wake width and turbulence level. The physical mechanism related to broadband noise control by HF DBD actuator is also discussed.

  5. Novel Signal Noise Reduction Method through Cluster Analysis, Applied to Photoplethysmography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waugh, William; Allen, John; Wightman, James; Sims, Andrew J; Beale, Thomas A W

    2018-01-01

    Physiological signals can often become contaminated by noise from a variety of origins. In this paper, an algorithm is described for the reduction of sporadic noise from a continuous periodic signal. The design can be used where a sample of a periodic signal is required, for example, when an average pulse is needed for pulse wave analysis and characterization. The algorithm is based on cluster analysis for selecting similar repetitions or pulses from a periodic single. This method selects individual pulses without noise, returns a clean pulse signal, and terminates when a sufficiently clean and representative signal is received. The algorithm is designed to be sufficiently compact to be implemented on a microcontroller embedded within a medical device. It has been validated through the removal of noise from an exemplar photoplethysmography (PPG) signal, showing increasing benefit as the noise contamination of the signal increases. The algorithm design is generalised to be applicable for a wide range of physiological (physical) signals.

  6. Image noise reduction technology reduces radiation in a radial-first cardiac catheterization laboratory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gunja, Ateka; Pandey, Yagya [Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL (United States); Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Xie, Hui [Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC (Canada); Wolska, Beata M. [Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Center for Cardiovascular Research, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Shroff, Adhir R.; Ardati, Amer K. [Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL (United States); Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States); Vidovich, Mladen I., E-mail: miv@uic.edu [Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL (United States); Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)

    2017-04-15

    Background: Transradial coronary angiography (TRA) has been associated with increased radiation doses. We hypothesized that contemporary image noise reduction technology would reduce radiation doses in the cardiac catheterization laboratory in a typical clinical setting. Methods and results: We performed a single-center, retrospective analysis of 400 consecutive patients who underwent diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterizations in a predominantly TRA laboratory with traditional fluoroscopy (N = 200) and a new image noise reduction fluoroscopy system (N = 200). The primary endpoint was radiation dose (mGy cm{sup 2}). Secondary endpoints were contrast dose, fluoroscopy times, number of cineangiograms, and radiation dose by operator between the two study periods. Radiation was reduced by 44.7% between the old and new cardiac catheterization laboratory (75.8 mGy cm{sup 2} ± 74.0 vs. 41.9 mGy cm{sup 2} ± 40.7, p < 0.0001). Radiation was reduced for both diagnostic procedures (45.9%, p < 0.0001) and interventional procedures (37.7%, p < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference in radiation dose between individual operators (p = 0.84). In multivariate analysis, radiation dose remained significantly decreased with the use of the new system (p < 0.0001) and was associated with weight (p < 0.0001), previous coronary artery bypass grafting (p < 0.0007) and greater than 3 stents used (p < 0.0004). TRA was used in 90% of all cases in both periods. Compared with a transfemoral approach (TFA), TRA was not associated with higher radiation doses (p = 0.20). Conclusions: Image noise reduction technology significantly reduces radiation dose in a contemporary radial-first cardiac catheterization clinical practice. - Highlights: • Radial arterial access has been associated with higher doses compared to femoral access. • In a radial-first cardiac catheterization laboratory (90% radial) we examined radiation doses reduction with a contemporary image-noise

  7. Image noise reduction technology reduces radiation in a radial-first cardiac catheterization laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gunja, Ateka; Pandey, Yagya; Xie, Hui; Wolska, Beata M.; Shroff, Adhir R.; Ardati, Amer K.; Vidovich, Mladen I.

    2017-01-01

    Background: Transradial coronary angiography (TRA) has been associated with increased radiation doses. We hypothesized that contemporary image noise reduction technology would reduce radiation doses in the cardiac catheterization laboratory in a typical clinical setting. Methods and results: We performed a single-center, retrospective analysis of 400 consecutive patients who underwent diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterizations in a predominantly TRA laboratory with traditional fluoroscopy (N = 200) and a new image noise reduction fluoroscopy system (N = 200). The primary endpoint was radiation dose (mGy cm"2). Secondary endpoints were contrast dose, fluoroscopy times, number of cineangiograms, and radiation dose by operator between the two study periods. Radiation was reduced by 44.7% between the old and new cardiac catheterization laboratory (75.8 mGy cm"2 ± 74.0 vs. 41.9 mGy cm"2 ± 40.7, p < 0.0001). Radiation was reduced for both diagnostic procedures (45.9%, p < 0.0001) and interventional procedures (37.7%, p < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference in radiation dose between individual operators (p = 0.84). In multivariate analysis, radiation dose remained significantly decreased with the use of the new system (p < 0.0001) and was associated with weight (p < 0.0001), previous coronary artery bypass grafting (p < 0.0007) and greater than 3 stents used (p < 0.0004). TRA was used in 90% of all cases in both periods. Compared with a transfemoral approach (TFA), TRA was not associated with higher radiation doses (p = 0.20). Conclusions: Image noise reduction technology significantly reduces radiation dose in a contemporary radial-first cardiac catheterization clinical practice. - Highlights: • Radial arterial access has been associated with higher doses compared to femoral access. • In a radial-first cardiac catheterization laboratory (90% radial) we examined radiation doses reduction with a contemporary image-noise compared to

  8. Background reduction and noise discrimination in the proportional counting of tritium using pulse-shape analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hochel, R.C.; Hayes, D.W.

    1975-01-01

    A pulse-shape analysis (PSA) unit of commercial design has been incorporated into a proportional counting system to determine the effectiveness of pulse-shape discrimination in increasing the sensitivity of tritium counting. It was found that a quantitative determination of tritium could be obtained directly from the PSA time spectrum eliminating the need for beta-ray energy selection used in the pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) technique. The performance of the proportional counting system was tested using the PSA unit and anticoincidence shielding, both singly and combined, under several types of background. A background reduction factor of 169 was obtained from the combined PSA-anticoincidence system with only a 2% loss in tritium counting efficiency. The PSA method was also found to offer significant reductions in noise background. (Auth.)

  9. Compressed air noise reductions from using advanced air gun nozzles in research and development environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prieve, Kurt; Rice, Amanda; Raynor, Peter C

    2017-08-01

    The aims of this study were to evaluate sound levels produced by compressed air guns in research and development (R&D) environments, replace conventional air gun models with advanced noise-reducing air nozzles, and measure changes in sound levels to assess the effectiveness of the advanced nozzles as engineering controls for noise. Ten different R&D manufacturing areas that used compressed air guns were identified and included in the study. A-weighted sound level and Z-weighted octave band measurements were taken simultaneously using a single instrument. In each area, three sets of measurements, each lasting for 20 sec, were taken 1 m away and perpendicular to the air stream of the conventional air gun while a worker simulated typical air gun work use. Two different advanced noise-reducing air nozzles were then installed. Sound level and octave band data were collected for each of these nozzles using the same methods as for the original air guns. Both of the advanced nozzles provided sound level reductions of about 7 dBA, on average. The highest noise reductions measured were 17.2 dBA for one model and 17.7 dBA for the other. In two areas, the advanced nozzles yielded no sound level reduction, or they produced small increases in sound level. The octave band data showed strong similarities in sound level among all air gun nozzles within the 10-1,000 Hz frequency range. However, the advanced air nozzles generally had lower noise contributions in the 1,000-20,000 Hz range. The observed decreases at these higher frequencies caused the overall sound level reductions that were measured. Installing new advanced noise-reducing air nozzles can provide large sound level reductions in comparison to existing conventional nozzles, which has direct benefit for hearing conservation efforts.

  10. A study for reduction of radiation pressure noise in gravitational wave detectors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sakata, S; Sugamoto, A [Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8610 (Japan); Leonhardt, V; Kawamura, S; Sato, S; Yamazaki, T; Fukushima, M [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Numata, K [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, CRESST, Code 663, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Miyakawa, O [LIGO Laboratory 18-34, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Nishizawa, A [Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan); Furusawa, A [Department of Applied Physics, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan)], E-mail: shihori.sakata@nao.ac.jp

    2008-07-15

    We describe an experimental conceptual design for observation and reduction of radiation pressure noise. The radiation pressure noise is increased in a high finesse cavity with a small mass mirror. In our experiment a Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometer with a homodyne detection scheme will be built with Fabry-Perot cavities of finesse of 10000 containing suspended mirrors of 23 mg. To observe the radiation pressure noise, the goal sensitivity is set to 1x10{sup -17} [m/ {radical}Hz] at 1 kHz. Then the radiation pressure noise is reduced by adjusting the homodyne phase. To achieve the sensitivity, the other noise sources such as thermal noises, seismic noise and laser frequency noise should be suppressed below 1x10{sup -18} [m/{radical} Hz] at 1kHz. The whole interferometer is suspended as a double pendulum on double-layer stacks. As a preliminary setup, a Fabry-Perot cavity of finesse of 800 with a suspended mirror of 100 mg was locked. The current best sensitivity is 1x10{sup -15} [m/ {radical}Hz] at 1 kHz.

  11. Broadband transmission noise reduction of smart panels featuring piezoelectric shunt circuits and sound-absorbing material.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jaehwan; Lee, Joong-Kuen

    2002-09-01

    The possibility of a broadband noise reduction of piezoelectric smart panels is experimentally studied. A piezoelectric smart panel is basically a plate structure on which piezoelectric patches with electrical shunt circuits are mounted and sound-absorbing material is bonded on the surface of the structure. Sound-absorbing material can absorb the sound transmitted at the midfrequency region effectively while the use of piezoelectric shunt damping can reduce the transmission at resonance frequencies of the panel structure. To be able to reduce the sound transmission at low panel resonance frequencies, piezoelectric damping using the measured electrical impedance model is adopted. A resonant shunt circuit for piezoelectric shunt damping is composed of resistor and inductor in series, and they are determined by maximizing the dissipated energy through the circuit. The transmitted noise-reduction performance of smart panels is tested in an acoustic tunnel. The tunnel is a square cross-sectional tube and a loudspeaker is mounted at one side of the tube as a sound source. Panels are mounted in the middle of the tunnel and the transmitted sound pressure across panels is measured. When an absorbing material is bonded on a single plate, a remarkable transmitted noise reduction in the midfrequency region is observed except for the fundamental resonance frequency of the plate. By enabling the piezoelectric shunt damping, noise reduction is achieved at the resonance frequency as well. Piezoelectric smart panels incorporating passive absorbing material and piezoelectric shunt damping is a promising technology for noise reduction over a broadband of frequencies.

  12. Reduction of radiation exposure and image quality using dose reduction tool on computed tomography fluoroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakabe, Daisuke; Tochihara, Syuichi; Ono, Michiaki; Tokuda, Masaki; Kai, Noriyuki; Nakato, Kengo; Hashida, Masahiro; Funama, Yoshinori; Murazaki, Hiroo

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of our study was to measure the reduction rate of radiation dose and variability of image noise using the angular beam modulation (ABM) on computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopy. The Alderson-Rando phantom and the homemade phantom were used in our study. These phantoms were scanned at on-center and off-center positions at -12 cm along y-axis with and without ABM technique. Regarding the technique, the x-ray tube is turned off in a 100-degree angle sector at the center of 12 o'clock, 10 o'clock, and 2 o'clock positions during CT fluoroscopy. CT fluoroscopic images were obtained with tube voltages, 120 kV; tube current-time product per reconstructed image, 30 mAs; rotation time, 0.5 s/rot; slice thickness, 4.8 mm; and reconstruction kernel B30s in each scanning. After CT scanning, radiation exposure and image noise were measured and the image artifacts were evaluated with and without the technique. The reduction rate for radiation exposure was 75-80% with and without the technique at on-center position regardless of each angle position. In the case of the off-center position at -12 cm, the reduction rate was 50% with and without the technique. In contrast, image noise remained constant with and without the technique. Visual inspection for image artifacts almost have the same scores with and without the technique and no statistical significance was found in both techniques (p>0.05). ABM is an appropriate tool for reducing radiation exposure and maintaining image-noise and artifacts during CT fluoroscopy. (author)

  13. Reduction of 1/f noise in graphene after electron-beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zahid Hossain, Md.; Rumyantsev, Sergey; Shur, Michael S.; Balandin, Alexander A.

    2013-01-01

    We investigated experimentally the effect of the electron-beam irradiation on the level of the low-frequency 1/f noise in graphene devices. It was found that 1/f noise in graphene reduces with increasing concentration of defects induced by irradiation. The increased amount of structural disorder in graphene under irradiation was verified with micro-Raman spectroscopy. The bombardment of graphene devices with 20-keV electrons reduced the noise spectral density, S I /I 2 (I is the source-drain current) by an order-of magnitude at the radiation dose of 10 4 μC/cm 2 . We analyzed the observed noise reduction in the limiting cases of the mobility and carrier number fluctuation mechanisms. The obtained results are important for the proposed graphene applications in analog, mixed-signal, and radio-frequency systems, integrated circuits and sensors.

  14. RANS Analyses of Turbofan Nozzles with Internal Wedge Deflectors for Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeBonis, James R.

    2009-01-01

    Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to evaluate the flow field and thrust performance of a promising concept for reducing the noise at take-off of dual-stream turbofan nozzles. The concept, offset stream technology, reduces the jet noise observed on the ground by diverting (offsetting) a portion of the fan flow below the core flow, thickening and lengthening this layer between the high-velocity core flow and the ground observers. In this study a wedge placed in the internal fan stream is used as the diverter. Wind, a Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) code, was used to analyze the flow field of the exhaust plume and to calculate nozzle performance. Results showed that the wedge diverts all of the fan flow to the lower side of the nozzle, and the turbulent kinetic energy on the observer side of the nozzle is reduced. This reduction in turbulent kinetic energy should correspond to a reduction in noise. However, because all of the fan flow is diverted, the upper portion of the core flow is exposed to the freestream, and the turbulent kinetic energy on the upper side of the nozzle is increased, creating an unintended noise source. The blockage due to the wedge reduces the fan mass flow proportional to its blockage, and the overall thrust is consequently reduced. The CFD predictions are in very good agreement with experimental flow field data, demonstrating that RANS CFD can accurately predict the velocity and turbulent kinetic energy fields. While this initial design of a large scale wedge nozzle did not meet noise reduction or thrust goals, this study identified areas for improvement and demonstrated that RANS CFD can be used to improve the concept.

  15. An Assessment of Psychological Noise Reduction by Landscape Plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fan Yang

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The emphasis in the term ‘Green Transportation’ is on the word ‘green’. Green transportation focuses on the construction of a slow transport system with a visually pleasing, easy and secure trip environment composed of urban parks, green roadside spaces and some other space that is full of landscape plants. This trip environment encourages residents to make trip choices that reduce fuel consumption and pollution and is one of the most important ways of popularizing green transportation. To study the psychological benefits provided by urban parks and other landscape environments, we combined a subjective approach (a questionnaire with an objective quantitative approach (emotional tests using an electroencephalogram; EEG. Using a questionnaire survey, we found that 90% of the subjects believed that landscape plants contribute to noise reduction and that 55% overrated the plants’ actual ability to attenuate noise. Two videos (showing a traffic scene and a plant scene were shown to 40 participants on video glasses. We detected and recorded EEG values with a portable electroencephalograph, and a comparison between the results of the two groups revealed that there was a highly significant asymmetry between the EEG activity of the vegetation scene and traffic scene groups. The results suggest that the emotions aroused by noise and visual stimuli are manifested in the synchronization of beta frequency band and the desynchronization of alpha frequency band, indicating that landscape plants can moderate or buffer the effects of noise. These findings indicate that landscape plants provide excess noise attenuating effects through subjects’ emotional processing, which we term ‘psychological noise reduction’.

  16. Evidence of "hidden hearing loss" following noise exposures that produce robust TTS and ABR wave-I amplitude reductions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lobarinas, Edward; Spankovich, Christopher; Le Prell, Colleen G

    2017-06-01

    In animals, noise exposures that produce robust temporary threshold shifts (TTS) can produce immediate damage to afferent synapses and long-term degeneration of low spontaneous rate auditory nerve fibers. This synaptopathic damage has been shown to correlate with reduced auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave-I amplitudes at suprathreshold levels. The perceptual consequences of this "synaptopathy" remain unknown but have been suggested to include compromised hearing performance in competing background noise. Here, we used a modified startle inhibition paradigm to evaluate whether noise exposures that produce robust TTS and ABR wave-I reduction but not permanent threshold shift (PTS) reduced hearing-in-noise performance. Animals exposed to 109 dB SPL octave band noise showed TTS >30 dB 24-h post noise and modest but persistent ABR wave-I reduction 2 weeks post noise despite full recovery of ABR thresholds. Hearing-in-noise performance was negatively affected by the noise exposure. However, the effect was observed only at the poorest signal to noise ratio and was frequency specific. Although TTS >30 dB 24-h post noise was a predictor of functional deficits, there was no relationship between the degree of ABR wave-I reduction and degree of functional impairment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Active control of the noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodriguez V, Luis Alfonso; Lopez Q, Jose German

    2001-01-01

    The problems of acoustic noise are more and more preponderant in the measure in that the amount of equipment and industrial machinery is increased such as fans, transformers, compressors etc. the use of devices passive mechanics for the reduction of the noise is effective and very appreciated because its effects embrace a wide range of acoustic frequency. However, to low frequencies, such devices become too big and expensive besides that present a tendency to do not effective. The control of active noise, CAN, using the electronic generation anti-noise, constitutes an interesting solution to the problem because their operation principle allows achieving an appreciable reduction of the noise by means of the use of compact devices. The traditional techniques for the control of acoustic noise like barriers and silenced to attenuate it, are classified as passive and their works has been accepted as norm as for the treatment of problems of noise it refers. Such techniques are considered in general very effective in the attenuation of noise of wide band. However, for low frequency, the required passive structures are too big and expensive; also, their effectiveness diminishes flagrantly, that which makes them impractical in many applications. The active suppression is profiled like a practical alternative for the reduction of acoustic noise. The idea in the active treatment of the noise it contemplates the use of a device electro-acoustic, like a speaker for example that it cancels to the noise by the generation of sounds of Same width and of contrary phase (anti-noise). The cancellation phenomenon is carried out when the ant-noise combines acoustically with the noise, what is in the cancellation of both sounds. The effectiveness of the cancellation of the primary source of noise depends on the precision with which the width and the phase of the generated ant-noise are controlled. The active control of noise, ANC (activates noise control), it is being investigated for

  18. Noise reduction in real time x-ray images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuda, Motohisa; Kimura, Yutaro

    1986-01-01

    The signal-to-noise ratio of real-time digital X-ray imaging systems consisting of an X-ray image intensifer-television chain was investigated while concentrating on the effect of the X-ray quantum nature. Along with conventional signal accumulation, logarithmic conversion and subtraction, a new technique called the peak hold method is introduced. Theoretical and simulational studies were made with practical parameters. Theory and simulation showed good agreement. An accumulation of signal is most effective for improving the signal-to-noise ratio; the peak-hold method comes next. The peak hold method, however, offers a new image-display mode. Moreover, this method is superior to signal accumulation for specific conditions. (author)

  19. Reduction of centrifugal fan noise by use of resonators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neise, W.; Koopmann, G. H.

    1980-11-01

    A method by which an acoustic resonator can be used to reduce at source the aerodynamic noise generated by turbomachinery has been investigated experimentally. The casing of a small, centrifugal blower was modified by replacing the cut-off of the scroll with the mouth of a quarter-wavelength resonator. The mouth of the resonator was constructed from a series of perforated plates with the same curvature as the cut-off to preserve the original geometry of the casing. Tuning of the resonator was achieved by changing the length via a movable end plug. The noise measurements were made in an anechoically terminated outlet duct at nearly a free delivery operating condition of the blower. With appropriate tuning of the resonator, reductions in the blade passing frequency tones of up to 29 dB were observed with corresponding overall sound pressure levels reductions of up to 7 dB(A). Parameters which influenced the band width of the resonator response were the porosity and the size of the resonator mouth and the flow velocity near the cut-off region. Throughout the tests, the aerodynamic performance of the blower was unaffected by the addition of the resonator to the casing.

  20. Effects of cavity resonances on sound transmission into a thin cylindrical shell. [noise reduction in aircraft fuselage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koval, L. R.

    1978-01-01

    In the context of the transmission of airborne noise into an aircraft fuselage, a mathematical model is presented for the effects of internal cavity resonances on sound transmission into a thin cylindrical shell. The 'noise reduction' of the cylinder is defined and computed, with and without including the effects of internal cavity resonances. As would be expected, the noise reduction in the absence of cavity resonances follows the same qualitative pattern as does transmission loss. Numerical results show that cavity resonances lead to wide fluctuations and a general decrease of noise reduction, especially at cavity resonances. Modest internal absorption is shown to greatly reduce the effect of cavity resonances. The effects of external airflow, internal cabin pressurization, and different acoustical properties inside and outside the cylinder are also included and briefly examined.

  1. Noise reduction and image enhancement using a hardware implementation of artificial neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Robert; Williams, Erin; de Tremiolles, Ghislain; Tannhof, Pascal

    1999-03-01

    In this paper, we present a neural based solution developed for noise reduction and image enhancement using the ZISC, an IBM hardware processor which implements the Restricted Coulomb Energy algorithm and the K-Nearest Neighbor algorithm. Artificial neural networks present the advantages of processing time reduction in comparison with classical models, adaptability, and the weighted property of pattern learning. The goal of the developed application is image enhancement in order to restore old movies (noise reduction, focus correction, etc.), to improve digital television images, or to treat images which require adaptive processing (medical images, spatial images, special effects, etc.). Image results show a quantitative improvement over the noisy image as well as the efficiency of this system. Further enhancements are being examined to improve the output of the system.

  2. Application of a TiO2 nanocomposite in earplugs, a case study of noise reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibrahimi Ghavamabadi, Leila; Fouladi Dehaghi, Behzad; Hesampour, Morteza; Ahmadi Angali, Kambiz

    2018-03-13

    Use of hearing protection devices (HPDs) has become necessary when other control measures cannot reduce noise to a safe and standard level. In most countries, more effective hearing protection devices are in demand. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles on noise reduction efficiency in a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) earplug. An S-60 type PVC polymer as main matrix and TiO 2 with 30 nm size were used. PVC/TiO 2 nanocomposite was mixed at a temperature of 160 °C and 40 rounds per minute (rpm) and the samples were prepared with 0, 0.2 and 0.5 wt% of TiO 2 nanoparticle concentrations. Earplug samples with PVC/TiO 2 (0.2, 0.5 wt%) nanoparticles, when compared with raw earplugs, showed almost equal noise attenuation at low frequencies (500- 125 Hz). However, at high frequencies (2-8 kHz), the power of noise reduction of earplugs containing TiO 2 nanoparticles was significantly increased. The results of the present study showed that samples containing nanoparticles of TiO 2 had more noticeable noise reduction abilities at higher frequencies in comparison with samples without the nanoparticles.

  3. Random resampling masks: a non-Bayesian one-shot strategy for noise reduction in digital holography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bianco, V; Paturzo, M; Memmolo, P; Finizio, A; Ferraro, P; Javidi, B

    2013-03-01

    Holographic imaging may become severely degraded by a mixture of speckle and incoherent additive noise. Bayesian approaches reduce the incoherent noise, but prior information is needed on the noise statistics. With no prior knowledge, one-shot reduction of noise is a highly desirable goal, as the recording process is simplified and made faster. Indeed, neither multiple acquisitions nor a complex setup are needed. So far, this result has been achieved at the cost of a deterministic resolution loss. Here we propose a fast non-Bayesian denoising method that avoids this trade-off by means of a numerical synthesis of a moving diffuser. In this way, only one single hologram is required as multiple uncorrelated reconstructions are provided by random complementary resampling masks. Experiments show a significant incoherent noise reduction, close to the theoretical improvement bound, resulting in image-contrast improvement. At the same time, we preserve the resolution of the unprocessed image.

  4. HF DBD plasma actuators for reduction of cylinder noise in flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kopiev, V F; Kopiev, V A; Zaytsev, M Yu; Kazansky, P N; Moralev, I A

    2017-01-01

    Surface high frequency dielectric barrier discharge (HF DBD) was used to reduce flow-induced noise, radiated by circular cylinder in cross flow. Effect of HF DBD actuators is studied for flow velocity up to 80 m s −1 (Reynolds numbers up to 2.18 · 10 5 ), corresponding to the typical aircraft landing approach speed. Noise measurements were performed by microphone array in anechoic chamber; averaged flow parameters were studied by particle image velocimetry (PIV). Actuator was powered by high-frequency voltage in hundreds kHz range in steady or modulated mode with the modulation frequency of 0.3–20 kHz (Strouhal number St of 0.4 to 20). It is demonstrated that upstream directed plasma actuators are able to reduce the vortex noise of a cylinder by 10 dB. Noise reduction is accompanied by significant reorganization of the wake behind a cylinder, decreasing both wake width and turbulence level. The physical mechanism related to broadband noise control by HF DBD actuator is also discussed. (paper)

  5. Noise Reduction of Steel Cord Conveyor Belt Defect Electromagnetic Signal by Combined Use of Improved Wavelet and EMD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong-Wei Ma

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In order to reduce the noise of a defect electromagnetic signal of the steel cord conveyor belt used in coal mines, a new signal noise reduction method by combined use of the improved threshold wavelet and Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD is proposed. Firstly, the denoising method based on the improved threshold wavelet is applied to reduce the noise of a defect electromagnetic signal obtained by an electromagnetic testing system. Then, the EMD is used to decompose the denoised signal and then the effective Intrinsic Mode Function (IMF is extracted by the dominant eigenvalue strategy. Finally, the signal reconstruction is carried out by utilizing the obtained IMF. In order to verify the proposed noise reduction method, the experiments are carried out in two cases including the defective joint and steel wire rope break. The experimental results show that the proposed method in this paper obtains the higher Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR for the defect electromagnetic signal noise reduction of steel cord conveyor belts.

  6. Noise reduction in long‐period seismograms by way of array summing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ringler, Adam; Wilson, David; Storm, Tyler; Marshall, Benjamin T.; Hutt, Charles R.; Holland, Austin

    2016-01-01

    Long‐period (>100  s period) seismic data can often be dominated by instrumental noise as well as local site noise. When multiple collocated sensors are installed at a single site, it is possible to improve the overall station noise levels by applying stacking methods to their traces. We look at the noise reduction in long‐period seismic data by applying the time–frequency phase‐weighted stacking method of Schimmel and Gallart (2007) as well as the phase‐weighted stacking (PWS) method of Schimmel and Paulssen (1997) to four collocated broadband sensors installed in the quiet Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory underground vault. We show that such stacking methods can improve vertical noise levels by as much as 10 dB over the mean background noise levels at 400 s period, suggesting that greater improvements could be achieved with an array involving multiple sensors. We also apply this method to reduce local incoherent noise on horizontal seismic records of the 2 March 2016 Mw 7.8 Sumatra earthquake, where the incoherent noise levels at very long periods are similar in amplitude to the earthquake signal. To maximize the coherency, we apply the PWS method to horizontal data where relative azimuths between collocated sensors are estimated and compared with a simpler linear stack with no azimuthal rotation. Such methods could help reduce noise levels at various seismic stations where multiple high‐quality sensors have been deployed. Such small arrays may also provide a solution to improving long‐period noise levels at Global Seismographic Network stations.

  7. Noise Reduction for Nonlinear Nonstationary Time Series Data using Averaging Intrinsic Mode Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christofer Toumazou

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available A novel noise filtering algorithm based on averaging Intrinsic Mode Function (aIMF, which is a derivation of Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD, is proposed to remove white-Gaussian noise of foreign currency exchange rates that are nonlinear nonstationary times series signals. Noise patterns with different amplitudes and frequencies were randomly mixed into the five exchange rates. A number of filters, namely; Extended Kalman Filter (EKF, Wavelet Transform (WT, Particle Filter (PF and the averaging Intrinsic Mode Function (aIMF algorithm were used to compare filtering and smoothing performance. The aIMF algorithm demonstrated high noise reduction among the performance of these filters.

  8. Ensemble empirical mode decomposition based fluorescence spectral noise reduction for low concentration PAHs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Shu-tao; Yang, Xue-ying; Kong, De-ming; Wang, Yu-tian

    2017-11-01

    A new noise reduction method based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) is proposed to improve the detection effect for fluorescence spectra. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollutants, as a kind of important current environmental pollution source, are highly oncogenic. Using the fluorescence spectroscopy method, the PAHs pollutants can be detected. However, instrument will produce noise in the experiment. Weak fluorescent signals can be affected by noise, so we propose a way to denoise and improve the detection effect. Firstly, we use fluorescence spectrometer to detect PAHs to obtain fluorescence spectra. Subsequently, noises are reduced by EEMD algorithm. Finally, the experiment results show the proposed method is feasible.

  9. Application of Circulation Control Technology to Airframe Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahuja, K. K.; Sankar, L. N.; Englar, R. J.; Munro, Scott E.; Li, Yi; Gaeta, R. J.

    2003-01-01

    This report is a summary of the work performed by Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) under NASA Langley Grant NAG-1-2146, which was awarded as a part of NASA's Breakthrough Innovative Technologies (BIT) initiative. This was a three-year program, with a one-year no-cost extension. Each year's study has been an integrated effort consisting of computational fluid dynamics, experimental aerodynamics, and detailed noise and flow measurements. Year I effort examined the feasibility of reducing airframe noise by replacing the conventional wing systems with a Circulation Control Wing (CCW), where steady blowing was used through the trailing edge of the wing over a Coanda surface. It was shown that the wing lift increases with CCW blowing and indeed for the same lift, a CCW wing was shown to produce less noise. Year 2 effort dealt with a similar study on the role of pulsed blowing on airframe noise. The main objective of this portion of the study was to assess whether pulse blowing from the trailing edge of a CCW resulted in more, less, or the same amount of radiated noise to the farfield. Results show that a reduction in farfield noise of up to 5 dB is measured when pulse flow is compared with steady flow for an equivalent lift configuration. This reduction is in the spectral region associated with the trailing edge jet noise. This result is due to the unique advantage that pulsed flow has over steady flow. For a range of frequencies, more lift is experienced with the same mass flow as the steady case. Thus, for an equivalent lift and slot height, the pulsed system can operate at lower jet velocities, and hence lower jet noise. The computational analysis showed that for a given time-averaged mass flow rate, pulsed jets give a higher value of C(sub l) and a higher L/D than equivalent steady jets. This benefit is attributable to higher instantaneous jet velocities, and higher instantaneous C(sub mu) values for the pulsed jet. Pulsed jet benefits increase at higher

  10. Evaluation of a Noise Reduction Procedure for Chest Radiography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukui, Ryohei; Ishii, Rie; Kodani, Kazuhiko; Kanasaki, Yoshiko; Suyama, Hisashi; Watanabe, Masanari; Nakamoto, Masaki; Fukuoka, Yasushi

    2013-01-01

    Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of noise reduction procedure (NRP), a function in the new image processing for chest radiography. Methods A CXDI-50G Portable Digital Radiography System (Canon) was used for X-ray detection. Image noise was analyzed with a noise power spectrum (NPS) and a burger phantom was used for evaluation of density resolution. The usefulness of NRP was evaluated by chest phantom images and clinical chest radiography. We employed the Bureau of Radiological Health Method for scoring chest images while carrying out our observations. Results NPS through the use of NRP was improved compared with conventional image processing (CIP). The results in image quality showed high-density resolution through the use of NRP, so that chest radiography examination can be performed with a low dose of radiation. Scores were significantly higher than for CIP. Conclusion In this study, use of NRP led to a high evaluation in these so we are able to confirm the usefulness of NRP for clinical chest radiography. PMID:24574577

  11. Low Delay Noise Reduction and Dereverberation for Hearing Aids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heinrich W. Löllmann

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available A new system for single-channel speech enhancement is proposed which achieves a joint suppression of late reverberant speech and background noise with a low signal delay and low computational complexity. It is based on a generalized spectral subtraction rule which depends on the variances of the late reverberant speech and background noise. The calculation of the spectral variances of the late reverberant speech requires an estimate of the reverberation time (RT which is accomplished by a maximum likelihood (ML approach. The enhancement with this blind RT estimation achieves almost the same speech quality as by using the actual RT. In comparison to commonly used post-filters in hearing aids which only perform a noise reduction, a significantly better objective and subjective speech quality is achieved. The proposed system performs time-domain filtering with coefficients adapted in the non-uniform (Bark-scaled frequency-domain. This allows to achieve a high speech quality with low signal delay which is important for speech enhancement in hearing aids or related applications such as hands-free communication systems.

  12. Filtering out the noise: evaluating the impact of noise and sound reduction strategies on sleep quality for ICU patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosma, Karen J; Ranieri, V Marco

    2009-01-01

    The review article by Xie and colleagues examines the impact of noise and noise reduction strategies on sleep quality for critically ill patients. Evaluating the impact of noise on sleep quality is challenging, as it must be measured relative to other factors that may be more or less disruptive to patients' sleep. Such factors may be difficult for patients, observers, and polysomnogram interpreters to identify, due to our limited understanding of the causes of sleep disruption in the critically ill, as well as the challenges in recording and quantifying sleep stages and sleep fragmentation in the intensive care unit. Furthermore, most research in this field has focused on noise level, whereas acousticians typically evaluate additional parameters such as noise spectrum and reverberation time. The authors highlight the disparate results and limitations of existing studies, including the lack of attention to other acoustic parameters besides sound level, and the combined effects of different sleep disturbing factors.

  13. Acoustic noise reduction in T 1- and proton-density-weighted turbo spin-echo imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ott, Martin; Blaimer, Martin; Breuer, Felix; Grodzki, David; Heismann, Björn; Jakob, Peter

    2016-02-01

    To reduce acoustic noise levels in T 1-weighted and proton-density-weighted turbo spin-echo (TSE) sequences, which typically reach acoustic noise levels up to 100 dB(A) in clinical practice. Five acoustic noise reduction strategies were combined: (1) gradient ramps and shapes were changed from trapezoidal to triangular, (2) variable-encoding-time imaging was implemented to relax the phase-encoding gradient timing, (3) RF pulses were adapted to avoid the need for reversing the polarity of the slice-rewinding gradient, (4) readout bandwidth was increased to provide more time for gradient activity on other axes, (5) the number of slices per TR was reduced to limit the total gradient activity per unit time. We evaluated the influence of each measure on the acoustic noise level, and conducted in vivo measurements on a healthy volunteer. Sound recordings were taken for comparison. An overall acoustic noise reduction of up to 16.8 dB(A) was obtained by the proposed strategies (1-4) and the acquisition of half the number of slices per TR only. Image quality in terms of SNR and CNR was found to be preserved. The proposed measures in this study allowed a threefold reduction in the acoustic perception of T 1-weighted and proton-density-weighted TSE sequences compared to a standard TSE-acquisition. This could be achieved without visible degradation of image quality, showing the potential to improve patient comfort and scan acceptability.

  14. Feasibility of Johnson Noise Thermometry based on Digital Signal Processing Techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, In Koo; Kim, Yang Mo

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents an implementation strategy of noise thermometry based on a digital signal processing technique and demonstrates its feasibilities. A key factor in its development is how to extract the small thermal noise signal from other noises, for example, random noise from amplifiers and continuous electromagnetic interference from the environment. The proposed system consists of two identical amplifiers and uses a cross correlation function to cancel the random noise of the amplifiers. Then, the external interference noises are eliminated by discriminating the difference in the peaks between the thermal signal and external noise. The gain of the amplifiers is estimated by injecting an already known pilot signal. The experimental simulation results of signal processing methods have demonstrated that the proposed approach is an effective method in eliminating an external noise signal and performing gain correction for development of the thermometry

  15. Single-Channel Noise Reduction using Unified Joint Diagonalization and Optimal Filtering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørholm, Sidsel Marie; Benesty, Jacob; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

    2014-01-01

    consider two cases, where, respectively, no distortion and distortion are incurred on the desired signal. The former can be achieved when the covariance matrix of the desired signal is rank deficient, which is the case, for example, for voiced speech. In the latter case, the covariance matrix......In this paper, the important problem of single-channel noise reduction is treated from a new perspective. The problem is posed as a filtering problem based on joint diagonalization of the covariance matrices of the desired and noise signals. More specifically, the eigenvectors from the joint...

  16. Electrocardiogram (ECG Signal Modeling and Noise Reduction Using Hopfield Neural Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Bagheri

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The Electrocardiogram (ECG signal is one of the diagnosing approaches to detect heart disease. In this study the Hopfield Neural Network (HNN is applied and proposed for ECG signal modeling and noise reduction. The Hopfield Neural Network (HNN is a recurrent neural network that stores the information in a dynamic stable pattern. This algorithm retrieves a pattern stored in memory in response to the presentation of an incomplete or noisy version of that pattern. Computer simulation results show that this method can successfully model the ECG signal and remove high-frequency noise.

  17. Pediatric cT: Implementation of ASIR for Substantial Radiation Dose Reduction While Maintaining Pre-ASIR Image Noise1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brady, Samuel L.; Moore, Bria M.; Yee, Brian S.; Kaufman, Robert A.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose To determine a comprehensive method for the implementation of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) for maximal radiation dose reduction in pediatric computed tomography (CT) without changing the magnitude of noise in the reconstructed image or the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the patient. Materials and Methods The institutional review board waived the need to obtain informed consent for this HIPAA-compliant quality analysis. Chest and abdominopelvic CT images obtained before ASIR implementation (183 patient examinations; mean patient age, 8.8 years ± 6.2 [standard deviation]; range, 1 month to 27 years) were analyzed for image noise and CNR. These measurements were used in conjunction with noise models derived from anthropomorphic phantoms to establish new beam current–modulated CT parameters to implement 40% ASIR at 120 and 100 kVp without changing noise texture or magnitude. Image noise was assessed in images obtained after ASIR implementation (492 patient examinations; mean patient age, 7.6 years ± 5.4; range, 2 months to 28 years) the same way it was assessed in the pre-ASIR analysis. Dose reduction was determined by comparing size-specific dose estimates in the pre- and post-ASIR patient cohorts. Data were analyzed with paired t tests. Results With 40% ASIR implementation, the average relative dose reduction for chest CT was 39% (2.7/4.4 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 72% (5.3/18.8 mGy). The average relative dose reduction for abdominopelvic CT was 29% (4.8/6.8 mGy), with a maximum reduction of 64% (7.6/20.9 mGy). Beam current modulation was unnecessary for patients weighing 40 kg or less. The difference between 0% and 40% ASIR noise magnitude was less than 1 HU, with statistically nonsignificant increases in patient CNR at 100 kVp of 8% (15.3/14.2; P = .41) for chest CT and 13% (7.8/6.8; P = .40) for abdominopelvic CT. Conclusion Radiation dose reduction at pediatric CT was achieved when 40% ASIR was implemented as a dose

  18. A PIV Study of Slotted Air Injection for Jet Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henderson, Brenda S.; Wernet, Mark P.

    2012-01-01

    Results from acoustic and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements are presented for single and dual-stream jets with fluidic injection on the core stream. The fluidic injection nozzles delivered air to the jet through slots on the interior of the nozzle at the nozzle trailing edge. The investigations include subsonic and supersonic jet conditions. Reductions in broadband shock noise and low frequency mixing noise were obtained with the introduction of fluidic injection on single stream jets. Fluidic injection was found to eliminate shock cells, increase jet mixing, and reduce turbulent kinetic energy levels near the end of the potential core. For dual-stream subsonic jets, the introduction of fluidic injection reduced low frequency noise in the peak jet noise direction and enhanced jet mixing. For dual-stream jets with supersonic fan streams and subsonic core streams, the introduction of fluidic injection in the core stream impacted the jet shock cell structure but had little effect on mixing between the core and fan streams.

  19. Mastication noise reduction method for fully implantable hearing aid using piezo-electric sensor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Na, Sung Dae; Lee, Gihyoun; Wei, Qun; Seong, Ki Woong; Cho, Jin Ho; Kim, Myoung Nam

    2017-07-20

    Fully implantable hearing devices (FIHDs) can be affected by generated biomechanical noise such as mastication noise. To reduce the mastication noise using a piezo-electric sensor, the mastication noise is measured with the piezo-electric sensor, and noise reduction is practiced by the energy difference. For the experiment on mastication noise, a skull model was designed using artificial skull model and a piezo-electric sensor that can measure the vibration signals better than other sensors. A 1 kHz pure-tone sound through a standard speaker was applied to the model while the lower jawbone of the model was moved in a masticatory fashion. The correlation coefficients and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) before and after application of the proposed method were compared. It was found that the signal-to-noise ratio and correlation coefficients increased by 4.48 dB and 0.45, respectively. The mastication noise is measured by piezo-electric sensor as the mastication noise that occurred during vibration. In addition, the noise was reduced by using the proposed method in conjunction with MATLAB. In order to confirm the performance of the proposed method, the correlation coefficients and signal-to-noise ratio before and after signal processing were calculated. In the future, an implantable microphone for real-time processing will be developed.

  20. Reducing Radiation Dose in Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Using Image Noise Reduction Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kastrati, Mirlind; Langenbrink, Lukas; Piatkowski, Michal; Michaelsen, Jochen; Reimann, Doris; Hoffmann, Rainer

    2016-08-01

    This study sought to quantitatively evaluate the reduction of radiation dose in coronary angiography and angioplasty with the use of image noise reduction technology in a routine clinical setting. Radiation dose data from consecutive 605 coronary procedures (397 consecutive coronary angiograms and 208 consecutive coronary interventions) performed from October 2014 to April 2015 on a coronary angiography system with noise reduction technology (Allura Clarity IQ) were collected. For comparison, radiation dose data from consecutive 695 coronary procedures (435 coronary angiograms and 260 coronary interventions) performed on a conventional coronary angiography system from October 2013 to April 2014 were evaluated. Patient radiation dosage was evaluated based on the cumulative dose area product. Operators and operator practice did not change between the 2 evaluated periods. Patient characteristics were collected to evaluate similarity of patient groups. Image quality was evaluated on a 5-grade scale in 30 patients of each group. There were no significant differences between the 2 evaluated groups in gender, age, weight, and fluoroscopy time (6.8 ± 6.1 vs 6.9 ± 6.3 minutes, not significant). The dose area product was reduced from 3195 ± 2359 to 983 ± 972 cGycm(2) (65%, p technology. Image quality was graded as similar between the evaluated systems (4.0 ± 0.7 vs 4.2 ± 0.6, not significant). In conclusion, a new x-ray technology with image noise reduction algorithm provides a substantial reduction in radiation exposure without the need to prolong the procedure or fluoroscopy time. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. The use of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR) technique in evaluation of patients with cervical spine trauma: impact on radiation dose reduction and image quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patro, Satya N; Chakraborty, Santanu; Sheikh, Adnan

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR) technique on the image quality and radiation dose reduction. The comparison was made with the traditional filtered back projection (FBP) technique. We retrospectively reviewed 78 patients, who underwent cervical spine CT for blunt cervical trauma between 1 June 2010 and 30 November 2010. 48 patients were imaged using traditional FBP technique and the remaining 30 patients were imaged using the ASiR technique. The patient demographics, radiation dose, objective image signal and noise were recorded; while subjective noise, sharpness, diagnostic acceptability and artefacts were graded by two radiologists blinded to the techniques. We found that the ASiR technique was able to reduce the volume CT dose index, dose-length product and effective dose by 36%, 36.5% and 36.5%, respectively, compared with the FBP technique. There was no significant difference in the image noise (p = 0.39), signal (p = 0.82) and signal-to-noise ratio (p = 0.56) between the groups. The subjective image quality was minimally better in the ASiR group but not statistically significant. There was excellent interobserver agreement on the subjective image quality and diagnostic acceptability for both groups. The use of ASiR technique allowed approximately 36% radiation dose reduction in the evaluation of cervical spine without degrading the image quality. The present study highlights that the ASiR technique is extremely helpful in reducing the patient radiation exposure while maintaining the image quality. It is highly recommended to utilize this novel technique in CT imaging of different body regions.

  2. Experimental demonstration of wind turbine noise reduction through optimized airfoil shape and trailing-edge serrations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oerlemans, S. [National Aerospace Laboratory NLR, Emmeloord (Netherlands); Schepers, J.G. [Unit Wind Energy, Energy research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, Petten (Netherlands); Guidati, G.; Wagner, S. [Institut fuer Aerodynamik und Gasdynamik IAG, Universitaet Stuttgart (Germany)

    2001-07-15

    The objective of the European project DATA (Design and Testing of Acoustically Optimized Airfoils for Wind Turbines) is a reduction of trailing-edge (TE) noise by modifying the airfoil shape and/or the application of trailing-edge serrations. This paper describes validation measurements that were performed in the DNW-LLF wind tunnel, on a model scale wind turbine with a two-bladed 4.5 m diameter rotor which was designed in the project. Measurements were done for one reference- and two acoustically optimized rotors, for varying flow conditions. The aerodynamic performance of the rotors was measured using a torque meter in the hub, and further aerodynamic information was obtained from flow visualization on the blades. The acoustic measurements were done with a 136 microphone out-of-flow acoustic array. Besides the location of the noise sources in the (stationary) rotor plane, a new acoustic processing method enabled identification of dominant noise source regions on the rotating blades. The results show dominant noise sources at the trailing-edge of the blade, close to the tip. The optimized airfoil shapes result in a significant reduction of TE noise levels with respect to the reference rotor, without loss in power production. A further reduction can be achieved by the application of trailing-edge serrations. The aerodynamic measurements are generally in good agreement with the aerodynamic predictions made during the design of the model turbine.

  3. The effectiveness of environmental strategies on noise reduction in a pediatric intensive care unit: creation of single-patient bedrooms and reducing noise sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kol, Emine; Aydın, Perihan; Dursun, Oguz

    2015-07-01

    Noise is a substantial problem for both patients and healthcare workers in hospitals. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of environmental strategies (creating single-patient rooms and reducing noise sources) in noise reduction in a pediatric intensive care unit. Noise measurement in the unit was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, measurements aimed at determining the unit's present level of noise were performed over 4 weeks in December 2013. During the month following the first measurement phase, the intensive care unit (ICU) was moved to a new location and noise-reducing strategies were implemented. The second phase, in May 2014, measured noise levels in the newly constructed environment. The noise levels before and after environmental changes were statistically significant at 72.6 dB-A and 56 dB-A, respectively (p noise-reducing strategies can be effective in controlling environmental noise in the ICU. © 2015, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Noise Reduction planar bone imaging nuclear medicine with the use of wavelet transform: an assessment of its quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Casas Cardoso, Maria del Carmen; Perez Diaz, Marlen; Casas Cardoso, Gladis; Lorenzo Ginori, Juan; Paz Viera, Juan Enrique; Roque Diaz, Reinaldo; Cardenas Barreras, Julian

    2009-01-01

    Diagnostic imaging of Nuclear Medicine (MN), is highly used in Oncology, as it constitutes a noninvasive technique that allows early detection of tumors and assessment of therapeutic response of patients under treatment. However, particularly planar scintigraphy images, can be prone to problems of detectability of small lesions, because they are contaminated with noise, a phenomenon which is accentuated by the inability to increase the dose of the radiopharmaceutical or time acquisition of images of the patient over 'certain levels'. The aim of this work is to improve the detectability of tumors of bone. We describe an algorithm for random noise reduction using the wavelet transform (TW). The quality of the resulting images are evaluated through quantitative metrics such as Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), the Mean Square Error (NMSEA) and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM). It also includes a subjective assessment of image quality by expert criteria, using a variant of the methodology FROC (Free-Response ROC). It was found that some of the filters designed in the wavelet domain, significantly improve the quality of planar bone imaging in terms of increased signal to noise ratio without implying notable structural distortions, which facilitates clinical diagnosis. (author)

  5. In vivo evaluation of mastication noise reduction for dual channel implantable microphone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woo, SeongTak; Jung, EuiSung; Lim, HyungGyu; Lee, Jang Woo; Seong, Ki Woong; Won, Chul Ho; Kim, Myoung Nam; Cho, Jin Ho; Lee, Jyung Hyun

    2014-01-01

    Input for fully implantable hearing devices (FIHDs) is provided by an implantable microphone under the skin of the temporal bone. However, the implanted microphone can be affected when the FIHDs user chews. In this paper, a dual implantable microphone was designed that can filter out the noise from mastication. For the in vivo experiment, a fabricated microphone was implanted in a rabbit. Pure-tone sounds of 1 kHz through a standard speaker were applied to the rabbit, which was given food simultaneously. To evaluate noise reduction, the measured signals were processed using a MATLAB program based adaptive filter. To verify the proposed method, the correlation coefficients and signal to-noise ratio before and after signal processing were calculated. By comparing the results, signal-to-noise ratio and correlation coefficients are enhanced by 6.07dB and 0.529 respectively.

  6. Metal Artifacts Reduction of Pedicle Screws on Spine Computed Tomography Images Using Variable Thresholding Technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaewlek, T.; Koolpiruck, D.; Thongvigitmanee, S.; Mongkolsuk, M.; Chiewvit, P.; Thammakittiphan, S.

    2012-01-01

    Metal artifacts are one of significant problems in computed tomography (CT). The streak lines and air gaps arise from metal implants of orthopedic patients, such as prosthesis, dental bucket, and pedicle screws that cause incorrect diagnosis and local treatment planning. A common technique to suppressed artifacts is by adjusting windows, but those artifacts still remain on the images. To improve the detail of spine CT images, the variable thresholding technique is proposed in this paper. Three medical cases of spine CT images categorized by the severity of artifacts (screws head, one full screw, and two full screws) were investigated. Metal regions were segmented by k-mean clustering, then transformed into a sinogram domain. The metal sinogram was identified by the variable thresholding method, and then replaced the new estimated values by linear interpolation. The modified sinogram was reconstructed by the filtered back- projection algorithm, and added the metal region back to the modified reconstructed image in order to reproduce the final image. The image quality of the proposed technique, the automatic thresholding (Kalender) technique, and window adjustment technique was compared in term of noise and signal to noise ratio (SNR). The propose method can reduce metal artifacts between pedicle screws. After processing by our proposed technique, noise in the modified images is reduced (screws head 121.15 to73.83, one full screw 160.88 to 94.04, and two full screws 199.73 to 110.05 from the initial image) and SNR is increased (screws head 0.87 to 1.88, one full screw 1.54 to 2.82, and two full screws 0.32 to 0.41 from the initial image). The variable thresholding technique can identify the suitable boundary for restoring the missing data. The efficiency of the metal artifacts reduction is indicated on the case of partial and full pedicle screws. Our technique can improve the detail of spine CT images better than automatic thresholding (Kalender) technique, and

  7. Coherent noise reduction in digital holographic microscopy by averaging multiple holograms recorded with a multimode laser.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Feng; Yang, Lizhi; Xiao, Wen

    2017-09-04

    In digital holographic microscopy (DHM), it is undesirable to observe coherent noise in the reconstructed images. The sources of the noise are mainly the parasitic interference fringes caused by multiple reflections and the speckle pattern caused by the optical scattering on the object surface. Here we propose a noise reduction approach in DHM by averaging multiple holograms recorded with a multimode laser. Based on the periodicity of the temporal coherence of a multimode semiconductor laser, we acquire a series of holograms by changing the optical path length difference between the reference beam and object beam. Because of the use of low coherence light, we can remove the parasitic interference fringes caused by multiple reflections in the holograms. In addition, the coherent noise patterns change in this process due to the different optical paths. Therefore, the coherent noise can be reduced by averaging the multiple reconstructions with uncorrelated noise patterns. Several experiments have been carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for coherent noise reduction in DHM. It is shown a remarkable improvement both in amplitude imaging quality and phase measurement accuracy.

  8. Measurement of the Low Frequency Noise of MOSFETs under Large Signal RF Excitation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Wel, A.P.; Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Nauta, Bram

    2002-01-01

    A measurement technique [1] is presented that allows measurement of MOSFET low frequency (LF) noise under large signal RF (Radio Frequency) excitation. Measurements indicate that MOSFETS exhibit a reduction in LF noise when they are cycled from inversion to accummulation and that this reduction does

  9. Annoyance rating of wind turbine noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iredale, R.

    1993-01-01

    Annoyance rating is important, but more important still is agreement on techniques for formulating minimal complaint criteria for design and specification purposes thus integrating noise control into the plant at the outset. A minimal complaint design criteria is suggested that finds its origin in the logic and techniques used successfully over many years for a wide range of power plant and other installations. The criterion is based on the masking of the wind turbine noise by the wind generated background noise. Satisfactory use of the criterion depends on the specification of inaudibility for the tones generated by the mechanical plant. Wind turbines generate more drive train noise than is realized and this contains many tones which tend to characterize the noise. Reduction of drive train noise would not only reduce the overall noise level but also give it a more acceptable character providing a margin against complaint in unusual circumstances of propagation. This requires very careful design of noise and vibration control in individual components. Vibration isolation between the support structures and the nacelle also requires careful attention. (UK)

  10. Simulated dose reduction by adding artificial noise to measured raw data: A validation study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soederberg, M.; Gunnarsson, M.; Nilsson, M.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to verify and validate a noise simulation tool called Dose Tutor (VAMP GmbH) in terms of level and texture of the simulated noise. By adding artificial noise to measured computed tomography (CT) raw data, a scan acquired with a lower dose (mAs) than the actual one can be simulated. A homogeneous polyethylene phantom and an anthropomorphic chest phantom were scanned for different mAs levels, tube voltages, slice thicknesses and reconstruction kernels. The simulated noise levels were compared with the noise levels in real transverse slice images actually acquired with corresponding mAs values. In general, the noise comparisons showed acceptable agreement in magnitude (<20% deviation in pixel standard deviation). Also, the calculated noise power spectra were similar, which indicates that the noise texture is correctly reproduced. In conclusion, this study establishes that the Dose Tutor might be a useful tool for estimating the dose reduction potential for CT protocols. (authors)

  11. Measured and calculated noise reduction of rail dampers and absorption plates on a high speed slab track

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dittrich, M.G.; Graafland, F.; Eisses, A.R.; Nijhof, M.J.J.

    2015-01-01

    Rail dampers and sound absorbing plates have been tested on a high speed railway slab track in a walled cutting at a noise sensitive location. Their noise reduction has been determined from pass-by measurements during service and predicted using BEM calculations. The cutting depth, noise barrier

  12. Acoustic-noise-optimized diffusion-weighted imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ott, Martin; Blaimer, Martin; Grodzki, David M; Breuer, Felix A; Roesch, Julie; Dörfler, Arnd; Heismann, Björn; Jakob, Peter M

    2015-12-01

    This work was aimed at reducing acoustic noise in diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) that might reach acoustic noise levels of over 100 dB(A) in clinical practice. A diffusion-weighted readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence was optimized for acoustic noise by utilizing small readout segment widths to obtain low gradient slew rates and amplitudes instead of faster k-space coverage. In addition, all other gradients were optimized for low slew rates. Volunteer and patient imaging experiments were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the method. Acoustic noise measurements were performed and analyzed for four different DWI measurement protocols at 1.5T and 3T. An acoustic noise reduction of up to 20 dB(A) was achieved, which corresponds to a fourfold reduction in acoustic perception. The image quality was preserved at the level of a standard single-shot (ss)-EPI sequence, with a 27-54% increase in scan time. The diffusion-weighted imaging technique proposed in this study allowed a substantial reduction in the level of acoustic noise compared to standard single-shot diffusion-weighted EPI. This is expected to afford considerably more patient comfort, but a larger study would be necessary to fully characterize the subjective changes in patient experience.

  13. Assessment of traffic noise levels in urban areas using different soft computing techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomić, J; Bogojević, N; Pljakić, M; Šumarac-Pavlović, D

    2016-10-01

    Available traffic noise prediction models are usually based on regression analysis of experimental data, and this paper presents the application of soft computing techniques in traffic noise prediction. Two mathematical models are proposed and their predictions are compared to data collected by traffic noise monitoring in urban areas, as well as to predictions of commonly used traffic noise models. The results show that application of evolutionary algorithms and neural networks may improve process of development, as well as accuracy of traffic noise prediction.

  14. Sensor locations and noise reduction in high-purity batch distillation control loops

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oisiovici R.M.

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available The influence of the sensor locations on the composition control of high-purity batch distillation columns has been investigated. Using concepts of the nonlinear control theory, an input-output linearizing controller was implemented to keep the distillate composition constant at a desired value by varying the reflux ratio. An Extended Kalman Filter was developed to estimate the compositions required in the control algorithm using temperature measurements. In the presence of measurement noise, the control performance depended greatly on the sensor locations. Placing the sensors further from the top stages reduced the detrimental effects of noise but increased the inference error. To achieve accurate composition control, both noise reduction and composition estimate accuracy should be considered in the selection of the sensor locations.

  15. Statistical CT noise reduction with multiscale decomposition and penalized weighted least squares in the projection domain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang Shaojie; Tang Xiangyang

    2012-01-01

    Purposes: The suppression of noise in x-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging is of clinical relevance for diagnostic image quality and the potential for radiation dose saving. Toward this purpose, statistical noise reduction methods in either the image or projection domain have been proposed, which employ a multiscale decomposition to enhance the performance of noise suppression while maintaining image sharpness. Recognizing the advantages of noise suppression in the projection domain, the authors propose a projection domain multiscale penalized weighted least squares (PWLS) method, in which the angular sampling rate is explicitly taken into consideration to account for the possible variation of interview sampling rate in advanced clinical or preclinical applications. Methods: The projection domain multiscale PWLS method is derived by converting an isotropic diffusion partial differential equation in the image domain into the projection domain, wherein a multiscale decomposition is carried out. With adoption of the Markov random field or soft thresholding objective function, the projection domain multiscale PWLS method deals with noise at each scale. To compensate for the degradation in image sharpness caused by the projection domain multiscale PWLS method, an edge enhancement is carried out following the noise reduction. The performance of the proposed method is experimentally evaluated and verified using the projection data simulated by computer and acquired by a CT scanner. Results: The preliminary results show that the proposed projection domain multiscale PWLS method outperforms the projection domain single-scale PWLS method and the image domain multiscale anisotropic diffusion method in noise reduction. In addition, the proposed method can preserve image sharpness very well while the occurrence of “salt-and-pepper” noise and mosaic artifacts can be avoided. Conclusions: Since the interview sampling rate is taken into account in the projection domain

  16. Noise reduction by sparse representation in learned dictionaries for application to blind tip reconstruction problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jóźwiak, Grzegorz

    2017-01-01

    Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a well known tool used for the investigation of phenomena in objects in the nanometer size range. However, quantitative results are limited by the size and the shape of the nanoprobe used in experiments. Blind tip reconstruction (BTR) is a very popular method used to reconstruct the upper boundary on the shape of the probe. This method is known to be very sensitive to all kinds of interference in the atomic force microscopy (AFM) image. Due to mathematical morphology calculus, the interference makes the BTR results biased rather than randomly disrupted. For this reason, the careful choice of methods used for image enhancement and denoising, as well as the shape of a calibration sample are very important. In the paper, the results of thorough investigations on the shape of a calibration standard are shown. A novel shape is proposed and a tool for the simulation of AFM images of this calibration standard was designed. It was shown that careful choice of the initial tip allows us to use images of hole structures to blindly reconstruct the shape of a probe. The simulator was used to test the impact of modern filtration algorithms on the BTR process. These techniques are based on sparse approximation with function dictionaries learned on the basis of an image itself. Various learning algorithms and parameters were tested to determine the optimal combination for sparse representation. It was observed that the strong reduction of noise does not guarantee strong reduction in reconstruction errors. It seems that further improvements will be possible by the combination of BTR and a noise reduction procedure. (paper)

  17. Robust spinal cord resting-state fMRI using independent component analysis-based nuisance regression noise reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yong; Jin, Richu; Li, Guangsheng; Luk, Keith Dk; Wu, Ed X

    2018-04-16

    Physiological noise reduction plays a critical role in spinal cord (SC) resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI). To reduce physiological noise and increase the robustness of SC rsfMRI by using an independent component analysis (ICA)-based nuisance regression (ICANR) method. Retrospective. Ten healthy subjects (female/male = 4/6, age = 27 ± 3 years, range 24-34 years). 3T/gradient-echo echo planar imaging (EPI). We used three alternative methods (no regression [Nil], conventional region of interest [ROI]-based noise reduction method without ICA [ROI-based], and correction of structured noise using spatial independent component analysis [CORSICA]) to compare with the performance of ICANR. Reduction of the influence of physiological noise on the SC and the reproducibility of rsfMRI analysis after noise reduction were examined. The correlation coefficient (CC) was calculated to assess the influence of physiological noise. Reproducibility was calculated by intraclass correlation (ICC). Results from different methods were compared by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc analysis. No significant difference in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pulsation influence or tissue motion influence were found (P = 0.223 in CSF, P = 0.2461 in tissue motion) in the ROI-based (CSF: 0.122 ± 0.020; tissue motion: 0.112 ± 0.015), and Nil (CSF: 0.134 ± 0.026; tissue motion: 0.124 ± 0.019). CORSICA showed a significantly stronger influence of CSF pulsation and tissue motion (CSF: 0.166 ± 0.045, P = 0.048; tissue motion: 0.160 ± 0.032, P = 0.048) than Nil. ICANR showed a significantly weaker influence of CSF pulsation and tissue motion (CSF: 0.076 ± 0.007, P = 0.0003; tissue motion: 0.081 ± 0.014, P = 0.0182) than Nil. The ICC values in the Nil, ROI-based, CORSICA, and ICANR were 0.669, 0.645, 0.561, and 0.766, respectively. ICANR more effectively reduced physiological noise from both tissue motion and CSF pulsation than three alternative methods. ICANR increases the robustness of SC rsf

  18. Study on ventilation and noise reduction in the main transformer room in indoor substation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Sheng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The noise emission should be considered in the ventilation and cooling design for the main transformer room of indoor substation. In this study, based on Soundplan software, effects of four common ventilation and cooling schemes on the cooling and sound insulation were compared. The research showed that the region with low noise requirement, the ventilation could be set on the outer wall or on the door of the main transformer room, while the region with high noise requirement, air inlet muffler or ventilation through the cable interlayer under the main transformer room must be used. All of the four kinds of ventilation schemes, ventilation through the cable interlayer is the best in cooling and noise reduction.

  19. Optimal noise reduction in 3D reconstructions of single particles using a volume-normalized filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sindelar, Charles V.; Grigorieff, Nikolaus

    2012-01-01

    The high noise level found in single-particle electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) image data presents a special challenge for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the imaged molecules. The spectral signal-to-noise ratio (SSNR) and related Fourier shell correlation (FSC) functions are commonly used to assess and mitigate the noise-generated error in the reconstruction. Calculation of the SSNR and FSC usually includes the noise in the solvent region surrounding the particle and therefore does not accurately reflect the signal in the particle density itself. Here we show that the SSNR in a reconstructed 3D particle map is linearly proportional to the fractional volume occupied by the particle. Using this relationship, we devise a novel filter (the “single-particle Wiener filter”) to minimize the error in a reconstructed particle map, if the particle volume is known. Moreover, we show how to approximate this filter even when the volume of the particle is not known, by optimizing the signal within a representative interior region of the particle. We show that the new filter improves on previously proposed error-reduction schemes, including the conventional Wiener filter as well as figure-of-merit weighting, and quantify the relationship between all of these methods by theoretical analysis as well as numeric evaluation of both simulated and experimentally collected data. The single-particle Wiener filter is applicable across a broad range of existing 3D reconstruction techniques, but is particularly well suited to the Fourier inversion method, leading to an efficient and accurate implementation. PMID:22613568

  20. Improvement of road noise by reduction of acoustic radiation from body panels; Panel no hoshaon teigen ni yoru road noise no kaizen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kamura, T; Utsunomiya, A; Sugihara, T; Tobita, K [Mazda Motor Corp., Hiroshima (Japan)

    1997-10-01

    This paper describes road noise reduction methods accomplished by reducing acoustic power radiated from body panels. Fundamental study of acoustic and dynamic characteristics with rectangular panels revealed following results: (1) The lower stiffness panel had lower radiation efficiency and made damping materials work more effective to reduce the acoustic power. (2) The acoustic power was also reduced by designing the panel so that it can generate the vibration of (2, 2) mode, which has the lowest radiation efficiency, in road noise frequency region. By applying these methods to a vehicle floor, we confirmed the improvement of road noise performance. 3 refs., 12 figs.

  1. An artificial neural network approach for aerodynamic performance retention in airframe noise reduction design of a 3D swept wing model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Jun

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available With the progress of high-bypass turbofan and the innovation of silencing nacelle in engine noise reduction, airframe noise has now become another important sound source besides the engine noise. Thus, reducing airframe noise makes a great contribution to the overall noise reduction of a civil aircraft. However, reducing airframe noise often leads to aerodynamic performance loss in the meantime. In this case, an approach based on artificial neural network is introduced. An established database serves as a basis and the training sample of a back propagation (BP artificial neural network, which uses confidence coefficient reasoning method for optimization later on. Then the most satisfactory configuration is selected for validating computations through the trained BP network. On the basis of the artificial neural network approach, an optimization process of slat cove filler (SCF for high lift devices (HLD on the Trap Wing is presented. Aerodynamic performance of both the baseline and optimized configurations is investigated through unsteady detached eddy simulations (DES, and a hybrid method, which combines unsteady DES method with acoustic analogy theory, is employed to validate the noise reduction effect. The numerical results indicate not merely a significant airframe noise reduction effect but also excellent aerodynamic performance retention simultaneously.

  2. Noise Exposure of Teachers in Nursery Schools-Evaluation of Measures for Noise Reduction When Dropping DUPLO Toy Bricks into Storage Cases by Sound Analyses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gebauer, Konstanze; Scharf, Thomas; Baumann, Uwe; Groneberg, David A; Bundschuh, Matthias

    2016-07-04

    Although noise is one of the leading work-related health risk factors for teachers, many nursery schools lack sufficient noise reduction measures. This intervention study evaluated the noise exposure of nursery school teachers when dropping DUPLO toy bricks into storage cases. Sound analyses of the impact included assessment of the maximum sound pressure level (LAFmax) as well as frequency analyses with 1/3 octave band filter. For the purpose of standardization, a customized gadget was developed. Recordings were performed in 11 cases of different materials and designs to assess the impact on sound level reduction. Thereby, the acoustic effects of three damping materials (foam rubber, carpet, and PU-foam) were investigated. The lowest LAFmax was measured in cases consisting of "metal grid" (90.71 dB) or of a woven willow "basket" (91.61 dB), whereas a case of "aluminium" (103.34 dB) generated the highest impact LAFmax. The frequency analyses determined especially low LAFmax in the frequency bands between 80 and 2500 Hz in cases designs "metal grid" and "basket". The insertion of PU-foam achieved the most significant attenuation of LAFmax (-13.88 dB) and, in the frequency analyses, the best sound damping. The dropping of DUPLO bricks in cases contributes to the high noise level in nursery schools, but measured LAFmax show no evidence for the danger of acute hearing loss. However, continuous exposure may lead to functional impairment of the hair cells and trigger stress reactions. We recommend noise reduction by utilizing cases of woven "basket" with an insert of PU-foam.

  3. Noise reduction in binaural hearing aids : Analyzing the benefit over monaural systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Srinivasan, S.

    2008-01-01

    Binaural beamforming using signals from both left and right hearing aids offers greater potential for noise reduction than using signals from a single aid. However, wireless transmission of data imposes power constraints. Since most modern hearing aids have multiple microphones and are capable of

  4. Use of the Kalman Filter for Aortic Pressure Waveform Noise Reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lam, Frank; Lu, Hsiang-Wei; Wu, Chung-Che; Aliyazicioglu, Zekeriya; Kang, James S

    2017-01-01

    Clinical applications that require extraction and interpretation of physiological signals or waveforms are susceptible to corruption by noise or artifacts. Real-time hemodynamic monitoring systems are important for clinicians to assess the hemodynamic stability of surgical or intensive care patients by interpreting hemodynamic parameters generated by an analysis of aortic blood pressure (ABP) waveform measurements. Since hemodynamic parameter estimation algorithms often detect events and features from measured ABP waveforms to generate hemodynamic parameters, noise and artifacts integrated into ABP waveforms can severely distort the interpretation of hemodynamic parameters by hemodynamic algorithms. In this article, we propose the use of the Kalman filter and the 4-element Windkessel model with static parameters, arterial compliance C , peripheral resistance R , aortic impedance r , and the inertia of blood L , to represent aortic circulation for generating accurate estimations of ABP waveforms through noise and artifact reduction. Results show the Kalman filter could very effectively eliminate noise and generate a good estimation from the noisy ABP waveform based on the past state history. The power spectrum of the measured ABP waveform and the synthesized ABP waveform shows two similar harmonic frequencies.

  5. The use of the partial coherence function technique for the investigation of BWR noise dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kostic, Lj.

    1983-01-01

    The extensive experimental investigations, at the last time, indicate that the partial coherence function technique can be a powerful method of the investigation of BWR noise dynamics. Symple BWR noise dynamics model for the global noise study, based on different noise phenomena, is proposed in this paper. (author)

  6. The Role of Flow Diagnostic Techniques in Fan and Open Rotor Noise Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Envia, Edmane

    2016-01-01

    A principal source of turbomachinery noise is the interaction of the rotating and stationary blade rows with the perturbations in the airstream through the engine. As such, a lot of research has been devoted to the study of the turbomachinery noise generation mechanisms. This is particularly true of fan and open rotors, both of which are the major contributors to the overall noise output of modern aircraft engines. Much of the research in fan and open rotor noise has been focused on developing theoretical models for predicting their noise characteristics. These models, which run the gamut from the semi-empirical to fully computational ones, are, in one form or another, informed by the description of the unsteady flow-field in which the propulsors (i.e., the fan and open rotors) operate. Not surprisingly, the fidelity of the theoretical models is dependent, to a large extent, on capturing the nuances of the unsteady flowfield that have a direct role in the noise generation process. As such, flow diagnostic techniques have proven to be indispensible in identifying the shortcoming of theoretical models and in helping to improve them. This presentation will provide a few examples of the role of flow diagnostic techniques in assessing the fidelity and robustness of the fan and open rotor noise prediction models.

  7. Active Vibration Control for Helicopter Interior Noise Reduction Using Power Minimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendoza, J.; Chevva, K.; Sun, F.; Blanc, A.; Kim, S. B.

    2014-01-01

    This report describes work performed by United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) for NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) under Contract NNL11AA06C. The objective of this program is to develop technology to reduce helicopter interior noise resulting from multiple gear meshing frequencies. A novel active vibration control approach called Minimum Actuation Power (MAP) is developed. MAP is an optimal control strategy that minimizes the total input power into a structure by monitoring and varying the input power of controlling sources. MAP control was implemented without explicit knowledge of the phasing and magnitude of the excitation sources by driving the real part of the input power from the controlling sources to zero. It is shown that this occurs when the total mechanical input power from the excitation and controlling sources is a minimum. MAP theory is developed for multiple excitation sources with arbitrary relative phasing for single or multiple discrete frequencies and controlled by a single or multiple controlling sources. Simulations and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of MAP for structural vibration reduction of a realistic rotorcraft interior structure. MAP control resulted in significant average global vibration reduction of a single frequency and multiple frequency excitations with one controlling actuator. Simulations also demonstrate the potential effectiveness of the observed vibration reductions on interior radiated noise.

  8. Pump-probe differencing technique for cavity-enhanced, noise-canceling saturation laser spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vine, Glenn; McClelland, David E; Gray, Malcolm B; Close, John D

    2005-05-15

    We present an experimental technique that permits mechanical-noise-free, cavity-enhanced frequency measurements of an atomic transition and its hyperfine structure. We employ the 532-nm frequency-doubled output from a Nd:YAG laser and an iodine vapor cell. The cell is placed in a folded ring cavity (FRC) with counterpropagating pump and probe beams. The FRC is locked with the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. Mechanical noise is rejected by differencing the pump and probe signals. In addition, this differenced error signal provides a sensitive measure of differential nonlinearity within the FRC.

  9. Resolution improvement and noise reduction in human pinhole SPECT using a multi-ray approach and the SHINE method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seret, A.; Vanhove, C.; Defrise, M.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: This work aimed at quantifying the gains in spatial resolution and noise that could be achieved when using resolution modelling based on a multi-ray approach and additionally the Statistical and Heuristic Noise Extraction (SHINE) method in human pinhole single photon emission tomography (PH-SPECT). Methods: PH-SPECT of two line phantoms and one homogeneous cylinder were recorded using parameters suited for studies of the human neck area. They were reconstructed using pinhole dedicated ordered subsets expectation maximisation algorithm including a resolution recovery technique based on 7 or 21 rays. Optionally, the SPECT data were SHINE pre-processed. Transverse and axial full widths at half-maximum (FWHM) were obtained from the line phantoms. The noise was quantified using the coefficient of variation (COV) derived from the uniform phantom. Two human PH-SPECT studies of the thyroid (a hot nodule and a very low uptake) were processed with the same algorithms. Results: Depending on the number of iterations, FWHM decreased by 30 to 50% when using the multi-ray approach in the reconstruction process. The SHINE method did not affect the resolution but decreased the COV by at least 20% and by 45% when combined with the multi-ray method. The two human studies illustrated the gain in spatial resolution and the decrease in noise afforded both by the multi-ray reconstruction and the SHINE method. Conclusion: Iterative reconstruction with resolution modelling allows to obtain high resolution human PH-SPECT studies with reduced noise content. The SHINE method affords an additional noise reduction without compromising the resolution. (orig.)

  10. Reduction in radiation dose with reconstruction technique in the brain perfusion CT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, H. J.; Lee, H. K.; Song, H.; Ju, M. S.; Dong, K. R.; Chung, W. K.; Cho, M. S.; Cho, J. H.

    2011-12-01

    The principal objective of this study was to verify the utility of the reconstruction imaging technique in the brain perfusion computed tomography (PCT) scan by assessing reductions in the radiation dose and analyzing the generated images. The setting used for image acquisition had a detector coverage of 40 mm, a helical thickness of 0.625 mm, a helical shuttle mode scan type and a rotation time of 0.5 s as the image parameters used for the brain PCT scan. Additionally, a phantom experiment and an animal experiment were carried out. In the phantom and animal experiments, noise was measured in the scanning with the tube voltage fixed at 80 kVp (kilovolt peak) and the level of the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) was changed from 0% to 100% at 10% intervals. The standard deviation of the CT coefficient was measured three times to calculate the mean value. In the phantom and animal experiments, the absorbed dose was measured 10 times under the same conditions as the ones for noise measurement before the mean value was calculated. In the animal experiment, pencil-type and CT-dedicated ionization chambers were inserted into the central portion of pig heads for measurement. In the phantom study, as the level of the ASIR changed from 0% to 100% under identical scanning conditions, the noise value and dose were proportionally reduced. In our animal experiment, the noise value was lowest when the ASIR level was 50%, unlike in the phantom study. The dose was reduced as in the phantom study.

  11. Dual-tree complex wavelet transform and SVD based acoustic noise reduction and its application in leak detection for natural gas pipeline

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Xuchao; Liang, Wei; Zhang, Laibin; Jin, Hao; Qiu, Jingwei

    2016-05-01

    During the last decades, leak detection for natural gas pipeline has become one of the paramount concerns of pipeline operators and researchers across the globe. However, acoustic wave method has been proved to be an effective way to identify and localize leakage for gas pipeline. Considering the fact that noises inevitably exist in the acoustic signals collected, noise reduction should be enforced on the signals for subsequent data mining and analysis. Thus, an integrated acoustic noise reduction method based on DTCWT and SVD is proposed in this study. The method is put forward based on the idea that noise reduction strategy should match the characteristics of the noisy signal. According to previous studies, it is known that the energy of acoustic signals collected under leaking condition is mainly concentrated in low-frequency portion (0-100 Hz). And ultralow-frequency component (0-5 Hz), which is taken as the characteristic frequency band in this study, can propagate a relatively longer distance and be captured by sensors. Therefore, in order to filter the noises and to reserve the characteristic frequency band, DTCWT is taken as the core to conduct multilevel decomposition and refining for acoustic signals and SVD is employed to eliminate noises in non-characteristic bands. Both simulation and field experiments show that DTCWT-SVD is an excellent method for acoustic noise reduction. At the end of this study, application in leakage localization shows that it becomes much easier and a little more accurate to estimate the location of leak hole after noise reduction by DTCWT-SVD.

  12. Review of noise reduction methods for centrifugal fans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neise, W.

    1981-11-01

    Several methods for the reduction of centrifugal fan noise are presented, the most of which are aimed at a lower blade passage frequency level. The methods are grouped into five categories: casing modifications to increase the distance between impeller and cutoff, the introduction of a phase shift of the source pressure fluctuations, impeller modifications, radial clearance between impeller eye and inlet nozzle, and acoustical measures. Resonators mounted at the cutoff of centrifugal fans appear to be a highly efficient and simple means of reducing the blade passage tone, and the method can be used for new fan construction and existing installations without affecting the aerodynamic performance of the fan.

  13. A novel modulation scheme for noise reduction in analog fiber optic links

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marpaung, D.A.I.; Roeloffzen, C.G.H.; van Etten, Wim

    2006-01-01

    A novel noise reduction scheme called Balanced Modulation and Detection (BMD) is proposed. In this scheme, the modulating RF signal is half-wave rectified in the optical domain, eliminating the DC optical power resulting from pre-biasing of the optical source. A link model employing this scheme has

  14. Shot noise reduction in the AlGaAs/GaAs- and InGaP/GaAs-based HBTs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakalas, Paulius; Schroeter, Michael; Zampardi, Peter; Zirath, Herbert

    2003-05-01

    Noise parameters of AlGaAs/GaAs and InGaP/GaAs HBTs were measured in microwave frequency range and modeled using the small-signal equivalent circuit approach. Correlated current noise sources in the base and collector currents with thermal noise in the circuit resistive elements were accounted for by the model and yielded good agreement with the measured data. This enabled an extraction of the different noise source contributions to minimum noise figure (NFmin) in AlGaAs/GaAs and InGaP/GaAs HBTs. Decomposition of the (NFmin) in to the different contributors showed that the main noise sources in investigated HBTs are correlated base and collector current shot noise. The observed minimum of NFmin versus frequency at lower collector current is explained by the reduction of the emitter/base junction shot noise component due to the spike in the emitter/base junction and associated accumulation of the quasi-thermalized electrons forming a space charge, which screens the electron transfer through the barrier. The bias (VCE) increase creates an efficient electric field in collector/base junction, capable of 'washing out' the accumulated charge. Such shot noise reduction in HBTs could be exploited in the LNA for the RF application.

  15. Noise Exposure of Teachers in Nursery Schools—Evaluation of Measures for Noise Reduction When Dropping DUPLO Toy Bricks into Storage Cases by Sound Analyses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstanze Gebauer

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Although noise is one of the leading work-related health risk factors for teachers, many nursery schools lack sufficient noise reduction measures. Methods: This intervention study evaluated the noise exposure of nursery school teachers when dropping DUPLO toy bricks into storage cases. Sound analyses of the impact included assessment of the maximum sound pressure level (LAFmax as well as frequency analyses with 1/3 octave band filter. For the purpose of standardization, a customized gadget was developed. Recordings were performed in 11 cases of different materials and designs to assess the impact on sound level reduction. Thereby, the acoustic effects of three damping materials (foam rubber, carpet, and PU-foam were investigated. Results: The lowest LAFmax was measured in cases consisting of “metal grid” (90.71 dB or of a woven willow “basket” (91.61 dB, whereas a case of “aluminium” (103.34 dB generated the highest impact LAFmax. The frequency analyses determined especially low LAFmax in the frequency bands between 80 and 2500 Hz in cases designs “metal grid” and “basket”. The insertion of PU-foam achieved the most significant attenuation of LAFmax (−13.88 dB and, in the frequency analyses, the best sound damping. Conclusion: The dropping of DUPLO bricks in cases contributes to the high noise level in nursery schools, but measured LAFmax show no evidence for the danger of acute hearing loss. However, continuous exposure may lead to functional impairment of the hair cells and trigger stress reactions. We recommend noise reduction by utilizing cases of woven “basket” with an insert of PU-foam.

  16. Application of chaotic noise reduction techniques to chaotic data ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Springer Verlag Heidelberg #4 2048 1996 Dec 15 10:16:45

    Deco & Schurmann (1994) have considered recurrent networks that were able to capture the dynamic and metric invariants ... The two techniques we consider are Hammel's method and the local projective method. We compare the ..... where C is the mXm covariance matrix of the vectors zn within the neighbourhood Un,.

  17. A SOUND SOURCE LOCALIZATION TECHNIQUE TO SUPPORT SEARCH AND RESCUE IN LOUD NOISE ENVIRONMENTS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshinaga, Hiroshi; Mizutani, Koichi; Wakatsuki, Naoto

    At some sites of earthquakes and other disasters, rescuers search for people buried under rubble by listening for the sounds which they make. Thus developing a technique to localize sound sources amidst loud noise will support such search and rescue operations. In this paper, we discuss an experiment performed to test an array signal processing technique which searches for unperceivable sound in loud noise environments. Two speakers simultaneously played a noise of a generator and a voice decreased by 20 dB (= 1/100 of power) from the generator noise at an outdoor space where cicadas were making noise. The sound signal was received by a horizontally set linear microphone array 1.05 m in length and consisting of 15 microphones. The direction and the distance of the voice were computed and the sound of the voice was extracted and played back as an audible sound by array signal processing.

  18. Optimization of MKID noise performance via readout technique for astronomical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czakon, Nicole G.; Schlaerth, James A.; Day, Peter K.; Downes, Thomas P.; Duan, Ran P.; Gao, Jiansong; Glenn, Jason; Golwala, Sunil R.; Hollister, Matt I.; LeDuc, Henry G.; Mazin, Benjamin A.; Maloney, Philip R.; Noroozian, Omid; Nguyen, Hien T.; Sayers, Jack; Siegel, Seth; Vaillancourt, John E.; Vayonakis, Anastasios; Wilson, Philip R.; Zmuidzinas, Jonas

    2010-07-01

    Detectors employing superconducting microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) can be read out by measuring changes in either the resonator frequency or dissipation. We will discuss the pros and cons of both methods, in particular, the readout method strategies being explored for the Multiwavelength Sub/millimeter Inductance Camera (MUSIC) to be commissioned at the CSO in 2010. As predicted theoretically and observed experimentally, the frequency responsivity is larger than the dissipation responsivity, by a factor of 2-4 under typical conditions. In the absence of any other noise contributions, it should be easier to overcome amplifier noise by simply using frequency readout. The resonators, however, exhibit excess frequency noise which has been ascribed to a surface distribution of two-level fluctuators sensitive to specific device geometries and fabrication techniques. Impressive dark noise performance has been achieved using modified resonator geometries employing interdigitated capacitors (IDCs). To date, our noise measurement and modeling efforts have assumed an onresonance readout, with the carrier power set well below the nonlinear regime. Several experimental indicators suggested to us that the optimal readout technique may in fact require a higher readout power, with the carrier tuned somewhat off resonance, and that a careful systematic study of the optimal readout conditions was needed. We will present the results of such a study, and discuss the optimum readout conditions as well as the performance that can be achieved relative to BLIP.

  19. Active Noise Control for Dishwasher noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Nokhaeng; Park, Youngjin

    2016-09-01

    The dishwasher is a useful home appliance and continually used for automatically washing dishes. It's commonly placed in the kitchen with built-in style for practicality and better use of space. In this environment, people are easily exposed to dishwasher noise, so it is an important issue for the consumers, especially for the people living in open and narrow space. Recently, the sound power levels of the noise are about 40 - 50 dBA. It could be achieved by removal of noise sources and passive means of insulating acoustical path. For more reduction, such a quiet mode with the lower speed of cycle has been introduced, but this deteriorates the washing capacity. Under this background, we propose active noise control for dishwasher noise. It is observed that the noise is propagating mainly from the lower part of the front side. Control speakers are placed in the part for the collocation. Observation part of estimating sound field distribution and control part of generating the anti-noise are designed for active noise control. Simulation result shows proposed active noise control scheme could have a potential application for dishwasher noise reduction.

  20. Study on Noise Prediction Model and Control Schemes for Substation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yang; Liu, Songtao

    2014-01-01

    With the government's emphasis on environmental issues of power transmission and transformation project, noise pollution has become a prominent problem now. The noise from the working transformer, reactor, and other electrical equipment in the substation will bring negative effect to the ambient environment. This paper focuses on using acoustic software for the simulation and calculation method to control substation noise. According to the characteristics of the substation noise and the techniques of noise reduction, a substation's acoustic field model was established with the SoundPLAN software to predict the scope of substation noise. On this basis, 4 reasonable noise control schemes were advanced to provide some helpful references for noise control during the new substation's design and construction process. And the feasibility and application effect of these control schemes can be verified by using the method of simulation modeling. The simulation results show that the substation always has the problem of excessive noise at boundary under the conventional measures. The excess noise can be efficiently reduced by taking the corresponding noise reduction methods. PMID:24672356

  1. Dose reduction in chest CT: Comparison of the adaptive iterative dose reduction 3D, adaptive iterative dose reduction, and filtered back projection reconstruction techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamada, Yoshitake, E-mail: yamada@rad.med.keio.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582 (Japan); Jinzaki, Masahiro, E-mail: jinzaki@rad.med.keio.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582 (Japan); Hosokawa, Takahiro, E-mail: hosokawa@rad.med.keio.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582 (Japan); Tanami, Yutaka, E-mail: tanami@rad.med.keio.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582 (Japan); Sugiura, Hiroaki, E-mail: hsugiura@rad.med.keio.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582 (Japan); Abe, Takayuki, E-mail: tabe@z5.keio.jp [Center for Clinical Research, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582 (Japan); Kuribayashi, Sachio, E-mail: skuribay@a5.keio.jp [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582 (Japan)

    2012-12-15

    Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of adaptive iterative dose reduction (AIDR) and AIDR 3D in improving the image quality in low-dose chest CT (LDCT). Materials and methods: Fifty patients underwent standard-dose chest CT (SDCT) and LDCT simultaneously, performed under automatic exposure control with noise index of 19 and 38 (for a 2-mm slice thickness), respectively. The SDCT images were reconstructed with filtered back projection (SDCT-FBP images), and the LDCT images with FBP, AIDR and AIDR 3D (LDCT-FBP, LDCT-AIDR and LDCT-AIDR 3D images, respectively). On all the 200 lung and 200 mediastinal image series, objective image noise and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were measured in several regions, and two blinded radiologists independently assessed the subjective image quality. Wilcoxon's signed rank sum test with Bonferroni's correction was used for the statistical analyses. Results: The mean dose reduction in LDCT was 64.2% as compared with the dose in SDCT. LDCT-AIDR 3D images showed significantly reduced objective noise and significantly increased SNR in all regions as compared to the SDCT-FBP, LDCT-FBP and LDCT-AIDR images (all, P ≤ 0.003). In all assessments of the image quality, LDCT-AIDR 3D images were superior to LDCT-AIDR and LDCT-FBP images. The overall diagnostic acceptability of both the lung and mediastinal LDCT-AIDR 3D images was comparable to that of the lung and mediastinal SDCT-FBP images. Conclusions: AIDR 3D is superior to AIDR. Intra-individual comparisons between SDCT and LDCT suggest that AIDR 3D allows a 64.2% reduction of the radiation dose as compared to SDCT, by substantially reducing the objective image noise and increasing the SNR, while maintaining the overall diagnostic acceptability.

  2. Spatial noise in staring IR focal plane arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scribner, D.A.; Kruer, M.R.; Sarkady, K.; Gridley, J.C.

    1988-01-01

    Problems with nonuniformity correction algorithms due to nonlinear pixel response and 1/f noise have been shown previously to cause spatial noise which can be significantly greater than temporal noise. The residual spatial noise after correction cannot be reduced with time averaging. Because of spatial noise the sensitivity of staring FPA sensors is often less than predicted on the basis of the temporal noise of the individual elements. A review is given of methods for measuring and analyzing spatial noise (after nonuniformity correction) in staring infrared focal plane arrays. Automated measurement techniques are described briefly, including necessary equipment and data reduction procedures. An example of spatial noise measurements is given using a staring InSb Charge Injection Device (CID) array

  3. Investigation and reduction of excess low-frequency noise in rf superconducting quantum interference devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueck, M.; Heiden, C.; Clarke, J.

    1994-01-01

    A detailed study has been made of the low-frequency excess noise of rf superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), fabricated from thin niobium films and operated at 4.2 K, with rf bias frequencies of 0.15, 1.7, and 3 GHz. When the SQUIDs were operated in an open-loop configuration in the absence of low-frequency flux modulation, the demodulated rf voltage exhibited a substantial level 1/f noise, which was essentially independent of the rf bias frequency. As the rf bias frequency was increased, the crossover frequency at which the 1/f noise power was equal to the white noise power moved to higher frequencies, because of the reduction in white noise. On the other hand, when the SQUID was flux modulated at 50 kHz and operated in a flux locked loop, no 1/f noise was observed at frequencies above 0.5 Hz. A detailed description of how the combination of rf bias and flux modulation removes 1/f noise due to critical current fluctuations is given. Thus, the results demonstrate that the 1/f noise observed in these SQUIDs is generated by critical current fluctuations, rather than by the hopping of flux vortices in the niobium films

  4. Noise Reduction with Optimal Variable Span Linear Filters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, the problem of noise reduction is addressed as a linear filtering problem in a novel way by using concepts from subspace-based enhancement methods, resulting in variable span linear filters. This is done by forming the filter coefficients as linear combinations of a number...... included in forming the filter. Using these concepts, a number of different filter designs are considered, like minimum distortion, Wiener, maximum SNR, and tradeoff filters. Interestingly, all these can be expressed as special cases of variable span filters. We also derive expressions for the speech...... demonstrate the advantages and properties of the variable span filter designs, and their potential performance gain compared to widely used speech enhancement methods....

  5. Application of the neutron noise analysis technique in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lescano, Victor H.; Wentzeis, Luis M.

    1999-01-01

    Using the neutron noise analysis in nuclear power plants, and without producing any perturbation in the normal operation of the plant, information of the vibration state of the reactor internals and the behavior of the operating conditions of the reactor primary circuit can be obtained. In Argentina, the neutron noise analysis technique is applied in customary way in the nuclear power plants Atucha I and Embalse. A database was constructed and vibration frequencies corresponding to different reactor internals were characterized. Reactor internals with particular mechanical vibrations have been detected and localized. In the framing of a cooperation project between Argentina and Germany, we participated in the measurements, analysis and modelisation, using the neutron noise technique, in the Obrigheim and Gundremmingen nuclear power plants. In the nuclear power plant Obrigheim (PWR, 350 M We), correlations between the signals measured from self-power neutron detectors and accelerometers located inside the reactor core, were made. In the nuclear power plant Gundremmingen (BWR, 1200 M We) we participated in the study of a particular mechanical vibration detected in one of the instrumentation tube. (author)

  6. Instrument Variables for Reducing Noise in Parallel MRI Reconstruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuchou Chang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition (GRAPPA has been a widely used parallel MRI technique. However, noise deteriorates the reconstructed image when reduction factor increases or even at low reduction factor for some noisy datasets. Noise, initially generated from scanner, propagates noise-related errors during fitting and interpolation procedures of GRAPPA to distort the final reconstructed image quality. The basic idea we proposed to improve GRAPPA is to remove noise from a system identification perspective. In this paper, we first analyze the GRAPPA noise problem from a noisy input-output system perspective; then, a new framework based on errors-in-variables (EIV model is developed for analyzing noise generation mechanism in GRAPPA and designing a concrete method—instrument variables (IV GRAPPA to remove noise. The proposed EIV framework provides possibilities that noiseless GRAPPA reconstruction could be achieved by existing methods that solve EIV problem other than IV method. Experimental results show that the proposed reconstruction algorithm can better remove the noise compared to the conventional GRAPPA, as validated with both of phantom and in vivo brain data.

  7. Process sensors characterization based on noise analysis technique and artificial intelligence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mesquita, Roberto N. de; Perillo, Sergio R.P.; Santos, Roberto C. dos

    2005-01-01

    The time response of pressure and temperature sensors from the Reactor Protection System (RPS) is a requirement that must be satisfied in nuclear power plants, furthermore is an indicative of its degradation and its remaining life. The nuclear power industry and others have been eager to implement smart sensor technologies and digital instrumentation concepts to reduce manpower and effort currently spent on testing and calibration. Process parameters fluctuations during normal operation of a reactor are caused by random variations in neutron flux, heat transfer and other sources. The output sensor noise can be considered as the response of the system to an input representing the statistical nature of the underlying process which can be modeled using a time series model. Since the noise signal measurements are influenced by many factors, such as location of sensors, extraneous noise interference, and randomness in temperature and pressure fluctuation - the quantitative estimate of the time response using autoregressive noise modeling is subject to error. This technique has been used as means of sensor monitoring. In this work a set of pressure sensors installed in one experimental loop adapted from a flow calibration setup is used to test and analyze signals in a new approach using artificial intelligence techniques. A set of measurements of dynamic signals in different experimental conditions is used to distinguish and identify underlying process sources. A methodology that uses Blind Separation of Sources with a neural networks scheme is being developed to improve time response estimate reliability in noise analysis. (author)

  8. Process sensors characterization based on noise analysis technique and artificial intelligence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mesquita, Roberto N. de; Perillo, Sergio R.P.; Santos, Roberto C. dos [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)]. E-mail: rnavarro@ipen.br; sperillo@ipen.br; rcsantos@ipen.br

    2005-07-01

    The time response of pressure and temperature sensors from the Reactor Protection System (RPS) is a requirement that must be satisfied in nuclear power plants, furthermore is an indicative of its degradation and its remaining life. The nuclear power industry and others have been eager to implement smart sensor technologies and digital instrumentation concepts to reduce manpower and effort currently spent on testing and calibration. Process parameters fluctuations during normal operation of a reactor are caused by random variations in neutron flux, heat transfer and other sources. The output sensor noise can be considered as the response of the system to an input representing the statistical nature of the underlying process which can be modeled using a time series model. Since the noise signal measurements are influenced by many factors, such as location of sensors, extraneous noise interference, and randomness in temperature and pressure fluctuation - the quantitative estimate of the time response using autoregressive noise modeling is subject to error. This technique has been used as means of sensor monitoring. In this work a set of pressure sensors installed in one experimental loop adapted from a flow calibration setup is used to test and analyze signals in a new approach using artificial intelligence techniques. A set of measurements of dynamic signals in different experimental conditions is used to distinguish and identify underlying process sources. A methodology that uses Blind Separation of Sources with a neural networks scheme is being developed to improve time response estimate reliability in noise analysis. (author)

  9. A Noise Reduction Method for Dual-Mass Micro-Electromechanical Gyroscopes Based on Sample Entropy Empirical Mode Decomposition and Time-Frequency Peak Filtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Chong; Li, Jie; Zhang, Xiaoming; Shi, Yunbo; Tang, Jun; Cao, Huiliang; Liu, Jun

    2016-05-31

    The different noise components in a dual-mass micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope structure is analyzed in this paper, including mechanical-thermal noise (MTN), electronic-thermal noise (ETN), flicker noise (FN) and Coriolis signal in-phase noise (IPN). The structure equivalent electronic model is established, and an improved white Gaussian noise reduction method for dual-mass MEMS gyroscopes is proposed which is based on sample entropy empirical mode decomposition (SEEMD) and time-frequency peak filtering (TFPF). There is a contradiction in TFPS, i.e., selecting a short window length may lead to good preservation of signal amplitude but bad random noise reduction, whereas selecting a long window length may lead to serious attenuation of the signal amplitude but effective random noise reduction. In order to achieve a good tradeoff between valid signal amplitude preservation and random noise reduction, SEEMD is adopted to improve TFPF. Firstly, the original signal is decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) by EMD, and the SE of each IMF is calculated in order to classify the numerous IMFs into three different components; then short window TFPF is employed for low frequency component of IMFs, and long window TFPF is employed for high frequency component of IMFs, and the noise component of IMFs is wiped off directly; at last the final signal is obtained after reconstruction. Rotation experimental and temperature experimental are carried out to verify the proposed SEEMD-TFPF algorithm, the verification and comparison results show that the de-noising performance of SEEMD-TFPF is better than that achievable with the traditional wavelet, Kalman filter and fixed window length TFPF methods.

  10. A Noise Reduction Method for Dual-Mass Micro-Electromechanical Gyroscopes Based on Sample Entropy Empirical Mode Decomposition and Time-Frequency Peak Filtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chong Shen

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The different noise components in a dual-mass micro-electromechanical system (MEMS gyroscope structure is analyzed in this paper, including mechanical-thermal noise (MTN, electronic-thermal noise (ETN, flicker noise (FN and Coriolis signal in-phase noise (IPN. The structure equivalent electronic model is established, and an improved white Gaussian noise reduction method for dual-mass MEMS gyroscopes is proposed which is based on sample entropy empirical mode decomposition (SEEMD and time-frequency peak filtering (TFPF. There is a contradiction in TFPS, i.e., selecting a short window length may lead to good preservation of signal amplitude but bad random noise reduction, whereas selecting a long window length may lead to serious attenuation of the signal amplitude but effective random noise reduction. In order to achieve a good tradeoff between valid signal amplitude preservation and random noise reduction, SEEMD is adopted to improve TFPF. Firstly, the original signal is decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs by EMD, and the SE of each IMF is calculated in order to classify the numerous IMFs into three different components; then short window TFPF is employed for low frequency component of IMFs, and long window TFPF is employed for high frequency component of IMFs, and the noise component of IMFs is wiped off directly; at last the final signal is obtained after reconstruction. Rotation experimental and temperature experimental are carried out to verify the proposed SEEMD-TFPF algorithm, the verification and comparison results show that the de-noising performance of SEEMD-TFPF is better than that achievable with the traditional wavelet, Kalman filter and fixed window length TFPF methods.

  11. The effect of oblique angle of sound incidence, realistic edge conditions, curvature and in-plane panel stresses on the noise reduction characteristics of general aviation type panels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grosveld, F.; Lameris, J.; Dunn, D.

    1979-01-01

    Experiments and a theoretical analysis were conducted to predict the noise reduction of inclined and curved panels. These predictions are compared to the experimental results with reasonable agreement between theory and experiment for panels under an oblique angle of sound incidence. Theoretical as well as experimental results indicate a big increase in noise reduction when a flat test panel is curved. Further curving the panel slightly decreases the noise reduction. Riveted flat panels are shown to give a higher noise reduction in the stiffness-controlled frequency region, while bonded panels are superior in this region when the test panel is curved. Experimentally measured noise reduction characteristics of flat aluminum panels with uniaxial in-plane stresses are presented and discussed. These test results indicate an important improvement in the noise reduction of these panels in the frequency range below the fundamental panel/cavity frequency.

  12. Possibilities to employ noise analysis techniques in controlling nuclear power stations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alfonso Pallares, C.; Iglesias Ferrer, R.; Sarabia Molina, I.

    1998-01-01

    This work shows basic requirements the authors think must be complied with by monitoring systems for operational surveillance based on noise analysis techniques that in turn can be employed in the regulatory control

  13. Mobility and Noise Pollution. Noise-reduction Traditional Strategies and Green Mobility Ones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carmela Gargiulo

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The urbanized territories are quite complex environments in many ways, whose management requires, on the one hand, adequate skills to mediate among the different needs, often conflicting, and on the other hand a clear idea of the target to hit.One of these aspects is the need to ensure mobility in urban areas and, simultaneously, reduce noise levels below the values   that are compatible with the well-being of citizens.There are several sources of noise in an urban context  such as vehicle and rail traffic, the fixed sound sources due to craft and trade activities, as well as to equipment for buildings, to human activities related to recreation and tourism.It must be emphasized, however, that not all noise content has a negative value but there are noise sources such as the noise produced by the local markets and/or that produced by craft activities with historical value, the noise, or rather, the sounds perceived in public parks, town centres and/or areas on the sea which, on the contrary, have a positive value.They represent, in fact, the set of sounds that contribute to the perception of the “soundscape” of an area, which are to be preserved as they are not only appreciated but also sought after by citizens.The noise generated by vehicle traffic, however, while not disregarding the contribution to noise pollution produced by other infrastructure for mobility in urban area, represents one of the major contributor to the noise levels recorded in urban areas, disturbing, firstly, people exposed to it and, secondly, masking the perception of pleasant sounds by altering the “soundscape” of the area.In this context, strategies and interventions to reduce noise caused by road traffic, both the traditional ones (regulations on vehicles, circulation, road, city planning and the new ones related to green mobility, have a twofold purpose as they not only reduce the amount of noise generated by road traffic, but at the same time, help to bring

  14. Signal-to-noise ratio analysis and evaluation of the Hadamard imaging technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jobson, D. J.; Katzberg, S. J.; Spiers, R. B., Jr.

    1977-01-01

    The signal-to-noise ratio performance of the Hadamard imaging technique is analyzed and an experimental evaluation of a laboratory Hadamard imager is presented. A comparison between the performances of Hadamard and conventional imaging techniques shows that the Hadamard technique is superior only when the imaging objective lens is required to have an effective F (focus) number of about 2 or slower.

  15. On the dynamics of the preference-performance relation for hearing aid noise reduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fischer, Rosa-Linde; Wagener, Kirsten C.; Vormann, Matthias

    on the data collected during the first laboratory assessment of the study. In particular, the influence of hearing aid experience and individual noise sensitivity on the preference-performance relation will be presented and discussed. REFERENCES S. Getzmann, E. Wascher and M. Falkenstein (2015). "What does......Previous research has shown that hearing aid users can differ substantially in their preference for noise reduction (NR) strength, and that preference for and speech recognition with NR processing typically are not correlated (e.g. Neher 2014; Serman et al. 2016). In other words, hearing aid users...... may prefer a certain NR setting, but perform better with a different one. The aim of the present work was to investigate the influence of individual noise sensitivity, hearing aid experience and acclimatization on the preference-performance relation for different NR settings. For this purpose...

  16. How much noise reduction at airports?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lijesen, M.G.; van der Straaten, J.W.; Dekkers, J.E.C.; van Elk, R.; Blokdijk, J.

    2010-01-01

    Airport noise nuisance is a negative externality especially when it occurring near urban areas. Like all externalities, noise nuisance may be a reason for government intervention. When intervening, governments should set quantitative policy targets with care. In practice, this issue is generally

  17. Musical noise reduction using an adaptive filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanada, Takeshi; Murakami, Takahiro; Ishida, Yoshihisa; Hoya, Tetsuya

    2003-10-01

    This paper presents a method for reducing a particular noise (musical noise). The musical noise is artificially produced by Spectral Subtraction (SS), which is one of the most conventional methods for speech enhancement. The musical noise is the tin-like sound and annoying in human auditory. We know that the duration of the musical noise is considerably short in comparison with that of speech, and that the frequency components of the musical noise are random and isolated. In the ordinary SS-based methods, the musical noise is removed by the post-processing. However, the output of the ordinary post-processing is delayed since the post-processing uses the succeeding frames. In order to improve this problem, we propose a novel method using an adaptive filter. In the proposed system, the observed noisy signal is used as the input signal to the adaptive filter and the output of SS is used as the reference signal. In this paper we exploit the normalized LMS (Least Mean Square) algorithm for the adaptive filter. Simulation results show that the proposed method has improved the intelligibility of the enhanced speech in comparison with the conventional method.

  18. Recent technologies for reduction of aircraft propulsion noise. Kokuki engine soon teigenka no saikin no gijutsu shinpo ni tsuite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kobayashi, H [National Aerospace Lab., Chofu, Tokyo (Japan)

    1994-03-10

    Inside the jet engine, the propulsion engine for an aircraft, a high speed air current is flowing, and the rotors such as the fan, compress or, turbine and so forth are rotating with a high speed in its flowing current. The flow itself in which a high speed exhaust jet is discharged in the air from engine exhaust port, and the aerodynamic noise generated by an interaction of the flow with the material bodies are the main noise sources of the aircraft engine. Because the supersonic planes are necessary to fly with mach number 2 - 3 during cruising, the turbojet engine with a large jet exhaust speed or the low bypass ratio turbofan engine is selected. Since a noise reduction by reducing the jet exhaust speed, which was an effective measure for the high subsonic speed passenger plane, can not be applied, a reduction of the supersonic jet noise, which is hard to be reduced, becomes a necessity. In addition, in recent years, a research and development of the advanced turbo prop (ATP) aircraft with a further higher thrust efficiency are advanced as well. The aerodynamical noise reduction technologies of these engines for supersonic airplanes are summarized. 14 refs., 11 figs., 1 tab.

  19. Signal-to-noise ratio enhancement on SEM images using a cubic spline interpolation with Savitzky-Golay filters and weighted least squares error.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiani, M A; Sim, K S; Nia, M E; Tso, C P

    2015-05-01

    A new technique based on cubic spline interpolation with Savitzky-Golay smoothing using weighted least squares error filter is enhanced for scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. A diversity of sample images is captured and the performance is found to be better when compared with the moving average and the standard median filters, with respect to eliminating noise. This technique can be implemented efficiently on real-time SEM images, with all mandatory data for processing obtained from a single image. Noise in images, and particularly in SEM images, are undesirable. A new noise reduction technique, based on cubic spline interpolation with Savitzky-Golay and weighted least squares error method, is developed. We apply the combined technique to single image signal-to-noise ratio estimation and noise reduction for SEM imaging system. This autocorrelation-based technique requires image details to be correlated over a few pixels, whereas the noise is assumed to be uncorrelated from pixel to pixel. The noise component is derived from the difference between the image autocorrelation at zero offset, and the estimation of the corresponding original autocorrelation. In the few test cases involving different images, the efficiency of the developed noise reduction filter is proved to be significantly better than those obtained from the other methods. Noise can be reduced efficiently with appropriate choice of scan rate from real-time SEM images, without generating corruption or increasing scanning time. © 2015 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2015 Royal Microscopical Society.

  20. Reduction of environmental MHz noise for SQUID application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araya, T. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan)]. E-mail: araya@sup.ee.es.osaka-u.ac.jp; Kitamura, Y. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan); Kamishiro, M. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan); Sakuta, K. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan); Itozaki, H. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan)]. E-mail: itozaki@ee.es.osaka-u.ac.jp

    2006-10-01

    It is important to remove large environmental noise in measurement using SQUIDs without magnetic shielding. Active noise control (ANC) is an effective method to remove the environmental noise. The environmental noise has been reduced by the ANC system in the radio frequency region around MHz. The anti-phase waves of the environmental noise should be generated by this system. The ANC system including the phase and amplitude control circuit was developed to make the anti-phase waves in the MHz region. In this paper, sinusoidal waves with a MHz frequency were used as the environmental noise. When a coil antenna was used for a receiver antenna, this ANC system suppressed these sinusoidal waves to the white noise level about 40 dB. When we used a SQUID as a receiver antenna, we also cancelled sinusoidal waves to the white noise level by this system. This shows that the ANC system is useful to reduce an environmental noise when this ANC system is developed to cancel multi-frequency noise.

  1. Reduction of environmental MHz noise for SQUID application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Araya, T.; Kitamura, Y.; Kamishiro, M.; Sakuta, K.; Itozaki, H.

    2006-01-01

    It is important to remove large environmental noise in measurement using SQUIDs without magnetic shielding. Active noise control (ANC) is an effective method to remove the environmental noise. The environmental noise has been reduced by the ANC system in the radio frequency region around MHz. The anti-phase waves of the environmental noise should be generated by this system. The ANC system including the phase and amplitude control circuit was developed to make the anti-phase waves in the MHz region. In this paper, sinusoidal waves with a MHz frequency were used as the environmental noise. When a coil antenna was used for a receiver antenna, this ANC system suppressed these sinusoidal waves to the white noise level about 40 dB. When we used a SQUID as a receiver antenna, we also cancelled sinusoidal waves to the white noise level by this system. This shows that the ANC system is useful to reduce an environmental noise when this ANC system is developed to cancel multi-frequency noise

  2. Adaptive non-local means on local principle neighborhood for noise/artifacts reduction in low-dose CT images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yuanke; Lu, Hongbing; Rong, Junyan; Meng, Jing; Shang, Junliang; Ren, Pinghong; Zhang, Junying

    2017-09-01

    Low-dose CT (LDCT) technique can reduce the x-ray radiation exposure to patients at the cost of degraded images with severe noise and artifacts. Non-local means (NLM) filtering has shown its potential in improving LDCT image quality. However, currently most NLM-based approaches employ a weighted average operation directly on all neighbor pixels with a fixed filtering parameter throughout the NLM filtering process, ignoring the non-stationary noise nature of LDCT images. In this paper, an adaptive NLM filtering scheme on local principle neighborhoods (PC-NLM) is proposed for structure-preserving noise/artifacts reduction in LDCT images. Instead of using neighboring patches directly, in the PC-NLM scheme, the principle component analysis (PCA) is first applied on local neighboring patches of the target patch to decompose the local patches into uncorrelated principle components (PCs), then a NLM filtering is used to regularize each PC of the target patch and finally the regularized components is transformed to get the target patch in image domain. Especially, in the NLM scheme, the filtering parameter is estimated adaptively from local noise level of the neighborhood as well as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the corresponding PC, which guarantees a "weaker" NLM filtering on PCs with higher SNR and a "stronger" filtering on PCs with lower SNR. The PC-NLM procedure is iteratively performed several times for better removal of the noise and artifacts, and an adaptive iteration strategy is developed to reduce the computational load by determining whether a patch should be processed or not in next round of the PC-NLM filtering. The effectiveness of the presented PC-NLM algorithm is validated by experimental phantom studies and clinical studies. The results show that it can achieve promising gain over some state-of-the-art methods in terms of artifact suppression and structure preservation. With the use of PCA on local neighborhoods to extract principal structural

  3. Optimization of actuator arrays for aircraft interior noise control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabell, R. H.; Lester, H. C.; Mathur, G. P.; Tran, B. N.

    1993-01-01

    A numerical procedure for grouping actuators in order to reduce the number of degrees of freedom in an active noise control system is evaluated using experimental data. Piezoceramic actuators for reducing aircraft interior noise are arranged into groups using a nonlinear optimization routine and clustering algorithm. An actuator group is created when two or more actuators are driven with the same control input. This procedure is suitable for active control applications where actuators are already mounted on a structure. The feasibility of this technique is demonstrated using measured data from the aft cabin of a Douglas DC-9 fuselage. The measured data include transfer functions between 34 piezoceramic actuators and 29 interior microphones and microphone responses due to the primary noise produced by external speakers. Control inputs for the grouped actuators were calculated so that a cost function, defined as a quadratic pressure term and a penalty term, was a minimum. The measured transfer functions and microphone responses are checked by comparing calculated noise reductions with measured noise reductions for four frequencies. The grouping procedure is then used to determine actuator groups that improve overall interior noise reductions by 5.3 to 15 dB, compared to the baseline experimental configuration.

  4. Judgments of aircraft noise in a traffic noise background

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, C. A.; Rice, C. G.

    1975-01-01

    An investigation was conducted to determine subjective response to aircraft noise in different road traffic backgrounds. In addition, two laboratory techniques for presenting the aircraft noise with the background noise were evaluated. For one technique, the background noise was continuous over an entire test session; for the other, the background noise level was changed with each aircraft noise during a session. Subjective response to aircraft noise was found to decrease with increasing background noise level, for a range of typical indoor noise levels. Subjective response was found to be highly correlated with the Noise Pollution Level (NPL) measurement scale.

  5. Design of a Low-Power VLSI Macrocell for Nonlinear Adaptive Video Noise Reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Saponara

    2004-09-01

    Full Text Available A VLSI macrocell for edge-preserving video noise reduction is proposed in the paper. It is based on a nonlinear rational filter enhanced by a noise estimator for blind and dynamic adaptation of the filtering parameters to the input signal statistics. The VLSI filter features a modular architecture allowing the extension of both mask size and filtering directions. Both spatial and spatiotemporal algorithms are supported. Simulation results with monochrome test videos prove its efficiency for many noise distributions with PSNR improvements up to 3.8 dB with respect to a nonadaptive solution. The VLSI macrocell has been realized in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology using a standard-cells library; it allows for real-time processing of main video formats, up to 30 fps (frames per second 4CIF, with a power consumption in the order of few mW.

  6. Electronic noise in CT detectors: Impact on image noise and artifacts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, Xinhui; Wang, Jia; Leng, Shuai; Schmidt, Bernhard; Allmendinger, Thomas; Grant, Katharine; Flohr, Thomas; McCollough, Cynthia H

    2013-10-01

    The objective of our study was to evaluate in phantoms the differences in CT image noise and artifact level between two types of commercial CT detectors: one with distributed electronics (conventional) and one with integrated electronics intended to decrease system electronic noise. Cylindric water phantoms of 20, 30, and 40 cm in diameter were scanned using two CT scanners, one equipped with integrated detector electronics and one with distributed detector electronics. All other scanning parameters were identical. Scans were acquired at four tube potentials and 10 tube currents. Semianthropomorphic phantoms were scanned to mimic the shoulder and abdominal regions. Images of two patients were also selected to show the clinical values of the integrated detector. Reduction of image noise with the integrated detector depended on phantom size, tube potential, and tube current. Scans that had low detected signal had the greatest reductions in noise, up to 40% for a 30-cm phantom scanned using 80 kV. This noise reduction translated into up to 50% in dose reduction to achieve equivalent image noise. Streak artifacts through regions of high attenuation were reduced by up to 45% on scans obtained using the integrated detector. Patient images also showed superior image quality for the integrated detector. For the same applied radiation level, the use of integrated electronics in a CT detector showed a substantially reduced level of electronic noise, resulting in reductions in image noise and artifacts, compared with detectors having distributed electronics.

  7. Prediction and reduction of aircraft noise in outdoor environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Bao N.

    This dissertation investigates the noise due to an en-route aircraft cruising at high altitudes. It offers an improved understanding into the combined effects of atmospheric propagation, ground reflection, and source motion on the impact of en-route aircraft noise. A numerical model has been developed to compute pressure time-histories due to a uniformly moving source above a flat ground surface in the presence of a horizontally stratified atmosphere. For a moving source at high elevations, contributions from a direct and specularly reflected wave are sufficient in predicting the sound field close to the ground. In the absence of wind effects, the predicted sound field from a single overhead flight trajectory can be used to interpolate pressure time histories at all other receiver locations via a simplified ray model for the incoherent sound field. This approach provides an efficient method for generating pressure time histories in a three-dimensional space for noise impact studies. A variety of different noise propagation methods are adapted to a uniformly moving source to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of their predictions. The techniques include: analytical methods, the Fast Field Program (FFP), and asymptotic analysis methods (e.g., ray tracing and more advanced formulations). Source motion effects are introduced via either a retarded time analysis or a Lorentz transform approach depending on the complexity of the problem. The noise spectrum from a single emission frequency, moving source has broadband characteristics. This is a consequence of the Doppler shift which continuously modifies the perceived frequency of the source as it moves relative to a stationary observer on the ground. Thus, the instantaneous wavefronts must be considered in both the frequency dependent ground impedance model and the atmospheric absorption model. It can be shown that the Doppler factor is invariant along each ray path. This gives rise to a path dependent atmospheric

  8. Application of the fourier and wavelet transforms in noise reduction of the out of the ordinary data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tafreshi, M. A.; Sadeghi, Y.

    2006-01-01

    In this article the noise reduction of the experimental data by the Fourier and the wavelet transforms has been investigated. Using both simulated and experimental data (from the plasma focus facility, Dena), the sensitive features of the application of the Fourier transform are visualized and discussed. Then, the main idea of the wavelet transform and the results of the noise reduction with this transform are presented. Due to this investigation, for the cases such as the current derivative of the Dena facility, where the reliability of the Fourier transform can be doubtful, the wavelet transform can be considered as a more accurate alternative approach

  9. Fan interaction noise reduction using a wake generator: experiments and computational aeroacoustics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polacsek, C.; Desbois-Lavergne, F.

    2003-08-01

    A control grid (wake generator) aimed at reducing rotor-stator interaction modes in fan engines when mounted upstream of the rotor has been studied here. This device complements other active noise control systems currently proposed. The compressor model of the instrumented ONERA CERF-rig is used to simulate suitable conditions. The design of the grid is drafted out using semi-empirical models for wake and potential flow, and experimentally achieved. Cylindrical rods are able to generate a spinning mode of the same order and similar level as the interaction mode. Mounting the rods on a rotating ring allows for adjusting the phase of the control mode so that an 8 dB sound pressure level (SPL) reduction at the blade passing frequency is achieved when the two modes are out of phase. Experimental results are assessed by a numerical approach using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes 2-D solver, developed at ONERA, is used to provide the unsteady force components on blades and vanes required for acoustics. The loading noise source term of the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings equation is used to model the interaction noise between the sources, and an original coupling to a boundary element method (BEM) code is realized to take account of the inlet geometry effects on acoustic in-duct propagation. Calculations using the classical analytical the Green function of an infinite annular duct are also addressed. Simple formulations written in the frequency domain and expanded into modes are addressed and used to compute an in-duct interaction mode and to compare with the noise reduction obtained during the tests. A fairly good agreement between predicted and measured SPL is found when the inlet geometry effects are part of the solution (by coupling with the BEM). Furthermore, computed aerodynamic penalties due to the rods are found to be negligible. These results partly validate the computation chain and highlight the potential of the wake generator

  10. Implementation of the neutron noise technique under the UBERA-6 project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomez, Angel; Bellino, Pablo A.

    2009-01-01

    Using the neutron noise technique, kinetics parameters estimations and power calibration were performed in the new core of the RA-6 reactor. These activities were carried on under the nuclear start-up of the UBERA-6 project, which consist in the change of core and power increase of the reactor. In a first stage, in joint with the power estimation, the decay constant of the prompt neutrons (α c ) was estimated. Its value was found to agree with the calculations obtained from neutron codes. Lately, in the high power stage, estimators of the calibration factors for the 16 N detection device were obtained. A thorough analysis of the linearity of the instrumentation used was done, and an alternative methodology was applied in order to estimate the aforementioned factor. The calibration factor obtained by the neutron noise technique was in agreement with the one obtained by thermal balance. (author)

  11. Evaluation of substitution monopole models for tire noise sound synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berckmans, D.; Kindt, P.; Sas, P.; Desmet, W.

    2010-01-01

    Due to the considerable efforts in engine noise reduction, tire noise has become one of the major sources of passenger car noise nowadays and the demand for accurate prediction models is high. A rolling tire is therefore experimentally characterized by means of the substitution monopole technique, suiting a general sound synthesis approach with a focus on perceived sound quality. The running tire is substituted by a monopole distribution covering the static tire. All monopoles have mutual phase relationships and a well-defined volume velocity distribution which is derived by means of the airborne source quantification technique; i.e. by combining static transfer function measurements with operating indicator pressure measurements close to the rolling tire. Models with varying numbers/locations of monopoles are discussed and the application of different regularization techniques is evaluated.

  12. Wake Management Strategies for Reduction of Turbomachinery Fan Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waitz, Ian A.

    1998-01-01

    The primary objective of our work was to evaluate and test several wake management schemes for the reduction of turbomachinery fan noise. Throughout the course of this work we relied on several tools. These include 1) Two-dimensional steady boundary-layer and wake analyses using MISES (a thin-shear layer Navier-Stokes code), 2) Two-dimensional unsteady wake-stator interaction simulations using UNSFLO, 3) Three-dimensional, steady Navier-Stokes rotor simulations using NEWT, 4) Internal blade passage design using quasi-one-dimensional passage flow models developed at MIT, 5) Acoustic modeling using LINSUB, 6) Acoustic modeling using VO72, 7) Experiments in a low-speed cascade wind-tunnel, and 8) ADP fan rig tests in the MIT Blowdown Compressor.

  13. Optimal filter design for shielded and unshielded ambient noise reduction in fetal magnetocardiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Comani, S; Mantini, D; Alleva, G; Luzio, S Di; Romani, G L

    2005-01-01

    The greatest impediment to extracting high-quality fetal signals from fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) is environmental magnetic noise, which may have peak-to-peak intensity comparable to fetal QRS amplitude. Being an unstructured Gaussian signal with large disturbances at specific frequencies, ambient field noise can be reduced with hardware-based approaches and/or with software algorithms that digitally filter magnetocardiographic recordings. At present, no systematic evaluation of filters' performances on shielded and unshielded fMCG is available. We designed high-pass and low-pass Chebychev II-type filters with zero-phase and stable impulse response; the most commonly used band-pass filters were implemented combining high-pass and low-pass filters. The achieved ambient noise reduction in shielded and unshielded recordings was quantified, and the corresponding signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-distortion ratio (SDR) of the retrieved fetal signals was evaluated. The study regarded 66 fMCG datasets at different gestational ages (22-37 weeks). Since the spectral structures of shielded and unshielded magnetic noise were very similar, we concluded that the same filter setting might be applied to both conditions. Band-pass filters (1.0-100 Hz) and (2.0-100 Hz) provided the best combinations of fetal signal detection rates, SNR and SDR; however, the former should be preferred in the case of arrhythmic fetuses, which might present spectral components below 2 Hz

  14. In situ characterization of natural pyrite bioleaching using electrochemical noise technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Guo-bao; Yang, Hong-ying; Li, Hai-jun

    2016-02-01

    An in situ characterization technique called electrochemical noise (ECN) was used to investigate the bioleaching of natural pyrite. ECN experiments were conducted in four active systems (sulfuric acid, ferric-ion, 9k culture medium, and bioleaching solutions). The ECN data were analyzed in both the time and frequency domains. Spectral noise impedance spectra obtained from power spectral density (PSD) plots for different systems were compared. A reaction mechanism was also proposed on the basis of the experimental data analysis. The bioleaching system exhibits the lowest noise resistance of 0.101 MΩ. The bioleaching of natural pyrite is considered to be a bio-battery reaction, which distinguishes it from chemical oxidation reactions in ferric-ion and culture-medium (9k) solutions. The corrosion of pyrite becomes more severe over time after the long-term testing of bioleaching.

  15. Reward Pays the Cost of Noise Reduction in Motor and Cognitive Control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manohar, Sanjay G; Chong, Trevor T-J; Apps, Matthew A J; Batla, Amit; Stamelou, Maria; Jarman, Paul R; Bhatia, Kailash P; Husain, Masud

    2015-06-29

    Speed-accuracy trade-off is an intensively studied law governing almost all behavioral tasks across species. Here we show that motivation by reward breaks this law, by simultaneously invigorating movement and improving response precision. We devised a model to explain this paradoxical effect of reward by considering a new factor: the cost of control. Exerting control to improve response precision might itself come at a cost--a cost to attenuate a proportion of intrinsic neural noise. Applying a noise-reduction cost to optimal motor control predicted that reward can increase both velocity and accuracy. Similarly, application to decision-making predicted that reward reduces reaction times and errors in cognitive control. We used a novel saccadic distraction task to quantify the speed and accuracy of both movements and decisions under varying reward. Both faster speeds and smaller errors were observed with higher incentives, with the results best fitted by a model including a precision cost. Recent theories consider dopamine to be a key neuromodulator in mediating motivational effects of reward. We therefore examined how Parkinson's disease (PD), a condition associated with dopamine depletion, alters the effects of reward. Individuals with PD showed reduced reward sensitivity in their speed and accuracy, consistent in our model with higher noise-control costs. Including a cost of control over noise explains how reward may allow apparent performance limits to be surpassed. On this view, the pattern of reduced reward sensitivity in PD patients can specifically be accounted for by a higher cost for controlling noise. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  16. Noise Reduction Properties of an Experimental Bituminous Slurry with Crumb Rubber Incorporated by the Dry Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moisés Bueno

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, cold technology for asphalt pavement in the field of road construction is considered as an alternative solution to conventional procedures from both an economic and environmental point of view. Among these techniques, bituminous slurry surfacing is obtaining an important role due to the properties of the obtained wearing course. The functional performance of this type of surfaces is directly related to its rough texture. Nevertheless, this parameter has a significant influence on the tire/road noise generation. To reduce this undesirable effect on the sound performance, new designs of elastic bituminous slurries have been developed. Within the FENIX project, this work presents the acoustical characterization of an experimental bituminous slurry with crumb rubber from wasted automobile tires incorporated by the dry process. The obtained results show that, under controlled operational parameters, the close proximity sound levels associated to the experimental slurry are considerably lower than those emitted by a conventional slurry wearing course. However, after one year of supporting traffic loads and different weather conditions, the evaluated bituminous slurry, although it conserves the original noise reduction properties in relation to the conventional one, noticeably increases the generated sound emission. Therefore, it is required to continue improving the design of experimental surfaces in order to enhance its long-term performance.

  17. Noise reduction in muon tomography for detecting high density objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benettoni, M; Checchia, P; Cossutta, L; Furlan, M; Gonella, F; Pegoraro, M; Garola, A Rigoni; Ronchese, P; Vanini, S; Viesti, G; Bettella, G; Bonomi, G; Donzella, A; Subieta, M; Zenoni, A; Calvagno, G; Cortelazzo, G; Zanuttigh, P; Calvini, P; Squarcia, S

    2013-01-01

    The muon tomography technique, based on multiple Coulomb scattering of cosmic ray muons, has been proposed as a tool to detect the presence of high density objects inside closed volumes. In this paper a new and innovative method is presented to handle the density fluctuations (noise) of reconstructed images, a well known problem of this technique. The effectiveness of our method is evaluated using experimental data obtained with a muon tomography prototype located at the Legnaro National Laboratories (LNL) of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN). The results reported in this paper, obtained with real cosmic ray data, show that with appropriate image filtering and muon momentum classification, the muon tomography technique can detect high density materials, such as lead, albeit surrounded by light or medium density material, in short times. A comparison with algorithms published in literature is also presented

  18. A critical review of hearing-aid single-microphone noise-reduction studies in adults and children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chong, Foong Yen; Jenstad, Lorienne M

    2017-10-26

    Single-microphone noise reduction (SMNR) is implemented in hearing aids to suppress background noise. The purpose of this article was to provide a critical review of peer-reviewed studies in adults and children with sensorineural hearing loss who were fitted with hearing aids incorporating SMNR. Articles published between 2000 and 2016 were searched in PUBMED and EBSCO databases. Thirty-two articles were included in the final review. Most studies with adult participants showed that SMNR has no effect on speech intelligibility. Positive results were reported for acceptance of background noise, preference, and listening effort. Studies of school-aged children were consistent with the findings of adult studies. No study with infants or young children of under 5 years old was found. Recent studies on noise-reduction systems not yet available in wearable hearing aids have documented benefits of noise reduction on memory for speech processing for older adults. This evidence supports the use of SMNR for adults and school-aged children when the aim is to improve listening comfort or reduce listening effort. Future research should test SMNR with infants and children who are younger than 5 years of age. Further development, testing, and clinical trials should be carried out on algorithms not yet available in wearable hearing aids. Testing higher cognitive level for speech processing and learning of novel sounds or words could show benefits of advanced signal processing features. These approaches should be expanded to other populations such as children and younger adults. Implications for rehabilitation The review provides a quick reference for students and clinicians regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of SMNR in wearable hearing aids. This information is useful during counseling session to build a realistic expectation among hearing aid users. Most studies in the adult population suggest that SMNR may provide some benefits to adult listeners in terms of listening

  19. Community noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bragdon, C. R.

    Airport and community land use planning as they relate to airport noise reduction are discussed. Legislation, community relations, and the physiological effect of airport noise are considered. Noise at the Logan, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis/St. Paul airports is discussed.

  20. Suppression of excess noise in Transition-Edge Sensors using magnetic field and geometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ullom, J.N.; Doriese, W.B.; Hilton, G.C.; Beall, J.A.; Deiker, S.; Irwin, K.D.; Reintsema, C.D.; Vale, L.R.; Xu, Y.

    2004-01-01

    We report recent progress at NIST on Mo/Cu Transition-Edge Sensors (TESs). While the signal-band noise of our sensors agrees with theory, we observe excess high-frequency noise. We describe this noise and demonstrate that it can be strongly suppressed by a magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the sensor. Both the excess noise and α=(T/R)(dR/dT) depend strongly on field so our results show that accurate comparisons between devices are only possible when the field is well known or constant. We also present results showing the noise performance of TES designs incorporating parallel and perpendicular normal metal bars, an array of normal metal islands, and in wedge-shaped devices. We demonstrate significant reduction of high-frequency noise with the perpendicular bar devices at the cost of reduced α. Both the bars and the magnetic field are useful noise reduction techniques for bolometers

  1. Impact of SNR, masker type and noise reduction processing on sentence recognition performance and listening effort as indicated by the pupil dilation response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ohlenforst, Barbara; Wendt, Dorothea; Kramer, Sophia E

    2018-01-01

    Recent studies have shown that activating the noise reduction scheme in hearing aids results in a smaller peak pupil dilation (PPD), indicating reduced listening effort, at 50% and 95% correct sentence recognition with a 4-talker masker. The objective of this study was to measure the effect...... of the noise reduction scheme (on or off) on PPD and sentence recognition across a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) from +16 dB to -12 dB and two masker types (4-talker and stationary noise). Relatively low PPDs were observed at very low (-12 dB) and very high (+16 dB to +8 dB) SNRs presumably due...... to 'giving up' and 'easy listening', respectively. The maximum PPD was observed with SNRs at approximately 50% correct sentence recognition. Sentence recognition with both masker types was significantly improved by the noise reduction scheme, which corresponds to the shift in performance from SNR function...

  2. Evaluating noise abatement measures using strategic noise maps

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Borst, H.C.; Miedema, H.M.E.; Laan, W.P.N. van der; Lohman, W.J.A.

    2006-01-01

    Noise annoyance due to transportation is widespread in industrialized countries and in urban areas in the developing countries. The European Noise Directive (END) requires an assessment of the noise situation as well as the formulation of action plans for the reduction of the number of people

  3. Full-Scale Turbofan Engine Noise-Source Separation Using a Four-Signal Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hultgren, Lennart S.; Arechiga, Rene O.

    2016-01-01

    Contributions from the combustor to the overall propulsion noise of civilian transport aircraft are starting to become important due to turbofan design trends and expected advances in mitigation of other noise sources. During on-ground, static-engine acoustic tests, combustor noise is generally sub-dominant to other engine noise sources because of the absence of in-flight effects. Consequently, noise-source separation techniques are needed to extract combustor-noise information from the total noise signature in order to further progress. A novel four-signal source-separation method is applied to data from a static, full-scale engine test and compared to previous methods. The new method is, in a sense, a combination of two- and three-signal techniques and represents an attempt to alleviate some of the weaknesses of each of those approaches. This work is supported by the NASA Advanced Air Vehicles Program, Advanced Air Transport Technology Project, Aircraft Noise Reduction Subproject and the NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship Program.

  4. The effect of hearing aid noise reduction on listening effort in hearing-impaired adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desjardins, Jamie L; Doherty, Karen A

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a noise-reduction (NR) algorithm on the listening effort hearing-impaired participants expend on a speech in noise task. Twelve hearing-impaired listeners fitted with behind-the-ear hearing aids with a fast-acting modulation-based NR algorithm participated in this study. A dual-task paradigm was used to measure listening effort with and without the NR enabled in the hearing aid. The primary task was a sentence-in-noise task presented at fixed overall speech performance levels of 76% (moderate listening condition) and 50% (difficult listening condition) correct performance, and the secondary task was a visual-tracking test. Participants also completed measures of working memory (Reading Span test), and processing speed (Digit Symbol Substitution Test) ability. Participants' speech recognition in noise scores did not significantly change with the NR algorithm activated in the hearing aid in either listening condition. The NR algorithm significantly decreased listening effort, but only in the more difficult listening condition. Last, there was a tendency for participants with faster processing speeds to expend less listening effort with the NR algorithm when listening to speech in background noise in the difficult listening condition. The NR algorithm reduced the listening effort adults with hearing loss must expend to understand speech in noise.

  5. Phonon squeezed states: quantum noise reduction in solids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Xuedong; Nori, Franco

    1999-03-01

    This article discusses quantum fluctuation properties of a crystal lattice, and in particular, phonon squeezed states. Squeezed states of phonons allow a reduction in the quantum fluctuations of the atomic displacements to below the zero-point quantum noise level of coherent phonon states. Here we discuss our studies of both continuous-wave and impulsive second-order Raman scattering mechanisms. The later approach was used to experimentally suppress (by one part in a million) fluctuations in phonons. We calculate the expectation values and fluctuations of both the atomic displacement and the lattice amplitude operators, as well as the effects of the phonon squeezed states on macroscopically measurable quantities, such as changes in the dielectric constant. These results are compared with recent experiments. Further information, including preprints and animations, are available in http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/∼nori/squeezed.html.

  6. Effects of a traffic noise background on judgements of aircraft noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, C. A.; Rice, C. G.

    1974-01-01

    A study was conducted in which subjects judged aircraft noises in the presence of road traffic background noise. Two different techniques for presenting the background noises were evaluated. For one technique, the background noise was continuous over the whole of a test session. For the other, the background noise was changed with each aircraft noise. A range of aircraft noise levels and traffic noise levels were presented to simulate typical indoor levels.

  7. Trends in magnetic resonance imaging. Technical trends in MRI, noise reduction and fast imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugimoto, Hiroshi

    2007-01-01

    At MRI examination, patients suffer the machine noise and long tight lying as well as an oppressive feeling. This paper describes the technological efforts against the former two. The noise is generated from the force (thumb-ward) to vibrate the magnetic field gradient coil according to the left-hand rule. Authors have developed a MRI machine (Pianissimo) where the coil is placed in vacuum and its actual noise level is found reduced from 105 - 112 to 84 dB(A) at 1.5T. Fast imaging to shorten the imaging time is attained by combination of parallel imaging where MR signals are into multiple high frequency receiver coils, and the usual pulse sequence imaging, which results in the increased encoding in a given time. Together with these, MR angiography and diffusion weighted imaging of abdomen for cancer examination are becoming popular as an additional MRI diagnosis, also acceptable to patients. Future progress of MRI machines conceivably accompanies the unavoidable noise increase and possibly significant magnetic effects on human body, and efforts for their reduction will be continued at patients' viewpoint. (T.I.)

  8. AGARD Flight Test Techniques Series. Volume 9. Aircraft Exterior Noise Measurement and Analysis Techniques. (Le Bruit a l’Exterieur des Aeronefs: Techniques de Mesure et d’Analyse)

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-04-01

    sugeseed to me to write ui AGARDograpit on A~rlmaft Noie Mms dsurnent Anallysis Techniques’. Being overjoyed, and quite honoured. I realdily agreed to his...Gelt& I )nd Delta 2 terms) Wb) Source Noise Correction - Jet Engine Noise ’) ielts 3 term) (c) Snor"e Noise Correction - Propeller Noise (Delta 3...printed out, since it is impractical to write these down by hand durilg th,. test). One track on each tape-recorder must be used to record a time code

  9. Aeroacoustic characteristics and noise reduction of a centrifugal fan for a vacuum cleaner

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jeon, Wan Ho; Rew, Ho Seon; Kim, Chang Joon [LG Electronics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2004-02-01

    The aeroacoustic characteristics of a centrifugal fan for a vacuum cleaner and its noise reduction method are studied in this paper. The major noise source of a vacuum cleaner is the centrifugal fan. The impeller of the fan rotates at over 30000 rpm, and generates very high-level noise. It was revealed that the dominant noise source is the aerodynamic interaction between the rotating impeller and stationary diffuser. The directivity of acoustic pressure showed that most of the noise propagates backward direction of the fan-motor assembly. In order to reduce the high tonal sound generated from the aerodynamic interaction, unevenly pitched impeller and diffuser, and tapered impeller designs were proposed and experiments were performed. Uneven pitch design of the impeller changes the sound quality while the overall Sound Power Level (SPL) and the performance remains similar. The effect of the tapered design of impeller was evaluated. The trailing edge of the tapered fan is inclined. This reduces the flow interaction between the rotating impeller and the stationary diffuser because of some phase shifts. The static efficiency of the new impeller design is slightly lower than the previous design. However, the overall SPL is reduced by about 4 dB(A). The SPL of the fundamental Blade Passing Frequency (BPF) is reduced by about 6 dB(A) and the 2{sup nd} BPF is reduced about 20 dB(A). The vacuum cleaner with the tapered impeller design produces lower noise level than the previous one, and the strong tonal sound was dramatically reduced.

  10. Aeroacoustic characteristics and noise reduction of a centrifugal fan for a vacuum cleaner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeon, Wan Ho; Rew, Ho Seon; Kim, Chang Joon

    2004-01-01

    The aeroacoustic characteristics of a centrifugal fan for a vacuum cleaner and its noise reduction method are studied in this paper. The major noise source of a vacuum cleaner is the centrifugal fan. The impeller of the fan rotates at over 30000 rpm, and generates very high-level noise. It was revealed that the dominant noise source is the aerodynamic interaction between the rotating impeller and stationary diffuser. The directivity of acoustic pressure showed that most of the noise propagates backward direction of the fan-motor assembly. In order to reduce the high tonal sound generated from the aerodynamic interaction, unevenly pitched impeller and diffuser, and tapered impeller designs were proposed and experiments were performed. Uneven pitch design of the impeller changes the sound quality while the overall Sound Power Level (SPL) and the performance remains similar. The effect of the tapered design of impeller was evaluated. The trailing edge of the tapered fan is inclined. This reduces the flow interaction between the rotating impeller and the stationary diffuser because of some phase shifts. The static efficiency of the new impeller design is slightly lower than the previous design. However, the overall SPL is reduced by about 4 dB(A). The SPL of the fundamental Blade Passing Frequency (BPF) is reduced by about 6 dB(A) and the 2 nd BPF is reduced about 20 dB(A). The vacuum cleaner with the tapered impeller design produces lower noise level than the previous one, and the strong tonal sound was dramatically reduced

  11. Reduction of background noise induced by wind tunnel jet exit vanes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, R. M.; Brooks, T. F.; Hoad, D. R.

    1985-01-01

    The NASA-Langley 4 x 7 m wind tunnel develops low frequency flow pulsations at certain velocity ranges during open throat mode operation, affecting the aerodynamics of the flow and degrading the resulting model test data. Triangular vanes attached to the trailing edge of flat steel rails, mounted 10 cm from the inside of the jet exit walls, have been used to reduce this effect; attention is presently given to methods used to reduce the inherent noise generation of the vanes while retaining their pulsation reduction features.

  12. Poisson-Gaussian Noise Reduction Using the Hidden Markov Model in Contourlet Domain for Fluorescence Microscopy Images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Sejung; Lee, Byung-Uk

    2015-01-01

    In certain image acquisitions processes, like in fluorescence microscopy or astronomy, only a limited number of photons can be collected due to various physical constraints. The resulting images suffer from signal dependent noise, which can be modeled as a Poisson distribution, and a low signal-to-noise ratio. However, the majority of research on noise reduction algorithms focuses on signal independent Gaussian noise. In this paper, we model noise as a combination of Poisson and Gaussian probability distributions to construct a more accurate model and adopt the contourlet transform which provides a sparse representation of the directional components in images. We also apply hidden Markov models with a framework that neatly describes the spatial and interscale dependencies which are the properties of transformation coefficients of natural images. In this paper, an effective denoising algorithm for Poisson-Gaussian noise is proposed using the contourlet transform, hidden Markov models and noise estimation in the transform domain. We supplement the algorithm by cycle spinning and Wiener filtering for further improvements. We finally show experimental results with simulations and fluorescence microscopy images which demonstrate the improved performance of the proposed approach. PMID:26352138

  13. A state of the art on electrochemical noise technique. Assessment of corrosion characteristics and development of remedial technology in nuclear materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Dong Jin; Kim, Joung Soo; Kim, Hong Pyo; Lim, Yun Soo; Yi, Yong Sun; Chung, Man Kyo

    2003-02-01

    The studies for the application of electrochemical noise technique were reviewed in terms of principle, analysing method and application examples of this technique. Because 4% of the economic damage of industry is caused by metallic corrosion, it is important to find and protect corrosive materials and location. By corrosion monitoring of industrial facilities such as nuclear power plant using Electrochemical Noise Measurement(ENM), corrosion attack can be detected and furthermore it can be indicated whether the attacked materials is replaced by new one or not. According to development of control and electronic technology, it was easy to apply ENM to the industry and the interest in ENM also increased. As corrosion is produced on a metal under corrosive environment, local anode(oxidation) and cathode(reduction) are formed. Hence, there is potential difference and current flow between the anode and cathode. ENM is monitoring the potential difference and the current flow with time by high impedance load voltmeter and Zero Resistance Ammeter(ZRA), respectively. The potential difference and current flow generated spontaneously without any application of current and potential between electrodes are monitored by electrochemical noise technique, Thereby ENM can be regarded as the most ideal corrosion monitoring method for the industrial facility and nuclear power plant having corrosion damage and difficulty in access of human body. Moreover, it is possible to obtain the spontaneous and reliable results from the metals damaged by ununiform and localized corrosion such as pitting and SCC using ENM while it is difficult to obtain the reliable result using traditional linear polarization and ac-impedance measurement. In many countries, there are extensive works concerned with application of electrochemical noise technique to corrosion monitoring of nuclear power plant and other industrial facilities, whereas there is little work on this field in Korea. Systematic study for

  14. Flap Side Edge Liners for Airframe Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Michael G. (Inventor); Khorrami, Mehdi R. (Inventor); Choudhari, Meelan M. (Inventor); Howerton, Brian M. (Inventor)

    2014-01-01

    One or more acoustic liners comprising internal chambers or passageways that absorb energy from a noise source on the aircraft are disclosed. The acoustic liners may be positioned at the ends of flaps of an aircraft wing to provide broadband noise absorption and/or dampen the noise producing unsteady flow features, and to reduce the amount of noise generated due to unsteady flow at the inboard and/or outboard end edges of a flap.

  15. The reduction of image noise and streak artifact in the thoracic inlet during low dose and ultra-low dose thoracic CT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paul, N S; Prezelj, E; Burey, P; Menezes, R J; Blobel, J; Ursani, A; Kashani, H; Siewerdsen, J H

    2010-01-01

    Increased pixel noise and streak artifact reduce CT image quality and limit the potential for radiation dose reduction during CT of the thoracic inlet. We propose to quantify the pixel noise of mediastinal structures in the thoracic inlet, during low-dose (LDCT) and ultralow-dose (uLDCT) thoracic CT, and assess the utility of new software (quantum denoising system and BOOST3D) in addressing these limitations. Twelve patients had LDCT (120 kV, 25 mAs) and uLDCT (120 kV, 10 mAs) images reconstructed initially using standard mediastinal and lung filters followed by the quantum denoising system (QDS) to reduce pixel noise and BOOST3D (B3D) software to correct photon starvation noise as follows: group 1 no QDS, no B3D; group 2 B3D alone; group 3 QDS alone and group 4 both QDS and B3D. Nine regions of interest (ROIs) were replicated on mediastinal anatomy in the thoracic inlet, for each patient resulting in 3456 data points to calculate pixel noise and attenuation. QDS reduced pixel noise by 18.4% (lung images) and 15.8% (mediastinal images) at 25 mAs. B3D reduced pixel noise by ∼8% in the posterior thorax and in combination there was a 35.5% reduction in effective radiation dose (E) for LDCT (1.63-1.05 mSv) in lung images and 32.2% (1.55-1.05 mSv) in mediastinal images. The same combination produced 20.7% reduction (0.53-0.42 mSv) in E for uLDCT, for lung images and 17.3% (0.51-0.42) for mediastinal images. This quantitative analysis of image quality confirms the utility of dedicated processing software in targeting image noise and streak artifact in thoracic LDCT and uLDCT images taken in the thoracic inlet. This processing software potentiates substantial reductions in radiation dose during thoracic LDCT and uLDCT.

  16. A noise-reduction program in a pediatric operation theatre is associated with surgeon's benefits and a reduced rate of complications: a prospective controlled clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engelmann, Carsten R; Neis, Jan Philipp; Kirschbaum, Clemens; Grote, Gudela; Ure, Benno M

    2014-05-01

    We assessed the impact of a noise-reduction program in a pediatric operating theatre. Adverse effects from noise pollution in theatres have been demonstrated. In 156 operations spatially resolved, sound levels were measured before and after a noise-reduction program on the basis of education, rules, and technical devices (Sound Ear). Surgical complications were recorded. The surgeon's biometric (saliva cortisol, electrodermal activity) and behavioral stress responses (questionnaires) were measured and correlated with mission protocols and individual noise sensitivity. Median noise levels in the control group versus the interventional group were reduced by -3 ± 3 dB(A) (63 vs 59 dB(A), P 0.05). Spontaneous noise during pediatric operations attains the magnitude of a lawn mower and peaks resemble a passing truck. The sound intensity could be reduced by 50% by specific measures. This reduction was associated with a significantly lowered number of postoperative complications. The surgeon's benefits are idiosyncratic with "responders" experiencing marked improvements.

  17. Enhancement of SAR images using fuzzy shrinkage technique

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    This paper presents speckle noise reduction in SAR images using a combination of curvelet and fuzzy logic technique to restore speckle-affected images. This method overcomes the limitation of discontinuity in hard threshold and permanent deviation in soft threshold. First, it decomposes noise image into different ...

  18. Foundations of Active Control - Active Noise Reduction Helmets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Elmkjær, Torsten Haaber Leth

    2008-01-01

    rate is increased which in turn most likely also will lead to an increased ANR bandwidth. The hybrid system is also constituted from a continuous-time feedback system (FBS) and a discrete-time FBS. The continuous-time FBS is primarily responsible for additional broadband noise reduction, whereas...... the discrete-time FBS primarily is responsible for the attenuation of periodic signals. Owing to the requirement on causal operation of a physical AC system time delays will also to a large extent determine the achievable performance in FFS design and in particular in FBS design. A quantity referred...... on a head and torso simulator (HATS), is exposed to diffuse sound field illumination. By applying the JCRSA method the spatially-weighted-averaged acquisition lead times provided by the reference sensors relative to the performance sensors are estimated to be as much as 800-900μs. The thesis also includes...

  19. Noise Reduction of Ocean-Bottom Pressure Data Toward Real-Time Tsunami Forecasting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsushima, H.; Hino, R.

    2008-12-01

    We discuss a method of noise reduction of ocean-bottom pressure data to be fed into the near-field tsunami forecasting scheme proposed by Tsushima et al. [2008a]. In their scheme, the pressure data is processed in real time as follows: (1) removing ocean tide components by subtracting the sea-level variation computed from a theoretical tide model, (2) applying low-pass digital filter to remove high-frequency fluctuation due to seismic waves, and (3) removing DC-offset and linear-trend component to determine a baseline of relative sea level. However, it turns out this simple method is not always successful in extracting tsunami waveforms from the data, when the observed amplitude is ~1cm. For disaster mitigation, accurate forecasting of small tsunamis is important as well as large tsunamis. Since small tsunami events occur frequently, successful tsunami forecasting of those events are critical to obtain public reliance upon tsunami warnings. As a test case, we applied the data-processing described above to the bottom pressure records containing tsunami with amplitude less than 1 cm which was generated by the 2003 Off-Fukushima earthquake occurring in the Japan Trench subduction zone. The observed pressure variation due to the ocean tide is well explained by the calculated tide signals from NAO99Jb model [Matsumoto et al., 2000]. However, the tide components estimated by BAYTAP-G [Tamura et al., 1991] from the pressure data is more appropriate for predicting and removing the ocean tide signals. In the pressure data after removing the tide variations, there remain pressure fluctuations with frequencies ranging from about 0.1 to 1 mHz and with amplitudes around ~10 cm. These fluctuations distort the estimation of zero-level and linear trend to define relative sea-level variation, which is treated as tsunami waveform in the subsequent analysis. Since the linear trend is estimated from the data prior to the origin time of the earthquake, an artificial linear trend is

  20. Aerodynamic Measurements of a Gulfstream Aircraft Model With and Without Noise Reduction Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuhart, Dan H.; Hannon, Judith A.; Khorrami, Mehdi R.

    2014-01-01

    Steady and unsteady aerodynamic measurements of a high-fidelity, semi-span 18% scale Gulfstream aircraft model are presented. The aerodynamic data were collected concurrently with acoustic measurements as part of a larger aeroacoustic study targeting airframe noise associated with main landing gear/flap components, gear-flap interaction noise, and the viability of related noise mitigation technologies. The aeroacoustic tests were conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel with the facility in the acoustically treated open-wall (jet) mode. Most of the measurements were obtained with the model in landing configuration with the flap deflected at 39º and the main landing gear on and off. Data were acquired at Mach numbers of 0.16, 0.20, and 0.24. Global forces (lift and drag) and extensive steady and unsteady surface pressure measurements were obtained. Comparison of the present results with those acquired during a previous test shows a significant reduction in the lift experienced by the model. The underlying cause was traced to the likely presence of a much thicker boundary layer on the tunnel floor, which was acoustically treated for the present test. The steady and unsteady pressure fields on the flap, particularly in the regions of predominant noise sources such as the inboard and outboard tips, remained unaffected. It is shown that the changes in lift and drag coefficients for model configurations fitted with gear/flap noise abatement technologies fall within the repeatability of the baseline configuration. Therefore, the noise abatement technologies evaluated in this experiment have no detrimental impact on the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft model.

  1. A wideband LNA employing gate-inductive-peaking and noise-canceling techniques in 0.18 μm CMOS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bao Kuan; Fan Xiangning; Li Wei; Zhang Li; Wang Zhigong

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents a wideband low noise amplifier (LNA) for multi-standard radio applications. The low noise characteristic is achieved by the noise-canceling technique while the bandwidth is enhanced by gate-inductive-peaking technique. High-frequency noise performance is consequently improved by the flattened gain over the entire operating frequency band. Fabricated in 0.18 μm CMOS process, the LNA achieves 2.5 GHz of −3 dB bandwidth and 16 dB of gain. The gain variation is within ±0.8 dB from 300 MHz to 2.2 GHz. The measured noise figure (NF) and average IIP3 are 3.4 dB and −2 dBm, respectively. The proposed LNA occupies 0.39 mm 2 core chip area. Operating at 1.8 V, the LNA drains a current of 11.7 mA. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  2. Modeling speed and width parameters of vehicle tires for prediction of the reduction in vehicle noise pollution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amir Esmael Forouhid

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Safe driving requires the ability of the driver to receive the messages and complying with them. The most significant consequences of noise pollution are on the human auditory system. Disorders in the auditory system can have harmful side effects for human health. By reducing this kind of pollution in large cities, the quality of life, which is one of the biggest goals of the governments, can be considerably increased. Hence, in the present research, some parameters of vehicle tires were examined as a source of noise pollution, and the results can be taken into consideration in noise pollution reduction. Material and Method: Several vehicles with different tire width were selected for measuring sound level. The sound levels were measured for moving vehicles with the use of the Statistical Pass By Method (SPB, ISO 11819-1. Following sound level measurements for moving vehicles and by considering tire width, mathematical model of noise level was predicted on the basis of the obtained information and by usage of SPSS program and considering vehicle tire parameters. Result: The result of this study showed that the vehicle speed and tire width can affect different sound levels emitted by moving tire on road surface. The average speed of vehicles can play an important role in the noise pollution. By increasing speed, rotation of the the tires on the asphalt is increased, as it is a known factors for noise pollution. Moreover, changing the speed of vehicles is accompanied with abnormal sounds of vehicle engine. According to regression model analysis, the obtained value of R2 for the model is 0.8367 which represents the coefficient of determination. Conclusion: The results suggest the main role of the vehicle speed and tire width in increasing the noise reaches to the drivers and consequent noise pollution, which demonstrates the necessity for noise control measures. According to the obtained model, it is understood that changes in noise

  3. Reducing the ingress of urban noise through natural ventilation openings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oldham, D J; de Salis, M H; Sharples, S

    2004-01-01

    For buildings in busy urban areas affected by high levels of road traffic noise the potential to use natural ventilation can be limited by excessive noise entering through ventilation openings. This paper is concerned with techniques to reduce noise ingress into naturally ventilated buildings while minimizing airflow path resistance. A combined experimental and theoretical approach to the interaction of airflow and sound transmission through ventilators for natural ventilation applications is described. A key element of the investigation has been the development of testing facilities capable of measuring the airflow and sound transmission losses for a range of ventilation noise control strategies. It is demonstrated that a combination of sound reduction mechanisms -- one covering low frequency sound and another covering high frequency sound -- is required to attenuate effectively noise from typical urban sources. A method is proposed for quantifying the acoustic performance of different strategies to enable comparisons and informed decisions to be made leading to the possibility of a design methodology for optimizing the ventilation and acoustic performance of different strategies. The need for employing techniques for combating low frequency sound in tandem with techniques for reducing high frequency sound in reducing the ingress of noise from urban sources such as road traffic to acceptable levels is demonstrated. A technique is proposed for enabling the acoustic and airflow performance of apertures for natural ventilation systems to be designed simultaneously.

  4. Techniques for processing remote field eddy current signals from bend regions of steam generator tubes of prototype fast breeder reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thirunavukkarasu, S. [Non Destructive Evaluation Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, TN 603 102 (India); Rao, B.P.C., E-mail: bpcrao@igcar.gov.in [Non Destructive Evaluation Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, TN 603 102 (India); Jayakumar, T.; Raj, Baldev [Non Destructive Evaluation Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, TN 603 102 (India)

    2011-04-15

    Steam generator (SG) is one of the most critical components of sodium cooled fast breeder reactor. Remote field eddy current (RFEC) technique has been chosen for in-service inspection (ISI) of these ferromagnetic SG tubes made of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel (Grade 91). Expansion bends are provided in the SGs to accommodate differential thermal expansion. During ISI using RFEC technique, in expansion bend regions, exciter-receiver coil misalignment, bending stresses, probe wobble and magnetic permeability variations produce disturbing noise hindering detection of defects. Fourier filtering, cross-correlation and wavelet transform techniques have been studied for noise reduction as well as enhancement of RFEC signals of defects in bend regions, having machined grooves and localized defects. Performance of these three techniques has been compared using signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Fourier filtering technique has shown better performance for noise reduction while cross-correlation technique has resulted in significant enhancement of signals. Wavelet transform technique has shown the combined capability of noise reduction and signal enhancement and resulted in unambiguous detection of 10% of wall loss grooves and localized defects in the bend regions with SNR better than 7 dB.

  5. Signal Amplification Technique (SAT): an approach for improving resolution and reducing image noise in computed tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phelps, M.E.; Huang, S.C.; Hoffman, E.J.; Plummer, D.; Carson, R.

    1981-01-01

    Spatial resolution improvements in computed tomography (CT) have been limited by the large and unique error propagation properties of this technique. The desire to provide maximum image resolution has resulted in the use of reconstruction filter functions designed to produce tomographic images with resolution as close as possible to the intrinsic detector resolution. Thus, many CT systems produce images with excessive noise with the system resolution determined by the detector resolution rather than the reconstruction algorithm. CT is a rigorous mathematical technique which applies an increasing amplification to increasing spatial frequencies in the measured data. This mathematical approach to spatial frequency amplification cannot distinguish between signal and noise and therefore both are amplified equally. We report here a method in which tomographic resolution is improved by using very small detectors to selectively amplify the signal and not noise. Thus, this approach is referred to as the signal amplification technique (SAT). SAT can provide dramatic improvements in image resolution without increases in statistical noise or dose because increases in the cutoff frequency of the reconstruction algorithm are not required to improve image resolution. Alternatively, in cases where image counts are low, such as in rapid dynamic or receptor studies, statistical noise can be reduced by lowering the cutoff frequency while still maintaining the best possible image resolution. A possible system design for a positron CT system with SAT is described

  6. Minimizing noise in fiberglass aquaculture tanks: Noise reduction potential of various retrofits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Equipment used in intensive aquaculture systems, such as pumps and blowers can produce underwater sound levels and frequencies within the range of fish hearing. The impacts of underwater noise on fish are not well known, but limited research suggests that subjecting fish to noise could result in imp...

  7. Application of nonliner reduction techniques in chemical process modeling: a review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muhaimin, Z; Aziz, N.; Abd Shukor, S.R.

    2006-01-01

    Model reduction techniques have been used widely in engineering fields for electrical, mechanical as well as chemical engineering. The basic idea of reduction technique is to replace the original system by an approximating system with much smaller state-space dimension. A reduced order model is more beneficial to process and industrial field in terms of control purposes. This paper is to provide a review on application of nonlinear reduction techniques in chemical processes. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique reviewed are also highlighted

  8. Evaluation of noise pollution in urban traffic hubs—Noise maps and measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fiedler, Paulo Eduardo Kirrian; Zannin, Paulo Henrique Trombetta

    2015-01-01

    A study was made of some of the main traffic hubs in a Latin American metropolis, in order to determine the presence or absence of noise by means of noise measurements and acoustic mapping. To characterize noise in the evaluated road stretches, 232 measurements were taken at different points. The Predictor software package was used for the noise mapping calculations. Noise sensitive areas, e.g., hospitals, were identified in the evaluated road stretches. Noise maps were calculated for two hospitals, showing the current levels of noise that reach their facades. Hypothetical scenarios were simulated by making changes in the composition of traffic and total number of vehicles, and an assessment was made of the potential influence of these modifications in reducing the noise levels reaching the facades of the buildings in question. The simulations indicated that a 50% reduction in total traffic flow, or a 50% reduction in heavy vehicle traffic flow, would reduce the noise levels by about 3 dB(A). - Highlights: • Evaluation of noise pollution in urban traffic hubs • Street systems • Environmental noise impacts • Noise mapping

  9. Evaluation of noise pollution in urban traffic hubs—Noise maps and measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fiedler, Paulo Eduardo Kirrian; Zannin, Paulo Henrique Trombetta, E-mail: paulo.zannin@pesquisador.cnpq.br

    2015-02-15

    A study was made of some of the main traffic hubs in a Latin American metropolis, in order to determine the presence or absence of noise by means of noise measurements and acoustic mapping. To characterize noise in the evaluated road stretches, 232 measurements were taken at different points. The Predictor software package was used for the noise mapping calculations. Noise sensitive areas, e.g., hospitals, were identified in the evaluated road stretches. Noise maps were calculated for two hospitals, showing the current levels of noise that reach their facades. Hypothetical scenarios were simulated by making changes in the composition of traffic and total number of vehicles, and an assessment was made of the potential influence of these modifications in reducing the noise levels reaching the facades of the buildings in question. The simulations indicated that a 50% reduction in total traffic flow, or a 50% reduction in heavy vehicle traffic flow, would reduce the noise levels by about 3 dB(A). - Highlights: • Evaluation of noise pollution in urban traffic hubs • Street systems • Environmental noise impacts • Noise mapping.

  10. Yesterday's noise - today's signal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serdula, K.J.

    1978-01-01

    Plant performance can be improved by noise analysis. This paper describes noise characteristics, imposed noise and response functions, a case history of cost benefits derived from application of noise analysis techniques, areas for application of noise analysis techniques with special reference to the Gentilly-1 nuclear generating station, and the validity of noise measurement results. (E.C.B.)

  11. Comparison of measured and predicted airfoil self-noise with application to wind turbine noise reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dassen, T.; Parchen, R.; Guidati, G.; Wagner, S.; Kang, S.; Khodak, A.E.

    1998-01-01

    In the ongoing JOULE-III project 'Development of Design Tools for Reduced Aerodynamic Noise Wind Turbines (DRAW)', prediction codes for inflow-turbulence (IT) noise and turbulent boundary layer trailing-edge (TE) noise, are developed and validated. It is shown that the differences in IT noise radiation between airfoils having a different shape, are correctly predicted. The first, preliminary comparison made between predicted and measured TE noise spectra yields satisfactory results. 17 refs

  12. A two-microphone noise reduction system for cochlear implant users with nearby microphones. Part II: Performance Evaluation

    OpenAIRE

    Kompis, Martin; Bertram, Matthias; Senn, Pascal; Müller, Joachim; Pelizzone, Marco; Häusler, Rudolf

    2008-01-01

    Users of cochlear implants (auditory aids, which stimulate the auditory nerve electrically at the inner ear) often suffer from poor speech understanding in noise. We evaluate a small (intermicrophone distance 7 mm) and computationally inexpensive adaptive noise reduction system suitable for behind-the-ear cochlear implant speech processors. The system is evaluated in simulated and real, anechoic and reverberant environments. Results from simulations show improvements of 3.4 to 9.3 dB in signa...

  13. Noise and vibration reduction technology in hybrid vehicle development; Hybrid sha kaihatsu ni okeru shindo soon teigen gijutsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshioa, T.; Sugita, H. [Toyota Motor Corp., Aichi (Japan)

    2000-03-01

    Accomplishing both environmental protection and good NVH performance has become a significant task in automotive development The first-in-the-world hybrid passenger car of mass production. 'Prius', has achieved superior NV performance compared with conventional vehicles with a 1.5-liter engine along with 50% reduction of fuel consumption and CO{sub 2} emissions. low HC, CO and NO{sub x} emissions. This paper describes NV reduction technology for solving problems peculiar to the hybrid vehicle such as engine start/stop vibration, drone noise at low engine speed and motor/generator noise and vibration. It also mentions application technology of low rolling resistance tires with light weight wheels and recycled material for sound proofing. (author)

  14. Improved Kalman Filter Method for Measurement Noise Reduction in Multi Sensor RFID Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Chul Kim

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Recently, the range of available Radio Frequency Identification (RFID tags has been widened to include smart RFID tags which can monitor their varying surroundings. One of the most important factors for better performance of smart RFID system is accurate measurement from various sensors. In the multi-sensing environment, some noisy signals are obtained because of the changing surroundings. We propose in this paper an improved Kalman filter method to reduce noise and obtain correct data. Performance of Kalman filter is determined by a measurement and system noise covariance which are usually called the R and Q variables in the Kalman filter algorithm. Choosing a correct R and Q variable is one of the most important design factors for better performance of the Kalman filter. For this reason, we proposed an improved Kalman filter to advance an ability of noise reduction of the Kalman filter. The measurement noise covariance was only considered because the system architecture is simple and can be adjusted by the neural network. With this method, more accurate data can be obtained with smart RFID tags. In a simulation the proposed improved Kalman filter has 40.1%, 60.4% and 87.5% less Mean Squared Error (MSE than the conventional Kalman filter method for a temperature sensor, humidity sensor and oxygen sensor, respectively. The performance of the proposed method was also verified with some experiments.

  15. Improved Kalman filter method for measurement noise reduction in multi sensor RFID systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eom, Ki Hwan; Lee, Seung Joon; Kyung, Yeo Sun; Lee, Chang Won; Kim, Min Chul; Jung, Kyung Kwon

    2011-01-01

    Recently, the range of available radio frequency identification (RFID) tags has been widened to include smart RFID tags which can monitor their varying surroundings. One of the most important factors for better performance of smart RFID system is accurate measurement from various sensors. In the multi-sensing environment, some noisy signals are obtained because of the changing surroundings. We propose in this paper an improved Kalman filter method to reduce noise and obtain correct data. Performance of Kalman filter is determined by a measurement and system noise covariance which are usually called the R and Q variables in the Kalman filter algorithm. Choosing a correct R and Q variable is one of the most important design factors for better performance of the Kalman filter. For this reason, we proposed an improved Kalman filter to advance an ability of noise reduction of the Kalman filter. The measurement noise covariance was only considered because the system architecture is simple and can be adjusted by the neural network. With this method, more accurate data can be obtained with smart RFID tags. In a simulation the proposed improved Kalman filter has 40.1%, 60.4% and 87.5% less mean squared error (MSE) than the conventional Kalman filter method for a temperature sensor, humidity sensor and oxygen sensor, respectively. The performance of the proposed method was also verified with some experiments.

  16. Speckle noise reduction for computer generated holograms of objects with diffuse surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Symeonidou, Athanasia; Blinder, David; Ahar, Ayyoub; Schretter, Colas; Munteanu, Adrian; Schelkens, Peter

    2016-04-01

    Digital holography is mainly used today for metrology and microscopic imaging and is emerging as an important potential technology for future holographic television. To generate the holographic content, computer-generated holography (CGH) techniques convert geometric descriptions of a 3D scene content. To model different surface types, an accurate model of light propagation has to be considered, including for example, specular and diffuse reflection. In previous work, we proposed a fast CGH method for point cloud data using multiple wavefront recording planes, look-up tables (LUTs) and occlusion processing. This work extends our method to account for diffuse reflections, enabling rendering of deep 3D scenes in high resolution with wide viewing angle support. This is achieved by modifying the spectral response of the light propagation kernels contained by the look-up tables. However, holograms encoding diffuse reflective surfaces depict significant amounts of speckle noise, a problem inherent to holography. Hence, techniques to improve the reduce speckle noise are evaluated in this paper. Moreover, we propose as well a technique to suppress the aperture diffraction during numerical, viewdependent rendering by apodizing the hologram. Results are compared visually and in terms of their respective computational efficiency. The experiments show that by modelling diffuse reflection in the LUTs, a more realistic yet computationally efficient framework for generating high-resolution CGH is achieved.

  17. Experimental and theoretical sound transmission. [reduction of interior noise in aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roskam, J.; Muirhead, V. U.; Smith, H. W.; Durenberger, D. W.

    1978-01-01

    The capabilities of the Kansas University- Flight Research Center for investigating panel sound transmission as a step toward the reduction of interior noise in general aviation aircraft were discussed. Data obtained on panels with holes, on honeycomb panels, and on various panel treatments at normal incidence were documented. The design of equipment for panel transmission loss tests at nonnormal (slanted) sound incidence was described. A comprehensive theory-based prediction method was developed and shows good agreement with experimental observations of the stiffness controlled, the region, the resonance controlled region, and the mass-law region of panel vibration.

  18. The impact of a noise reduction quality improvement project upon sound levels in the open-unit-design neonatal intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, W F

    2010-07-01

    To decrease measured sound levels in the neonatal intensive care unit through implementation of human factor and minor design modification strategies. Prospective time series. Two open-unit-design neonatal centers. Implementation of a coordinated program of noise reduction strategies did not result in any measurable improvement in levels of loudness or quiet. Two centers, using primarily human behavior noise reduction strategies, were unable to demonstrate measurable improvements in sound levels within the occupied open-unit-design neonatal intensive care unit.

  19. The Assessment of Noise Exposure and Noise Annoyance at a Petrochemical Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Farhang Dehghan

    2013-12-01

    .Conclusion: Based on the obtained results of investigating the noise level (objective exposure as well as the noise annoyance (subjective exposure at the studied company, it is necessary to adopt the management –technical noise reduction measures at manufacturing sectors as the personal noise exposure and environmental noise exposure and also noise personal exposure of administrative staff can be decreased.

  20. Assessment of uniformity and signal-to-noise ratio in radiological image intensifier TV systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malone, J.F.; O'Connor, M.K.; Maher, K.P.

    1985-01-01

    A method of measuring the uniformity of radiological Image Intensifier-TV systems is described. Large non-uniformities were observed in the systems tested. A method of estimating the Signal-to-Noise Ratio in such systems is also presented and applied to characterise the effectiveness of the noise reduction techniques used in digital fluoroscopy. (author)

  1. Median Filter Noise Reduction of Image and Backpropagation Neural Network Model for Cervical Cancer Classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wutsqa, D. U.; Marwah, M.

    2017-06-01

    In this paper, we consider spatial operation median filter to reduce the noise in the cervical images yielded by colposcopy tool. The backpropagation neural network (BPNN) model is applied to the colposcopy images to classify cervical cancer. The classification process requires an image extraction by using a gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) method to obtain image features that are used as inputs of BPNN model. The advantage of noise reduction is evaluated by comparing the performances of BPNN models with and without spatial operation median filter. The experimental result shows that the spatial operation median filter can improve the accuracy of the BPNN model for cervical cancer classification.

  2. REDUCTION OF CLASSROOM NOISE LEVELS USING GROUP CONTINGENCIES

    OpenAIRE

    Ring, Brandon M.; Sigurdsson, Sigurdur O.; Eubanks, Sean L.; Silverman, Kenneth

    2014-01-01

    The therapeutic workplace is an employment-based abstinence reinforcement intervention for unemployed drug users where trainees receive on-the-job employment skills training in a classroom setting. The study is an extension of prior therapeutic workplace research, which suggested that trainees frequently violated noise standards. Participants received real-time graphed feedback of noise levels and had the opportunity to earn monetary group reinforcement for maintaining a low number of noise v...

  3. Two Methods of Mechanical Noise Reduction of Recorded Speech During Phonation in an MRI devic

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Přibil, J.; Horáček, Jaromír; Horák, Petr

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 11, č. 3 (2011), s. 92-98 ISSN 1335-8871 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA102/09/0989 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514; CEZ:AV0Z20670512 Keywords : speech processing * noise reduction * NMR imaging Subject RIV: BI - Acoustics Impact factor: 0.418, year: 2011

  4. EUDP project 'Low noise airfoil' - Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bertagnolio, F. (ed.)

    2012-06-15

    This document summarizes the scientific results achieved during the EUDP-funded project 'Low-Noise Airfoil'. The goals of this project are, on one side to develop a measurement technique that permits the evaluation of trailing edge noise in a classical aerodynamic wind tunnel, and on the other side to develop and implement a design procedure to manufacture airfoil profiles with low noise emission. The project involved two experimental campaigns: one in the LM Wind Power wind tunnel, a classical aerodynamic wind tunnel, in Lunderskov (Denmark), the second one in the Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel at the Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department of Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA, USA), also a classical aerodynamic wind tunnel but equipped with an anechoic chamber that allow to perform acoustic measurements. On the theoretical side, the above experiments yield a series of model validations and improvements. In particular, the so-called TNO trailing edge noise model could be significantly improved by introducing turbulence anisotropy in its formulation, as well as the influence of the boundary layer mean pressure gradient. This two characteristics are inherent to airfoil flows but were neglected in the original approach. In addition, the experimental results are confronted to detailed Large Eddy Simulations of the airfoil flow giving more insight into the flow turbulence characteristics. The methodology which consists in measuring surface pressure spectra directly on the airfoil surface using flush-mounted microphones in order to evaluate far-field noise emission using additional theoretical results has been validated. This technique presents the advantage that it can easily be used in a classical aerodynamic wind tunnel and does not require the use of an anechoic facility. It was developed as a substitute to the original plan that consisted in measuring acoustic waves using hot-wire velocimetry. This last technique proved ineffective in the LM Wind

  5. Speckle noise reduction for optical coherence tomography based on adaptive 2D dictionary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lv, Hongli; Fu, Shujun; Zhang, Caiming; Zhai, Lin

    2018-05-01

    As a high-resolution biomedical imaging modality, optical coherence tomography (OCT) is widely used in medical sciences. However, OCT images often suffer from speckle noise, which can mask some important image information, and thus reduce the accuracy of clinical diagnosis. Taking full advantage of nonlocal self-similarity and adaptive 2D-dictionary-based sparse representation, in this work, a speckle noise reduction algorithm is proposed for despeckling OCT images. To reduce speckle noise while preserving local image features, similar nonlocal patches are first extracted from the noisy image and put into groups using a gamma- distribution-based block matching method. An adaptive 2D dictionary is then learned for each patch group. Unlike traditional vector-based sparse coding, we express each image patch by the linear combination of a few matrices. This image-to-matrix method can exploit the local correlation between pixels. Since each image patch might belong to several groups, the despeckled OCT image is finally obtained by aggregating all filtered image patches. The experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method over other state-of-the-art despeckling methods, in terms of objective metrics and visual inspection.

  6. Retrofitting reciprocating compressors for noise control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frank, L.; Qualfe, R.

    1992-01-01

    The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board recently enacted their noise control directive ID 88-1. The effects of this regulation on the operation of an oil and gas facility are discussed, and a specific case history is presented to provide a disciplined strategy for noise attenuation retrofits. An investigation was carried out into sound sources at a reciprocating compressor gas plant, revealing several sound sources: engine exhaust stacks, engine exhaust silencer shells, direct-drive fan cooler inlets, direct drive fan cooler outlets, aerial cooler inlets and aerial cooler outlets. Details are presented of the investigative techniques and order-ranking of sources by decibel level. When controlling engine exhaust noise, silencers or mufflers are the preferred treatment. Choice of type (reactive or absorptive) and specification of acoustical performance of a silencer are discussed. The gas plant achieved noise reductions of 6-13 dB, measured at affected residences, through the use of engine exhaust silencers. 4 figs., 2 tabs

  7. Autonomous Slat-Cove-Filler Device for Reduction of Aeroacoustic Noise Associated with Aircraft Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Travis L. (Inventor); Kidd, Reggie T. (Inventor); Lockard, David P (Inventor); Khorrami, Mehdi R. (Inventor); Streett, Craig L. (Inventor); Weber, Douglas Leo (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    A slat cove filler is utilized to reduce airframe noise resulting from deployment of a leading edge slat of an aircraft wing. The slat cove filler is preferably made of a super elastic shape memory alloy, and the slat cove filler shifts between stowed and deployed shapes as the slat is deployed. The slat cove filler may be configured such that a separate powered actuator is not required to change the shape of the slat cove filler from its deployed shape to its stowed shape and vice-versa. The outer contour of the slat cove filler preferably follows a profile designed to maintain accelerating flow in the gap between the slat cove filler and wing leading edge to provide for noise reduction.

  8. Evaluation of model-based versus non-parametric monaural noise-reduction approaches for hearing aids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harlander, Niklas; Rosenkranz, Tobias; Hohmann, Volker

    2012-08-01

    Single channel noise reduction has been well investigated and seems to have reached its limits in terms of speech intelligibility improvement, however, the quality of such schemes can still be advanced. This study tests to what extent novel model-based processing schemes might improve performance in particular for non-stationary noise conditions. Two prototype model-based algorithms, a speech-model-based, and a auditory-model-based algorithm were compared to a state-of-the-art non-parametric minimum statistics algorithm. A speech intelligibility test, preference rating, and listening effort scaling were performed. Additionally, three objective quality measures for the signal, background, and overall distortions were applied. For a better comparison of all algorithms, particular attention was given to the usage of the similar Wiener-based gain rule. The perceptual investigation was performed with fourteen hearing-impaired subjects. The results revealed that the non-parametric algorithm and the auditory model-based algorithm did not affect speech intelligibility, whereas the speech-model-based algorithm slightly decreased intelligibility. In terms of subjective quality, both model-based algorithms perform better than the unprocessed condition and the reference in particular for highly non-stationary noise environments. Data support the hypothesis that model-based algorithms are promising for improving performance in non-stationary noise conditions.

  9. Implications of a ''Noisy'' observer to data processing techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goodenough, D.J.; Metz, C.E.

    1975-01-01

    It is attempted to show how an internal noise source (darklight and threshold jitter) would tend to explain experimental data concerning the visual detection of noise-limited signal in diagnostic imaging. The interesting conclusions can be drawn that the internal noise sets the upper limit to the utility of data processing techniques designed to reduce image noise. Moreover, there should be instances where contrast enhancement techniques may be far more useful to the human observer than corresponding reductions in noise amplitude, especially at high count rates (sigma/sub p/ less than or equal to sigma/sub D/). Then too, the limitations imposed on the human observer by an internal noise source, may point towards the need for additional methods (e.g. computer/microdensitometer) of interpreting images of high photon density so that the highest possible signal to noise ratio might be obtained

  10. Noise and Spurious Tones Management Techniques for Multi-GHz RF-CMOS Frequency Synthesizers Operating in Large Mixed Analog-Digital SOCs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maxim Adrian

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents circuit techniques and power supply partitioning, filtering, and regulation methods aimed at reducing the phase noise and spurious tones in frequency synthesizers operating in large mixed analog-digital system-on-chip (SOC. The different noise and spur coupling mechanisms are presented together with solutions to minimize their impact on the overall PLL phase noise performance. Challenges specific to deep-submicron CMOS integration of multi-GHz PLLs are revealed, while new architectures that address these issues are presented. Layout techniques that help reducing the parasitic noise and spur coupling between digital and analog blocks are described. Combining system-level and circuit-level low noise design methods, low phase noise frequency synthesizers were achieved which are compatible with the demanding nowadays wireless communication standards.

  11. Analysis of jet-airfoil interaction noise sources by using a microphone array technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleury, Vincent; Davy, Renaud

    2016-03-01

    The paper is concerned with the characterization of jet noise sources and jet-airfoil interaction sources by using microphone array data. The measurements were carried-out in the anechoic open test section wind tunnel of Onera, Cepra19. The microphone array technique relies on the convected, Lighthill's and Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings' acoustic analogy equation. The cross-spectrum of the source term of the analogy equation is sought. It is defined as the optimal solution to a minimal error equation using the measured microphone cross-spectra as reference. This inverse problem is ill-posed yet. A penalty term based on a localization operator is therefore added to improve the recovery of jet noise sources. The analysis of isolated jet noise data in subsonic regime shows the contribution of the conventional mixing noise source in the low frequency range, as expected, and of uniformly distributed, uncorrelated noise sources in the jet flow at higher frequencies. In underexpanded supersonic regime, a shock-associated noise source is clearly identified, too. An additional source is detected in the vicinity of the nozzle exit both in supersonic and subsonic regimes. In the presence of the airfoil, the distribution of the noise sources is deeply modified. In particular, a strong noise source is localized on the flap. For high Strouhal numbers, higher than about 2 (based on the jet mixing velocity and diameter), a significant contribution from the shear-layer near the flap is observed, too. Indications of acoustic reflections on the airfoil are also discerned.

  12. A combined noise reduction and torque enhancement system for an I. C. engine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hutchins, S.M.; Stothers, Ian; McDougall, N.M.

    1993-02-10

    The present invention provides a combined noise reduction and torque enhancement system for an internal combustion engine. It comprises means for periodically constricting or occluding the exhaust and/or inlet at least one frequency related to the rotation frequency of the engine. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the constriction means comprises a plug member arranged to be oscillated in an aperture along the axis of flow of gas in the exhaust and/or inlet. (author)

  13. Speckle reduction techniques in digital holography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Monaghan, David; Kelly, Damien; Hennelly, Bryan [Department of Computer Science, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co. Kildare (Ireland); Javidi, Bahram, E-mail: bryanh@cs.nuim.i [University of Connecticut Electrical and Computer Engineering Department 371 Fairfield Road, Unit 2157 Storrs, CT 06269-2157 (United States)

    2010-02-01

    We have studied several speckle reduction techniques, applicable to digital holography. These include the use of optical diffusers, wavelet filtering, simulating temporal incoherence and filtering in the Fourier domain. The Digital Holograms (DHs) used in this study are captured using a Phase Shift Interferometric (PSI) in-line setup and subsequently reconstructed numerically.

  14. Identification and Reduction of Turbomachinery Noise, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Communities near airports are often exposed to high noise levels due to low flying aircraft in the takeoff and landing phases of flight. Propulsion source noise is...

  15. Training Methods for Image Noise Level Estimation on Wavelet Components

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. De Stefano

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available The estimation of the standard deviation of noise contaminating an image is a fundamental step in wavelet-based noise reduction techniques. The method widely used is based on the mean absolute deviation (MAD. This model-based method assumes specific characteristics of the noise-contaminated image component. Three novel and alternative methods for estimating the noise standard deviation are proposed in this work and compared with the MAD method. Two of these methods rely on a preliminary training stage in order to extract parameters which are then used in the application stage. The sets used for training and testing, 13 and 5 images, respectively, are fully disjoint. The third method assumes specific statistical distributions for image and noise components. Results showed the prevalence of the training-based methods for the images and the range of noise levels considered.

  16. Noise reduction in a Mach 5 wind tunnel with a rectangular rod-wall sound shield

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creel, T. R., Jr.; Keyes, J. W.; Beckwith, I. E.

    1980-01-01

    A rod wall sound shield was tested over a range of Reynolds numbers of 0.5 x 10 to the 7th power to 8.0 x 10 to the 7th power per meter. The model consisted of a rectangular array of longitudinal rods with boundary-layer suction through gaps between the rods. Suitable measurement techniques were used to determine properties of the flow and acoustic disturbance in the shield and transition in the rod boundary layers. Measurements indicated that for a Reynolds number of 1.5 x 10 to the 9th power the noise in the shielded region was significantly reduced, but only when the flow is mostly laminar on the rods. Actual nozzle input noise measured on the nozzle centerline before reflection at the shield walls was attenuated only slightly even when the rod boundary layer were laminar. At a lower Reynolds number, nozzle input noise at noise levels in the shield were still too high for application to a quiet tunnel. At Reynolds numbers above 2.0 x 10 the the 7th power per meter, measured noise levels were generally higher than nozzle input levels, probably due to transition in the rod boundary layers. The small attenuation of nozzle input noise at intermediate Reynolds numbers for laminar rod layers at the acoustic origins is apparently due to high frequencies of noise.

  17. Survey of Traffic Noise Reduction Products, Materials, and Technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-12-01

    Noise is one of the most pervasive forms of environmental pollution. It is everywhere and affects our lives at : home, work and play. By definition, noise is any unwanted or excessive sound. Highway traffic noise is a : major issue for transportation...

  18. Improved CEEMDAN-wavelet transform de-noising method and its application in well logging noise reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jingxia; Guo, Yinghai; Shen, Yulin; Zhao, Difei; Li, Mi

    2018-06-01

    The use of geophysical logging data to identify lithology is an important groundwork in logging interpretation. Inevitably, noise is mixed in during data collection due to the equipment and other external factors and this will affect the further lithological identification and other logging interpretation. Therefore, to get a more accurate lithological identification it is necessary to adopt de-noising methods. In this study, a new de-noising method, namely improved complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN)-wavelet transform, is proposed, which integrates the superiorities of improved CEEMDAN and wavelet transform. Improved CEEMDAN, an effective self-adaptive multi-scale analysis method, is used to decompose non-stationary signals as the logging data to obtain the intrinsic mode function (IMF) of N different scales and one residual. Moreover, one self-adaptive scale selection method is used to determine the reconstruction scale k. Simultaneously, given the possible frequency aliasing problem between adjacent IMFs, a wavelet transform threshold de-noising method is used to reduce the noise of the (k-1)th IMF. Subsequently, the de-noised logging data are reconstructed by the de-noised (k-1)th IMF and the remaining low-frequency IMFs and the residual. Finally, empirical mode decomposition, improved CEEMDAN, wavelet transform and the proposed method are applied for analysis of the simulation and the actual data. Results show diverse performance of these de-noising methods with regard to accuracy for lithological identification. Compared with the other methods, the proposed method has the best self-adaptability and accuracy in lithological identification.

  19. A Tunable Low Noise Active Bandpass Filter Using a Noise Canceling Technique

    OpenAIRE

    Soltani, N.

    2016-01-01

    A monolithic tunable low noise active bandpass filter is presented in this study. Biasing voltages can control the center frequency and quality factor. By keeping the gain constant, the center frequency shift is 300 MHz. The quality factor can range from 90 to 290 at the center frequency. By using a noise cancelling circuit, noise is kept lower than 2.8 dB. The proposed filter is designed using MMIC technology with a center frequency of 2.4 GHz and a power consumption of 180 mW. ED02AH techno...

  20. Application of a passive electrochemical noise technique to localized corrosion of candidate radioactive waste container materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korzan, M.A.

    1994-05-01

    One of the key engineered barriers in the design of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository is the waste canister that encapsulates the spent fuel elements. Current candidate metals for the canisters to be emplaced at Yucca Mountain include cast iron, carbon steel, Incoloy 825 and titanium code-12. This project was designed to evaluate passive electrochemical noise techniques for measuring pitting and corrosion characteristics of candidate materials under prototypical repository conditions. Experimental techniques were also developed and optimized for measurements in a radiation environment. These techniques provide a new method for understanding material response to environmental effects (i.e., gamma radiation, temperature, solution chemistry) through the measurement of electrochemical noise generated during the corrosion of the metal surface. In addition, because of the passive nature of the measurement the technique could offer a means of in-situ monitoring of barrier performance

  1. Real-time noise reduction for Mössbauer spectroscopy through online implementation of a modified Kalman filter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abrecht, David G., E-mail: david.abrecht@pnnl.gov [National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99352 (United States); Schwantes, Jon M. [National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99352 (United States); Kukkadapu, Ravi K. [Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99352 (United States); McDonald, Benjamin S.; Eiden, Gregory C.; Sweet, Lucas E. [National Security Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99352 (United States)

    2015-02-11

    Spectrum-processing software that incorporates a Gaussian smoothing kernel within the statistics of first-order Kalman filtration has been developed to provide cross-channel spectral noise reduction for increased real-time signal-to-noise ratios for Mössbauer spectroscopy. The filter was optimized for the breadth of the Gaussian using the Mössbauer spectrum of natural iron foil, and comparisons among the peak broadening, signal-to-noise ratios, and shifts in the calculated hyperfine parameters are presented. The results of optimization give a maximum improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio of 51.1% over the unfiltered spectrum at a Gaussian breadth of 27 channels, or 2.5% of the total spectrum width. The full-width half-maximum of the spectrum peaks showed an increase of 19.6% at this optimum point, indicating a relatively weak increase in the peak broadening relative to the signal enhancement, leading to an overall increase in the observable signal. Calculations of the hyperfine parameters showed that no statistically significant deviations were introduced from the application of the filter, confirming the utility of this filter for spectroscopy applications.

  2. Reduction of belt CVT gear noise by gear train modification. Optimize vibration characteristics of gear train; Belt CVT no gear noise teigen gijutsu. Gear train shindo tokusei no saitekika

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arimatsu, M; Kawakami, T [Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

    1997-10-01

    With the reduction of vehicle noise, the requirements for an efficient method to reduce transmission gear noise have become stronger yearly. So far efforts to reduce gear noise have generally focused on ways of improving the gears themselves. In addition to these traditional methods, it proved very beneficial to us to optimize the gear train structure. Nissan has just released the new Belt CVT for 2.0L Front wheel drive vehicles. We have been analyzing vibration of the gear train by using a finite element model since the early development stage, and we could achieve the quiet gears effectively. 2 refs., 9 figs.

  3. STATE OF THE ART TECHNIQUES USED FOR NOISE SOURCE IDENTIFICATION ON COMPLEX BODIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Corneliu STOICA

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Over the last few decades, many approaches have been undertaken in order to asses detailed noise source identification on complex bodies, i.e. aircrafts, cars, machinery. Noise source identification implies to accurately obtain the position and frequency of the dominant noise sources. There are cases where traditional testing methods can not be applied at all or their use involves some limitations. Optical systems used for near field analysis require a line of sight that may not be available. The state-of-the-art technology for this purpose is the use of a large number of microphones whose signals are acquired simultaneously, i.e. microphone phased array. Due to the excessive cost of the instruments and the data acquisition system required, the implementation of this technology was restricted to governmental agencies (NASA, DLR and big companies such as Boeing and Airbus. During the past years, this technique was developed in wind tunnels and some universities to perform noise source identification on scale airframes, main landing gear models, and aerodynamic profiles (used on airplanes, helicopter rotors and wind mills.

  4. Elastomeric Structural Attachment Concepts for Aircraft Flap Noise Reduction - Challenges and Approaches to Hyperelastic Structural Modeling and Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sreekantamurthy, Thammaiah; Turner, Travis L.; Moore, James B.; Su, Ji

    2014-01-01

    Airframe noise is a significant part of the overall noise of transport aircraft during the approach and landing phases of flight. Airframe noise reduction is currently emphasized under the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) and Fixed Wing (FW) Project goals of NASA. A promising concept for trailing-edge-flap noise reduction is a flexible structural element or link that connects the side edges of the deployable flap to the adjacent main-wing structure. The proposed solution is distinguished by minimization of the span-wise extent of the structural link, thereby minimizing the aerodynamic load on the link structure at the expense of increased deformation requirement. Development of such a flexible structural link necessitated application of hyperelastic materials, atypical structural configurations and novel interface hardware. The resulting highly-deformable structural concept was termed the FLEXible Side Edge Link (FLEXSEL) concept. Prediction of atypical elastomeric deformation responses from detailed structural analysis was essential for evaluating feasible concepts that met the design constraints. The focus of this paper is to describe the many challenges encountered with hyperelastic finite element modeling and the nonlinear structural analysis of evolving FLEXSEL concepts. Detailed herein is the nonlinear analysis of FLEXSEL concepts that emerged during the project which include solid-section, foamcore, hollow, extended-span and pre-stressed concepts. Coupon-level analysis performed on elastomeric interface joints, which form a part of the FLEXSEL topology development, are also presented.

  5. A two-domain real-time algorithm for optimal data reduction: A case study on accelerator magnet measurements

    CERN Document Server

    Arpaia, P; Inglese, V

    2010-01-01

    A real-time algorithm of data reduction, based on the combination a two lossy techniques specifically optimized for high-rate magnetic measurements in two domains (e.g. time and space), is proposed. The first technique exploits an adaptive sampling rule based on the power estimation of the flux increments in order to optimize the information to be gathered for magnetic field analysis in real time. The tracking condition is defined by the target noise level in the Nyquist band required by post-processing procedure of magnetic analysis. The second technique uses a data reduction algorithm in order to improve the compression ratio while preserving the consistency of the measured signal. The allowed loss is set equal to the random noise level in the signal in order to force the loss and the noise to cancel rather than to add, by improving the signal-to-noise ratio. Numerical analysis and experimental results of on-field performance characterization and validation for two case studies of magnetic measurement syste...

  6. A Tunable Low Noise Active Bandpass Filter Using a Noise Canceling Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Soltani

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available A monolithic tunable low noise active bandpass filter is presented in this study. Biasing voltages can control the center frequency and quality factor. By keeping the gain constant, the center frequency shift is 300 MHz. The quality factor can range from 90 to 290 at the center frequency. By using a noise cancelling circuit, noise is kept lower than 2.8 dB. The proposed filter is designed using MMIC technology with a center frequency of 2.4 GHz and a power consumption of 180 mW. ED02AH technology is used to simulate the circuit elements.

  7. Noise Scaling and Community Noise Metrics for the Hybrid Wing Body Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burley, Casey L.; Brooks, Thomas F.; Hutcheson, Florence V.; Doty, Michael J.; Lopes, Leonard V.; Nickol, Craig L.; Vicroy, Dan D.; Pope, D. Stuart

    2014-01-01

    An aircraft system noise assessment was performed for the hybrid wing body aircraft concept, known as the N2A-EXTE. This assessment is a result of an effort by NASA to explore a realistic HWB design that has the potential to substantially reduce noise and fuel burn. Under contract to NASA, Boeing designed the aircraft using practical aircraft design princip0les with incorporation of noise technologies projected to be available in the 2020 timeframe. NASA tested 5.8% scale-mode of the design in the NASA Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel to provide source noise directivity and installation effects for aircraft engine and airframe configurations. Analysis permitted direct scaling of the model-scale jet, airframe, and engine shielding effect measurements to full-scale. Use of these in combination with ANOPP predictions enabled computations of the cumulative (CUM) noise margins relative to FAA Stage 4 limits. The CUM margins were computed for a baseline N2A-EXTE configuration and for configurations with added noise reduction strategies. The strategies include reduced approach speed, over-the-rotor line and soft-vane fan technologies, vertical tail placement and orientation, and modified landing gear designs with fairings. Combining the inherent HWB engine shielding by the airframe with added noise technologies, the cumulative noise was assessed at 38.7 dB below FAA Stage 4 certification level, just 3.3 dB short of the NASA N+2 goal of 42 dB. This new result shows that the NASA N+2 goal is approachable and that significant reduction in overall aircraft noise is possible through configurations with noise reduction technologies and operational changes.

  8. Two-detector cross-correlation noise technique and its application in measuring reactor kinetic parameters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Guiping; Peng Feng; Yi Jieyi

    1988-01-01

    The two-detector cross-correlation noise technique is a new method of measuring reactor kinetic parameters developed in the sixties. It has the advantages of non-perturbation in core, high signal to noise ratio, low space dependent effect, and simple and reliable in measurement. A special set of cross-correlation analyzer has been prepared for measuring kinetic parameters of several reactor assemblies, such as the High Flux Engineering Test Reactor, its zero power mock up facility and a low enriched uranium light water lattice zero power facility

  9. Variance Reduction Techniques in Monte Carlo Methods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kleijnen, Jack P.C.; Ridder, A.A.N.; Rubinstein, R.Y.

    2010-01-01

    Monte Carlo methods are simulation algorithms to estimate a numerical quantity in a statistical model of a real system. These algorithms are executed by computer programs. Variance reduction techniques (VRT) are needed, even though computer speed has been increasing dramatically, ever since the

  10. An Indentation Technique for Nanoscale Dynamic Viscoelastic Measurements at Elevated Temperature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Jiping

    2012-08-01

    Determination of nano/micro-scale viscoelasticity is very important to understand the local rheological behavior and degradation phenomena of multifunctional polymer blend materials. This article reviews research results concerning the development of indentation techniques for making nanoscale dynamic viscoelastic measurements at elevated temperature. In the last decade, we have achieved breakthroughs in noise floor reduction in air and thermal load drift/noise reduction at high temperature before taking on the challenge of nanoscale viscoelastic measurements. A high-temperature indentation technique has been developed that facilitates viscoelastic measurements up to 200 °C in air and 500 °C in a vacuum. During the last year, two viscoelastic measurement methods have been developed by making a breakthrough in suppressing the contact area change at high temperature. One is a sharp-pointed time-dependent nanoindentation technique for microscale application and the other is a spherical time-dependent nanoindentation technique for nanoscale application. In the near future, we expect to lower the thermal load drift and load noise floor even more substantially.

  11. Measurement of β/Λ ratio in IEA-R1 reactor using noise technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moreira, J.M.L.; Kassar, E.

    1986-01-01

    The ratio β/Λ for the IEA-R1 reactor is obtained experimentally through the noise analysis technique. This technique is based on the determination of the power spectral density of the reactor neutron population, with the reactor in a subcritical state driven by a 'white' neutron source. A ratio β/Λ of 43,5 s -1 is estimated from the break frequency of the measured transfer function of the IEA-R1 reactor. (Author) [pt

  12. A hybrid SEA/modal technique for modeling structural-acoustic interior noise in rotorcraft.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayachandran, V; Bonilha, M W

    2003-03-01

    This paper describes a hybrid technique that combines Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) predictions for structural vibration with acoustic modal summation techniques to predict interior noise levels in rotorcraft. The method was applied for predicting the sound field inside a mock-up of the interior panel system of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter. The vibration amplitudes of the frame and panel systems were predicted using a detailed SEA model and these were used as inputs to the model of the interior acoustic space. The spatial distribution of the vibration field on individual panels, and their coupling to the acoustic space were modeled using stochastic techniques. Leakage and nonresonant transmission components were accounted for using space-averaged values obtained from a SEA model of the complete structural-acoustic system. Since the cabin geometry was quite simple, the modeling of the interior acoustic space was performed using a standard modal summation technique. Sound pressure levels predicted by this approach at specific microphone locations were compared with measured data. Agreement within 3 dB in one-third octave bands above 40 Hz was observed. A large discrepancy in the one-third octave band in which the first acoustic mode is resonant (31.5 Hz) was observed. Reasons for such a discrepancy are discussed in the paper. The developed technique provides a method for modeling helicopter cabin interior noise in the frequency mid-range where neither FEA nor SEA is individually effective or accurate.

  13. Demolition Range Noise Abatement Technique Demonstration and Evaluation for the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    CALDERONE, JAMES J.; GARBIN H, DOUGLAS

    2001-01-01

    Public concern regarding the effects of noise generated by the detonation of excess and obsolete explosive munitions at U.S. Army demolition ranges is a continuing issue for the Army's demilitarization and disposal groups. Recent concerns of citizens living near the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (MCAAP) in Oklahoma have lead the U.S. Army Defense Ammunition Center (DAC) to conduct a demonstration and evaluation of noise abatement techniques that could be applied to the MCAAP demolition range. With the support of the DAC, MCAAP, and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), three types of noise abatement techniques were applied: aqueous foams, overburden (using combinations of sand beds and dirt coverings), and rubber or steel blast mats. Eight test configurations were studied and twenty-four experiments were conducted on the MCAAP demolition range in July of 2000. Instrumentation and data acquisition systems were fielded for the collection of near-field blast pressures, far-field acoustic pressures, plant boundary seismic signals, and demolition range meteorological conditions. The resulting data has been analyzed and reported, and a ranking of each technique's effects has been provided to the DAC

  14. Iterative Reconstruction Techniques in Abdominopelvic CT: Technical Concepts and Clinical Implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patino, Manuel; Fuentes, Jorge M; Singh, Sarabjeet; Hahn, Peter F; Sahani, Dushyant V

    2015-07-01

    This article discusses the clinical challenge of low-radiation-dose examinations, the commonly used approaches for dose optimization, and their effect on image quality. We emphasize practical aspects of the different iterative reconstruction techniques, along with their benefits, pitfalls, and clinical implementation. The widespread use of CT has raised concerns about potential radiation risks, motivating diverse strategies to reduce the radiation dose associated with CT. CT manufacturers have developed alternative reconstruction algorithms intended to improve image quality on dose-optimized CT studies, mainly through noise and artifact reduction. Iterative reconstruction techniques take unique approaches to noise reduction and provide distinct strength levels or settings.

  15. Optimal Height Calculation and Modelling of Noise Barrier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raimondas Grubliauskas

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Transport is one of the main sources of noise having a particularly strong negative impact on the environment. In the city, one of the best methods to reduce the spread of noise in residential areas is a noise barrier. The article presents noise reduction barrier adaptation with empirical formulas calculating and modelling noise distribution. The simulation of noise dispersion has been performed applying the CadnaA program that allows modelling the noise levels of various developments under changing conditions. Calculation and simulation is obtained by assessing the level of noise reduction using the same variables. The investigation results are presented as noise distribution isolines. The selection of a different height of noise barriers are the results calculated at the heights of 1, 4 and 15 meters. The level of noise reduction at the maximum overlap of data, calculation and simulation has reached about 10%.Article in Lithuanian

  16. Dynamic strain measurement system with fiber Bragg gratings and noise mitigation techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tosi, D; Olivero, M; Perrone, G

    2009-01-01

    A low-cost fiber Bragg grating (FBG) vibrometer specifically suited for structural monitoring and aimed at the detection of low-amplitude vibrations is presented. The optical system exploits an intensity modulation principle of operation, while signal processing techniques are used to complement the transducer to improve the performances: a recursive least-squares adaptive filter improves the noise power mitigation by 14 dB, and an efficient spectral estimator permits operating spectral analysis even under high noise conditions. With these methods, a strain sensitivity of 5.6 nε has been achieved in the ±60 µε range. Experimental assessment tests carried out in typical structural monitoring contexts have demonstrated that the developed sensor is well suited to measure mechanical perturbations of different structures

  17. Single-photoelectron noise reduction in scintillation detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marvin, T.P.

    1995-10-01

    The 1994--95 search at SLAC for mulicharged particles used four 21 x 21 x 130-cm 3 Bicron 408 scintillation counters to detect a signal at the single-photoelectron level. The competing noise requiring minimization was due to a combination of PM tube (8-inch Thorne EMI 9353KA) afterpulsing and ambient radiation-induced scintillator luminescence. A very slow decay (> 30 μs) component was observed and received particular attention. Efforts to reduce the SPE noise included photomultiplier tube base modifications, detector shielding and cooling, signal amplification, and veto procedures

  18. Reduction of external noise of mobile energy facilities by using active noise control system in muffler

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polivaev, O. I.; Kuznetsov, A. N.; Larionov, A. N.; Beliansky, R. G.

    2018-03-01

    The paper describes a method for the reducing emission of low-frequency noise of modern automotive vehicles into the environment. The importance of reducing the external noise of modern mobile energy facilities made in Russia is substantiated. Standard methods for controlling external noise in technology are of low efficiency when low-frequency sound waves are reduced. In this case, it is in the low-frequency zone of the sound range that the main power of the noise emitted by the machinery lies. The most effective way to reduce such sound waves is to use active noise control systems. A design of a muffler using a similar system is presented. This muffler allowed one to reduce the emission of increased noise levels into the environment by 7-11 dB and to increase acoustic comfort at the operator's workplace by 3-5 dB.

  19. Speckle Noise Reduction via Nonconvex High Total Variation Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yulian Wu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We address the problem of speckle noise removal. The classical total variation is extensively used in this field to solve such problem, but this method suffers from the staircase-like artifacts and the loss of image details. In order to resolve these problems, a nonconvex total generalized variation (TGV regularization is used to preserve both edges and details of the images. The TGV regularization which is able to remove the staircase effect has strong theoretical guarantee by means of its high order smooth feature. Our method combines the merits of both the TGV method and the nonconvex variational method and avoids their main drawbacks. Furthermore, we develop an efficient algorithm for solving the nonconvex TGV-based optimization problem. We experimentally demonstrate the excellent performance of the technique, both visually and quantitatively.

  20. Coronary artery plaques: Cardiac CT with model-based and adaptive-statistical iterative reconstruction technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scheffel, Hans; Stolzmann, Paul; Schlett, Christopher L.; Engel, Leif-Christopher; Major, Gyöngi Petra; Károlyi, Mihály; Do, Synho; Maurovich-Horvat, Pál; Hoffmann, Udo

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: To compare image quality of coronary artery plaque visualization at CT angiography with images reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP), adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR), and model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) techniques. Methods: The coronary arteries of three ex vivo human hearts were imaged by CT and reconstructed with FBP, ASIR and MBIR. Coronary cross-sectional images were co-registered between the different reconstruction techniques and assessed for qualitative and quantitative image quality parameters. Readers were blinded to the reconstruction algorithm. Results: A total of 375 triplets of coronary cross-sectional images were co-registered. Using MBIR, 26% of the images were rated as having excellent overall image quality, which was significantly better as compared to ASIR and FBP (4% and 13%, respectively, all p < 0.001). Qualitative assessment of image noise demonstrated a noise reduction by using ASIR as compared to FBP (p < 0.01) and further noise reduction by using MBIR (p < 0.001). The contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) using MBIR was better as compared to ASIR and FBP (44 ± 19, 29 ± 15, 26 ± 9, respectively; all p < 0.001). Conclusions: Using MBIR improved image quality, reduced image noise and increased CNR as compared to the other available reconstruction techniques. This may further improve the visualization of coronary artery plaque and allow radiation reduction.

  1. Improved BER based on intensity noise alleviation using developed detection technique for incoherent SAC-OCDMA systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Khafaji, Hamza M. R.; Aljunid, S. A.; Fadhil, Hilal A.

    2012-06-01

    The major drawback of incoherent spectral-amplitude coding optical code-division multiple-access (SAC-OCDMA) systems is their inherent intensity noise originating due to the incoherency of the broadband light sources. In this paper, we propose a developed detection technique named the modified-AND subtraction detection for incoherent SAC-OCDMA systems. This detection technique is based upon decreasing the received signal strength during the decoding process by dividing the spectrum of the utilized code sequence. The proposed technique is capable of mitigating the intensity noise effect, as well as suppressing the multiple-access interference impact. Based on modified quadratic congruence (MQC) code, the analytical results reveal that the modified-AND detection offer best bit-error rate (BER) performance and enables MQC code to support higher transmission rate up to 1.25 Gb/s compared to conventional AND detection. Furthermore, we ascertained that the proposed technique enhances the system performance using a simulation experiment.

  2. Status report on the application of process noise technique in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Espefaelt, R.; Aakerhielm, F.

    1979-09-01

    The report gives a survey of applications of noise technique reported for nuclear power plants. The scope has been limited to areas of interest for BWR and PWR plants of the types found in Sweden and with an emphasis on cases where the practical applicability has been clearly demonstrated. (author)

  3. Air pollution emission reduction techniques in combustion plants; Technique de reduction des emissions de polluants atmospheriques dans les installations de combustion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bouscaren, R. [CITEPA, Centre Interprofessionnel Technique d`Etudes de la Pollution Atmospherique, 75 - Paris (France)

    1996-12-31

    Separating techniques offer a large choice between various procedures for air pollution reduction in combustion plants: mechanical, electrical, filtering, hydraulic, chemical, physical, catalytic, thermal and biological processes. Many environment-friendly equipment use such separating techniques, particularly for dust cleaning and fume desulfurizing and more recently for the abatement of volatile organic pollutants or dioxins and furans. These processes are briefly described

  4. A new and efficient transient noise analysis technique for simulation of CCD image sensors or particle detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bolcato, P.; Jarron, P.; Poujois, R.

    1993-01-01

    CCD image sensors or switched capacitor circuits used for particle detectors have a certain noise level affecting the resolution of the detector. A new noise simulation technique for these devices is presented that has been implemented in the circuit simulator ELDO. The approach is particularly useful for noise simulation in analog sampling circuits. Comparison between simulations and experimental results has been made and is shown for a 1.5 μ CMOS current mode amplifier designed for high-rate particle detectors. (R.P.) 5 refs., 7 figs

  5. Combat aircraft noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sgarbozza, M.; Depitre, A.

    1992-04-01

    A discussion of the characteristics and the noise levels of combat aircraft and of a transport aircraft in taking off and landing are presented. Some methods of noise reduction are discussed, including the following: operational anti-noise procedures; and concepts of future engines (silent post-combustion and variable cycle). Some measurement results concerning the noise generated in flight at great speeds and low altitude will also be examined. Finally, the protection of the environment of French air bases against noise will be described and the possibilities of regulation examined.

  6. Airfoil optimization for unsteady flows with application to high-lift noise reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumpfkeil, Markus Peer

    The use of steady-state aerodynamic optimization methods in the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) community is fairly well established. In particular, the use of adjoint methods has proven to be very beneficial because their cost is independent of the number of design variables. The application of numerical optimization to airframe-generated noise, however, has not received as much attention, but with the significant quieting of modern engines, airframe noise now competes with engine noise. Optimal control techniques for unsteady flows are needed in order to be able to reduce airframe-generated noise. In this thesis, a general framework is formulated to calculate the gradient of a cost function in a nonlinear unsteady flow environment via the discrete adjoint method. The unsteady optimization algorithm developed in this work utilizes a Newton-Krylov approach since the gradient-based optimizer uses the quasi-Newton method BFGS, Newton's method is applied to the nonlinear flow problem, GMRES is used to solve the resulting linear problem inexactly, and last but not least the linear adjoint problem is solved using Bi-CGSTAB. The flow is governed by the unsteady two-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with a one-equation turbulence model, which are discretized using structured grids and a finite difference approach. The effectiveness of the unsteady optimization algorithm is demonstrated by applying it to several problems of interest including shocktubes, pulses in converging-diverging nozzles, rotating cylinders, transonic buffeting, and an unsteady trailing-edge flow. In order to address radiated far-field noise, an acoustic wave propagation program based on the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings (FW-H) formulation is implemented and validated. The general framework is then used to derive the adjoint equations for a novel hybrid URANS/FW-H optimization algorithm in order to be able to optimize the shape of airfoils based on their calculated far

  7. Noise reduction in digital speckle pattern interferometry using bidimensional empirical mode decomposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernini, Maria Belen; Federico, Alejandro; Kaufmann, Guillermo H.

    2008-01-01

    We propose a bidimensional empirical mode decomposition (BEMD) method to reduce speckle noise in digital speckle pattern interferometry (DSPI) fringes. The BEMD method is based on a sifting process that decomposes the DSPI fringes in a finite set of subimages represented by high and low frequency oscillations, which are named modes. The sifting process assigns the high frequency information to the first modes, so that it is possible to discriminate speckle noise from fringe information, which is contained in the remaining modes. The proposed method is a fully data-driven technique, therefore neither fixed basis functions nor operator intervention are required. The performance of the BEMD method to denoise DSPI fringes is analyzed using computer-simulated data, and the results are also compared with those obtained by means of a previously developed one-dimensional empirical mode decomposition approach. An application of the proposed BEMD method to denoise experimental fringes is also presented

  8. Model order reduction techniques with applications in finite element analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Qu, Zu-Qing

    2004-01-01

    Despite the continued rapid advance in computing speed and memory the increase in the complexity of models used by engineers persists in outpacing them. Even where there is access to the latest hardware, simulations are often extremely computationally intensive and time-consuming when full-blown models are under consideration. The need to reduce the computational cost involved when dealing with high-order/many-degree-of-freedom models can be offset by adroit computation. In this light, model-reduction methods have become a major goal of simulation and modeling research. Model reduction can also ameliorate problems in the correlation of widely used finite-element analyses and test analysis models produced by excessive system complexity. Model Order Reduction Techniques explains and compares such methods focusing mainly on recent work in dynamic condensation techniques: - Compares the effectiveness of static, exact, dynamic, SEREP and iterative-dynamic condensation techniques in producing valid reduced-order mo...

  9. Localized, Non-Harmonic Active Flap Motions for Low Frequency In-Plane Rotor Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Ben W.; Potsdam, Mark; Kitaplioglu, Cahit; LeMasurier, Philip; Lorber, Peter; Andrews, Joseph

    2012-01-01

    A first-of-its-kind demonstration of the use of localized, non-harmonic active flap motions, for suppressing low frequency, in-plane rotor noise, is reported in this paper. Operational feasibility is verified via testing of the full-scale AATD/Sikorsky/UTRC active flap demonstration rotor in the NFAC's 40- by 80-Foot anechoic wind tunnel. Effectiveness of using localized, non-harmonic active flap motions are compared to conventional four-per-rev harmonic flap motions, and also active flap motions derived from closed-loop acoustics implementations. All three approaches resulted in approximately the same noise reductions over an in-plane three-by-three microphone array installed forward and near in-plane of the rotor in the nearfield. It is also reported that using an active flap in this localized, non-harmonic manner, resulted in no more that 2% rotor performance penalty, but had the tendency to incur higher hub vibration levels.

  10. Nipple Reduction With the Chullo-Hat Technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Hyung-Bo; Sun, Sang-Hoon

    2015-08-01

    Although various techniques of nipple reduction have been described in the literature, many are difficult to design or have unreliable outcomes. For men, as well as women who do not plan to breastfeed, it is not necessary to apply a complicated technique that protects the lactiferous ducts. The authors introduce a simple technique for nipple reduction that has achieved consistent, reproducible results. The desired nipple length is marked, and a chullo-hat excision pattern is drawn. After infiltration of a local anesthetic solution around the nipple, excision of the excess nipple tissue is performed, comprising 2 triangular flaps. The remaining 2 pillars are approximated with 5-0 Nylon simple interrupted sutures. However, the wound is not completely closed in the central area of the nipple, which promotes the drainage of discharge. Fifty-three women (106 nipples) underwent this surgery between December 2009 and December 2013. The follow-up period ranged from 6 months to 2 years (mean, 10 months). No major complications occurred, and the scars were very inconspicuous. The postoperative appearance of nipples was consistently similar in size and shape. This simple technique was safe and effective in nipples of different sizes. The results were reliable and consistent with expectations. Although this study included only women, the authors believe that outcomes would be successful in men as well. 4 Therapeutic. © 2015 The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. Reprints and permission: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. Ultra-low noise miniaturized neural amplifier with hardware averaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dweiri, Yazan M; Eggers, Thomas; McCallum, Grant; Durand, Dominique M

    2015-08-01

    Peripheral nerves carry neural signals that could be used to control hybrid bionic systems. Cuff electrodes provide a robust and stable interface but the recorded signal amplitude is small (concept of hardware averaging to nerve recordings obtained with cuff electrodes. An optimization procedure is developed to minimize noise and power simultaneously. The novel design was based on existing neural amplifiers (Intan Technologies, LLC) and is validated with signals obtained from the FINE in chronic dog experiments. We showed that hardware averaging leads to a reduction in the total recording noise by a factor of 1/√N or less depending on the source resistance. Chronic recording of physiological activity with FINE using the presented design showed significant improvement on the recorded baseline noise with at least two parallel operation transconductance amplifiers leading to a 46.1% reduction at N = 8. The functionality of these recordings was quantified by the SNR improvement and shown to be significant for N = 3 or more. The present design was shown to be capable of generating hardware averaging on noise improvement for neural recording with cuff electrodes, and can accommodate the presence of high source impedances that are associated with the miniaturized contacts and the high channel count in electrode arrays. This technique can be adopted for other applications where miniaturized and implantable multichannel acquisition systems with ultra-low noise and low power are required.

  12. High Velocity Jet Noise Source Location and Reduction. Task 6. Noise Abatement Nozzle Design Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1979-04-01

    the Conical Nozzle 255 on the Bertin Aerotrain . xvi ji4 ’ . _______ p .. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued) Figure Page D-37. Predicted and Measured...Moving-Frame Noise from the 256 Conical Nozzle on the Bertin Aerotrain . D-38. Predicted and Measured Static Noise from the 104-Tube 257 Nozzle on the...Bertin Aerotrain . D-39. Predicted and Measured Moving-Frame Noise from the 104- 258 Tube Nozzle on the Bertin Aerotrain . D-40. Relative Velocity Index m

  13. Liposuction-assisted four pedicle-based breast reduction (LAFPBR): A new safer technique of breast reduction for elderly patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    La Padula, Simone; Hersant, Barbara; Noel, Warren; Meningaud, Jean Paul

    2018-05-01

    As older people increasingly care for their body image and remain active longer, the demand for reduction mammaplasty is increasing in this population. Only a few studies of reduction mammaplasty have specifically focussed on the outcomes in elderly women. We developed a new breast reduction technique: the Liposuction-Assisted Four Pedicle-Based Breast Reduction (LAFPBR) that is especially indicated for elderly patients. The aim of this paper was to describe the LAFPBR technique and to determine whether it could be considered a safer option for elderly patients compared to the superomedial pedicle (SMP) technique. A retrospective study included sixty-two women aged 60 years and over who underwent bilateral breast reduction mammaplasty. Thirty-one patients underwent LAFPBR and 31 patients were operated using the SMP technique. Complications and patient satisfaction in both groups were analysed. Patient satisfaction was measured using a validated questionnaire: the client satisfaction questionnaire 8 (CSQ-8). The LAFPBR technique required less operating time, and avoided significant blood loss. Six minor complications were observed in SMP patients. No LAFPBR women developed a procedure-related complication. Patient satisfaction was high with a mean score of 29.65 in LAFPBR patients and 28.68 in SMP patients. The LAFPBR is an easy procedure that appears safer than SMP and results in a high satisfaction rate in elderly women. Copyright © 2018 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Noise Reduction Based on an Fe -Rh Interlayer in Exchange-Coupled Heat-Assisted Recording Media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogler, Christoph; Abert, Claas; Bruckner, Florian; Suess, Dieter

    2017-11-01

    High storage density and high data rate are two of the most desired properties of modern hard disk drives. Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is believed to achieve both. Recording media, consisting of exchange-coupled grains with a high and a low TC part, were shown to have low dc noise—but increased ac noise—compared to hard magnetic single-phase grains like FePt. We extensively investigate the influence of an Fe -Rh interlayer on the magnetic noise in exchange-coupled grains. We find an optimal grain design that reduces the jitter in the down-track direction by up to 30% and in the off-track direction by up to 50%, depending on the head velocity, compared to the same structures without FeRh. Furthermore, the mechanisms causing this jitter reduction are demonstrated. Additionally, we show that, for short heat pulses and low write temperatures, the switching-time distribution of the analyzed grain structure is reduced by a factor of 4 compared to the same structure without an Fe -Rh layer. This feature could be interesting for HAMR use with a pulsed laser spot and could encourage discussion of this HAMR technique.

  15. Effect of a television digital noise reduction device on fluoroscopic image quality and dose rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaffe, C.C.; Orphanoudakis, S.C.; Ablow, R.C.

    1982-01-01

    In conventional fluoroscopy, the current, and therefore the dose rate, is usually determined by the level at which the radiologist visualizes a just tolerable amount of photon ''mottle'' on the video monitor. In this study, digital processing of the analogue video image reduced noise and generated a television image at half the usual exposure rate. The technique uses frame delay to compare an incoming frame with the preceding output frame. A first-order recursive filter implemented under a motion-detection scheme operates on the image of a point-by-point basis. This effective motion detection algorithm permits noise suppression without creating noticeable lag in moving structures. Eight radiologists evaluated images of vesicoureteral reflux in the pig for noise, contrast, resolution, and general image quality on a five-point preferential scale. They rated the digitally processed fluoroscopy images equivalent in diagnostic value to unprocessed images

  16. Research on Aerodynamic Noise Reduction for High-Speed Trains

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Yadong; Zhang, Jiye; Li, Tian; Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Weihua

    2016-01-01

    A broadband noise source model based on Lighthill’s acoustic theory was used to perform numerical simulations of the aerodynamic noise sources for a high-speed train. The near-field unsteady flow around a high-speed train was analysed based on a delayed detached-eddy simulation (DDES) using the finite volume method with high-order difference schemes. The far-field aerodynamic noise from a high-speed train was predicted using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)/Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H)...

  17. Entanglement enhancement through multirail noise reduction for continuous-variable measurement-based quantum-information processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Yung-Chao; Wu, Shin-Tza

    2017-09-01

    We study theoretically the teleportation of a controlled-phase (cz) gate through measurement-based quantum-information processing for continuous-variable systems. We examine the degree of entanglement in the output modes of the teleported cz-gate for two classes of resource states: the canonical cluster states that are constructed via direct implementations of two-mode squeezing operations and the linear-optical version of cluster states which are built from linear-optical networks of beam splitters and phase shifters. In order to reduce the excess noise arising from finite-squeezed resource states, teleportation through resource states with different multirail designs will be considered and the enhancement of entanglement in the teleported cz gates will be analyzed. For multirail cluster with an arbitrary number of rails, we obtain analytical expressions for the entanglement in the output modes and analyze in detail the results for both classes of resource states. At the same time, we also show that for uniformly squeezed clusters the multirail noise reduction can be optimized when the excess noise is allocated uniformly to the rails. To facilitate the analysis, we develop a trick with manipulations of quadrature operators that can reveal rather efficiently the measurement sequence and corrective operations needed for the measurement-based gate teleportation, which will also be explained in detail.

  18. Noise and its reduction in graphene based nanopore devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Ashvani; Park, Kyeong-Beom; Kim, Hyun-Mi; Kim, Ki-Bum

    2013-01-01

    Ionic current fluctuations in graphene nanopore devices are a ubiquitous phenomenon and are responsible for degraded spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we descriptively investigate the impact of different substrate materials (Si and quartz) and membrane thicknesses on noise characteristics of graphene nanopore devices. To mitigate the membrane fluctuations and pin-hole defects, a SiN x membrane is transferred onto the substrate and a pore of approximately 70 nm in diameter is perforated prior to the graphene transfer. Comprehensive noise study reveals that the few layer graphene transferred onto the quartz substrate possesses low noise level and higher signal to noise ratio as compared to single layer graphene, without deteriorating the spatial resolution. The findings here point to improvement of graphene based nanopore devices for exciting opportunities in future single-molecule genomic screening devices. (paper)

  19. New solution for transport and industrial noise protection through reflective noise barriers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kralov Ivan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A new solution for protection of transportation and industrial noise through reflective noise barriers is proposed and investigated in this study. The new solution combines the advantages of the known barriers and has its own advantages in addition. The preliminary results show a very good level of noise reduction for this type of barriers.

  20. Observation of modulation speed enhancement, frequency modulation suppression, and phase noise reduction by detuned loading in a coupled-cavity semiconductor laser

    OpenAIRE

    Vahala, Kerry; Paslaski, Joel; Yariv, Amnon

    1985-01-01

    Simultaneous direct modulation response enhancement, phase noise (linewidth) reduction, and frequency modulation suppression are produced in a coupled-cavity semiconductor laser by the detuned loading mechanism.

  1. Self-Consistent Theory of Shot Noise Suppression in Ballistic Conductors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulashenko, O. M.; Rubí, J. M.; Kochelap, V. A.

    making use of a combination of two already realized techniques: a hot-electron spectrometer [3,4] which allows one to analyze different energy groups of electrons collected at the contact and shot-noise measurements [5,6]. Such "shot noise reduction spectroscopy" allows one to measure the novel phenomena. In particular, we predict the (anti)correlation of the "tangent" electrons having the energy close to the potential barrier height, to all other electron energy groups collected at the receiving contact.

  2. A study on the fault diagnostic techniques for reactor internal structures using neutron noise analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Tae Ryong; Jeong, Seong Ho; Park, Jin Ho; Park, Jin Suk

    1994-08-01

    The unfavorable phenomena, such as flow induced vibration and aging process in reactor internals, cause degradation of structural integrity and may result in loosing some mechanical binding components which might impact other equipments and components or cause flow blockage. Since these malfunctions and potential failures change reactor noise signal, it is necessary to analyze reactor noise signal for early fault diagnosis in the point of few of safety and plant economics. The objectives of this study are to establish fault diagnostic and TS(thermal shield), and to develop a data acquisition and signal processing software system. In the first year of this study, an analysis technique for the reactor internal vibration using the reactor noise was proposed. With the technique proposed and the reactor noise signals (ex-core neutron and acceleration), the dynamic characteristics of Ulchin-1 reactor internals were obtained, and compared with those of Tricastin-1 which is the prototype of Ulchin-1. In the second year, a PC-based expert system for reactor internals fault diagnosis is developed, which included data acquisition, signal processing, feature extraction function, and represented diagnostic knowledge by the IF-THEN rule. To know the effect of the faults, the reactor internals of Ulchin-1 is modeled using FEM and simulated with an artificial defect given in the hold-down spring. Trend in the dynamic characteristics of reactor internals is also observed during one fuel cycle to know the effect of boron concentration. 100 figs, 7 tabs, 18 refs. (Author)

  3. Development of flow velocity measurement techniques in visible images. Improvement of particle image velocimetry techniques on image process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kimura, Nobuyuki; Nishimura, Motohiko; Kamide, Hideki; Hishida, Koichi

    1999-10-01

    Noise reduction system was developed to improve applicability of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to complicated configure bounded flows. For fast reactor safety and thermal hydraulic studies, experiments are performed in scale models which usually have rather complicated geometry and structures such as fuel subassemblies, heat exchangers, etc. The structures and stuck dusts on the view window of the models obscure the particle image. Thus the image except the moving particles can be regarded as a noise. In the present study, two noise reduction techniques are proposed. The one is the Time-averaged Light Intensity Subtraction method (TIS) which subtracts the time-averaged light intensity of each pixel in the sequential images from the each corresponding pixel. The other one is the Minimum Light Intensity Subtraction method (MIS) which subtracts the minimum light intensity of each pixel in the sequential images from the each corresponding pixel. Both methods are examined on their capabilities of noise reduction. As for the original 'bench mark' image, the image made from Large Eddy Simulation was used. To the bench mark image, noises are added which are referred as sample images. Both methods reduce the rate of vector with the error of more than one pixel from 90% to less than 5%. Also, more than 50% of the vectors have the error of less than 0.2 pixel. The analysis of uncertainty shows that these methods enhances the accuracy of vector measurement 3 ∼ 12 times if the image with noise were processed, and the MIS method has 1.1 ∼ 2.1 times accuracy compared to the TIS. Thus the present noise reduction methods are quite efficient to enhance the accuracy of flow velocity fields measured with particle images including structures and deposits on the view window. (author)

  4. Evaluation of Clipping Based Iterative PAPR Reduction Techniques for FBMC Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zsolt Kollár

    2014-01-01

    to conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM technique. The low ACLR of the transmitted FBMC signal makes it especially favorable in cognitive radio applications, where strict requirements are posed on out-of-band radiation. Large dynamic range resulting in high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR is characteristic of all sorts of multicarrier signals. The advantageous spectral properties of the high-PAPR FBMC signal are significantly degraded if nonlinearities are present in the transceiver chain. Spectral regrowth may appear, causing harmful interference in the neighboring frequency bands. This paper presents novel clipping based PAPR reduction techniques, evaluated and compared by simulations and measurements, with an emphasis on spectral aspects. The paper gives an overall comparison of PAPR reduction techniques, focusing on the reduction of the dynamic range of FBMC signals without increasing out-of-band radiation. An overview is presented on transmitter oriented techniques employing baseband clipping, which can maintain the system performance with a desired bit error rate (BER.

  5. A novel match-line selective charging scheme for high-speed, low-power and noise-tolerant content-addressable memory

    KAUST Repository

    Hasan, Muhammad Mubashwar; Rashid, Abdul B M Harun Ur; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2010-01-01

    Content-addressable memory (CAM) is an essential component for high-speed lookup intensive applications. This paper presents a match-line selective charging technique to increase speed and reduce the energy per bit per search while increasing the noise-tolerance. Simulation in TSMC 0.18 μm technology with 64×72 Ternary CAM shows the match-line energy reduction of 45% compared to the conventional currentsaving scheme with the reduction of minimum cycle time by 68% and the improvement of noise-tolerance by 96%.

  6. A novel match-line selective charging scheme for high-speed, low-power and noise-tolerant content-addressable memory

    KAUST Repository

    Hasan, Muhammad Mubashwar

    2010-06-01

    Content-addressable memory (CAM) is an essential component for high-speed lookup intensive applications. This paper presents a match-line selective charging technique to increase speed and reduce the energy per bit per search while increasing the noise-tolerance. Simulation in TSMC 0.18 μm technology with 64×72 Ternary CAM shows the match-line energy reduction of 45% compared to the conventional currentsaving scheme with the reduction of minimum cycle time by 68% and the improvement of noise-tolerance by 96%.

  7. Handbook Of Noise And Vibration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-12-01

    This book is about noise and vibration. The first chapter has explanations of noise such as basic of sound, influence of noise, assessment of noise, measurement of prevention of noise and technology, case of noise measurement and soundproof. The second chapter describes vibration with outline, theory of vibration, interpretation of vibration, measurement for reduction of vibration, case of design of protection against vibration. It deals with related regulation and method of measurement.

  8. Noise control in aeroacoustics; Proceedings of the 1993 National Conference on Noise Control Engineering, NOISE-CON 93, Williamsburg, VA, May 2-5, 1993

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubbard, Harvey H. (Editor)

    1993-01-01

    In the conference over 100 papers were presented in eight sessions: (1) Emission: Noise Sources; (2) Physical Phenomena; (3) Noise ControlElements; (4) Vibration and Shock: Generation, Transmission, Isolation, and Reduction; (5) Immission: Physical Aspects of Environmental Noise; (6) Immission: Effects of Noise; (7) Analysis; and (8) Requirements. In addition, the distinguished lecture series included presentations on the High Speed Civil Transport and on research from the United Kingdom on aircraft noise effects.

  9. Computational reduction of specimen noise to enable improved thermography characterization of flaws in graphite polymer composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winfree, William P.; Howell, Patricia A.; Zalameda, Joseph N.

    2014-05-01

    Flaw detection and characterization with thermographic techniques in graphite polymer composites are often limited by localized variations in the thermographic response. Variations in properties such as acceptable porosity, fiber volume content and surface polymer thickness result in variations in the thermal response that in general cause significant variations in the initial thermal response. These result in a "noise" floor that increases the difficulty of detecting and characterizing deeper flaws. A method is presented for computationally removing a significant amount of the "noise" from near surface porosity by diffusing the early time response, then subtracting it from subsequent responses. Simulations of the thermal response of a composite are utilized in defining the limitations of the technique. This method for reducing the data is shown to give considerable improvement characterizing both the size and depth of damage. Examples are shown for data acquired on specimens with fabricated delaminations and impact damage.

  10. Computational Reduction of Specimen Noise to Enable Improved Thermography Characterization of Flaws in Graphite Polymer Composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winfree, William P.; Howell, Patricia A.; Zalameda, Joseph N.

    2014-01-01

    Flaw detection and characterization with thermographic techniques in graphite polymer composites are often limited by localized variations in the thermographic response. Variations in properties such as acceptable porosity, fiber volume content and surface polymer thickness result in variations in the thermal response that in general cause significant variations in the initial thermal response. These result in a "noise" floor that increases the difficulty of detecting and characterizing deeper flaws. A method is presented for computationally removing a significant amount of the "noise" from near surface porosity by diffusing the early time response, then subtracting it from subsequent responses. Simulations of the thermal response of a composite are utilized in defining the limitations of the technique. This method for reducing the data is shown to give considerable improvement characterizing both the size and depth of damage. Examples are shown for data acquired on specimens with fabricated delaminations and impact damage.

  11. Accelerated numerical processing of electronically recorded holograms with reduced speckle noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trujillo, Carlos; Garcia-Sucerquia, Jorge

    2013-09-01

    The numerical reconstruction of digitally recorded holograms suffers from speckle noise. An accelerated method that uses general-purpose computing in graphics processing units to reduce that noise is shown. The proposed methodology utilizes parallelized algorithms to record, reconstruct, and superimpose multiple uncorrelated holograms of a static scene. For the best tradeoff between reduction of the speckle noise and processing time, the method records, reconstructs, and superimposes six holograms of 1024 × 1024 pixels in 68 ms; for this case, the methodology reduces the speckle noise by 58% compared with that exhibited by a single hologram. The fully parallelized method running on a commodity graphics processing unit is one order of magnitude faster than the same technique implemented on a regular CPU using its multithreading capabilities. Experimental results are shown to validate the proposal.

  12. Damping layout optimization for ship's cabin noise reduction based on statistical energy analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    WU Weiguo

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available An optimization analysis study concerning the damping control of ship's cabin noise was carried out in order to improve the effect and reduce the weight of damping. Based on the Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA method, a theoretical deduction and numerical analysis of the first-order sensitivity analysis of the A-weighted sound pressure level concerning the damping loss factor of the subsystem were carried out. On this basis, a mathematical optimization model was proposed and an optimization program developed. Next, the secondary development of VA One software was implemented through the use of MATLAB, while the cabin noise damping control layout optimization system was established. Finally, the optimization model of the ship was constructed and numerical experiments of damping control optimization conducted. The damping installation region was divided into five parts with different damping thicknesses. The total weight of damping was set as an objective function and the A-weighted sound pressure level of the target cabin was set as a constraint condition. The best damping thickness was obtained through the optimization program, and the total damping weight was reduced by 60.4%. The results show that the damping noise reduction effect of unit weight is significantly improved through the optimization method. This research successfully solves the installation position and thickness selection problems in the acoustic design of damping control, providing a reliable analysis method and guidance for the design.

  13. Software development of the mechanical vibration monitoring system of the CNA I reactor internals by neutron noise technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wentzeis, Luis M.; Calvo, Maria D.

    2009-01-01

    The neutron noise analysis technique is an important predictive maintenance tool for early detection of failures such as sensor malfunctions and incipient mechanical problems located in the reactor internals. This technique was applied successfully in Argentina since 1987. The FER-GAEN group dependent of the CNEA developed the measuring system to detect anomalies as early as possible. The magnitude of interest in this analysis is the fluctuating component of the neutron flux known as 'neutron noise'. In order to improve and facilitate the analysis, a new software code was developed for the data acquisition of the neutron noise signals and neutron spectra estimation in the frequency domain. The RMS values related with the internals vibrations are calculated from these spectra and are chronologically displayed, in order to detect any anomalous vibration or incipient detector malfunction as early as possible. (author)

  14. Reduction of noise in the neonatal intensive care unit using sound-activated noise meters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, D; Aubertin, C; Barrowman, N; Moreau, K; Dunn, S; Harrold, J

    2014-11-01

    To determine if sound-activated noise meters providing direct audit and visual feedback can reduce sound levels in a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Sound levels (in dB) were compared between a 2-month period with noise meters present but without visual signal fluctuation and a subsequent 2 months with the noise meters providing direct audit and visual feedback. There was a significant increase in the percentage of time the sound level in the NICU was below 50 dB across all patient care areas (9.9%, 8.9% and 7.3%). This improvement was not observed in the desk area where there are no admitted patients. There was no change in the percentage of time the NICU was below 45 or 55 dB. Sound-activated noise meters seem effective in reducing sound levels in patient care areas. Conversations may have moved to non-patient care areas preventing a similar change there. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  15. Securing safe and informative thoracic CT examinations—Progress of radiation dose reduction techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubo, Takeshi, E-mail: tkubo@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan); Ohno, Yoshiharu [Division of Functional and Diagnostic Imaging Research, Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017 (Japan); Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research Center, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017 (Japan); Seo, Joon Beom [Department of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, 88 Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul 05505 (Korea, Republic of); Yamashiro, Tsuneo [Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, University of the Ryukyus, 207 Uehara, Nishinara, Okinawa 903-0215 (Japan); Kalender, Willi A. [Institute of Medical Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Henkestr. 91, 91052 Erlangen (Germany); Lee, Chang Hyun [Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, 28 Yeongeon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lynch, David A. [Department of Radiology, National Jewish Health, 1400 Jackson St, A330 Denver, Colorado 80206 (United States); Kauczor, Hans-Ulrich [Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Translational Lung Research Center Heidelberg (TLRC), Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Hatabu, Hiroto, E-mail: hhatabu@partners.org [Center for Pulmonary Functional Imaging, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women' s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115 (United States)

    2017-01-15

    Highlights: • Various techniques have led to substantial radiation dose reduction of chest CT. • Automatic modulation of tube current has been shown to reduce radiation dose. • Iterative reconstruction makes significant radiation dose reduction possible. • Processing time is a limitation for full iterative reconstruction, currently. • Validation of diagnostic accuracy is desirable for routine use of low dose protocols. - Abstract: The increase in the radiation exposure from CT examinations prompted the investigation on the various dose-reduction techniques. Significant dose reduction has been achieved and the level of radiation exposure of thoracic CT is expected to reach the level equivalent to several chest X-ray examinations. With more scanners with advanced dose reduction capability deployed, knowledge on the radiation dose reduction methods has become essential to clinical practice as well as academic research. This article reviews the history of dose reduction techniques, ongoing changes brought by newer technologies and areas of further investigation.

  16. Dynamic model reduction: An overview of available techniques with application to power systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đukić Savo D.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper summarises the model reduction techniques used for the reduction of large-scale linear and nonlinear dynamic models, described by the differential and algebraic equations that are commonly used in control theory. The groups of methods discussed in this paper for reduction of the linear dynamic model are based on singular perturbation analysis, modal analysis, singular value decomposition, moment matching and methods based on a combination of singular value decomposition and moment matching. Among the nonlinear dynamic model reduction methods, proper orthogonal decomposition, the trajectory piecewise linear method, balancing-based methods, reduction by optimising system matrices and projection from a linearised model, are described. Part of the paper is devoted to the techniques commonly used for reduction (equivalencing of large-scale power systems, which are based on coherency, synchrony, singular perturbation analysis, modal analysis and identification. Two (most interesting of the described techniques are applied to the reduction of the commonly used New England 10-generator, 39-bus test power system.

  17. Dose Reduction Techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    WAGGONER, L.O.

    2000-01-01

    As radiation safety specialists, one of the things we are required to do is evaluate tools, equipment, materials and work practices and decide whether the use of these products or work practices will reduce radiation dose or risk to the environment. There is a tendency for many workers that work with radioactive material to accomplish radiological work the same way they have always done it rather than look for new technology or change their work practices. New technology is being developed all the time that can make radiological work easier and result in less radiation dose to the worker or reduce the possibility that contamination will be spread to the environment. As we discuss the various tools and techniques that reduce radiation dose, keep in mind that the radiological controls should be reasonable. We can not always get the dose to zero, so we must try to accomplish the work efficiently and cost-effectively. There are times we may have to accept there is only so much you can do. The goal is to do the smart things that protect the worker but do not hinder him while the task is being accomplished. In addition, we should not demand that large amounts of money be spent for equipment that has marginal value in order to save a few millirem. We have broken the handout into sections that should simplify the presentation. Time, distance, shielding, and source reduction are methods used to reduce dose and are covered in Part I on work execution. We then look at operational considerations, radiological design parameters, and discuss the characteristics of personnel who deal with ALARA. This handout should give you an overview of what it takes to have an effective dose reduction program

  18. Dose Reduction Techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    WAGGONER, L.O.

    2000-05-16

    As radiation safety specialists, one of the things we are required to do is evaluate tools, equipment, materials and work practices and decide whether the use of these products or work practices will reduce radiation dose or risk to the environment. There is a tendency for many workers that work with radioactive material to accomplish radiological work the same way they have always done it rather than look for new technology or change their work practices. New technology is being developed all the time that can make radiological work easier and result in less radiation dose to the worker or reduce the possibility that contamination will be spread to the environment. As we discuss the various tools and techniques that reduce radiation dose, keep in mind that the radiological controls should be reasonable. We can not always get the dose to zero, so we must try to accomplish the work efficiently and cost-effectively. There are times we may have to accept there is only so much you can do. The goal is to do the smart things that protect the worker but do not hinder him while the task is being accomplished. In addition, we should not demand that large amounts of money be spent for equipment that has marginal value in order to save a few millirem. We have broken the handout into sections that should simplify the presentation. Time, distance, shielding, and source reduction are methods used to reduce dose and are covered in Part I on work execution. We then look at operational considerations, radiological design parameters, and discuss the characteristics of personnel who deal with ALARA. This handout should give you an overview of what it takes to have an effective dose reduction program.

  19. Magnetic and spontaneous Barkhausen noise techniques used in investigation of a martensitic transformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capò Sànchez, J.; Huallpa, E.; Farina, P.; Padovese, L. R.; Goldenstein, H.

    2011-10-01

    Magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) was used to characterize the progress of austenite to martensite phase transformation while cooling steel specimens, using a conventional Barkhausen noise emission setup stimulated by an alternating magnetic field. The phase transformation was also followed by electrical resistivity measurements and by optical and scanning electron microscopy. MBN measurements on a AISI D2 tool steel austenitized at 1473 K and cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature presented a clear change near 225 K during cooling, corresponding to the MS (martensite start) temperature, as confirmed by resistivity measurements. Analysis of the resulting signals suggested a novel experimental technique that measures spontaneous magnetic emission during transformation, in the absence of any external field. Spontaneous magnetic noise emission measurements were registered in situ while cooling an initially austenitic sample in liquid nitrogen, showing that local microstructural changes, corresponding to an avalanche or "burst" phenomena, could be detected. This spontaneous magnetic emission (SME) can thus be considered a new experimental tool for the study of martensite transformations in ferrous alloys, at the same level as acoustic emission.

  20. Error reduction techniques for Monte Carlo neutron transport calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ju, J.H.W.

    1981-01-01

    Monte Carlo methods have been widely applied to problems in nuclear physics, mathematical reliability, communication theory, and other areas. The work in this thesis is developed mainly with neutron transport applications in mind. For nuclear reactor and many other applications, random walk processes have been used to estimate multi-dimensional integrals and obtain information about the solution of integral equations. When the analysis is statistically based such calculations are often costly, and the development of efficient estimation techniques plays a critical role in these applications. All of the error reduction techniques developed in this work are applied to model problems. It is found that the nearly optimal parameters selected by the analytic method for use with GWAN estimator are nearly identical to parameters selected by the multistage method. Modified path length estimation (based on the path length importance measure) leads to excellent error reduction in all model problems examined. Finally, it should be pointed out that techniques used for neutron transport problems may be transferred easily to other application areas which are based on random walk processes. The transport problems studied in this dissertation provide exceptionally severe tests of the error reduction potential of any sampling procedure. It is therefore expected that the methods of this dissertation will prove useful in many other application areas

  1. Experimental Investigations of Noise Control in Planetary Gear Set by Phasing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. H. Gawande

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Now a days reduction of gear noise and resulting vibrations has received much attention of the researchers. The internal excitation caused by the variation in tooth mesh stiffness is a key factor in causing vibration. Therefore to reduce gear noise and vibrations several techniques have been proposed in recent years. In this research the experimental work is carried out to study the effect of planet phasing on noise and subsequent resulting vibrations of Nylon-6 planetary gear drive. For this purpose experimental set-up was built and trials were conducted for two different arrangements (i.e., with phasing and without phasing and it is observed that the noise level and resulting vibrations were reduced by planet phasing arrangement. So from the experimental results it is observed that by applying the meshing phase difference one can reduce planetary gear set noise and vibrations.

  2. Realistic simulation of reduced-dose CT with noise modeling and sinogram synthesis using DICOM CT images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Won Kim, Chang; Kim, Jong Hyo

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: Reducing the patient dose while maintaining the diagnostic image quality during CT exams is the subject of a growing number of studies, in which simulations of reduced-dose CT with patient data have been used as an effective technique when exploring the potential of various dose reduction techniques. Difficulties in accessing raw sinogram data, however, have restricted the use of this technique to a limited number of institutions. Here, we present a novel reduced-dose CT simulation technique which provides realistic low-dose images without the requirement of raw sinogram data. Methods: Two key characteristics of CT systems, the noise equivalent quanta (NEQ) and the algorithmic modulation transfer function (MTF), were measured for various combinations of object attenuation and tube currents by analyzing the noise power spectrum (NPS) of CT images obtained with a set of phantoms. Those measurements were used to develop a comprehensive CT noise model covering the reduced x-ray photon flux, object attenuation, system noise, and bow-tie filter, which was then employed to generate a simulated noise sinogram for the reduced-dose condition with the use of a synthetic sinogram generated from a reference CT image. The simulated noise sinogram was filtered with the algorithmic MTF and back-projected to create a noise CT image, which was then added to the reference CT image, finally providing a simulated reduced-dose CT image. The simulation performance was evaluated in terms of the degree of NPS similarity, the noise magnitude, the bow-tie filter effect, and the streak noise pattern at photon starvation sites with the set of phantom images. Results: The simulation results showed good agreement with actual low-dose CT images in terms of their visual appearance and in a quantitative evaluation test. The magnitude and shape of the NPS curves of the simulated low-dose images agreed well with those of real low-dose images, showing discrepancies of less than +/−3.2% in

  3. Detrending of non-stationary noise data by spline techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behringer, K.

    1989-11-01

    An off-line method for detrending non-stationary noise data has been investigated. It uses a least squares spline approximation of the noise data with equally spaced breakpoints. Subtraction of the spline approximation from the noise signal at each data point gives a residual noise signal. The method acts as a high-pass filter with very sharp frequency cutoff. The cutoff frequency is determined by the breakpoint distance. The steepness of the cutoff is controlled by the spline order. (author) 12 figs., 1 tab., 5 refs

  4. Third version of vendor-specific model-based iterativereconstruction (Veo 3.0): evaluation of CT image quality in the abdomen using new noise reduction presets and varied slice optimization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telesmanich, Morgan E; Jensen, Corey T; Enriquez, Jose L; Wagner-Bartak, Nicolaus A; Liu, Xinming; Le, Ott; Wei, Wei; Chandler, Adam G; Tamm, Eric P

    2017-08-01

    To qualitatively and quantitatively compare abdominal CT images reconstructed with a newversion of model-based iterative reconstruction (Veo 3.0; GE Healthcare Waukesha, WI) utilizing varied presetsof resolution preference, noise reduction and slice optimization. This retrospective study was approved by our Institutional Review Board and was Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant. The raw datafrom 30 consecutive patients who had undergone CT abdomen scanning were used to reconstructfour clinical presets of 3.75mm axial images using Veo 3.0: 5% resolution preference (RP05n), 5%noise reduction (NR05) and 40% noise reduction (NR40) with new 3.75mm "sliceoptimization," as well as one set using RP05 with conventional 0.625mm "slice optimization" (RP05c). The images were reviewed by two independent readers in a blinded, randomized manner using a 5-point Likert scale as well as a 5-point comparative scale. Multiple two-dimensional circular regions of interest were defined for noise and contrast-to-noise ratio measurements. Line profiles were drawn across the 7 lp cm -1 bar pattern of the Catphan 600 phantom for evaluation of spatial resolution. The NR05 image set was ranked as the best series in overall image quality (mean difference inrank 0.48, 95% CI [0.081-0.88], p = 0.01) and with specific reference to liver evaluation (meandifference 0.46, 95% CI [0.030-0.89], p = 0.03), when compared with the secondbest series ineach category. RP05n was ranked as the best for bone evaluation. NR40 was ranked assignificantly inferior across all assessed categories. Although the NR05 and RP05c image setshad nearly the same contrast-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution, NR05 was generally preferred. Image noise and spatial resolution increased along a spectrum with RP05n the highest and NR40the lowest. Compared to RP05n, the average noise was 21.01% lower for NR05, 26.88%lower for RP05c and 50.86% lower for NR40. Veo 3.0 clinical presets allow for

  5. Noise: how can the nuisance be controlled?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ollerhead, J B

    1973-09-01

    Aircraft noise is a major nuisance in residential communities around airports. If the air transport industries are to meet the ever increasing demand for air travel, determined efforts are required now to reduce the burden of noise upon these communities. Significant engine noise reductions have already been achieved in the latest generation of wide-bodied aircraft, and further reductions are being forecast by the engine manufacturers. Regardless of whether there are justifiable grounds for this optimism there are alternative steps to be taken. But the problem is basically an economic rather than a technological one - how much does noise reduction cost and how much can we afford to pay? The various costs of aircraft noise, both monetary and social, are discussed in relation to its effects upon people. Although an economic analysis of the problem is feasible, it is doubtful whether our understanding of the relationships between physical noise levels and human reaction is yet adequate for such purposes. Planning methods for estimating the extent of community noise nuisance are presented, and it is shown that consideration should be given to outlying regions exposed to relatively little aircraft noise.

  6. Noise-induced hearing loss: a recreational noise perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivory, Robert; Kane, Rebecca; Diaz, Rodney C

    2014-10-01

    This review will discuss the real-world risk factors involved in noise-induced hearing loss as a result of common and popular recreational activities prone to mid and high levels of noise exposure. Although there are currently no interventional measures available to reverse or mitigate preexisting hearing loss from noise, we discuss the vital importance of hearing loss prevention from noise exposure avoidance and reduction. Despite a seeming understanding of the effects of noise exposure from various recreational activities and devices, a large percentage of the general public who is at risk of such noise-induced hearing loss still chooses to refrain from using hearing protection instruments. While occupational exposures pose the greatest traditional risk to hearing conservation in selected workers, recreational risk factors for noise-induced hearing loss may be more insidious in overall effect given the indifferent attitude of much of the general public and particularly our youths toward hearing protection during recreational activities. Active counseling regarding the consequences of excessive noise exposure and the potential benefits to hearing from usage of hearing protection instruments is critical to providing best possible care in the hearing health professions.

  7. Passive noise control by enhancing aeroacoustic interference due to structural discontinuities in close proximity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, R. C. K.; So, R. M. C.; Tang, S. K.; Wang, X. Q.

    2011-07-01

    In-duct devices are commonly installed in flow ducts for various flow management purposes. The structural construction of these devices indispensably creates disruption to smooth flow through duct passages so they exist as structural discontinuities in duct flow. The presence of these discontinuities provides additional possibility of noise generation. In real practice, in-duct devices do not exist alone in any duct system. Even though each in-duct device would generate its own noise, it might be possible that these devices could be properly arranged so as to strengthen the interference between individual noise; thus giving rise to an overall reduction of noise radiation in the in-duct far field. This concept of passive noise control is investigated by considering different configurations of two structural discontinuities of simple form (i.e., a cavity) in tandem in an unconfined flow and in opposing setting within a flow duct. It is known that noise generated by a cavity in unconfined domain (unconfined cavity) is strongly dependent on flow-resonant behavior within the cavity so the interference it produces is merely aeroacoustic. The objective of the present study is to verify the concept of passive noise reduction through enhancement of aeroacoustic interference due to two cavities by considering laminar flow only. A two-dimensional approach is adopted for the direct aeroacoustic calculations using a direct numerical simulation (DNS) technique. The position and geometries of the cavities and the Mach number are varied; the resultant aeroacoustic behavior and acoustic power are calculated. The numerical results are compared with a single cavity case to highlight the effect of introducing additional cavities to the aeroacoustic problem. Resonant flow oscillations occur when two unconfined cavities are very close and the associated acoustic field is very intense with no noise reduction possible. However, for duct aeroacoustics, it is found that a 7.9 db reduction

  8. Guidelines for a Training Course in Noise Survey Techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shadley, John; And Others

    The course is designed to train noise survey technicians during a 3-5 day period to make reliable measurements of 75 percent of the noise problems encountered in the community. The more complex noise problems remaining will continue to be handled by experienced specialists. These technicians will be trained to assist State and local governments in…

  9. [Balloon osteoplasty as reduction technique in the treatment of tibial head fractures].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freude, T; Kraus, T M; Sandmann, G H

    2015-10-01

    Tibial plateau fractures requiring surgery are severe injuries of the lower extremities. Depending on the fracture pattern, the age of the patient, the range of activity and the bone quality there is a broad variation in adequate treatment.  This article reports on an innovative treatment concept to address split depression fractures (Schatzker type II) and depression fractures (Schatzker type III) of the tibial head using the balloon osteoplasty technique for fracture reduction. Using the balloon technique achieves a precise and safe fracture reduction. This internal osteoplasty combines a minimal invasive percutaneous approach with a gently rise of the depressed area and the associated protection of the stratum regenerativum below the articular cartilage surface. This article lights up the surgical procedure using the balloon technique in tibia depression fractures. Using the balloon technique a precise and safe fracture reduction can be achieved. This internal osteoplasty combines a minimally invasive percutaneous approach with a gentle raising of the depressed area and the associated protection of the regenerative layer below the articular cartilage surface. Fracture reduction by use of a tamper results in high peak forces over small areas, whereas by using the balloon the forces are distributed over a larger area causing less secondary stress to the cartilage tissue. This less invasive approach might help to achieve a better long-term outcome with decreased secondary osteoarthritis due to the precise and chondroprotective reduction technique.

  10. Scintillation Reduction using Conjugate-Plane Imaging (Abstract)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vander Haagen, G. A.

    2017-12-01

    (Abstract only) All observatories are plagued by atmospheric turbulence exhibited as star scintillation or "twinkle" whether a high altitude adaptive optics research or a 30-cm amateur telescope. It is well known that these disturbances are caused by wind and temperature-driven refractive gradients in the atmosphere and limit the ultimate photometric resolution of land-based facilities. One approach identified by Fuchs (1998) for scintillation noise reduction was to create a conjugate image space at the telescope and focus on the dominant conjugate turbulent layer within that space. When focused on the turbulent layer little or no scintillation exists. This technique is described whereby noise reductions of 6 to 11/1 have been experienced with mathematical and optical bench simulations. Discussed is a proof-of-principle conjugate optical train design for an 80-mm, f7 telescope.

  11. Analytical study of interior noise control by fuselage design techniques on high-speed, propeller-driven aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Revell, J. D.; Balena, F. J.; Koval, L. R.

    1980-01-01

    The acoustical treatment mass penalties required to achieve an interior noise level of 80 dBA for high speed, fuel efficient propfan-powered aircraft are determined. The prediction method used is based on theory developed for the outer shell dynamics, and a modified approach for add-on noise control element performance. The present synthesis of these methods is supported by experimental data. Three different sized aircraft are studied, including a widebody, a narrowbody and a business sized aircraft. Noise control penalties are calculated for each aircraft for two kinds of noise control designs: add-on designs, where the outer wall structure cannot be changed, and advanced designs where the outer wall stiffness level and the materials usage can be altered. For the add-on designs, the mass penalties range from 1.7 to 2.4 percent of the takeoff gross weight (TOGW) of the various aircraft, similar to preliminary estimates. Results for advanced designs show significant reductions of the mass penalties. For the advanced aluminum designs the penalties are 1.5% of TOGW, and for an all composite aircraft the penalties range from 0.74 to 1.4% of TOGW.

  12. A two-domain real-time algorithm for optimal data reduction: a case study on accelerator magnet measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arpaia, Pasquale; Buzio, Marco; Inglese, Vitaliano

    2010-01-01

    A real-time algorithm of data reduction, based on the combination of two lossy techniques specifically optimized for high-rate magnetic measurements in two domains (e.g. time and space), is proposed. The first technique exploits an adaptive sampling rule based on the power estimation of the flux increments in order to optimize the information to be gathered for magnetic field analysis in real time. The tracking condition is defined by the target noise level in the Nyquist band required by the post-processing procedure of magnetic analysis. The second technique uses a data reduction algorithm in order to improve the compression ratio while preserving the consistency of the measured signal. The allowed loss is set equal to the random noise level in the signal in order to force the loss and the noise to cancel rather than to add, by improving the signal-to-noise ratio. Numerical analysis and experimental results of on-field performance characterization and validation for two case studies of magnetic measurement systems for testing magnets of the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) are reported

  13. Suppression of interferometric crosstalk and ASE noise using a polarization multiplexing technique and an SOA

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zheng, Xueyan; Liu, Fenghai; Wolfson, David

    2000-01-01

    Noise suppression at 10 Gbit/s and 20 Gbit/s is demonstrated using a gain saturated semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and a polarization multiplexing technique, where no impairments like waveform distortion and extinction ratio degradation caused by the gain saturation of the SOA appear. More...

  14. Wide-band CMOS low-noise amplifier exploiting thermal noise canceling

    OpenAIRE

    Bruccoleri, F.; Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Nauta, Bram

    2004-01-01

    Known elementary wide-band amplifiers suffer from a fundamental tradeoff between noise figure (NF) and source impedance matching, which limits the NF to values typically above 3 dB. Global negative feedback can be used to break this tradeoff, however, at the price of potential instability. In contrast, this paper presents a feedforward noise-canceling technique, which allows for simultaneous noise and impedance matching, while canceling the noise and distortion contributions of the matching d...

  15. Identification and reduction of vibration and noise of a glass tempering system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ashhab, M S

    2015-01-01

    The vibration and noise of a glass tempering machine at a factory are studied. Experiments were conducted to identify the sources of vibration and noise. It was found that main sources for vibration and noise are two air barrels, the air pipes from the fans to the glass tempering machine and the fans location. Solutions were suggested to reduce vibration and noise from these three main sources. One of the solutions that were implemented is placing rubber dampers beneath the air barrels and pipes which almost cancelled the horizontal vibrations in the building structure and reduced the vertical vibrations to a low value most likely coming from noise. There are two types of noise, namely, radiation noise from the fans through the fans room walls and transmitted noise through the pipes caused by turbulence. A glass wool noise insulating layer was installed on the wall between the fans room and factory to reduce radiation noise through this wall. Part of the air pipe system in the factory is made of a light material which produced the highest levels of noise above 110 dBA. These air pipes were wrapped by glass wool rolls and the noise level near them was reduced to below 100 dBA which comes from other machine parts. In addition, noise levels were reduced between 2 and 15 dBA at different points in the factory. (paper)

  16. The iterative shrinkage method for impulsive noise reduction from images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beygi, Sajjad; Kafashan, Mohammadmehdi; Bahrami, Hamid Reza; Mugler, Dale H

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we present a novel scheme to compensate impulsive noise from images using the sparse shrinkage method. In this scheme, we assume the remaining noise after using a simple median filtering in place of corrupted pixels, found by boundary discriminative noise detection method, to be Gaussian additive noise. This assumption will later be verified by the means of simulation. Knowing that the pure image in the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) domain is a sparse vector, we define an optimization problem to minimize the l 0 -norm of the estimated image vector from the noisy one in the DWT domain. l 0 -norm makes the optimization problem a combinatorial optimization problem which is NP-hard to solve. To come up with a solution for our optimization problem, we convert the l 0 -norm problem to a continuous optimization problem which is then solved to find the estimated image with reduced noise. In the simulation and discussion part, the performance of our proposed method in reducing impulsive noise is compared to that of existing methods in the literature. We show that our proposed algorithm generally performs better in terms of both subjective and objective evaluations and is less complex. (paper)

  17. Two dimension MDW OCDMA code cross-correlation for reduction of phase induced intensity noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sh. Ahmed Israa

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we first review 2-D MDW code cross correlation equations and table to be improved significantly by using code correlation properties. These codes can be used in the synchronous optical CDMA systems for multi access interference cancellation and maximum suppress the phase induced intensity noise. Low Psr is due to the reduction of interference noise that is induced by the 2-D MDW code PIIN suppression. High data rate causes increases in BER, requires high effective power and severely deteriorates the system performance. The 2-D W/T MDW code has an excellent system performance where the value of PIIN is suppressed as low as possible at the optimum Psr with high data bit rate. The 2-D MDW code shows better tolerance to PIIN in comparison to others with enhanced system performance. We prove by numerical analysis that the PIIN maximally suppressed by MDW code through the minimizing property of cross correlation in comparison to 2-D PDC and 2-D MQC OCDMA code.scheme systems.

  18. Two dimension MDW OCDMA code cross-correlation for reduction of phase induced intensity noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Israa Sh.; Aljunid, Syed A.; Nordin, Junita M.; Dulaimi, Layth A. Khalil Al; Matem, Rima

    2017-11-01

    In this paper, we first review 2-D MDW code cross correlation equations and table to be improved significantly by using code correlation properties. These codes can be used in the synchronous optical CDMA systems for multi access interference cancellation and maximum suppress the phase induced intensity noise. Low Psr is due to the reduction of interference noise that is induced by the 2-D MDW code PIIN suppression. High data rate causes increases in BER, requires high effective power and severely deteriorates the system performance. The 2-D W/T MDW code has an excellent system performance where the value of PIIN is suppressed as low as possible at the optimum Psr with high data bit rate. The 2-D MDW code shows better tolerance to PIIN in comparison to others with enhanced system performance. We prove by numerical analysis that the PIIN maximally suppressed by MDW code through the minimizing property of cross correlation in comparison to 2-D PDC and 2-D MQC OCDMA code.scheme systems.

  19. Design of indoor furniture with acoustic insulation and noise reduction function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ziqiang; Lyu, Jianhua; Chen, Ming

    2018-05-01

    In this article, the current status of noise pollution research is analyzed and indoor noise pollution hazard on human body is discussed taking noise pollution as entry point to better understand people's needs in this concern, and it comes to the conclusion that indoor furniture with noise insulation function is required; In addition, the design status and necessity of indoor furniture with noise insulation function are expounded and the material property, structure design essentials and form design are analyzed according to sound transmission principles. In the end, design case study is presented to provide an effective way for design of indoor furniture with acoustic insulation function that meets people's needs.

  20. A general procedure to generate models for urban environmental-noise pollution using feature selection and machine learning methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torija, Antonio J; Ruiz, Diego P

    2015-02-01

    The prediction of environmental noise in urban environments requires the solution of a complex and non-linear problem, since there are complex relationships among the multitude of variables involved in the characterization and modelling of environmental noise and environmental-noise magnitudes. Moreover, the inclusion of the great spatial heterogeneity characteristic of urban environments seems to be essential in order to achieve an accurate environmental-noise prediction in cities. This problem is addressed in this paper, where a procedure based on feature-selection techniques and machine-learning regression methods is proposed and applied to this environmental problem. Three machine-learning regression methods, which are considered very robust in solving non-linear problems, are used to estimate the energy-equivalent sound-pressure level descriptor (LAeq). These three methods are: (i) multilayer perceptron (MLP), (ii) sequential minimal optimisation (SMO), and (iii) Gaussian processes for regression (GPR). In addition, because of the high number of input variables involved in environmental-noise modelling and estimation in urban environments, which make LAeq prediction models quite complex and costly in terms of time and resources for application to real situations, three different techniques are used to approach feature selection or data reduction. The feature-selection techniques used are: (i) correlation-based feature-subset selection (CFS), (ii) wrapper for feature-subset selection (WFS), and the data reduction technique is principal-component analysis (PCA). The subsequent analysis leads to a proposal of different schemes, depending on the needs regarding data collection and accuracy. The use of WFS as the feature-selection technique with the implementation of SMO or GPR as regression algorithm provides the best LAeq estimation (R(2)=0.94 and mean absolute error (MAE)=1.14-1.16 dB(A)). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Listening effort and perceived clarity for normal-hearing children with the use of digital noise reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gustafson, Samantha; McCreery, Ryan; Hoover, Brenda; Kopun, Judy G; Stelmachowicz, Pat

    2014-01-01

    The goal of this study was to evaluate how digital noise reduction (DNR) impacts listening effort and judgment of sound clarity in children with normal hearing. It was hypothesized that when two DNR algorithms differing in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) output are compared, the algorithm that provides the greatest improvement in overall output SNR will reduce listening effort and receive a better clarity rating from child listeners. A secondary goal was to evaluate the relation between the inversion method measurements and listening effort with DNR processing. Twenty-four children with normal hearing (ages 7 to 12 years) participated in a speech recognition task in which consonant-vowel-consonant nonwords were presented in broadband background noise. Test stimuli were recorded through two hearing aids with DNR off and DNR on at 0 dB and +5 dB input SNR. Stimuli were presented to listeners and verbal response time (VRT) and phoneme recognition scores were measured. The underlying assumption was that an increase in VRT reflects an increase in listening effort. Children rated the sound clarity for each condition. The two commercially available HAs were chosen based on: (1) an inversion technique, which was used to quantify the magnitude of change in SNR with the activation of DNR, and (2) a measure of magnitude-squared coherence, which was used to ensure that DNR in both devices preserved the spectrum. One device provided a greater improvement in overall output SNR than the other. Both DNR algorithms resulted in minimal spectral distortion as measured using coherence. For both devices, VRT decreased for the DNR-on condition, suggesting that listening effort decreased with DNR in both devices. Clarity ratings were also better in the DNR-on condition for both devices. The device showing the greatest improvement in output SNR with DNR engaged improved phoneme recognition scores. The magnitude of this improved phoneme recognition was not accurately predicted with

  2. Theoretical calculation on ICI reduction using digital coherent superposition of optical OFDM subcarrier pairs in the presence of laser phase noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Xingwen; Xu, Bo; Zhang, Jing; Lin, Yun; Qiu, Kun

    2014-12-15

    Digital coherent superposition (DCS) of optical OFDM subcarrier pairs with Hermitian symmetry can reduce the inter-carrier-interference (ICI) noise resulted from phase noise. In this paper, we show two different implementations of DCS-OFDM that have the same performance in the presence of laser phase noise. We complete the theoretical calculation on ICI reduction by using the model of pure Wiener phase noise. By Taylor expansion of the ICI, we show that the ICI power is cancelled to the second order by DCS. The fourth order term is further derived out and only decided by the ratio of laser linewidth to OFDM subcarrier symbol rate, which can greatly simplify the system design. Finally, we verify our theoretical calculations in simulations and use the analytical results to predict the system performance. DCS-OFDM is expected to be beneficial to certain optical fiber transmissions.

  3. Advanced supersonic propulsion study. [with emphasis on noise level reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabatella, J. A. (Editor)

    1974-01-01

    A study was conducted to determine the promising propulsion systems for advanced supersonic transport application, and to identify the critical propulsion technology requirements. It is shown that noise constraints have a major effect on the selection of the various engine types and cycle parameters. Several promising advanced propulsion systems were identified which show the potential of achieving lower levels of sideline jet noise than the first generation supersonic transport systems. The non-afterburning turbojet engine, utilizing a very high level of jet suppression, shows the potential to achieve FAR 36 noise level. The duct-heating turbofan with a low level of jet suppression is the most attractive engine for noise levels from FAR 36 to FAR 36 minus 5 EPNdb, and some series/parallel variable cycle engines show the potential of achieving noise levels down to FAR 36 minus 10 EPNdb with moderate additional penalty. The study also shows that an advanced supersonic commercial transport would benefit appreciably from advanced propulsion technology. The critical propulsion technology needed for a viable supersonic propulsion system, and the required specific propulsion technology programs are outlined.

  4. A multi-time-step noise reduction method for measuring velocity statistics from particle tracking velocimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machicoane, Nathanaël; López-Caballero, Miguel; Bourgoin, Mickael; Aliseda, Alberto; Volk, Romain

    2017-10-01

    We present a method to improve the accuracy of velocity measurements for fluid flow or particles immersed in it, based on a multi-time-step approach that allows for cancellation of noise in the velocity measurements. Improved velocity statistics, a critical element in turbulent flow measurements, can be computed from the combination of the velocity moments computed using standard particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) or particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques for data sets that have been collected over different values of time intervals between images. This method produces Eulerian velocity fields and Lagrangian velocity statistics with much lower noise levels compared to standard PIV or PTV measurements, without the need of filtering and/or windowing. Particle displacement between two frames is computed for multiple different time-step values between frames in a canonical experiment of homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The second order velocity structure function of the flow is computed with the new method and compared to results from traditional measurement techniques in the literature. Increased accuracy is also demonstrated by comparing the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy measured from this function against previously validated measurements.

  5. Reduction of MRI acoustic noise achieved by manipulation of scan parameters – A study using veterinary MR sequences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, Martin A.

    2013-01-01

    Sound pressure levels were measured within an MR scan room for a range of sequences employed in veterinary brain scanning, using a test phantom in an extremity coil. Variation of TR and TE, and use of a quieter gradient mode (‘whisper’ mode) were evaluated to determine their effect on sound pressure levels (SPLs). Use of a human head coil and a human brain sequence was also evaluated. Significant differences in SPL were achieved for T2, T1, T2* gradient echo and VIBE sequences by varying TR or TE, or by selecting the ‘whisper’ gradient mode. An appreciable reduction was achieved for the FLAIR sequence. Noise levels were not affected when a head coil was used in place of an extremity coil. Due to sequence parameters employed, veterinary patients and anaesthetists may be exposed to higher sound levels than those experienced in human MR examinations. The techniques described are particularly valuable in small animal MR scanning where ear protection is not routinely provided for the patient.

  6. Flap Edge Noise Reduction Fins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khorrami, Mehdi R. (Inventor); Choudhan, Meelan M. (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    A flap of the type that is movably connected to an aircraft wing to provide control of an aircraft in flight includes opposite ends, wherein at least a first opposite end includes a plurality of substantially rigid, laterally extending protrusions that are spaced apart to form a plurality of fluidly interconnected passageways. The passageways have openings adjacent to upper and lower sides of the flap, and the passageways include a plurality of bends such that high pressure fluid flows from a high pressure region to a low pressure region to provide a boundary condition that inhibits noise resulting from airflow around the end of the flap.

  7. Noise Reduction in Breath Sound Files Using Wavelet Transform Based Filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syahputra, M. F.; Situmeang, S. I. G.; Rahmat, R. F.; Budiarto, R.

    2017-04-01

    The development of science and technology in the field of healthcare increasingly provides convenience in diagnosing respiratory system problem. Recording the breath sounds is one example of these developments. Breath sounds are recorded using a digital stethoscope, and then stored in a file with sound format. This breath sounds will be analyzed by health practitioners to diagnose the symptoms of disease or illness. However, the breath sounds is not free from interference signals. Therefore, noise filter or signal interference reduction system is required so that breath sounds component which contains information signal can be clarified. In this study, we designed a filter called a wavelet transform based filter. The filter that is designed in this study is using Daubechies wavelet with four wavelet transform coefficients. Based on the testing of the ten types of breath sounds data, the data is obtained in the largest SNRdB bronchial for 74.3685 decibels.

  8. Impact of Noise and Noise Reduction on Processing Effort: A Pupillometry Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wendt, Dorothea; Hietkamp, Renskje K; Lunner, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    of noise (intelligibility level) and different NR schemes on effort were evaluated by measuring the pupil dilation of listeners. In 2 different experiments, performance accuracy and peak pupil dilation (PPD) were measured in 24 listeners with hearing impairment while they performed a speech recognition...... task. The listeners were tested at 2 different signal to noise ratios corresponding to either the individual 50% correct (L50) or the 95% correct (L95) performance level in a 4-talker babble condition with and without the use of a NR scheme. In experiment 1, the PPD differed in response to both changes...... in the speech intelligibility level (L50 versus L95) and NR scheme. The PPD increased with decreasing intelligibility, indicating higher processing effort under the L50 condition compared with the L95 condition. Moreover, the PPD decreased when the NR scheme was applied, suggesting that the processing effort...

  9. Applications of adaptive filters in active noise control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darlington, Paul

    The active reduction of acoustic noise is achieved by the addition of a cancelling acoustic signal to the unwanted sound. Successful definition of the cancelling signal amounts to a system identification problem. Recent advances in adaptive signal processing have allowed this problem to be tackled using adaptive filters, which offer significant advantages over conventional solutions. The extension of adaptive noise cancelling techniques, which were developed in the electrical signal conditioning context, to the control of acoustic systems is studied. An analysis is presented of the behavior of the Widrow-Hoff LMS adaptive noise canceller with a linear filter in its control loop. The active control of plane waves propagating axially in a hardwalled duct is used as a motivating model problem. The model problem also motivates the study of the effects of feedback around an LMS adaptive filter. An alternative stochastic gradient algorithm for controlling adaptive filters in the presence of feedback is presented.

  10. A Hybrid Technique for De-Noising Multi-Modality Medical Images by Employing Cuckoo’s Search with Curvelet Transform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qaisar Javaid

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available De-noising of the medical images is very difficult task. To improve the overall visual representation we need to apply a contrast enhancement techniques, this representation provide the physicians and clinicians a good and recovered diagnosis results. Various de-noising and contrast enhancements methods are develops. However, some of the methods are not good in providing the better results with accuracy and efficiency. In our paper we de-noise and enhance the medical images without any loss of information. We uses the curvelet transform in combination with ridglet transform along with CS (Cuckoo Search algorithm. The curvlet transform adapt and represents the sparse pixel informations with all edges. The edges play very important role in understanding of the images. Curvlet transform computes the edges very efficiently where the wavelets are failed. We used the CS to optimize the de-noising coefficients without loss of structural and morphological information. Our designed method would be accurate and efficient in de-noising the medical images. Our method attempts to remove the multiplicative and additive noises. Our proposed method is proved to be an efficient and reliable in removing all kind of noises from the medical images. Result indicates that our proposed approach is better than other approaches in removing impulse, Gaussian, and speckle noises.

  11. Comparison of various decentralised structural and cavity feedback control strategies for transmitted noise reduction through a double panel structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Jen-Hsuan; Berkhoff, Arthur

    2014-03-01

    This paper compares various decentralised control strategies, including structural and acoustic actuator-sensor configuration designs, to reduce noise transmission through a double panel structure. The comparison is based on identical control stability indexes. The double panel structure consists of two panels with air in between and offers the advantages of low sound transmission at high frequencies, low heat transmission, and low weight. The double panel structure is widely used, such as in the aerospace and automotive industries. Nevertheless, the resonance of the cavity and the poor sound transmission loss at low frequencies limit the double panel's noise control performance. Applying active structural acoustic control to the panels or active noise control to the cavity has been discussed in many papers. In this paper, the resonances of the panels and the cavity are considered simultaneously to further reduce the transmitted noise through an existing double panel structure. A structural-acoustic coupled model is developed to investigate and compare various structural control and cavity control methods. Numerical analysis and real-time control results show that structural control should be applied to both panels. Three types of cavity control sources are presented and compared. The results indicate that the largest noise reduction is obtained with cavity control by loudspeakers modified to operate as incident pressure sources.

  12. First principle leakage current reduction technique for CMOS devices

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Tsague, HD

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a comprehensive study of leakage reduction techniques applicable to CMOS based devices. In the process, mathematical equations that model the power-performance trade-offs in CMOS logic circuits are presented. From those equations...

  13. Noise reduction performance of thermobonded nonwovens

    OpenAIRE

    Carvalho, R.; Rana, S.; Fangueiro, Raúl; Soutinho, Hélder Filipe Cunha

    2012-01-01

    Acoustic insulation is an important requirement for the human life today, since noise affects the efficiency of day-to-day activities and even cause various health problems Materials based on fibrous structures show very good acoustic insulation properties, which however strongly depends on the type of structures used. The present paper reports the qualitative analysis of the acoustic insulation behavior of various thermo-bonded nonwoven fabrics. The results showed that the acoust...

  14. En face speckle reduction in optical coherence microscopy by frequency compounding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magnain, Caroline; Wang, Hui; Sakadžić, Sava; Fischl, Bruce; Boas, David A

    2016-05-01

    We report the use of frequency compounding to significantly reduce speckle noise in optical coherence microscopy, more specifically on the en face images. This method relies on the fact that the speckle patterns recorded from different wavelengths simultaneously are independent; hence their summation yields significant reduction in noise, with only a single acquisition. The results of our experiments with microbeads show that the narrow confocal parameter, due to a high numerical aperture objective, restricts the axial resolution loss that would otherwise theoretically broaden linearly with the number of optical frequency bands used. This speckle reduction scheme preserves the lateral resolution since it is performed on individual A-scans. Finally, we apply this technique to images of fixed human brain tissue, showing significant improvements in contrast-to-noise ratio with only moderate loss of axial resolution, in an effort to improve automatic three-dimensional detection of cells and fibers in the cortex.

  15. Slot technique - an alternative method of scatter reduction in radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panzer, W.; Widenmann, L.

    1983-01-01

    The most common method of scatter reduction in radiography is the use of an antiscatter grid. Its disadvantage is the absorption of a certain percentage of primary radiation in the lead strips of the grid and the fact that due to the limited thickness of the lead strips their scatter absorption is also limited. A possibility for avoiding this disadvantage is offered by the so-called slot technique, ie, the successive exposure of the subject with a narrow fan beam provided by slots in rather thick lead plates. The results of a comparison between grid and slot technique regarding dose to the patient, scatter reduction, image quality and the effect of automatic exposure control are reported. (author)

  16. The effect of training on noise reduction in neonatal intensive care units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calikusu Incekar, Mujde; Balci, Serap

    2017-07-01

    Noise, an environmental stimulus, is especially important in the neurobehavioral development of newborns and brain development of infants at high risk. Conditions in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) may cause certain sensory stimuli that are not appropriate for the development of newborns, especially preterm infants. This study was conducted in order to determine noise levels in the NICU and to evaluate the effect of training provided for noise control. This study was conducted as a pretest-posttest quasiexperimental design between September and November 2014 in a 30-bed NICU of a tertiary hospital in Istanbul. A sample group consisting of 30 people (26 nurses, 4 care workers). Noise measurement devices were used in the Training Program of Noise Control. Of the health professionals, 96.7% were women, 86.7% were nurses, and 63.3% were university graduates. Some 36.7% of the health professionals had worked within the unit for more than 5 years. Noise measurements of full implementations were made over three 24-h periods. Noise measurements were taken before and after the training on Monday, Friday, and Sunday. Noise levels after training diminished in all three measurements, and the decrease was found statistically significant (P Noise Control Training for health professionals who work in NICUs is an effective way of reducing noise. We recommend that this training should be given to NICU health professionals and noise levels should be determined through measurements at specific times. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Advanced Trailing Edge Blowing Concepts for Fan Noise Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cezar RIZEA

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This study documents trailing edge blowing research performed to reduce rotor / stator interaction noise in turbofan engines. The existing technique of filling every velocity deficit requires a large amount of air and is therefore impractical. The purpose of this research is to investigate new blowing configurations in order to achieve noise reduction with lesser amounts of air. Using the new configurations air is not injected into every fan blade, but is instead varied circumferentially. For example, blowing air may be applied to alternating fan blades. This type of blowing configuration both reduces the amount of air used and changes the spectral shape of the tonal interaction noise. The original tones at the blade passing frequency and its harmonics are reduced and new tones are introduced between them. This change in the tonal spectral shape increases the performance of acoustic liners used in conjunction with trailing edge blowing.

  18. Noise tolerant spatiotemporal chaos computing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kia, Behnam; Kia, Sarvenaz; Lindner, John F; Sinha, Sudeshna; Ditto, William L

    2014-12-01

    We introduce and design a noise tolerant chaos computing system based on a coupled map lattice (CML) and the noise reduction capabilities inherent in coupled dynamical systems. The resulting spatiotemporal chaos computing system is more robust to noise than a single map chaos computing system. In this CML based approach to computing, under the coupled dynamics, the local noise from different nodes of the lattice diffuses across the lattice, and it attenuates each other's effects, resulting in a system with less noise content and a more robust chaos computing architecture.

  19. Open noise barriers based on sonic crystals. Advances in noise control in transport infraestructures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peiro Torres, M.P.; Redondo Pastor, J.; Bravo Plana-Sala, J.M.; Sanchez Perez, J.V.

    2016-07-01

    Noise control is an environmental problem of first magnitude nowadays. In this work, we present a new concept of acoustic screen designed to control the specific noise generated by transport infrastructures, based on new materials called sonic crystals. These materials are formed by arrangements of acoustic scatterers in air, and provide a new and different mechanism in the fight against noise from those of the classical screens. This mechanism is usually called multiple scattering and is due to their structuring in addition to their physical properties. Due to the separation between scatterers, these barriers are transparent to air and water allowing a reduction on their foundations. Tests carried out in a wind tunnel show a reduction of 42% in the overturning momentum compared to classical barriers. The acoustical performance of these barriers is shown in this work, explaining the new characteristics provided in the control of noise. Finally, an example of these barriers is presented and classified according to acoustic standardization tests. The acoustic barrier reported in this work provides a high technological solution in the field of noise control. (Author)

  20. Poisson noise reduction from X-ray images by region classification ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Thakur Kirti

    means Poisson noise filter which is one of the current state-of-the-art methods. Benefits of the proposed ... This modality is used to detect fractures in bones, tumours, cough or ..... metric peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR). It is observed from ...

  1. Development of Active Noise Control System for Quieting Transformer Noise

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Bok Kyu; Song, Seik Young; Choi, Huo Yul [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Yun, Dae Hea; Lee, Hyuk Jae [Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Changwon (Korea, Republic of)

    1997-12-31

    The passive noise control technique made use of sound-absorbing or soundproofing materials, so it required a large area and high cost for installation and had a drawback of poor performance at low frequency. Compared to this, the Active Noise Control attenuates noise sound pressure by using secondary source which has same performance ay low-frequency. Furthermore, it is able to save space and expenses. - research on adaptive algorithms - evaluation of global attenuation of the control - computer simulation - real-time Active Noise Control System Hardware Implementation - ANC system setting in the noisy area.

  2. The adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-V technique for radiation dose reduction in abdominal CT: comparison with the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Heejin; Cho, Jinhan; Oh, Jongyeong; Kim, Dongwon; Cho, Junghyun; Kim, Sanghyun; Lee, Sangyun; Lee, Jihyun

    2015-10-01

    To investigate whether reduced radiation dose abdominal CT images reconstructed with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction V (ASIR-V) compromise the depiction of clinically competent features when compared with the currently used routine radiation dose CT images reconstructed with ASIR. 27 consecutive patients (mean body mass index: 23.55 kg m(-2) underwent CT of the abdomen at two time points. At the first time point, abdominal CT was scanned at 21.45 noise index levels of automatic current modulation at 120 kV. Images were reconstructed with 40% ASIR, the routine protocol of Dong-A University Hospital. At the second time point, follow-up scans were performed at 30 noise index levels. Images were reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP), 40% ASIR, 30% ASIR-V, 50% ASIR-V and 70% ASIR-V for the reduced radiation dose. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of image quality were conducted. The CT dose index was also recorded. At the follow-up study, the mean dose reduction relative to the currently used common radiation dose was 35.37% (range: 19-49%). The overall subjective image quality and diagnostic acceptability of the 50% ASIR-V scores at the reduced radiation dose were nearly identical to those recorded when using the initial routine-dose CT with 40% ASIR. Subjective ratings of the qualitative analysis revealed that of all reduced radiation dose CT series reconstructed, 30% ASIR-V and 50% ASIR-V were associated with higher image quality with lower noise and artefacts as well as good sharpness when compared with 40% ASIR and FBP. However, the sharpness score at 70% ASIR-V was considered to be worse than that at 40% ASIR. Objective image noise for 50% ASIR-V was 34.24% and 46.34% which was lower than 40% ASIR and FBP. Abdominal CT images reconstructed with ASIR-V facilitate radiation dose reductions of to 35% when compared with the ASIR. This study represents the first clinical research experiment to use ASIR-V, the newest version of

  3. Noise Reduction of MEMS Gyroscope Based on Direct Modeling for an Angular Rate Signal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liang Xue

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a novel approach for processing the outputs signal of the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS gyroscopes was presented to reduce the bias drift and noise. The principle for the noise reduction was presented, and an optimal Kalman filter (KF was designed by a steady-state filter gain obtained from the analysis of KF observability. In particular, the true angular rate signal was directly modeled to obtain an optimal estimate and make a self-compensation for the gyroscope without needing other sensor’s information, whether in static or dynamic condition. A linear fit equation that describes the relationship between the KF bandwidth and modeling parameter of true angular rate was derived from the analysis of KF frequency response. The test results indicated that the MEMS gyroscope having an ARW noise of 4.87°/h0.5 and a bias instability of 44.41°/h were reduced to 0.4°/h0.5 and 4.13°/h by the KF under a given bandwidth (10 Hz, respectively. The 1σ estimated error was reduced from 1.9°/s to 0.14°/s and 1.7°/s to 0.5°/s in the constant rate test and swing rate test, respectively. It also showed that the filtered angular rate signal could well reflect the dynamic characteristic of the input rate signal in dynamic conditions. The presented algorithm is proved to be effective at improving the measurement precision of the MEMS gyroscope.

  4. Risk factor noise - otological aspects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haas, E

    1984-06-11

    After a short review of the anatomy and physiology of the inner ear the pathogenesis of chronic noise-induced hearing loss is discussed. The exposure to noise results first in a temporary but reversible threshold shift. But if the exposure to noise was exceedingly high or if the rest period would have required further noise reduction, a state of so-called auditory fatigue develops, finally leading to noise-induced hearing loss, a state which is considered irreversible. The noise-perception varies greatly among individuals and thus it is impossible to determine a certain noise intensity above which noise leasions will to be expected. It is generally accepted, that longterm exposure to noise above 85 dB (A) may lead to hearing loss in a portion of the exposed persons.

  5. Noise aspects at aerodynamic blade optimisation projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schepers, J.G. [Netherlands Energy Research Foundation, Petten (Netherlands)

    1997-12-31

    This paper shows an example of an aerodynamic blade optimisation, using the program PVOPT. PVOPT calculates the optimal wind turbine blade geometry such that the maximum energy yield is obtained. Using the aerodynamic optimal blade design as a basis, the possibilities of noise reduction are investigated. The aerodynamic optimised geometry from PVOPT is the `real` optimum (up to the latest decimal). The most important conclusion from this study is, that it is worthwhile to investigate the behaviour of the objective function (in the present case the energy yield) around the optimum: If the optimum is flat, there is a possibility to apply modifications to the optimum configuration with only a limited loss in energy yield. It is obvious that the modified configurations emits a different (and possibly lower) noise level. In the BLADOPT program (the successor of PVOPT) it will be possible to quantify the noise level and hence to assess the reduced noise emission more thoroughly. At present the most promising approaches for noise reduction are believed to be a reduction of the rotor speed (if at all possible), and a reduction of the tip angle by means of low lift profiles, or decreased twist at the outboard stations. These modifications were possible without a significant loss in energy yield. (LN)

  6. A study of the x-ray image quality improvement in the examination of the respiratory system based on the new image processing technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagai, Yuichi; Kitagawa, Mayumi; Torii, Jun; Iwase, Takumi; Aso, Tomohiko; Ihara, Kanyu; Fujikawa, Mari; Takeuchi, Yumiko; Suzuki, Katsumi; Ishiguro, Takashi; Hara, Akio

    2014-03-01

    Recently, the double contrast technique in a gastrointestinal examination and the transbronchial lung biopsy in an examination for the respiratory system [1-3] have made a remarkable progress. Especially in the transbronchial lung biopsy, better quality of x-ray fluoroscopic images is requested because this examination is performed under a guidance of x-ray fluoroscopic images. On the other hand, various image processing methods [4] for x-ray fluoroscopic images have been developed as an x-ray system with a flat panel detector [5-7] is widely used. A recursive filtering is an effective method to reduce a random noise in x-ray fluoroscopic images. However it has a limitation for its effectiveness of a noise reduction in case of a moving object exists in x-ray fluoroscopic images because the recursive filtering is a noise reduction method by adding last few images. After recursive filtering a residual signal was produced if a moving object existed in x-ray images, and this residual signal disturbed a smooth procedure of the examinations. To improve this situation, new noise reduction method has been developed. The Adaptive Noise Reduction [ANR] is the brand-new noise reduction technique which can be reduced only a noise regardless of the moving object in x-ray fluoroscopic images. Therefore the ANR is a very suitable noise reduction method for the transbronchial lung biopsy under a guidance of x-ray fluoroscopic images because the residual signal caused of the moving object in x-ray fluoroscopic images is never produced after the ANR. In this paper, we will explain an advantage of the ANR by comparing of a performance between the ANR images and the conventional recursive filtering images.

  7. Identification and Reduction of Turbomachinery Noise, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Noise has become a primary consideration in the design and development of many products, particulary in aerospace, automotive and consumer product industries....

  8. Data reduction, radial velocities and stellar parameters from spectra in the very low signal-to-noise domain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malavolta, Luca

    2013-10-01

    Large astronomical facilities usually provide data reduction pipeline designed to deliver ready-to-use scientific data, and too often as- tronomers are relying on this to avoid the most difficult part of an astronomer job Standard data reduction pipelines however are usu- ally designed and tested to have good performance on data with av- erage Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) data, and the issues that are related with the reduction of data in the very low SNR domain are not taken int account properly. As a result, informations in data with low SNR are not optimally exploited. During the last decade our group has collected thousands of spec- tra using the GIRAFFE spectrograph at Very Large Telescope (Chile) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to determine the ge- ometrical distance and dynamical state of several Galactic Globular Clusters but ultimately the analysis has been hampered by system- atics in data reduction, calibration and radial velocity measurements. Moreover these data has never been exploited to get other informa- tions like temperature and metallicity of stars, because considered too noisy for these kind of analyses. In this thesis we focus our attention on data reduction and analysis of spectra with very low SNR. The dataset we analyze in this thesis comprises 7250 spectra for 2771 stars of the Globular Cluster M 4 (NGC 6121) in the wavelength region 5145-5360Å obtained with GIRAFFE. Stars from the upper Red Giant Branch down to the Main Sequence have been observed in very different conditions, including nights close to full moon, and reaching SNR - 10 for many spectra in the dataset. We will first review the basic steps of data reduction and spec- tral extraction, adapting techniques well tested in other field (like photometry) but still under-developed in spectroscopy. We improve the wavelength dispersion solution and the correction of radial veloc- ity shift between day-time calibrations and science observations by following a completely

  9. A blood pressure monitor with robust noise reduction system under linear cuff inflation and deflation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usuda, Takashi; Kobayashi, Naoki; Takeda, Sunao; Kotake, Yoshifumi

    2010-01-01

    We have developed the non-invasive blood pressure monitor which can measure the blood pressure quickly and robustly. This monitor combines two measurement mode: the linear inflation and the linear deflation. On the inflation mode, we realized a faster measurement with rapid inflation rate. On the deflation mode, we realized a robust noise reduction. When there is neither noise nor arrhythmia, the inflation mode incorporated on this monitor provides precise, quick and comfortable measurement. Once the inflation mode fails to calculate appropriate blood pressure due to body movement or arrhythmia, then the monitor switches automatically to the deflation mode and measure blood pressure by using digital signal processing as wavelet analysis, filter bank, filter combined with FFT and Inverse FFT. The inflation mode succeeded 2440 measurements out of 3099 measurements (79%) in an operating room and a rehabilitation room. The new designed blood pressure monitor provides the fastest measurement for patient with normal circulation and robust measurement for patients with body movement or severe arrhythmia. Also this fast measurement method provides comfortableness for patients.

  10. Evolution of tyre/road noise research in India: Investigations using statistical pass-by method and noise trailer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vivek Khan

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this research study was to investigate and analyze the acoustical characteristics of asphalt concrete and cement concrete surface types by two noise measurement techniques: statistical pass-by (SPB and Close Proximity (CPX methods. A noise trailer was devised and manufactured as part of the CPX methodology to evaluate tyre/pavement noise interaction at source. Two national highway test sections covering over 11 km of asphalt and cement concrete surfaces were selected to carry out the noise measurements, and the effects of vehicle speeds and/or sizes on the overall noise profiles were investigated. The major contribution of this first of its kind study in India was the utilization of sophisticated tools and techniques to measure the tyre/pavement interaction noise at source through CPX, which helped correlate the influence of road surfaces on the generation of overall road traffic noise using SPB technique. The SPB method noise profiles revealed that the noise pressure levels increased with increasing vehicle speeds and weights. The noise trailer CPX findings corroborated the results obtained from the SPB method in that cement concrete surface produced a higher noise at source than that of the asphalt concrete surface by about 5 dBA. Further, there was about 5 dBA differential in noise between SPB and CPX methods for cement concrete pavement sections; also, there was about 10 dBA differential in noise between the two methods for asphalt concrete pavement stretches. Keywords: Tyre/road noise, Statistical pass-by, Close proximity, Noise trailer, Asphalt concrete, Cement concrete

  11. Optimizing CT technique to reduce radiation dose: effect of changes in kVp, iterative reconstruction, and noise index on dose and noise in a human cadaver.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Kevin J; Collins, Scott; Li, Baojun; Mayo-Smith, William W

    2017-06-01

    For assessment of the effect of varying the peak kilovoltage (kVp), the adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction technique (ASiR), and automatic dose modulation on radiation dose and image noise in a human cadaver, a cadaver torso underwent CT scanning at 80, 100, 120 and 140 kVp, each at ASiR settings of 0, 30 and 50 %, and noise indices (NIs) of 5.5, 11 and 22. The volume CT dose index (CTDI vol ), image noise, and attenuation values of liver and fat were analyzed for 20 data sets. Size-specific dose estimates (SSDEs) and liver-to-fat contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) were calculated. Values for different combinations of kVp, ASiR, and NI were compared. The CTDI vol varied by a power of 2 with kVp values between 80 and 140 without ASiR. Increasing ASiR levels allowed a larger decrease in CTDI vol and SSDE at higher kVp than at lower kVp while image noise was held constant. In addition, CTDI vol and SSDE decreased with increasing NI at each kVp, but the decrease was greater at higher kVp than at lower kVp. Image noise increased with decreasing kVp despite a fixed NI; however, this noise could be offset with the use of ASiR. The CT number of the liver remained unchanged whereas that of fat decreased as the kVp decreased. Image noise and dose vary in a complicated manner when the kVp, ASiR, and NI are varied in a human cadaver. Optimization of CT protocols will require balancing of the effects of each of these parameters to maximize image quality while minimizing dose.

  12. Reduction of Non-stationary Noise using a Non-negative Latent Variable Decomposition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Mikkel Nørgaard; Larsen, Jan

    2008-01-01

    We present a method for suppression of non-stationary noise in single channel recordings of speech. The method is based on a non-negative latent variable decomposition model for the speech and noise signals, learned directly from a noisy mixture. In non-speech regions an over complete basis...... is learned for the noise that is then used to jointly estimate the speech and the noise from the mixture. We compare the method to the classical spectral subtraction approach, where the noise spectrum is estimated as the average over non-speech frames. The proposed method significantly outperforms...

  13. Characterization of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction algorithm for dose reduction in CT: A pediatric oncology perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brady, S. L.; Yee, B. S.; Kaufman, R. A.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: This study demonstrates a means of implementing an adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR™) technique for dose reduction in computed tomography (CT) while maintaining similar noise levels in the reconstructed image. The effects of image quality and noise texture were assessed at all implementation levels of ASiR™. Empirically derived dose reduction limits were established for ASiR™ for imaging of the trunk for a pediatric oncology population ranging from 1 yr old through adolescence/adulthood. Methods: Image quality was assessed using metrics established by the American College of Radiology (ACR) CT accreditation program. Each image quality metric was tested using the ACR CT phantom with 0%–100% ASiR™ blended with filtered back projection (FBP) reconstructed images. Additionally, the noise power spectrum (NPS) was calculated for three common reconstruction filters of the trunk. The empirically derived limitations on ASiR™ implementation for dose reduction were assessed using (1, 5, 10) yr old and adolescent/adult anthropomorphic phantoms. To assess dose reduction limits, the phantoms were scanned in increments of increased noise index (decrementing mA using automatic tube current modulation) balanced with ASiR™ reconstruction to maintain noise equivalence of the 0% ASiR™ image. Results: The ASiR™ algorithm did not produce any unfavorable effects on image quality as assessed by ACR criteria. Conversely, low-contrast resolution was found to improve due to the reduction of noise in the reconstructed images. NPS calculations demonstrated that images with lower frequency noise had lower noise variance and coarser graininess at progressively higher percentages of ASiR™ reconstruction; and in spite of the similar magnitudes of noise, the image reconstructed with 50% or more ASiR™ presented a more smoothed appearance than the pre-ASiR™ 100% FBP image. Finally, relative to non-ASiR™ images with 100% of standard dose across the

  14. Managing Electrochemical Noise Data by Exception Application of an On Line EN Data Analysis Technique to Data From a High Level Nuclear Waste Tank

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    EDGEMON, G.L.

    2003-01-01

    Electrochemical noise has been used a t the Hanford Site for a number of years to monitor in real time for pitting corrosion and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) mechanisms in high level nuclear waste tanks. Currently the monitoring technique has only been implemented on three of the 177 underground storage tanks on the site. Widespread implementation of the technique has been held back for of a number of reasons, including issues around managing the large volume of data associated with electrochemical noise and the complexity of data analysis. Expert review of raw current and potential measurements is the primary form of data analysis currently used at the Hanford site. This paper demonstrates the application of an on-line data filtering and analysis technique that could allow data from field applications of electrochemical noise to be managed by exception, transforming electrochemical noise data into a process parameter and focusing data analysis efforts on the important data. Results of the analysis demonstrate a data compression rate of 95%; that is, only 5% of the data would require expert analysis if such a technique were implemented. It is also demonstrated that this technique is capable of identifying key periods where localized corrosion activity is apparent

  15. Application of noise analysis technique for monitoring the moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity in pressurized water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shieh, D.J.; Upadhyaya, B.R.; Sweeney, F.J.

    1987-01-01

    A new technique, based on the noise analysis of neutron detector and core-exit coolant temperature signals, is developed for monitoring the moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). A detailed multinodal model is developed and evaluated for the reactor core subsystem of the loss-of-fluid test (LOFT) reactor. This model is used to study the effect of changing the sign of the moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity on the low-frequency phase angle relationship between the neutron detector and the core-exit temperature noise signals. Results show that the phase angle near zero frequency approaches - 180 deg for negative coefficients and 0 deg for positive coefficients when the perturbation source for the noise signals is core coolant flow, inlet coolant temperature, or random heat transfer

  16. Core Noise: Overview of Upcoming LDI Combustor Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hultgren, Lennart S.

    2012-01-01

    This presentation is a technical summary of and outlook for NASA-internal and NASA-sponsored external research on core (combustor and turbine) noise funded by the Fundamental Aeronautics Program Fixed Wing Project. The presentation covers: the emerging importance of core noise due to turbofan design trends and its relevance to the NASA N+3 noise-reduction goal; the core noise components and the rationale for the current emphasis on combustor noise; and the current and planned research activities in the combustor-noise area. Two NASA-sponsored research programs, with particular emphasis on indirect combustor noise, "Acoustic Database for Core Noise Sources", Honeywell Aerospace (NNC11TA40T) and "Measurement and Modeling of Entropic Noise Sources in a Single-Stage Low-Pressure Turbine", U. Illinois/U. Notre Dame (NNX11AI74A) are briefly described. Recent progress in the development of CMC-based acoustic liners for broadband noise reduction suitable for turbofan-core application is outlined. Combustor-design trends and the potential impacts on combustor acoustics are discussed. A NASA GRC developed nine-point lean-direct-injection (LDI) fuel injector is briefly described. The modification of an upcoming thermo-acoustic instability evaluation of the GRC injector in a combustor rig to also provide acoustic information relevant to community noise is presented. The NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program has the principal objective of overcoming today's national challenges in air transportation. The reduction of aircraft noise is critical to enabling the anticipated large increase in future air traffic. The Quiet Performance Research Theme of the Fixed Wing Project aims to develop concepts and technologies to dramatically reduce the perceived community noise attributable to aircraft with minimal impact on weight and performance.

  17. Fully Convolutional Architecture for Low-Dose CT Image Noise Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badretale, S.; Shaker, F.; Babyn, P.; Alirezaie, J.

    2017-10-01

    One of the critical topics in medical low-dose Computed Tomography (CT) imaging is how best to maintain image quality. As the quality of images decreases with lowering the X-ray radiation dose, improving image quality is extremely important and challenging. We have proposed a novel approach to denoise low-dose CT images. Our algorithm learns directly from an end-to-end mapping from the low-dose Computed Tomography images for denoising the normal-dose CT images. Our method is based on a deep convolutional neural network with rectified linear units. By learning various low-level to high-level features from a low-dose image the proposed algorithm is capable of creating a high-quality denoised image. We demonstrate the superiority of our technique by comparing the results with two other state-of-the-art methods in terms of the peak signal to noise ratio, root mean square error, and a structural similarity index.

  18. Speckle reduction in optical coherence tomography images based on wave atoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Yongzhao; Liu, Gangjun; Feng, Guoying; Chen, Zhongping

    2014-01-01

    Abstract. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging noninvasive imaging technique, which is based on low-coherence interferometry. OCT images suffer from speckle noise, which reduces image contrast. A shrinkage filter based on wave atoms transform is proposed for speckle reduction in OCT images. Wave atoms transform is a new multiscale geometric analysis tool that offers sparser expansion and better representation for images containing oscillatory patterns and textures than other traditional transforms, such as wavelet and curvelet transforms. Cycle spinning-based technology is introduced to avoid visual artifacts, such as Gibbs-like phenomenon, and to develop a translation invariant wave atoms denoising scheme. The speckle suppression degree in the denoised images is controlled by an adjustable parameter that determines the threshold in the wave atoms domain. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively remove the speckle noise and improve the OCT image quality. The signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, average equivalent number of looks, and cross-correlation (XCOR) values are obtained, and the results are also compared with the wavelet and curvelet thresholding techniques. PMID:24825507

  19. The Analysis of Dimensionality Reduction Techniques in Cryptographic Object Code Classification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jason L. Wright; Milos Manic

    2010-05-01

    This paper compares the application of three different dimension reduction techniques to the problem of locating cryptography in compiled object code. A simple classi?er is used to compare dimension reduction via sorted covariance, principal component analysis, and correlation-based feature subset selection. The analysis concentrates on the classi?cation accuracy as the number of dimensions is increased.

  20. Flow and Noise Control: Review and Assessment of Future Directions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Russell H.; Choudhari, Meelan M.; Joslin, Ronald D.

    2002-01-01

    Technologies for developing radically new aerovehicles that would combine quantum leaps in cost, safety, and performance benefits with environmental friendliness have appeared on the horizon. This report provides both an assessment of the current state-of-the-art in flow and noise control and a vision for the potential gains to be made, in terms of performance benefit for civil and military aircraft and a unique potential for noise reduction, via future advances in flow and noise technologies. This report outlines specific areas of research that will enable the breakthroughs necessary to bring this vision to reality. Recent developments in many topics within flow and noise control are reviewed. The flow control overview provides succinct summaries of various approaches for drag reduction and improved maneuvering. Both exterior and interior noise problems are examined, including dominant noise sources, physics of noise generation and propagation, and both established and proposed concepts for noise reduction. Synergy between flow and noise control is a focus and, more broadly, the need to pursue research in a more concurrent approach involving multiple disciplines. Also discussed are emerging technologies such as nanotechnology that may have a significant impact on the progress of flow and noise control.

  1. Noise Gating Solar Images

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeForest, Craig; Seaton, Daniel B.; Darnell, John A.

    2017-08-01

    I present and demonstrate a new, general purpose post-processing technique, "3D noise gating", that can reduce image noise by an order of magnitude or more without effective loss of spatial or temporal resolution in typical solar applications.Nearly all scientific images are, ultimately, limited by noise. Noise can be direct Poisson "shot noise" from photon counting effects, or introduced by other means such as detector read noise. Noise is typically represented as a random variable (perhaps with location- or image-dependent characteristics) that is sampled once per pixel or once per resolution element of an image sequence. Noise limits many aspects of image analysis, including photometry, spatiotemporal resolution, feature identification, morphology extraction, and background modeling and separation.Identifying and separating noise from image signal is difficult. The common practice of blurring in space and/or time works because most image "signal" is concentrated in the low Fourier components of an image, while noise is evenly distributed. Blurring in space and/or time attenuates the high spatial and temporal frequencies, reducing noise at the expense of also attenuating image detail. Noise-gating exploits the same property -- "coherence" -- that we use to identify features in images, to separate image features from noise.Processing image sequences through 3-D noise gating results in spectacular (more than 10x) improvements in signal-to-noise ratio, while not blurring bright, resolved features in either space or time. This improves most types of image analysis, including feature identification, time sequence extraction, absolute and relative photometry (including differential emission measure analysis), feature tracking, computer vision, correlation tracking, background modeling, cross-scale analysis, visual display/presentation, and image compression.I will introduce noise gating, describe the method, and show examples from several instruments (including SDO

  2. A Two-Microphone Noise Reduction System for Cochlear Implant Users with Nearby Microphones—Part I: Signal Processing Algorithm Design and Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Pelizzone

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Users of cochlear implant systems, that is, of auditory aids which stimulate the auditory nerve at the cochlea electrically, often complain about poor speech understanding in noisy environments. Despite the proven advantages of multimicrophone directional noise reduction systems for conventional hearing aids, only one major manufacturer has so far implemented such a system in a product, presumably because of the added power consumption and size. We present a physically small (intermicrophone distance 7 mm and computationally inexpensive adaptive noise reduction system suitable for behind-the-ear cochlear implant speech processors. Supporting algorithms, which allow the adjustment of the opening angle and the maximum noise suppression, are proposed and evaluated. A portable real-time device for test in real acoustic environments is presented.

  3. Characterization and reduction of noise in Mo/Au transition edge sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindeman, Mark A.; Bandler, Simon; Brekosky, Regis P.; Chervenak, James A.; Figueroa-Feliciano, Enectali; Finkbeiner, Fred M.; Saab, Tarek; Stahle, Caroline K.

    2004-01-01

    We measured noise in a variety of Mo/Au transition-edge sensor (TES) X-ray calorimeters. We investigated the relationship between the noise, bias, and the superconducting phase transition in the TESs. Our square TES calorimeters have achieved very good energy resolutions (2.4 eV at 1.5 keV) but their resolutions have been limited by broadband white excess noise generated by the TES when it is biased in the phase transition. We have recently fabricated Mo/Cu TESs with interdigitated normal metal bars deposited on top of the bilayer. The new TES calorimeters have demonstrated little or no excess noise in the phase transition. These results point the way to development of TES calorimeters with higher energy resolution

  4. Experience with Kicker Beam Coupling Reduction Techniques

    CERN Document Server

    Gaxiola, Enrique; Caspers, Friedhelm; Ducimetière, Laurent; Kroyer, Tom

    2005-01-01

    SPS beam impedance is still one of the worries for operation with nominal LHC beam over longer periods, once the final configuration will be installed in 2006. Several CERN SPS kickers suffer from significant beam induced ferrite heating. In specific cases, for instance beam scrubbing, the temperature of certain ferrite yokes went beyond the Curie point. Several retrofit impedance reduction techniques have been investigated theoretically and with practical tests. We report on experience gained during the 2004 SPS operation with resistively coated ceramic inserts in terms of kicker heating, pulse rise time, operating voltage, and vacuum behaviour. For another technique using interleaved metallic stripes we observed significant improvements in bench measurements. Advantages and drawbacks of both methods and potential combinations of them are discussed and simulation as well as measured data are shown. Prospects for further improvements beyond 2006 are briefly outlined.

  5. Drone noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinney, Charles; Sirohi, Jayant; University of Texas at Austin Team

    2017-11-01

    A basic understanding of the noise produced by single and multirotor drones operating at static thrust conditions is presented. This work acts as an extension to previous efforts conducted at The University of Texas at Austin (Tinney et al. 2017, AHS Forum 73). Propeller diameters ranging from 8 inch to 12 inch are examined for configurations comprising an isolated rotor, a quadcopter configuration and a hexacopter configuration, and with a constant drone pitch of 2.25. An azimuthal array of half-inch microphones, placed between 2 and 3 hub-center diameters from the drone center, are used to assess the acoustic near-field. Thrust levels, acquired using a six degree-of-freedom load cell, are then used to correlate acoustic noise levels to aerodynamic performance for each drone configuration. The findings reveal a nearly logarithmic increase in noise with increasing thrust. However, for the same thrust condition, considerable noise reduction is achieved by increasing the number of propeller blades thereby reducing the blade passage frequency and both the thickness and loading noise sources that accompany it.

  6. Analysis and development of deterministic and stochastic neutron noise computing techniques with applications to thermal and fast reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rouchon, Amelie

    2016-01-01

    Neutron noise analysis addresses the description of small time-dependent flux fluctuations induced by small global or local perturbations of the macroscopic cross-sections. These fluctuations may occur in nuclear reactors due to density fluctuations of the coolant, to vibrations of fuel elements, control rods, or any other structures in the core. In power reactors, ex-core and in-core detectors can be used to monitor neutron noise with the aim of detecting possible anomalies and taking the necessary measures for continuous safe power production. The objective of this thesis is to develop techniques for neutron noise analysis and especially to implement a neutron noise solver in the deterministic transport code APOLLO3 developed at CEA. A new Monte Carlo algorithm that solves the transport equations for the neutron noise has been also developed. In addition, a new vibration model has been developed. Moreover, a method based on the determination of a new steady state has been proposed for the linear and the nonlinear full theory so as to improve the traditional neutron noise theory. In order to test these new developments we have performed neutron noise simulations in one-dimensional systems and in a large pressurized water reactor with heavy baffle in two and three dimensions with APOLLO3 in diffusion and transport theories. (author) [fr

  7. Comparison of image quality and radiation dose between combined automatic tube current modulation and fixed tube current technique in CT of abdomen and pelvis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Sanghee (Dept. of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan Univ. School of Medicine (Korea, Republic of)); Yoon, Sang-Wook; Yoo, Seung-Min; Kim, Kyoung Ah; Kim, Sang Heum; Lee, Jong Tae (Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA Univ. (Korea, Republic of)), email: jansons@cha.ac.kr; Ji, Young Geon (Preventive Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA Univ. (Korea, Republic of))

    2011-12-15

    Background. Tube current is an important determinant of radiation dose and image quality in X-ray-based examination. The combined automatic tube current modulation technique (ATCM) enables automatic adjustment of the tube current in various planes (x-y and z) based on the size and attenuation of the body area scanned. Purpose. To compare image quality and radiation dose of the ATCM with those of a fixed tube current technique (FTC) in CT of the abdomen and pelvis performed with a 16-slice multidetector row CT. Material and Methods. We reviewed 100 patients in whom initial and follow-up CT of the abdomen and pelvis were performed with FTC and ATCM. All acquisition parameters were identical in both techniques except for tube current. We recorded objective image noise in liver parenchyma, subjective image noise and diagnostic acceptability by using a five-point scale, radiation dose, and body mass index (BMI, kg/m2). Data were analyzed with parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. Results. There was no significant difference in image noise and diagnostic acceptability between two techniques. All subjects had acceptable subjective image noise in both techniques. The significant reduction in radiation dose (45.25% reduction) was noted with combined ATCM (P < 0.001). There was a significant linear statistical correlation between BMI and dose reduction (r = -0.78, P < 0.05). Conclusion. The ATCM for CT of the abdomen and pelvis substantially reduced radiation dose while maintaining diagnostic image quality. Patients with lower BMI showed more reduction in radiation dose

  8. Noise Suppression in ECG Signals through Efficient One-Step Wavelet Processing Techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Castillo

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper illustrates the application of the discrete wavelet transform (DWT for wandering and noise suppression in electrocardiographic (ECG signals. A novel one-step implementation is presented, which allows improving the overall denoising process. In addition an exhaustive study is carried out, defining threshold limits and thresholding rules for optimal wavelet denoising using this presented technique. The system has been tested using synthetic ECG signals, which allow accurately measuring the effect of the proposed processing. Moreover, results from real abdominal ECG signals acquired from pregnant women are presented in order to validate the presented approach.

  9. Elimination of maintenance outage and cost reduction by development of outage-free maintenance techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jakabe, Hideo; Maruyama, Yoshinaga

    1996-01-01

    The development program of KEPCO on outage-free maintenance techniques for distribution line work since 1984 is overviewed. It has succeeded in eliminating maintenance outages since 1989. The original aim was to improve customer satisfaction. However, in all, four benefits were realised through the development. These are cost reduction, securing of worker safety, improvement of customer service, and advancement of distribution techniques and morale in KEPCO. The introduction of robotic techniques for maintenance work and manipulator techniques for repair work is planned for further modernization. These new techniques are helping in both work safety and work efficiency improvement. Cost reduction and advancement of distribution line work techniques is also considered. (R.P.)

  10. Experiment and Simulation Analysis on Noise Attenuation of Al/MF Cylindrical Shells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Li

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available For the issue concerning internal noise reduction of Al-made cylindrical shell structure, the noise control method of laying melamine foam (MF layer is adopted for in-shell noise attenuation experiments of Al and Al/MF cylindrical shells and corresponding internal noise response spectrograms are obtained. Based on the Virtual.Lab acoustics software, a finite element model is established for the analysis of noise in the Al/MF cylinder shell and numerical simulation computation is conducted for the acoustic mode and in-shell acoustic response; the correctness of the finite element model is verified via comparison with measured data. On this basis, influence rules of different MF laying rate and different laying thickness on acoustic cavity resonance response within the low and medium frequency range of 100–400 Hz are studied. It is indicated that noise reduction increases with MF laying rate, but the amplification decreases along with the rising of MF laying rate; noise reduction per unit thickness decreases with the increase of laying thickness, while noise reduction per unit area increases.

  11. A Ratiometric Method for Johnson Noise Thermometry Using a Quantized Voltage Noise Source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, S. W.; Benz, S. P.; Martinis, J. M.; Dresselhaus, P.; Tew, W. L.; White, D. R.

    2003-09-01

    Johnson Noise Thermometry (JNT) involves the measurement of the statistical variance of a fluctuating voltage across a resistor in thermal equilibrium. Modern digital techniques make it now possible to perform many functions required for JNT in highly efficient and predictable ways. We describe the operational characteristics of a prototype JNT system which uses digital signal processing for filtering, real-time spectral cross-correlation for noise power measurement, and a digitally synthesized Quantized Voltage Noise Source (QVNS) as an AC voltage reference. The QVNS emulates noise with a constant spectral density that is stable, programmable, and calculable in terms of known parameters using digital synthesis techniques. Changes in analog gain are accounted for by alternating the inputs between the Johnson noise sensor and the QVNS. The Johnson noise power at a known temperature is first balanced with a synthesized noise power from the QVNS. The process is then repeated by balancing the noise power from the same resistor at an unknown temperature. When the two noise power ratios are combined, a thermodynamic temperature is derived using the ratio of the two QVNS spectral densities. We present preliminary results where the ratio between the gallium triple point and the water triple point is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the measurement system with a standard uncertainty of 0.04 %.

  12. Reduction of noise influence during the periodical inspection of the nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hikono, Masaru

    2002-01-01

    At the nuclear power plant under the regular inspection, the sound level and the worker's impression of the environmental noises were measured. The environmental noise was the level with a possibility to cause the noise-induced deafness and have the psychological influence on the workers such as ''Get irritated''. These results imply the necessity of the noise countermeasure. For the noise influence relaxation, we examined the effectiveness of ear protections (e.g., ear plugs) and the intelligibility improvement of the paging system, prepared the noise management manual and the educational leaflet for the support of worker's self-defense. The results of the examinations showed that ear plug was effective especially in the high-noise environment and that the improvement of paging system increased the intelligibility. (author)

  13. Correlation techniques for the improvement of signal-to-noise ratio in measurements with stochastic processes

    CERN Document Server

    Reddy, V R; Reddy, T G; Reddy, P Y; Reddy, K R

    2003-01-01

    An AC modulation technique is described to convert stochastic signal variations into an amplitude variation and its retrieval through Fourier analysis. It is shown that this AC detection of signals of stochastic processes when processed through auto- and cross-correlation techniques improve the signal-to-noise ratio; the correlation techniques serve a similar purpose of frequency and phase filtering as that of phase-sensitive detection. A few model calculations applied to nuclear spectroscopy measurements such as Angular Correlations, Mossbauer spectroscopy and Pulse Height Analysis reveal considerable improvement in the sensitivity of signal detection. Experimental implementation of the technique is presented in terms of amplitude variations of harmonics representing the derivatives of normal spectra. Improved detection sensitivity to spectral variations is shown to be significant. These correlation techniques are general and can be made applicable to all the fields of particle counting where measurements ar...

  14. Characteristics of noise-canceling headphones to reduce the hearing hazard for MP3 users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Maojin; Zhao, Fei; French, David; Zheng, Yiqing

    2012-06-01

    Three pairs of headphones [standard iPod ear buds and two noise-canceling headphones (NCHs)] were chosen to investigate frequency characteristics of noise reduction, together with their attenuation effects on preferred listening levels (PLLs) in the presence of various types of background noise. Twenty-six subjects with normal hearing chose their PLLs in quiet, street noise, and subway noise using the three headphones and with the noise-canceling system on/off. Both sets of NCHs reduced noise levels at mid- and high-frequencies. Further noise reductions occurred in low frequencies with the noise canceling system switched on. In street noise, both NCHs had similar noise reduction effects. In subway noise, better noise reduction effects were found in the expensive NCH and with noise-canceling on. A two way repeated measures analysis of variance showed that both listening conditions and headphone styles were significant influencing factors on the PLLs. Subjects tended to increase their PLLs as the background noise level increased. Compared with ear buds, PLLs obtained from NCHs-on in the presence of background noise were reduced up to 4 dB. Therefore, proper selection and use of NCHs appears beneficial in reducing the risk of hearing damage caused by high music listening levels in the presence of background noise.

  15. Technique for systematic bone reduction for fixed implant-supported prosthesis in the edentulous maxilla.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidra, Avinash S

    2015-06-01

    Bone reduction for maxillary fixed implant-supported prosthodontic treatment is often necessary to either gain prosthetic space or to conceal the prosthesis-tissue junction in patients with excessive gingival display (gummy smile). Inadequate bone reduction is often a cause of prosthetic failure due to material fractures, poor esthetics, or inability to perform oral hygiene procedures due to unfavorable ridge lap prosthetic contours. Various instruments and techniques are available for bone reduction. It would be helpful to have an accurate and efficient method for bone reduction at the time of surgery and subsequently create a smooth bony platform. This article presents a straightforward technique for systematic bone reduction by transferring the patient's maximum smile line, recorded clinically, to a clear radiographic smile guide for treatment planning using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). The patient's smile line and the amount of required bone reduction are transferred clinically by marking bone with a sterile stationery graphite wood pencil at the time of surgery. This technique can help clinicians to accurately achieve the desired bone reduction during surgery, and provide confidence that the diagnostic and treatment planning goals have been achieved. Copyright © 2015 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Noise Reduction in High-Throughput Gene Perturbation Screens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motivation: Accurate interpretation of perturbation screens is essential for a successful functional investigation. However, the screened phenotypes are often distorted by noise, and their analysis requires specialized statistical analysis tools. The number and scope of statistical methods available...

  17. Reduction of Background Noise in the NASA Ames 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaeger, Stephen M.; Allen, Christopher S.; Soderman, Paul T.; Olson, Larry E. (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    Background noise in both open-jet and closed wind tunnels adversely affects the signal-to-noise ratio of acoustic measurements. To measure the noise of increasingly quieter aircraft models, the background noise will have to be reduced by physical means or through signal processing. In a closed wind tunnel, such as the NASA Ames 40- by 80- Foot Wind Tunnel, the principle background noise sources can be classified as: (1) fan drive noise; (2) microphone self-noise; (3) aerodynamically induced noise from test-dependent hardware such as model struts and junctions; and (4) noise from the test section walls and vane set. This paper describes the steps taken to minimize the influence of each of these background noise sources in the 40 x 80.

  18. Reduction of noise influence during the periodical inspection of the nuclear power plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hikono, Masaru [Inst. of Nuclear Safety System Inc., Mihama, Fukui (Japan)

    2002-09-01

    At the nuclear power plant under the regular inspection, the sound level and the worker's impression of the environmental noises were measured. The environmental noise was the level with a possibility to cause the noise-induced deafness and have the psychological influence on the workers such as ''Get irritated''. These results imply the necessity of the noise countermeasure. For the noise influence relaxation, we examined the effectiveness of ear protections (e.g., ear plugs) and the intelligibility improvement of the paging system, prepared the noise management manual and the educational leaflet for the support of worker's self-defense. The results of the examinations showed that ear plug was effective especially in the high-noise environment and that the improvement of paging system increased the intelligibility. (author)

  19. Investigation on Aerodynamic Noise Evaluation and Attenuation In a Globe Valve using CFD Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S K Sreekala

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Noise pollution will soon become the third greatest menace to the human environment after air and water pollution. Since noise is a by-product of energy conversion, there will be increasing noise as the demand for energy for transportation, power, food, and chemicals increases. In the field of control equipment, noise produced by valves has become a focal point of attention .In this paper aerodynamic noise evaluation of a globe valve was carried out  using a three dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamic technique(CFD. The results obtained from numerical analysis are compared with the experimental measurements and are found   to be in good agreement. Reduction in sound pressure level was achieved by doubling the number of flow passages in the cage at full open condition and at the same operating conditions. Hence sound attenuation is established by changing the cage configuration with no change in total area of flow passage in the cage

  20. Adaptive noise cancellation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akram, N.

    1999-01-01

    In this report we describe the concept of adaptive noise canceling, an alternative method of estimating signals corrupted by additive noise of interference. The method uses 'primary' input containing the corrupted signal and a 'reference' input containing noise correlated in some unknown way with the primary noise, the reference input is adaptively filtered and subtracted from the primary input to obtain the signal estimate. Adaptive filtering before subtraction allows the treatment of inputs that are deterministic or stochastic, stationary or time variable. When the reference input is free of signal and certain other conditions are met then noise in the primary input can be essentially eliminated without signal distortion. It is further shown that the adaptive filter also acts as notch filter. Simulated results illustrate the usefulness of the adaptive noise canceling technique. (author)