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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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...

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

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

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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....

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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

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.

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....

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.

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.

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....

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.

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

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

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.)

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.

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.

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

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

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...

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

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)

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)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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...

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Noise Reduction Potential of Cellular Metals

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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.

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....

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

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....

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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...

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

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.

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’.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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...

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

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...

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.

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)

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.

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

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

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…

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.)

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

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.)

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.

Simulation of dose reduction in tomosynthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svalkvist, Angelica; Baath, Magnus

2010-01-01

Purpose: Methods for simulating dose reduction are valuable tools in the work of optimizing radiographic examinations. Using such methods, clinical images can be simulated to have been collected at other, lower, dose levels without the need of additional patient exposure. A recent technology introduced to healthcare that needs optimization is tomosynthesis, where a number of low-dose projection images collected at different angles is used to reconstruct section images of an imaged object. The aim of the present work was to develop a method of simulating dose reduction for digital radiographic systems, suitable for tomosynthesis. Methods: The developed method uses information about the noise power spectrum (NPS) at the original dose level and the simulated dose level to create a noise image that is added to the original image to produce an image that has the same noise properties as an image actually collected at the simulated dose level. As the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of digital detectors operating at the low dose levels used for tomosynthesis may show a strong dependency on the dose level, it is important that a method for simulating dose reduction for tomosynthesis takes this dependency into account. By applying an experimentally determined relationship between pixel mean and pixel variance, variations in both dose and DQE in relevant dose ranges are taken into account. Results: The developed method was tested on a chest tomosynthesis system and was shown to produce NPS of simulated dose-reduced projection images that agreed well with the NPS of images actually collected at the simulated dose level. The simulated dose reduction method was also applied to tomosynthesis examinations of an anthropomorphic chest phantom, and the obtained noise in the reconstructed section images was very similar to that of an examination actually performed at the simulated dose level. Conclusions: In conclusion, the present article describes a method for simulating dose

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.

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

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)

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

The application of dose-reduction simulation in neonatal head CT scan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yue; Peng Yun; Zeng Jinjin; Zhang Qifeng; Li Jianying

2009-01-01

Objective: To determine the effects of dose reduction on multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT) of neonatal head and assess the lowest possible radiation for acceptable clinical images. Methods: Fifty-seven newborns suspected intracranial hemorrhage were entered into the study and underwent MSCT scans. Original images at three anatomic levels (posterior fossa, basal ganglia, centrum semiovale) were collected and synthetic noise was added so as to simulate dose reductions of 25%, 40%, 50% and 70%, respectively by using the noise addition tool. A total of 855 image data sets were obtained for the 57 patients. Original and simulated dose-reduction scan images were analyzed. Image noise and image quality were assessed by two independent experienced pediatric radiologists using diagnostic acceptability score, subjective image noise score on a 5-point scale and objective noise index. Image noise was measured by respectively placing region of interest (ROI) at cerebellum, thalamus and corona radiata of 3 different slices. And the noise index and mean value was calculated. The degree of inter-observer concordance was determined by Kappa statistical analysis. The Spearman statistical correlations between the noise index and diagnostic acceptability score were performed. Results: On the images of original dose and simulated dose reductions of 25%, 40%, 50% and 70%, the diagnostic acceptability was 4.47±0.51, 3.96±0.33, 3.21±0.45, 2.92±0.32, and 1.85±0.57, respectively, the subjective image scores were 1.62±0.48, 1.99±0.48, 2.76±0.81, 3.19±0.67, and 4.27±0.54, respectively, the noise index were 1.90±0.19, 2.17±0.20. 2.44± 0.25, 2.68±0.28, and 3.37±0.39, respectively. The two radiologists had good interobserver agreement for diagnostic acceptability (K=0.860, P=0.017) and for image noise scoring(K=0.630, P=0.022). There was significant statistical correlation between image noise index and diagnostic acceptability (r= 0.826,P=0.001). At 40% dose reduction to the standard

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....

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Radiation dose reduction in pediatric CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, A.E.; Hill, E.P.; Harpen, M.D.

1986-01-01

The relationship between image noise and radiation dose was investigated in computed tomography (CT) images of a pediatric abdomen phantom. A protocol which provided a minimum absorbed dose consistent with acceptable image noise criteria was determined for a fourth generation CT scanner. It was found that pediatric abdominal CT scans could maintain diagnostic quality with at least a 50% reduction in dose from the manufacturers' suggested protocol. (orig.)

Comodulation masking release in bit-rate reduction systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestergaard, Martin David; Rasmussen, Karsten Bo; Poulsen, Torben

1999-01-01

It has been suggested that the level dependence of the upper masking slope be utilized in perceptual models in bit-rate reduction systems. However, comodulation masking release (CMR) phenomena lead to a reduction of the masking effect when a masker and a probe signal are amplitude modulated...... with the same frequency. In bit-rate reduction systems the masker would be the audio signal and the probe signal would represent the quantization noise. Masking curves have been determined for sinusoids and 1-Bark-wide noise maskers in order to investigate the risk of CMR, when quantizing depths are fixed...... in accordance with psycho-acoustical principles. Masker frequencies of 500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 2 kHz have been investigated, and the masking of pure tone probes has been determined in the first four 1/3 octaves above the masker. Modulation frequencies between 6 and 20 Hz were used with a modulation depth of 0...

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

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.

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

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.

Reduction of sound transmission across plenum windows by incorporating an array of rigid cylinders

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, S. K.

2018-02-01

The potential improvement of plenum window noise reduction by installing rigid circular cylinder arrays into the window cavity is investigated numerically using the finite-element method in this study. A two-dimensional approach is adopted. The sound transmission characteristics and propagation within the plenum window are also examined in detail. Results show that the installation of the cylinders in general gives rise to broadband improvement of noise reduction across a plenum window regardless of the direction of sound incidence. Such acoustical performance becomes better when more cylinder columns are installed, but it is suggested that the number of cylinder rows should not exceed two. Results also show that the cylinder positions relative to the nodal/anti-nodal planes of the acoustic modes are crucial in the noise reduction enhancement mechanisms. Noise reduction can further be enhanced by staggering the cylinder rows, such that each cylinder row supports the development of a different acoustic mode. For the simple cylinder arrangements considered in this study, the traffic noise reduction enhancement observed in this study can be as high as 4-5 dB, which is already comparable to or higher than the maximum achieved by installing sound absorption into a plenum window.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reduction of interior sound fields in flexible cylinders by active vibration control

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, J. D.; Fuller, C. R.

1988-01-01

The mechanisms of interior sound reduction through active control of a thin flexible shell's vibrational response are presently evaluated in view of an analytical model. The noise source is a single exterior acoustic monopole. The active control model is evaluated for harmonic excitation; the results obtained indicate spatially-averaged noise reductions in excess of 20 dB over the source plane, for acoustic resonant conditions inside the cavity.

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.

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.

Reduction of artifacts caused by orthopedic hardware in the spine in spectral detector CT examinations using virtual monoenergetic image reconstructions and metal-artifact-reduction algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grosse Hokamp, Nils; Neuhaus, V.; Abdullayev, N.; Laukamp, K.; Lennartz, S.; Mpotsaris, A.; Borggrefe, J. [University Hospital Cologne, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Cologne (Germany)

2018-02-15

Aim of this study was to assess the artifact reduction in patients with orthopedic hardware in the spine as provided by (1) metal-artifact-reduction algorithms (O-MAR) and (2) virtual monoenergetic images (MonoE) as provided by spectral detector CT (SDCT) compared to conventional iterative reconstruction (CI). In all, 28 consecutive patients with orthopedic hardware in the spine who underwent SDCT-examinations were included. CI, O-MAR and MonoE (40-200 keV) images were reconstructed. Attenuation (HU) and noise (SD) were measured in order to calculate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of paravertebral muscle and spinal canal. Subjective image quality was assessed by two radiologists in terms of image quality and extent of artifact reduction. O-MAR and high-keV MonoE showed significant decrease of hypodense artifacts in terms of higher attenuation as compared to CI (CI vs O-MAR, 200 keV MonoE: -396.5HU vs. -115.2HU, -48.1HU; both p ≤ 0.001). Further, artifacts as depicted by noise were reduced in O-MAR and high-keV MonoE as compared to CI in (1) paravertebral muscle and (2) spinal canal - CI vs. O-MAR/200 keV: (1) 34.7 ± 19.0 HU vs. 26.4 ± 14.4 HU, p ≤ 0.05/27.4 ± 16.1, n.s.; (2) 103.4 ± 61.3 HU vs. 72.6 ± 62.6 HU/60.9 ± 40.1 HU, both p ≤ 0.001. Subjectively both O-MAR and high-keV images yielded an artifact reduction in up to 24/28 patients. Both, O-MAR and high-keV MonoE reconstructions as provided by SDCT lead to objective and subjective artifact reduction, thus the combination of O-MAR and MonoE seems promising for further reduction. (orig.)

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.

Method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography using the Anscombe transformation

OpenAIRE

Borges, Lucas R.; de Oliveira, Helder C. R.; Nunes, Polyana F.; Bakic, Predrag R.; Maidment, Andrew D. A.; Vieira, Marcelo A. C.

2016-01-01

Purpose: This work proposes an accurate method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography starting from a clinical image acquired with a standard dose. Methods: The method developed in this work consists of scaling a mammogram acquired at the standard radiation dose and adding signal-dependent noise. The algorithm accounts for specific issues relevant in digital mammography images, such as anisotropic noise, spatial variations in pixel gain, and the effect of dose reduction on the d...

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.

Characterization of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction algorithm for dose reduction in CT: A pediatric oncology perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brady, S. L.; Yee, B. S.; Kaufman, R. A. [Department of Radiological Sciences, St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105 (United States)

2012-09-15

Purpose: This study demonstrates a means of implementing an adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR Trade-Mark-Sign ) 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 Trade-Mark-Sign . Empirically derived dose reduction limits were established for ASiR Trade-Mark-Sign 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 Trade-Mark-Sign 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 Trade-Mark-Sign 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 Trade-Mark-Sign reconstruction to maintain noise equivalence of the 0% ASiR Trade-Mark-Sign image. Results: The ASiR Trade-Mark-Sign 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 Trade-Mark-Sign reconstruction; and in spite of the similar magnitudes of noise, the image reconstructed with 50% or more ASiR Trade-Mark-Sign presented a more

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.

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

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.

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.

Method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography using the Anscombe transformation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borges, Lucas R., E-mail: lucas.rodrigues.borges@usp.br; Oliveira, Helder C. R. de; Nunes, Polyana F.; Vieira, Marcelo A. C. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, 400 Trabalhador São-Carlense Avenue, São Carlos 13566-590 (Brazil); Bakic, Predrag R.; Maidment, Andrew D. A. [Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: This work proposes an accurate method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography starting from a clinical image acquired with a standard dose. Methods: The method developed in this work consists of scaling a mammogram acquired at the standard radiation dose and adding signal-dependent noise. The algorithm accounts for specific issues relevant in digital mammography images, such as anisotropic noise, spatial variations in pixel gain, and the effect of dose reduction on the detective quantum efficiency. The scaling process takes into account the linearity of the system and the offset of the detector elements. The inserted noise is obtained by acquiring images of a flat-field phantom at the standard radiation dose and at the simulated dose. Using the Anscombe transformation, a relationship is created between the calculated noise mask and the scaled image, resulting in a clinical mammogram with the same noise and gray level characteristics as an image acquired at the lower-radiation dose. Results: The performance of the proposed algorithm was validated using real images acquired with an anthropomorphic breast phantom at four different doses, with five exposures for each dose and 256 nonoverlapping ROIs extracted from each image and with uniform images. The authors simulated lower-dose images and compared these with the real images. The authors evaluated the similarity between the normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) and power spectrum (PS) of simulated images and real images acquired with the same dose. The maximum relative error was less than 2.5% for every ROI. The added noise was also evaluated by measuring the local variance in the real and simulated images. The relative average error for the local variance was smaller than 1%. Conclusions: A new method is proposed for simulating dose reduction in clinical mammograms. In this method, the dependency between image noise and image signal is addressed using a novel application of the Anscombe

Method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography using the Anscombe transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Borges, Lucas R; Oliveira, Helder C R de; Nunes, Polyana F; Bakic, Predrag R; Maidment, Andrew D A; Vieira, Marcelo A C

2016-06-01

This work proposes an accurate method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography starting from a clinical image acquired with a standard dose. The method developed in this work consists of scaling a mammogram acquired at the standard radiation dose and adding signal-dependent noise. The algorithm accounts for specific issues relevant in digital mammography images, such as anisotropic noise, spatial variations in pixel gain, and the effect of dose reduction on the detective quantum efficiency. The scaling process takes into account the linearity of the system and the offset of the detector elements. The inserted noise is obtained by acquiring images of a flat-field phantom at the standard radiation dose and at the simulated dose. Using the Anscombe transformation, a relationship is created between the calculated noise mask and the scaled image, resulting in a clinical mammogram with the same noise and gray level characteristics as an image acquired at the lower-radiation dose. The performance of the proposed algorithm was validated using real images acquired with an anthropomorphic breast phantom at four different doses, with five exposures for each dose and 256 nonoverlapping ROIs extracted from each image and with uniform images. The authors simulated lower-dose images and compared these with the real images. The authors evaluated the similarity between the normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) and power spectrum (PS) of simulated images and real images acquired with the same dose. The maximum relative error was less than 2.5% for every ROI. The added noise was also evaluated by measuring the local variance in the real and simulated images. The relative average error for the local variance was smaller than 1%. A new method is proposed for simulating dose reduction in clinical mammograms. In this method, the dependency between image noise and image signal is addressed using a novel application of the Anscombe transformation. NNPS, PS, and local noise

Method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography using the Anscombe transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borges, Lucas R.; Oliveira, Helder C. R. de; Nunes, Polyana F.; Vieira, Marcelo A. C.; Bakic, Predrag R.; Maidment, Andrew D. A.

2016-01-01

Purpose: This work proposes an accurate method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography starting from a clinical image acquired with a standard dose. Methods: The method developed in this work consists of scaling a mammogram acquired at the standard radiation dose and adding signal-dependent noise. The algorithm accounts for specific issues relevant in digital mammography images, such as anisotropic noise, spatial variations in pixel gain, and the effect of dose reduction on the detective quantum efficiency. The scaling process takes into account the linearity of the system and the offset of the detector elements. The inserted noise is obtained by acquiring images of a flat-field phantom at the standard radiation dose and at the simulated dose. Using the Anscombe transformation, a relationship is created between the calculated noise mask and the scaled image, resulting in a clinical mammogram with the same noise and gray level characteristics as an image acquired at the lower-radiation dose. Results: The performance of the proposed algorithm was validated using real images acquired with an anthropomorphic breast phantom at four different doses, with five exposures for each dose and 256 nonoverlapping ROIs extracted from each image and with uniform images. The authors simulated lower-dose images and compared these with the real images. The authors evaluated the similarity between the normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) and power spectrum (PS) of simulated images and real images acquired with the same dose. The maximum relative error was less than 2.5% for every ROI. The added noise was also evaluated by measuring the local variance in the real and simulated images. The relative average error for the local variance was smaller than 1%. Conclusions: A new method is proposed for simulating dose reduction in clinical mammograms. In this method, the dependency between image noise and image signal is addressed using a novel application of the Anscombe

Spectral Subtraction Approach for Interference Reduction of MIMO Channel Wireless Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomohiro Ono

2005-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a generalized spectral subtraction approach for reducing additive impulsive noise, narrowband signals, white Gaussian noise and DS-CDMA interferences in MIMO channel DS-CDMA wireless communication systems is investigated. The interference noise reduction or suppression is essential problem in wireless mobile communication systems to improve the quality of communication. The spectrum subtraction scheme is applied to the interference noise reduction problems for noisy MIMO channel systems. The interferences in space and time domain signals can effectively be suppressed by selecting threshold values, and the computational load with the FFT is not large. Further, the fading effects of channel are compensated by spectral modification with the spectral subtraction process. In the simulations, the effectiveness of the proposed methods for the MIMO channel DS-CDMA is shown to compare with the conventional MIMO channel DS-CDMA.

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.

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.

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

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)

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.

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

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.

Evaluation of Novel Liner Concepts for Fan and Airframe Noise Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, M. G.; Howerton, B. M.

2016-01-01

This paper presents a review of four novel liner concepts: soft vanes, over-the-rotor liners, external liners, and flap side-edge liners. A number of similarities in the design and evaluation of these concepts emerged during these investigations. Since these were the first attempts to study these particular liner concepts, there was limited information to guide the design process. In all cases, the target frequencies (or frequency range) were known, but the optimum acoustic impedance and optimum liner placement were typically not known. For these cases, the maximum available surface was used and a c-impedance was targeted based on the assumption the sound field impinges on the surface at normal incidence. This choice proved fruitful for every application. An impedance prediction model was used to design variable-depth liner configurations, and a graphical design code (ILIAD) was developed to aid in this process. The ability to build increasingly complex liner configurations via additive manufacturing was key, such that multiple designs could quickly be tested in a normal incidence impedance tube. The Two-Thickness Method was used to evaluate available bulk materials, such that bulk liners could also be considered for each application. These novel liner concepts provide sufficient noise reduction to warrant further investigations.

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.

The effects of noise reduction by earmuffs on the physiologic and behavioral responses in very low birth weight preterm infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Duran, Rıdvan; Ciftdemir, Nükhet Aladağ; Ozbek, Ulfet Vatansever; Berberoğlu, Ufuk; Durankuş, Ferit; Süt, Necdet; Acunaş, Betül

2012-10-01

Preterm infants are exposed to loud noises during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit which can lead to physiologic and behavioral alterations and even hearing loss. The use of earmuffs can reduce sound level and these changes. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the earmuffs in preterm infants solely cared for in closed incubators. A comparative prospective study comprising 20 clinically stable preterm infants weighing less than 1500 g cared in closed incubator was conducted. Preterm infants acted as their own controls whereby they were observed without earmuffs (Group 1) for 2 days and with earmuffs (Group 2) on consecutive 2 days. The preterm infants' physiologic responses and Anderson Behavioral State Scoring System (ABSS) scores were assessed over 30s every 2h for 8h during daytime for 4 days. Out of 20 preterm infants, 6 were male and 14 female with a mean birth weight of 1220 ± 209 g, gestational age of 29.9 ± 2.1 weeks. The total number of measurements was 320. The mean ABSS scores of Group 1 and 2 were 3.07±1.1 and 1.34 ± 0.3, respectively. Statistically significant difference was noted between the means of ABSS scores (pNoise level reduction was associated with significant improvement in behavioral states of ABSS. We suggest that noise reduction in preterm infants with earmuffs is helpful by improving sleep efficiency and increasing time of quiet sleep. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Carbonaceous Reductant Selection on Chromite Pre-reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Kleynhans, E. L. J.; Beukes, J. P.; Van Zyl, P. G.; Bunt, J. R.; Nkosi, N. S. B.; Venter, M.

2017-04-01

Ferrochrome (FeCr) production is an energy-intensive process. Currently, the pelletized chromite pre-reduction process, also referred to as solid-state reduction of chromite, is most likely the FeCr production process with the lowest specific electricity consumption, i.e., MWh/t FeCr produced. In this study, the effects of carbonaceous reductant selection on chromite pre-reduction and cured pellet strength were investigated. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed to evaluate the effect of reductant characteristics on the aforementioned two parameters. This yielded mathematical solutions that can be used by FeCr producers to select reductants more optimally in future. Additionally, the results indicated that hydrogen (H)- (24 pct) and volatile content (45.8 pct) were the most significant contributors for predicting variance in pre-reduction and compressive strength, respectively. The role of H within this context is postulated to be linked to the ability of a reductant to release H that can induce reduction. Therefore, contrary to the current operational selection criteria, the authors believe that thermally untreated reductants ( e.g., anthracite, as opposed to coke or char), with volatile contents close to the currently applied specification (to ensure pellet strength), would be optimal, since it would maximize H content that would enhance pre-reduction.

Central subspace dimensionality reduction using covariance operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Minyoung; Pavlovic, Vladimir

2011-04-01

We consider the task of dimensionality reduction informed by real-valued multivariate labels. The problem is often treated as Dimensionality Reduction for Regression (DRR), whose goal is to find a low-dimensional representation, the central subspace, of the input data that preserves the statistical correlation with the targets. A class of DRR methods exploits the notion of inverse regression (IR) to discover central subspaces. Whereas most existing IR techniques rely on explicit output space slicing, we propose a novel method called the Covariance Operator Inverse Regression (COIR) that generalizes IR to nonlinear input/output spaces without explicit target slicing. COIR's unique properties make DRR applicable to problem domains with high-dimensional output data corrupted by potentially significant amounts of noise. Unlike recent kernel dimensionality reduction methods that employ iterative nonconvex optimization, COIR yields a closed-form solution. We also establish the link between COIR, other DRR techniques, and popular supervised dimensionality reduction methods, including canonical correlation analysis and linear discriminant analysis. We then extend COIR to semi-supervised settings where many of the input points lack their labels. We demonstrate the benefits of COIR on several important regression problems in both fully supervised and semi-supervised settings.

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.)

A Data-Driven Noise Reduction Method and Its Application for the Enhancement of Stress Wave Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai-Lin Feng

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD has been recently used to recover a signal from observed noisy data. Typically this is performed by partial reconstruction or thresholding operation. In this paper we describe an efficient noise reduction method. EEMD is used to decompose a signal into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs. The time intervals between two adjacent zero-crossings within the IMF, called instantaneous half period (IHP, are used as a criterion to detect and classify the noise oscillations. The undesirable waveforms with a larger IHP are set to zero. Furthermore, the optimum threshold in this approach can be derived from the signal itself using the consecutive mean square error (CMSE. The method is fully data driven, and it requires no prior knowledge of the target signals. This method can be verified with the simulative program by using Matlab. The denoising results are proper. In comparison with other EEMD based methods, it is concluded that the means adopted in this paper is suitable to preprocess the stress wave signals in the wood nondestructive testing.

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

Evaluation of the impact of organ-specific dose reduction on image quality in pediatric chest computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boos, Johannes; Kroepil, Patric; Klee, Dirk; Heusch, Philipp; Schimmoeller, Lars; Schaper, Joerg; Antoch, Gerald; Lanzman, Rotem S.

2014-01-01

Organ-specific dose reduction significantly reduces the radiation exposure of radiosensitive organs. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a novel organ-specific dose reduction algorithm on image quality of pediatric chest CT. We included 28 children (mean age 10.9 ± 4.8 years, range 3-18 years) who had contrast-enhanced chest CT on a 128-row scanner. CT was performed at 100 kV using automated tube current modulation and a novel organ-specific dose-reduction algorithm (XCare trademark; Siemens, Forchheim, Germany). Seven children had a previous chest CT performed on a 64-row scanner at 100 kV without organ-specific dose reduction. Subjective image quality was assessed using a five-point scale (1-not diagnostic; 5-excellent). Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were assessed in the descending aorta. Overall mean subjective image quality was 4.1 ± 0.6. In the subgroup of the seven children examined both with and without organ-specific dose reduction, subjective image quality was comparable (score 4.4 ± 0.5 with organ-specific dose reduction vs. 4.4 ± 0.7 without it; P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in mean signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio with organ-specific dose reduction (38.3 ± 10.1 and 28.5 ± 8.7, respectively) and without the reduction (35.5 ± 8.5 and 26.5 ± 7.8, respectively) (P > 0.05). Volume computed tomography dose index (CTDI vol ) and size-specific dose estimates did not differ significantly between acquisitions with the organ-specific dose reduction (1.7 ± 0.8 mGy) and without the reduction (1.7 ± 0.8 mGy) (P > 0.05). Organ-specific dose reduction does not have an impact on image quality of pediatric chest CT and can therefore be used in clinical practice to reduce radiation dose of radiosensitive organs such as breast and thyroid gland. (orig.)

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.

Acoustics. Measurement of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements. Laboratory measurements of the reduction of transmitted impact noise by floor coverings on a heavyweight standard floor

CERN Document Server

British Standards Institution. London

1998-01-01

Acoustics. Measurement of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements. Laboratory measurements of the reduction of transmitted impact noise by floor coverings on a heavyweight standard floor

A two-microphone noise reduction system for cochlear implant users with nearby microphones. Part I: Signal processing algorithm design and development

OpenAIRE

Kompis, Martin; Bertram, Matthias; François, Jacques; Pelizzone, Marco

2008-01-01

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 ...

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.)

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.)

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

Infinitary Combinatory Reduction Systems: Normalising Reduction Strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketema, J.; Simonsen, Jakob Grue

2010-01-01

We study normalising reduction strategies for infinitary Combinatory Reduction Systems (iCRSs). We prove that all fair, outermost-fair, and needed-fair strategies are normalising for orthogonal, fully-extended iCRSs. These facts properly generalise a number of results on normalising strategies in

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...

Adaptive iterative dose reduction algorithm in CT: Effect on image quality compared with filtered back projection in body phantoms of different sizes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Milim; Lee, Jeong Min; Son, Hyo Shin; Han, Joon Koo; Choi, Byung Ihn [College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Jeong Hee; Choi, Jin Woo [Dept. of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-04-15

To evaluate the impact of the adaptive iterative dose reduction (AIDR) three-dimensional (3D) algorithm in CT on noise reduction and the image quality compared to the filtered back projection (FBP) algorithm and to compare the effectiveness of AIDR 3D on noise reduction according to the body habitus using phantoms with different sizes. Three different-sized phantoms with diameters of 24 cm, 30 cm, and 40 cm were built up using the American College of Radiology CT accreditation phantom and layers of pork belly fat. Each phantom was scanned eight times using different mAs. Images were reconstructed using the FBP and three different strengths of the AIDR 3D. The image noise, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the phantom were assessed. Two radiologists assessed the image quality of the 4 image sets in consensus. The effectiveness of AIDR 3D on noise reduction compared with FBP were also compared according to the phantom sizes. Adaptive iterative dose reduction 3D significantly reduced the image noise compared with FBP and enhanced the SNR and CNR (p < 0.05) with improved image quality (p < 0.05). When a stronger reconstruction algorithm was used, greater increase of SNR and CNR as well as noise reduction was achieved (p < 0.05). The noise reduction effect of AIDR 3D was significantly greater in the 40-cm phantom than in the 24-cm or 30-cm phantoms (p < 0.05). The AIDR 3D algorithm is effective to reduce the image noise as well as to improve the image-quality parameters compared by FBP algorithm, and its effectiveness may increase as the phantom size increases.

Adaptive iterative dose reduction algorithm in CT: Effect on image quality compared with filtered back projection in body phantoms of different sizes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Milim; Lee, Jeong Min; Son, Hyo Shin; Han, Joon Koo; Choi, Byung Ihn; Yoon, Jeong Hee; Choi, Jin Woo

2014-01-01

To evaluate the impact of the adaptive iterative dose reduction (AIDR) three-dimensional (3D) algorithm in CT on noise reduction and the image quality compared to the filtered back projection (FBP) algorithm and to compare the effectiveness of AIDR 3D on noise reduction according to the body habitus using phantoms with different sizes. Three different-sized phantoms with diameters of 24 cm, 30 cm, and 40 cm were built up using the American College of Radiology CT accreditation phantom and layers of pork belly fat. Each phantom was scanned eight times using different mAs. Images were reconstructed using the FBP and three different strengths of the AIDR 3D. The image noise, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the phantom were assessed. Two radiologists assessed the image quality of the 4 image sets in consensus. The effectiveness of AIDR 3D on noise reduction compared with FBP were also compared according to the phantom sizes. Adaptive iterative dose reduction 3D significantly reduced the image noise compared with FBP and enhanced the SNR and CNR (p < 0.05) with improved image quality (p < 0.05). When a stronger reconstruction algorithm was used, greater increase of SNR and CNR as well as noise reduction was achieved (p < 0.05). The noise reduction effect of AIDR 3D was significantly greater in the 40-cm phantom than in the 24-cm or 30-cm phantoms (p < 0.05). The AIDR 3D algorithm is effective to reduce the image noise as well as to improve the image-quality parameters compared by FBP algorithm, and its effectiveness may increase as the phantom size increases.

Modeling of detective quantum efficiency considering scatter-reduction devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Ji Woong; Kim, Dong Woon; Kim, Ho Kyung [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

The reduction of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) cannot be restored and thus has become a severe issue in digital mammography.1 Therefore, antiscatter grids are typically used in mammography. Scatter-cleanup performance of various scatter-reduction devices, such as air gaps,2 linear (1D) or cellular (2D) grids,3, 4 and slot-scanning devices,5 has been extensively investigated by many research groups. In the present time, a digital mammography system with the slotscanning geometry is also commercially available.6 In this study, we theoretically investigate the effect of scattered photons on the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) performance of digital mammography detectors by using the cascaded-systems analysis (CSA) approach. We show a simple DQE formalism describing digital mammography detector systems equipped with scatter reduction devices by regarding the scattered photons as additive noise sources. The LFD increased with increasing PMMA thickness, and the amounts of LFD indicated the corresponding SF. The estimated SFs were 0.13, 0.21, and 0.29 for PMMA thicknesses of 10, 20, and 30 mm, respectively. While the solid line describing the measured MTF for PMMA with 0 mm was the result of least-squares of regression fit using Eq. (14), the other lines were simply resulted from the multiplication of the fit result (for PMMA with 0 mm) with the (1-SF) estimated from the LFDs in the measured MTFs. Spectral noise-power densities over the entire frequency range were not much changed with increasing scatter. On the other hand, the calculation results showed that the spectral noise-power densities increased with increasing scatter. This discrepancy may be explained by that the model developed in this study does not account for the changes in x-ray interaction parameters for varying spectral shapes due to beam hardening with increasing PMMA thicknesses.

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.

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.

NOx reduction in Opole power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higgins, B.; Gong, B.; Pozzobon, E.; Kinal, E.; Pilipionek, J.

2010-01-01

In 2008 PGE Elektrownia Opole ordered a 'turn-key' retrofit execution of the combustion system to reduce NO x emission at BP-1150 boiler. The project includes modifications of burners as a first stage, and then ROFA system installation for combustion optimization and primary reduction of NO x , and Rotamix system installation for the further, secondary NO x reduction. The condition to install ROFA and Rotamix systems was keeping the same parameters of the power unit operation, in particular CO emission level, fly ash LOI and bottom ash LOI, ammonia slip, ambient noise, boiler availability and efficiency, material wastage rate, steam flow rate and temperature, as well as consumption of urea, water, electricity and compressed air. The work for this project was performed by a consortium that included Nalco Mobotec, Remak-Rozruch (a Consortium Leader) and SEFAKO

Speckle reduction in digital holography with resampling ring masks

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wenhui; Cao, Liangcai; Jin, Guofan

2018-01-01

One-shot digital holographic imaging has the advantages of high stability and low temporal cost. However, the reconstruction is affected by the speckle noise. Resampling ring-mask method in spectrum domain is proposed for speckle reduction. The useful spectrum of one hologram is divided into several sub-spectra by ring masks. In the reconstruction, angular spectrum transform is applied to guarantee the calculation accuracy which has no approximation. N reconstructed amplitude images are calculated from the corresponding sub-spectra. Thanks to speckle's random distribution, superimposing these N uncorrelated amplitude images would lead to a final reconstructed image with lower speckle noise. Normalized relative standard deviation values of the reconstructed image are used to evaluate the reduction of speckle. Effect of the method on the spatial resolution of the reconstructed image is also quantitatively evaluated. Experimental and simulation results prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

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.)

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...

Reduction redux.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Lawrence

2018-04-01

Putnam's criticisms of the identity theory attack a straw man. Fodor's criticisms of reduction attack a straw man. Properly interpreted, Nagel offered a conception of reduction that captures everything a physicalist could want. I update Nagel, introducing the idea of overlap, and show why multiple realization poses no challenge to reduction so construed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Artifact reduction of different metallic implants in flat detector C-arm CT.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, S-C; Wu, C-C; Lin, C-J; Guo, W-Y; Luo, C-B; Chang, F-C; Chang, C-Y

2014-07-01

Flat detector CT has been increasingly used as a follow-up examination after endovascular intervention. Metal artifact reduction has been successfully demonstrated in coil mass cases, but only in a small series. We attempted to objectively and subjectively evaluate the feasibility of metal artifact reduction with various metallic objects and coil lengths. We retrospectively reprocessed the flat detector CT data of 28 patients (15 men, 13 women; mean age, 55.6 years) after they underwent endovascular treatment (20 coiling ± stent placement, 6 liquid embolizers) or shunt drainage (n = 2) between January 2009 and November 2011 by using a metal artifact reduction correction algorithm. We measured CT value ranges and noise by using region-of-interest methods, and 2 experienced neuroradiologists rated the degrees of improved imaging quality and artifact reduction by comparing uncorrected and corrected images. After we applied the metal artifact reduction algorithm, the CT value ranges and the noise were substantially reduced (1815.3 ± 793.7 versus 231.7 ± 95.9 and 319.9 ± 136.6 versus 45.9 ± 14.0; both P metallic objects and various sizes of coil masses. The rater study achieved an overall improvement of imaging quality and artifact reduction (85.7% and 78.6% of cases by 2 raters, respectively), with the greatest improvement in the coiling group, moderate improvement in the liquid embolizers, and the smallest improvement in ventricular shunting (overall agreement, 0.857). The metal artifact reduction algorithm substantially reduced artifacts and improved the objective image quality in every studied case. It also allowed improved diagnostic confidence in most cases. © 2014 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

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

Calculation and reduction of the sound emissions of overhead power lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Straumann, U.

2007-01-01

In this dissertation, Ulrich Straumann of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, discusses the reduction of sound emissions from overhead power lines. Corona-discharges occur during wet weather or when foggy or icing conditions prevail. Apart from these wide-band crackling noises, low-frequency, tonal emissions also occur. The CONOR (Corona Noise Reduction) project examined these emissions at a frequency of twice the mains frequency and looked for economically feasible solutions to the problems caused by them. The source of these emissions and the mechanisms causing them are discussed. Also, ways of calculating their strength are presented. The effects of varying cable geometry and construction are discussed, as are hydrophilic coatings that could be used to reduce sound emissions.

Speckle reduction methods in laser-based picture projectors

Science.gov (United States)

Akram, M. Nadeem; Chen, Xuyuan

2016-02-01

Laser sources have been promised for many years to be better light sources as compared to traditional lamps or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for projectors, which enable projectors having wide colour gamut for vivid image, super brightness and high contrast for the best picture quality, long lifetime for maintain free operation, mercury free, and low power consumption for green environment. A major technology obstacle in using lasers for projection has been the speckle noise caused by to the coherent nature of the lasers. For speckle reduction, current state of the art solutions apply moving parts with large physical space demand. Solutions beyond the state of the art need to be developed such as integrated optical components, hybrid MOEMS devices, and active phase modulators for compact speckle reduction. In this article, major methods reported in the literature for the speckle reduction in laser projectors are presented and explained. With the advancement in semiconductor lasers with largely reduced cost for the red, green and the blue primary colours, and the developed methods for their speckle reduction, it is hoped that the lasers will be widely utilized in different projector applications in the near future.

An Interactive Procedure to Preserve the Desired Edges during the Image Processing of Noise Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin-Tsang Lee

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The paper propose a new procedure including four stages in order to preserve the desired edges during the image processing of noise reduction. A denoised image can be obtained from a noisy image at the first stage of the procedure. At the second stage, an edge map can be obtained by the Canny edge detector to find the edges of the object contours. Manual modification of an edge map at the third stage is optional to capture all the desired edges of the object contours. At the final stage, a new method called Edge Preserved Inhomogeneous Diffusion Equation (EPIDE is used to smooth the noisy images or the previously denoised image at the first stage for achieving the edge preservation. The Optical Character Recognition (OCR results in the experiments show that the proposed procedure has the best recognition result because of the capability of edge preservation.

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.

Reduction of robot base parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vandanjon, P.O.

1995-01-01

This paper is a new step in the search of minimum dynamic parameters of robots. In spite of planing exciting trajectories and using base parameters, some parameters remain not identifiable due to the perturbation effects. In this paper, we propose methods to reduce the set of base parameters in order to get an essential set of parameters. This new set defines a simplified identification model witch improves the noise immunity of the estimation process. It contributes also in reducing the computation burden of a simplified dynamic model. Different methods are proposed and are classified in two parts: methods, witch perform reduction and identification together, come from statistical field and methods, witch reduces the model before the identification thanks to a priori information, come from numerical field like the QR factorization. Statistical tools and QR reduction are shown to be efficient and adapted to determine the essential parameters. They can be applied to open-loop, or graph structured rigid robot, as well as flexible-link robot. Application for the PUMA 560 robot is given. (authors). 9 refs., 4 tabs

Reduction of robot base parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vandanjon, P O [CEA Centre d` Etudes de Saclay, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France). Dept. des Procedes et Systemes Avances; Gautier, M [Nantes Univ., 44 (France)

1996-12-31

This paper is a new step in the search of minimum dynamic parameters of robots. In spite of planing exciting trajectories and using base parameters, some parameters remain not identifiable due to the perturbation effects. In this paper, we propose methods to reduce the set of base parameters in order to get an essential set of parameters. This new set defines a simplified identification model witch improves the noise immunity of the estimation process. It contributes also in reducing the computation burden of a simplified dynamic model. Different methods are proposed and are classified in two parts: methods, witch perform reduction and identification together, come from statistical field and methods, witch reduces the model before the identification thanks to a priori information, come from numerical field like the QR factorization. Statistical tools and QR reduction are shown to be efficient and adapted to determine the essential parameters. They can be applied to open-loop, or graph structured rigid robot, as well as flexible-link robot. Application for the PUMA 560 robot is given. (authors). 9 refs., 4 tabs.

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...

HARLIE 3-D Aerosol Backscatter and Wind Profile Measurements During Recent Field Experiments: Background Noise Reduction with a Fabry-Perot Etalon Filter in the HARLIE System

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sangwoo; Miller, David O.; Schwemmer, Geary; Wilkerson, Thomas D.; Andrus, Ionio; Egbert, Cameron; Anderson, Mark; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Background noise reduction of War signals is one of the most important factors in achieving better signal to noise ratio and precise atmospheric data from Mar measurements. Fahey Perot etalons have been used in several lidar systems as narrow band pass filters in the reduction of scattered sunlight. An slalom with spectral bandwidth, (Delta)v=0.23/cm, free spectral range, FSR=6.7/cm, and diameter, d=24mm was installed in a fiber coupled box which included a 500 pm bandwidth interference Filter. The slalom box couples the telescope and detector with 200 pm core fibers and 21 mm focal length collimators. The angular magnification is M=48. The etalon box was inserted into the Holographic Airborne Rotating Lidar Instrument Experiment (HARLIE) system and tested during the HARGLO-2 intercomparison campaign conducted in November 2001 at Wallops Island, Virginia. This paper presents the preliminary test results of the slalom and a complete analysis will be presented at the conference.

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.

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.

[Examination of patient dose reduction in cardiovasucular X-ray systems with a metal filter].

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuda, Mitsuyoshi; Kato, Kyouichi; Tanabe, Nobuaki; Sakiyama, Koushi; Uchiyama, Yushi; Suzuki, Yoshiaki; Suzuki, Hiroshi; Nakazawa, Yasuo

2012-01-01

In interventional X-ray for cardiology of flat panel digital detector (FPD), the phenomenon that exposure dose was suddenly increased when a subject thickness was thickened was recognized. At that time, variable metal built-in filters in FPD were all off. Therefore, we examined whether dose reduction was possible without affecting a clinical image using metal filter (filter) which we have been conventionally using for dose reduction. About 45% dose reduction was achieved when we measured an exposure dose at 30 cm of acrylic thickness in the presence of a filter. In addition, we measured signal to noise ratio/contrast to noise ratio/a resolution limit by the visual evaluation, and there was no influence by filter usage. In the clinical examination, visual evaluation of image quality of coronary angiography (40 cases) using a 5-point evaluation scale by a physician was performed. As a result, filter usage did not influence the image quality (p=NS). Therefore, reduction of sudden increase of exposure dose was achieved without influencing an image quality by adding filter to FPD.

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.

Dose reduction using a dynamic, piecewise-linear attenuator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hsieh, Scott S., E-mail: sshsieh@stanford.edu [Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 and Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); Fleischmann, Dominik [Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); Pelc, Norbert J. [Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 and Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)

2014-02-15

Purpose: The authors recently proposed a dynamic, prepatient x-ray attenuator capable of producing a piecewise-linear attenuation profile customized to each patient and viewing angle. This attenuator was intended to reduce scatter-to-primary ratio (SPR), dynamic range, and dose by redistributing flux. In this work the authors tested the ability of the attenuator to reduce dose and SPR in simulations. Methods: The authors selected four clinical applications, including routine full field-of-view scans of the thorax and abdomen, and targeted reconstruction tasks for an abdominal aortic aneurysm and the pancreas. Raw data were estimated by forward projection of the image volume datasets. The dynamic attenuator was controlled to reduce dose while maintaining peak variance by solving a convex optimization problem, assuminga priori knowledge of the patient anatomy. In targeted reconstruction tasks, the noise in specific regions was given increased weighting. A system with a standard attenuator (or “bowtie filter”) was used as a reference, and used either convex optimized tube current modulation (TCM) or a standard TCM heuristic. The noise of the scan was determined analytically while the dose was estimated using Monte Carlo simulations. Scatter was also estimated using Monte Carlo simulations. The sensitivity of the dynamic attenuator to patient centering was also examined by shifting the abdomen in 2 cm intervals. Results: Compared to a reference system with optimized TCM, use of the dynamic attenuator reduced dose by about 30% in routine scans and 50% in targeted scans. Compared to the TCM heuristics which are typically used withouta priori knowledge, the dose reduction is about 50% for routine scans. The dynamic attenuator gives the ability to redistribute noise and variance and produces more uniform noise profiles than systems with a conventional bowtie filter. The SPR was also modestly reduced by 10% in the thorax and 24% in the abdomen. Imaging with the dynamic

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

Three-dimensional anisotropic adaptive filtering of projection data for noise reduction in cone beam CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maier, Andreas; Wigstroem, Lars; Hofmann, Hannes G.; Hornegger, Joachim; Zhu Lei; Strobel, Norbert; Fahrig, Rebecca [Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States) and Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linkoeping University, Linkoeping (Sweden); Pattern Recognition Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91054, Erlangen (Germany); Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics Programs, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332 (United States); Siemens AG Healthcare, Forchheim 91301 (Germany); Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)

2011-11-15

Purpose: The combination of quickly rotating C-arm gantry with digital flat panel has enabled the acquisition of three-dimensional data (3D) in the interventional suite. However, image quality is still somewhat limited since the hardware has not been optimized for CT imaging. Adaptive anisotropic filtering has the ability to improve image quality by reducing the noise level and therewith the radiation dose without introducing noticeable blurring. By applying the filtering prior to 3D reconstruction, noise-induced streak artifacts are reduced as compared to processing in the image domain. Methods: 3D anisotropic adaptive filtering was used to process an ensemble of 2D x-ray views acquired along a circular trajectory around an object. After arranging the input data into a 3D space (2D projections + angle), the orientation of structures was estimated using a set of differently oriented filters. The resulting tensor representation of local orientation was utilized to control the anisotropic filtering. Low-pass filtering is applied only along structures to maintain high spatial frequency components perpendicular to these. The evaluation of the proposed algorithm includes numerical simulations, phantom experiments, and in-vivo data which were acquired using an AXIOM Artis dTA C-arm system (Siemens AG, Healthcare Sector, Forchheim, Germany). Spatial resolution and noise levels were compared with and without adaptive filtering. A human observer study was carried out to evaluate low-contrast detectability. Results: The adaptive anisotropic filtering algorithm was found to significantly improve low-contrast detectability by reducing the noise level by half (reduction of the standard deviation in certain areas from 74 to 30 HU). Virtually no degradation of high contrast spatial resolution was observed in the modulation transfer function (MTF) analysis. Although the algorithm is computationally intensive, hardware acceleration using Nvidia's CUDA Interface provided an 8

Three-dimensional anisotropic adaptive filtering of projection data for noise reduction in cone beam CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maier, Andreas; Wigstroem, Lars; Hofmann, Hannes G.; Hornegger, Joachim; Zhu Lei; Strobel, Norbert; Fahrig, Rebecca

2011-01-01

Purpose: The combination of quickly rotating C-arm gantry with digital flat panel has enabled the acquisition of three-dimensional data (3D) in the interventional suite. However, image quality is still somewhat limited since the hardware has not been optimized for CT imaging. Adaptive anisotropic filtering has the ability to improve image quality by reducing the noise level and therewith the radiation dose without introducing noticeable blurring. By applying the filtering prior to 3D reconstruction, noise-induced streak artifacts are reduced as compared to processing in the image domain. Methods: 3D anisotropic adaptive filtering was used to process an ensemble of 2D x-ray views acquired along a circular trajectory around an object. After arranging the input data into a 3D space (2D projections + angle), the orientation of structures was estimated using a set of differently oriented filters. The resulting tensor representation of local orientation was utilized to control the anisotropic filtering. Low-pass filtering is applied only along structures to maintain high spatial frequency components perpendicular to these. The evaluation of the proposed algorithm includes numerical simulations, phantom experiments, and in-vivo data which were acquired using an AXIOM Artis dTA C-arm system (Siemens AG, Healthcare Sector, Forchheim, Germany). Spatial resolution and noise levels were compared with and without adaptive filtering. A human observer study was carried out to evaluate low-contrast detectability. Results: The adaptive anisotropic filtering algorithm was found to significantly improve low-contrast detectability by reducing the noise level by half (reduction of the standard deviation in certain areas from 74 to 30 HU). Virtually no degradation of high contrast spatial resolution was observed in the modulation transfer function (MTF) analysis. Although the algorithm is computationally intensive, hardware acceleration using Nvidia's CUDA Interface provided an 8.9-fold

Spiking cortical model-based nonlocal means method for speckle reduction in optical coherence tomography images

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xuming; Li, Liu; Zhu, Fei; Hou, Wenguang; Chen, Xinjian

2014-06-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) images are usually degraded by significant speckle noise, which will strongly hamper their quantitative analysis. However, speckle noise reduction in OCT images is particularly challenging because of the difficulty in differentiating between noise and the information components of the speckle pattern. To address this problem, the spiking cortical model (SCM)-based nonlocal means method is presented. The proposed method explores self-similarities of OCT images based on rotation-invariant features of image patches extracted by SCM and then restores the speckled images by averaging the similar patches. This method can provide sufficient speckle reduction while preserving image details very well due to its effectiveness in finding reliable similar patches under high speckle noise contamination. When applied to the retinal OCT image, this method provides signal-to-noise ratio improvements of >16 dB with a small 5.4% loss of similarity.

Microbial reductive dehalogenation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohn, W W; Tiedje, J M

1992-01-01

A wide variety of compounds can be biodegraded via reductive removal of halogen substituents. This process can degrade toxic pollutants, some of which are not known to be biodegraded by any other means. Reductive dehalogenation of aromatic compounds has been found primarily in undefined, syntrophic anaerobic communities. We discuss ecological and physiological principles which appear to be important in these communities and evaluate how widely applicable these principles are. Anaerobic communities that catalyze reductive dehalogenation appear to differ in many respects. A large number of pure cultures which catalyze reductive dehalogenation of aliphatic compounds are known, in contrast to only a few organisms which catalyze reductive dehalogenation of aromatic compounds. Desulfomonile tiedjei DCB-1 is an anaerobe which dehalogenates aromatic compounds and is physiologically and morphologically unusual in a number of respects, including the ability to exploit reductive dehalogenation for energy metabolism. When possible, we use D. tiedjei as a model to understand dehalogenating organisms in the above-mentioned undefined systems. Aerobes use reductive dehalogenation for substrates which are resistant to known mechanisms of oxidative attack. Reductive dehalogenation, especially of aliphatic compounds, has recently been found in cell-free systems. These systems give us an insight into how and why microorganisms catalyze this activity. In some cases transition metal complexes serve as catalysts, whereas in other cases, particularly with aromatic substrates, the catalysts appear to be enzymes. Images PMID:1406492

Impact of Noise Reduction Algorithm in Cochlear Implant Processing on Music Enjoyment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohlberg, Gavriel D; Mancuso, Dean M; Griffin, Brianna M; Spitzer, Jaclyn B; Lalwani, Anil K

2016-06-01

Noise reduction algorithm (NRA) in speech processing strategy has positive impact on speech perception among cochlear implant (CI) listeners. We sought to evaluate the effect of NRA on music enjoyment. Prospective analysis of music enjoyment. Academic medical center. Normal-hearing (NH) adults (N = 16) and CI listeners (N = 9). Subjective rating of music excerpts. NH and CI listeners evaluated country music piece on three enjoyment modalities: pleasantness, musicality, and naturalness. Participants listened to the original version and 20 modified, less complex versions created by including subsets of musical instruments from the original song. NH participants listened to the segments through CI simulation and CI listeners listened to the segments with their usual speech processing strategy, with and without NRA. Decreasing the number of instruments was significantly associated with increase in the pleasantness and naturalness in both NH and CI subjects (p  0.05): this was true for the original and the modified music segments with one to three instruments (p > 0.05). NRA does not affect music enjoyment in CI listener or NH individual with CI simulation. This suggests that strategies to enhance speech processing will not necessarily have a positive impact on music enjoyment. However, reducing the complexity of music shows promise in enhancing music enjoyment and should be further explored.

Enema reduction of intussusception: the success rate of hydrostatic and pneumatic reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Khorana, Jiraporn; Singhavejsakul, Jesda; Ukarapol, Nuthapong; Laohapensang, Mongkol; Wakhanrittee, Junsujee; Patumanond, Jayanton

2015-01-01

Intussusception is a common surgical emergency in infants and children. The incidence of intussusception is from one to four per 2,000 infants and children. If there is no peritonitis, perforation sign on abdominal radiographic studies, and nonresponsive shock, nonoperative reduction by pneumatic or hydrostatic enema can be performed. The purpose of this study was to compare the success rates of both the methods. Two institutional retrospective cohort studies were performed. All intussusception patients (ICD-10 code K56.1) who had visited Chiang Mai University Hospital and Siriraj Hospital from January 2006 to December 2012 were included in the study. The data were obtained by chart reviews and electronic databases, which included demographic data, symptoms, signs, and investigations. The patients were grouped according to the method of reduction followed into pneumatic reduction and hydrostatic reduction groups with the outcome being the success of the reduction technique. One hundred and seventy episodes of intussusception occurring in the patients of Chiang Mai University Hospital and Siriraj Hospital were included in this study. The success rate of pneumatic reduction was 61% and that of hydrostatic reduction was 44% (P=0.036). Multivariable analysis and adjusting of the factors by propensity scores were performed; the success rate of pneumatic reduction was 1.48 times more than that of hydrostatic reduction (P=0.036, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.03-2.13). Both pneumatic and hydrostatic reduction can be performed safely according to the experience of the radiologist or pediatric surgeon and hospital setting. This study showed that pneumatic reduction had a higher success rate than hydrostatic reduction.

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...

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...

Reduction in language testing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dimova, Slobodanka; Jensen, Christian

2013-01-01

/video recorded speech samples and written reports produced by two experienced raters after testing. Our findings suggest that reduction or reduction-like pronunciation features are found in tested L2 speech, but whenever raters identify and comment on such reductions, they tend to assess reductions negatively......This study represents an initial exploration of raters' comments and actual realisations of form reductions in L2 test speech performances. Performances of three L2 speakers were selected as case studies and illustrations of how reductions are evaluated by the raters. The analysis is based on audio...

Process energy reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowthian, W.E.

1993-01-01

Process Energy Reduction (PER) is a demand-side energy reduction approach which complements and often supplants other traditional energy reduction methods such as conservation and heat recovery. Because the application of PER is less obvious than the traditional methods, it takes some time to learn the steps as well as practice to become proficient in its use. However, the benefit is significant, often far outweighing the traditional energy reduction approaches. Furthermore, the method usually results in a better process having less waste and pollution along with improved yields, increased capacity, and lower operating costs

Dose reduction in CT by on-line tube current control: principles and validation on phantoms and cadavers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalender, W.A.; Wolf, H.; Suess, C.; Gies, M.; Greess, H.; Bautz, W.A.

1999-01-01

We investigated approaches to reducing the dose in CT without impairing image quality. Dose can be reduced for non-circular object cross-sections without a significant increase in noise if X-ray tube current is reduced at angular tube positions where the X-ray attenuation by the patients is small. We investigated different schemes of current modulation during tube rotation by simulation and phantom measurements. Both pre-programmed sinusoidal modulation functions and attenuation-based on-line control of the tube current were evaluated. All relevant scan parameters were varied, including constraints such as the maximum modulation amplitude. A circular, an elliptical and two oval water phantoms were used. Results were validated on six cadavers. Dose reduction of 10-45 % was obtained both in simulations and in measurements for the different non-circular phantom geometries and current modulation algorithms without an increase in pixel noise values. On-line attenuation-based control yielded higher reductions than modulation by a sinusoidal curve. The maximal dose reduction predicted by simulations could not be achieved due to limits in the modulation amplitude. In cadaver studies, a reduction of typically 20-40 % was achieved for the body and about 10 % for the head. Variations of our technique are possible; a slight increase in nominal tube current for high-attenuation projections combined with attenuation-based current modulation still yields significant dose reduction, but also a reduction in the structured noise that may obscure diagnostic details. We conclude that a significant reduction in dose can be achieved by tube current modulation without compromising image quality. Attenuation-based on-line control and a modulation amplitude of at least 90 % should be employed. (orig.)

Determination of reduction yield of lithium metal reduction process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, In Kyu; Cho, Young Hwan; Kim, Taek Jin; Jee, Kwang Young

2004-01-01

Metal reduction of spent oxide fuel is the first step for the effective storage of spent fuel in Korea as well as transmutation purpose of long-lived radio-nuclides. During the reduction of uranium oxide by lithium metal to uranium metal, lithium oxide is stoichiometrically produced. By determining the concentration of lithium oxide in lithium chloride, we can estimate that how much uranium oxide is converted to uranium metal. Previous method to determine the lithium oxide concentration in lithium chloride is tedious and timing consuming. This paper describe the on-line monitoring method of lithium oxide during the reduction process

The use of anatomical information for molecular image reconstruction algorithms: Attention/Scatter correction, motion compensation, and noise reduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chun, Se Young [School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2016-03-15

PET and SPECT are important tools for providing valuable molecular information about patients to clinicians. Advances in nuclear medicine hardware technologies and statistical image reconstruction algorithms enabled significantly improved image quality. Sequentially or simultaneously acquired anatomical images such as CT and MRI from hybrid scanners are also important ingredients for improving the image quality of PET or SPECT further. High-quality anatomical information has been used and investigated for attenuation and scatter corrections, motion compensation, and noise reduction via post-reconstruction filtering and regularization in inverse problems. In this article, we will review works using anatomical information for molecular image reconstruction algorithms for better image quality by describing mathematical models, discussing sources of anatomical information for different cases, and showing some examples.

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)...

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.

Modern Reduction Methods

CERN Document Server

Andersson, Pher G

2008-01-01

With its comprehensive overview of modern reduction methods, this book features high quality contributions allowing readers to find reliable solutions quickly and easily. The monograph treats the reduction of carbonyles, alkenes, imines and alkynes, as well as reductive aminations and cross and heck couplings, before finishing off with sections on kinetic resolutions and hydrogenolysis. An indispensable lab companion for every chemist.

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)

Directional Processing and Noise Reduction in Hearing Aids: Individual and Situational Influences on Preferred Setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Neher, Tobias; Wagener, Kirsten C; Fischer, Rosa-Linde

2016-09-01

A better understanding of individual differences in hearing aid (HA) outcome is a prerequisite for more personalized HA fittings. Currently, knowledge of how different user factors relate to response to directional processing (DIR) and noise reduction (NR) is sparse. To extend a recent study linking preference for DIR and NR to pure-tone average hearing thresholds (PTA) and cognitive factors by investigating if (1) equivalent links exist for different types of DIR and NR, (2) self-reported noise sensitivity and personality can account for additional variability in preferred DIR and NR settings, and (3) spatial target speech configuration interacts with individual DIR preference. Using a correlational study design, overall preference for different combinations of DIR and NR programmed into a commercial HA was assessed in a complex speech-in-noise situation and related to PTA, cognitive function, and different personality traits. Sixty experienced HA users aged 60-82 yr with controlled variation in PTA and working memory capacity took part in this study. All of them had participated in the earlier study, as part of which they were tested on a measure of "executive control" tapping into cognitive functions such as working memory, mental flexibility, and selective attention. Six HA settings based on unilateral (within-device) or bilateral (across-device) DIR combined with inactive, moderate, or strong single-microphone NR were programmed into a pair of behind-the-ear HAs together with individually prescribed amplification. Overall preference was assessed using a free-field simulation of a busy cafeteria situation with either a single frontal talker or two talkers at ±30° azimuth as the target speech. In addition, two questionnaires targeting noise sensitivity and the "Big Five" personality traits were administered. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analyses and repeated-measures analyses of variance with a focus on potential interactions between the HA

Comparison of pressure between barium reduction and air reduction of the intussusception in children

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Kyung Hwan; Park, Sang Gyu; Park, Choong Ki; Yoon, Jong Sup [Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1989-08-15

There are many method of treatment of the intussusception in children, including surgery, barium reduction, air reduction, and saline enema under ultrasonographic monitoring. Among them, barium reduction and air reduction have been used widely as nonsurgical method of treatment in radiologic department. During barium reduction, the bottle filled with barium solution must not be elevated over a 3 feet from the operating table. In air reduction, diagnostic pressure is about 60 mmHg and pressure during reduction usually is maintained between 90 mmHg and 130 mmHg. The authors have studied about pressure difference of barium solution by changing height of the bottle filled with barium solution, and have compared with pressure in air reduction. The results are as follows; 1. Pressure of 20 w/v % barium solution at the 60 cm height is 44.4 mmHg, and 69.6 mmHg at the 90 cm height. 2. Pressure of 40 w/v % barium solution at the 60 cm height is 51.4 mmHg, and 80.1 mmHg at the 90 cm height. 3. Pressure of 40 w/v % barium solution at the 90cm height is much lower than the pressure maintained during air reduction, and this difference in pressure may be one of the causes of low reduction rate in barium reduction then air reduction. 4. The pressure gradient per 10 cm height is about 8.45 mmHg in 20 w/v % barium solution, about 9.21 mmHg in 30 w/v % barium solution, and about 9.72 mmHg 40 w/v % barium solution. 5. Intraluminal pressure difference between the barium reduction and the air reduction is probably of the major causes of rapid diagnosis and high reduction rate in the air reduction.

Comparison of pressure between barium reduction and air reduction of the intussusception in children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kyung Hwan; Park, Sang Gyu; Park, Choong Ki; Yoon, Jong Sup

1989-01-01

There are many method of treatment of the intussusception in children, including surgery, barium reduction, air reduction, and saline enema under ultrasonographic monitoring. Among them, barium reduction and air reduction have been used widely as nonsurgical method of treatment in radiologic department. During barium reduction, the bottle filled with barium solution must not be elevated over a 3 feet from the operating table. In air reduction, diagnostic pressure is about 60 mmHg and pressure during reduction usually is maintained between 90 mmHg and 130 mmHg. The authors have studied about pressure difference of barium solution by changing height of the bottle filled with barium solution, and have compared with pressure in air reduction. The results are as follows; 1. Pressure of 20 w/v % barium solution at the 60 cm height is 44.4 mmHg, and 69.6 mmHg at the 90 cm height. 2. Pressure of 40 w/v % barium solution at the 60 cm height is 51.4 mmHg, and 80.1 mmHg at the 90 cm height. 3. Pressure of 40 w/v % barium solution at the 90cm height is much lower than the pressure maintained during air reduction, and this difference in pressure may be one of the causes of low reduction rate in barium reduction then air reduction. 4. The pressure gradient per 10 cm height is about 8.45 mmHg in 20 w/v % barium solution, about 9.21 mmHg in 30 w/v % barium solution, and about 9.72 mmHg 40 w/v % barium solution. 5. Intraluminal pressure difference between the barium reduction and the air reduction is probably of the major causes of rapid diagnosis and high reduction rate in the air reduction

The benefit of accounting for DQE variations in simulated dose reduction of digital radiographic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svalkvist, A.; Baath, M.

2010-01-01

Adding noise to clinical radiographs to simulate dose reduction can be used to investigate the relationship between dose level and clinical image quality without exposing patients to additional radiation. The purpose of the present paper was to examine the benefits of using a method that accounts for detective quantum efficiency (DQE) variations that may occur in different dose ranges in the simulated dose reduction process. A method initially intended for simulated dose reduction in tomo-synthesis was applied to extremely low-dose posterio-anterior radiographs of an anthropomorphic chest phantom, selected from a group of projection images included in a tomo-synthesis examination and compared with a previous method that do not account for DQE variations. A comparison of images simulated to be collected at a lower dose level (73% of the original dose level) and images actually collected at this lower dose level revealed that the error in the integrated normalised noise power spectrum was smaller than 4% for the method that accounts for DQE variations in the simulated dose reduction, whereas the error was larger than 20% for the previous method. This indicates that an increased validity in dose reduction simulation of digital radiographic systems is obtained with a method accounting for DQE variations. (authors)

Reduction of dental metallic artefacts in CT: Value of a newly developed algorithm for metal artefact reduction (O-MAR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kidoh, M.; Nakaura, T.; Nakamura, S.; Tokuyasu, S.; Osakabe, H.; Harada, K.; Yamashita, Y.

2014-01-01

Aim: To evaluate the image quality of O-MAR (Metal Artifact Reduction for Orthopedic Implants) for dental metal artefact reduction. Materials and methods: This prospective study received institutional review board approval and written informed consent was obtained. Thirty patients who had dental implants or dental fillings were included in this study. Computed tomography (CT) images were obtained through the oral cavity and neck during the portal venous phase. The system reconstructed the O-MAR-processed images in addition to the uncorrected images. CT attenuation and image noise of the soft tissue of the oral cavity were compared between the O-MAR and the uncorrected images. Qualitative analysis was undertaken between the two image groups. Results: The image noise of the O-MAR images was significantly lower than that of the uncorrected images (p < 0.01). O-MAR offered plausible attenuations of soft tissue compared with non-O-MAR. Better qualitative scores were obtained in the streaking artefacts and the degree of depiction of the oral cavity with O-MAR compared with non-O-MAR. Conclusion: O-MAR enables the depiction of structures in areas in which this was not previously possible due to dental metallic artefacts in qualitative image analysis. O-MAR images may have a supplementary role in addition to uncorrected images in oral diagnosis

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.

Damage Detection on Sudden Stiffness Reduction Based on Discrete Wavelet Transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The sudden stiffness reduction in a structure may cause the signal discontinuity in the acceleration responses close to the damage location at the damage time instant. To this end, the damage detection on sudden stiffness reduction of building structures has been actively investigated in this study. The signal discontinuity of the structural acceleration responses of an example building is extracted based on the discrete wavelet transform. It is proved that the variation of the first level detail coefficients of the wavelet transform at damage instant is linearly proportional to the magnitude of the stiffness reduction. A new damage index is proposed and implemented to detect the damage time instant, location, and severity of a structure due to a sudden change of structural stiffness. Numerical simulation using a five-story shear building under different types of excitation is carried out to assess the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed damage index for the building at different damage levels. The sensitivity of the damage index to the intensity and frequency range of measurement noise is also investigated. The made observations demonstrate that the proposed damage index can accurately identify the sudden damage events if the noise intensity is limited.

Nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods for synthetic biology biobricks' visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jiaoyun; Wang, Haipeng; Ding, Huitong; An, Ning; Alterovitz, Gil

2017-01-19

Visualizing data by dimensionality reduction is an important strategy in Bioinformatics, which could help to discover hidden data properties and detect data quality issues, e.g. data noise, inappropriately labeled data, etc. As crowdsourcing-based synthetic biology databases face similar data quality issues, we propose to visualize biobricks to tackle them. However, existing dimensionality reduction methods could not be directly applied on biobricks datasets. Hereby, we use normalized edit distance to enhance dimensionality reduction methods, including Isomap and Laplacian Eigenmaps. By extracting biobricks from synthetic biology database Registry of Standard Biological Parts, six combinations of various types of biobricks are tested. The visualization graphs illustrate discriminated biobricks and inappropriately labeled biobricks. Clustering algorithm K-means is adopted to quantify the reduction results. The average clustering accuracy for Isomap and Laplacian Eigenmaps are 0.857 and 0.844, respectively. Besides, Laplacian Eigenmaps is 5 times faster than Isomap, and its visualization graph is more concentrated to discriminate biobricks. By combining normalized edit distance with Isomap and Laplacian Eigenmaps, synthetic biology biobircks are successfully visualized in two dimensional space. Various types of biobricks could be discriminated and inappropriately labeled biobricks could be determined, which could help to assess crowdsourcing-based synthetic biology databases' quality, and make biobricks selection.

Reduction - competitive tomorrow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worley, L.; Bargerstock, S.

1995-01-01

Inventory reduction is one of the few initiatives that represent significant cost-reduction potential that does not result in personnel reduction. Centerior Energy's Perry nuclear power plant has embarked on an aggressive program to reduce inventory while maintaining plant material availability. Material availability to the plant was above 98%, but at an unacceptable 1994 inventory book value of $47 million with inventory carrying costs calculated at 30% annually

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF ABSORPTION, LOCAL SUPPRESSION, AND EMISSIVITY REDUCTION OF SOLAR ACOUSTIC WAVES IN MAGNETIC REGIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chou, D.-Y.; Yang, M.-H.; Zhao Hui; Liang Zhichao; Sun, M.-T.

2009-01-01

Observed acoustic power in magnetic regions is lower than the quiet Sun because of absorption, emissivity reduction, and local suppression of solar acoustic waves in magnetic regions. In the previous studies, we have developed a method to measure the coefficients of absorption, emissivity reduction, and local suppression of sunspots. In this study, we go one step further to measure the spatial distributions of three coefficients in two active regions, NOAA 9055 and 9057. The maps of absorption, emissivity reduction, and local suppression coefficients correlate with the magnetic map, including plage regions, except the emissivity reduction coefficient of NOAA 9055 where the emissivity reduction coefficient is too weak and lost among the noise.

Sound reduction by metamaterial-based acoustic enclosure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shanshan Yao

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In many practical systems, acoustic radiation control on noise sources contained within a finite volume by an acoustic enclosure is of great importance, but difficult to be accomplished at low frequencies due to the enhanced acoustic-structure interaction. In this work, we propose to use acoustic metamaterials as the enclosure to efficiently reduce sound radiation at their negative-mass frequencies. Based on a circularly-shaped metamaterial model, sound radiation properties by either central or eccentric sources are analyzed by numerical simulations for structured metamaterials. The parametric analyses demonstrate that the barrier thickness, the cavity size, the source type, and the eccentricity of the source have a profound effect on the sound reduction. It is found that increasing the thickness of the metamaterial barrier is an efficient approach to achieve large sound reduction over the negative-mass frequencies. These results are helpful in designing highly efficient acoustic enclosures for blockage of sound in low frequencies.

Sound reduction by metamaterial-based acoustic enclosure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yao, Shanshan; Li, Pei; Zhou, Xiaoming; Hu, Gengkai, E-mail: hugeng@bit.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Dynamics and Control of Flight Vehicle, Ministry of Education and School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 (China)

2014-12-15

In many practical systems, acoustic radiation control on noise sources contained within a finite volume by an acoustic enclosure is of great importance, but difficult to be accomplished at low frequencies due to the enhanced acoustic-structure interaction. In this work, we propose to use acoustic metamaterials as the enclosure to efficiently reduce sound radiation at their negative-mass frequencies. Based on a circularly-shaped metamaterial model, sound radiation properties by either central or eccentric sources are analyzed by numerical simulations for structured metamaterials. The parametric analyses demonstrate that the barrier thickness, the cavity size, the source type, and the eccentricity of the source have a profound effect on the sound reduction. It is found that increasing the thickness of the metamaterial barrier is an efficient approach to achieve large sound reduction over the negative-mass frequencies. These results are helpful in designing highly efficient acoustic enclosures for blockage of sound in low frequencies.

Breast Reduction Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

... considering breast reduction surgery, consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. It's important to understand what breast reduction surgery entails — including possible risks and complications — as ...

Radiation dose reduction using 100-kVp and a sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction algorithm in adolescent head CT: Impact on grey-white matter contrast and image noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagayama, Yasunori; Nakaura, Takeshi; Tsuji, Akinori; Urata, Joji; Furusawa, Mitsuhiro; Yuki, Hideaki; Hirarta, Kenichiro; Kidoh, Masafumi; Oda, Seitaro; Utsunomiya, Daisuke; Yamashita, Yasuyuki

2017-07-01

To retrospectively evaluate the image quality and radiation dose of 100-kVp scans with sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction (IR) for unenhanced head CT in adolescents. Sixty-nine patients aged 12-17 years underwent head CT under 120- (n = 34) or 100-kVp (n = 35) protocols. The 120-kVp images were reconstructed with filtered back-projection (FBP), 100-kVp images with FBP (100-kVp-F) and sinogram-affirmed IR (100-kVp-S). We compared the effective dose (ED), grey-white matter (GM-WM) contrast, image noise, and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between protocols in supratentorial (ST) and posterior fossa (PS). We also assessed GM-WM contrast, image noise, sharpness, artifacts, and overall image quality on a four-point scale. ED was 46% lower with 100- than 120-kVp (p < 0.001). GM-WM contrast was higher, and image noise was lower, on 100-kVp-S than 120-kVp at ST (p < 0.001). CNR of 100-kVp-S was higher than of 120-kVp (p < 0.001). GM-WM contrast of 100-kVp-S was subjectively rated as better than of 120-kVp (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the other criteria between 100-kVp-S and 120-kVp (p = 0.072-0.966). The 100-kVp with sinogram-affirmed IR facilitated dramatic radiation reduction and better GM-WM contrast without increasing image noise in adolescent head CT. • 100-kVp head CT provides 46% radiation dose reduction compared with 120-kVp. • 100-kVp scanning improves subjective and objective GM-WM contrast. • Sinogram-affirmed IR decreases head CT image noise, especially in supratentorial region. • 100-kVp protocol with sinogram-affirmed IR is suited for adolescent head CT.

Metallothermic reduction of molybdate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukherjee, T.K.; Bose, D.K.

1987-01-01

This paper gives a brief account of the investigations conducted so far on metallothermic reduction of high grade molybdenite with particular emphasis on the work carried out in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Based on thermochemical considerations, the paper first introduces a number of metallic reductants suitable for use in metallothermic reduction of molybdenite. Aluminium, sodium and tin are found to be suitable reducing agents and very rightly they have found most applications in the research and development efforts on metallothermic reduction of molybdenite. The reduction with tin was conducted on fairly large scale both in vacuum and hydrogen atmosphere. The reaction was reported to be invariant depending mainly on the reduction temperature and a temperature of the order of 1250deg to 1300degC was required for good metal recovery. In comparison to tin, aluminothermic reduction of molybdenite was studied more extensively and it was conducted in closed bomb, vacuum and also in open atmosphere. In aluminothermic reduction, the influence of amount of reducing agent, amount of heat booster, preheating temperature and charging procedure on these metal yield was studied in detail. The reduction generally yielded massive molybdenum metal contaminated with aluminium as the major impurity element. Efforts were made to purify the reduced metal by arc melting, electron beam melting and molten salt electrorefining. 9 refs. (author)

Estimation of Structure-Borne Noise Reduction Effect of Steel Railway Bridge Equipped with Floating Ladder Track and Floating Reinforced-Concrete Deck

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Tsutomu; Sogabe, Masamichi; Asanuma, Kiyoshi; Wakui, Hajime

A number of steel railway bridges have been constructed in Japan. Thin steel members used for the bridges easily tend to vibrate and generate structure-borne noise. Accordingly, the number of constructions of steel railway bridges tends to decrease in the urban areas from a viewpoint of environmental preservation. Then, as a countermeasure against structure-borne noise generated from steel railway bridges, we have developed a new type of the steel railway bridge equipped with a floating-ladder track and a floating reinforced-concrete (RC) deck. As a result of train-running experiment, it became apparent that the new steel railway bridge installed by double floating system has reduced a vibration velocity level by 10.5 dB(A) at main girder web as compared with a steel railway bridge installed by directly fastened track. This reduction effect was achieved by the ladder track and RC deck supported by resilient materials.

Case Study – Idling Reduction Technologies for Emergency Service Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laughlin, Michael [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Owens, Russell J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2016-01-01

This case study explores the use of idle reduction technologies (IRTs) on emergency service vehicles in police, fire, and ambulance applications. Various commercially available IRT systems and approaches can decrease, or ultimately eliminate, engine idling. Fleets will thus save money on fuel, and will also decrease their criteria pollutant emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, and noise.

Acoustic Performance of Novel Fan Noise Reduction Technologies for a High Bypass Model Turbofan at Simulated Flights Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, David M.; Woodward, Richard P.; Podboy, Gary G.

2010-01-01

Two novel fan noise reduction technologies, over the rotor acoustic treatment and soft stator vane technologies, were tested in an ultra-high bypass ratio turbofan model in the NASA Glenn Research Center s 9- by 15-Foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel. The performance of these technologies was compared to that of the baseline fan configuration, which did not have these technologies. Sideline acoustic data and hot film flow data were acquired and are used to determine the effectiveness of the various treatments. The material used for the over the rotor treatment was foam metal and two different types were used. The soft stator vanes had several internal cavities tuned to target certain frequencies. In order to accommodate the cavities it was necessary to use a cut-on stator to demonstrate the soft vane concept.

A randomized trial of pneumatic reduction versus hydrostatic reduction for intussusception in pediatric patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Xiaolong; Wu, Yang; Wang, Qi; Zhao, Yiyang; Chen, Guobin; Xiang, Bo

2017-08-08

Data of randomly controlled trials comparing the hydrostatic and pneumatic reduction for intussusception in pediatric patients as initial therapy are lacking. The aim of this study was to conduct a randomly controlled trial to compare the effectiveness and safety of the hydrostatic and pneumatic reduction techniques. All intussusception patients who visited West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2014 to December 2015 were enrolled in this study in which they underwent pneumatic reduction or hydrostatic reduction. Patients were randomized into ultrasound-guided hydrostatic or X-ray-guided pneumatic reduction group. The data collected includes demographic data, symptoms, signs, and investigations. The primary outcome of the study was the success rate of reduction. And the secondary outcomes of the study were the rates of intestinal perforations and recurrence. A total of 124 children with intussusception who had met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. The overall success rate of this study was 90.32%. Univariable analysis showed that the success rate of hydrostatic reduction with normal saline (96.77%) was significantly higher than that of pneumatic reduction with air (83.87%) (p=0.015). Perforation after reduction was found in only one of the pneumatic reduction group. The recurrence rate of intussusception in the hydrostatic reduction group was 4.84% compared with 3.23% of pneumatic reduction group. Our study found that ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction is a simple, safe and effective nonoperative treatment for pediatric patients suffering from intussusceptions, and should be firstly adopted in the treatment of qualified patients. Therapeutic study TYPE OF STUDY: Prospective study. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Finding optimal exact reducts

KAUST Repository

AbouEisha, Hassan M.

2014-01-01

The problem of attribute reduction is an important problem related to feature selection and knowledge discovery. The problem of finding reducts with minimum cardinality is NP-hard. This paper suggests a new algorithm for finding exact reducts

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.

Reduction of metallic coil artefacts in computed tomography body imaging: effects of a new single-energy metal artefact reduction algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kidoh, Masafumi; Utsunomiya, Daisuke; Ikeda, Osamu; Tamura, Yoshitaka; Oda, Seitaro; Yuki, Hideaki; Nakaura, Takeshi; Hirai, Toshinori; Yamashita, Yasuyuki [Kumamoto University, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto (Japan); Funama, Yoshinori [Kumamoto University, Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto (Japan); Kawano, Takayuki [Kumamoto University Graduate School, Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Life Sciences Research, Kumamoto (Japan)

2016-05-15

We evaluated the effect of a single-energy metal artefact reduction (SEMAR) algorithm for metallic coil artefact reduction in body imaging. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was performed in 30 patients with metallic coils (10 men, 20 women; mean age, 67.9 ± 11 years). Non-SEMAR images were reconstructed with iterative reconstruction alone, and SEMAR images were reconstructed with the iterative reconstruction plus SEMAR algorithms. We compared image noise around metallic coils and the maximum diameters of artefacts from coils between the non-SEMAR and SEMAR images. Two radiologists visually evaluated the metallic coil artefacts utilizing a four-point scale: 1 = extensive; 2 = strong; 3 = mild; 4 = minimal artefacts. The image noise and maximum diameters of the artefacts of the SEMAR images were significantly lower than those of the non-SEMAR images (65.1 ± 33.0 HU vs. 29.7 ± 10.3 HU; 163.9 ± 54.8 mm vs. 10.3 ± 19.0 mm, respectively; P < 0.001). Better visual scores were obtained with the SEMAR technique (3.4 ± 0.6 vs. 1.0 ± 0.0, P < 0.001). The SEMAR algorithm significantly reduced artefacts caused by metallic coils compared with the non-SEMAR algorithm. This technique can potentially increase CT performance for the evaluation of post-coil embolization complications. (orig.)

Reduction of metallic coil artefacts in computed tomography body imaging: effects of a new single-energy metal artefact reduction algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kidoh, Masafumi; Utsunomiya, Daisuke; Ikeda, Osamu; Tamura, Yoshitaka; Oda, Seitaro; Yuki, Hideaki; Nakaura, Takeshi; Hirai, Toshinori; Yamashita, Yasuyuki; Funama, Yoshinori; Kawano, Takayuki

2016-01-01

We evaluated the effect of a single-energy metal artefact reduction (SEMAR) algorithm for metallic coil artefact reduction in body imaging. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) was performed in 30 patients with metallic coils (10 men, 20 women; mean age, 67.9 ± 11 years). Non-SEMAR images were reconstructed with iterative reconstruction alone, and SEMAR images were reconstructed with the iterative reconstruction plus SEMAR algorithms. We compared image noise around metallic coils and the maximum diameters of artefacts from coils between the non-SEMAR and SEMAR images. Two radiologists visually evaluated the metallic coil artefacts utilizing a four-point scale: 1 = extensive; 2 = strong; 3 = mild; 4 = minimal artefacts. The image noise and maximum diameters of the artefacts of the SEMAR images were significantly lower than those of the non-SEMAR images (65.1 ± 33.0 HU vs. 29.7 ± 10.3 HU; 163.9 ± 54.8 mm vs. 10.3 ± 19.0 mm, respectively; P < 0.001). Better visual scores were obtained with the SEMAR technique (3.4 ± 0.6 vs. 1.0 ± 0.0, P < 0.001). The SEMAR algorithm significantly reduced artefacts caused by metallic coils compared with the non-SEMAR algorithm. This technique can potentially increase CT performance for the evaluation of post-coil embolization complications. (orig.)

The ART of representation: Memory reduction and noise tolerance in a neural network vision system

Science.gov (United States)

Langley, Christopher S.

The Feature Cerebellar Model Arithmetic Computer (FCMAC) is a multiple-input-single-output neural network that can provide three-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) pose estimation for a robotic vision system. The FCMAC provides sufficient accuracy to enable a manipulator to grasp an object from an arbitrary pose within its workspace. The network learns an appearance-based representation of an object by storing coarsely quantized feature patterns. As all unique patterns are encoded, the network size grows uncontrollably. A new architecture is introduced herein, which combines the FCMAC with an Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) network. The ART module categorizes patterns observed during training into a set of prototypes that are used to build the FCMAC. As a result, the network no longer grows without bound, but constrains itself to a user-specified size. Pose estimates remain accurate since the ART layer tends to discard the least relevant information first. The smaller network performs recall faster, and in some cases is better for generalization, resulting in a reduction of error at recall time. The ART-Under-Constraint (ART-C) algorithm is extended to include initial filling with randomly selected patterns (referred to as ART-F). In experiments using a real-world data set, the new network performed equally well using less than one tenth the number of coarse patterns as a regular FCMAC. The FCMAC is also extended to include real-valued input activations. As a result, the network can be tuned to reject a variety of types of noise in the image feature detection. A quantitative analysis of noise tolerance was performed using four synthetic noise algorithms, and a qualitative investigation was made using noisy real-world image data. In validation experiments, the FCMAC system outperformed Radial Basis Function (RBF) networks for the 3-DOF problem, and had accuracy comparable to that of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and superior to that of Shape Context Matching (SCM), both

Automatic exposure control in pediatric and adult multidetector CT examinations: A phantom study on dose reduction and image quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Papadakis, Antonios E.; Perisinakis, Kostas; Damilakis, John [Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, P.O. Box 1352, Iraklion 71110, Crete (Greece)

2008-10-15

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of a modern x,y,z modulation-based automatic exposure control system (AEC) for dose reduction in pediatric and adult multidetector CT (MDCT) imaging and evaluate the quality of the images obtained. Five physical anthropomorphic phantoms that simulate the average individual as neonate, 1-, 5-, 10-year old child, and adult were scanned with a MDCT scanner, equipped with a modern AEC system. Dose reduction (%DR) was calculated as the percentage difference of the mean modulated and the preset tube current-time product that is prescribed for standard head and body scan protocols. The effect of the tube potential and the orientation of the topogram acquisition on dose reduction were assessed. Image quality was evaluated on the basis of image noise and signal to noise ratio (SNR). The dose reduction values achieved in pediatric phantoms were remarkably lower than those achieved for the adult. The efficiency of the AEC is decreased at 80 kVp compared to higher tube potentials and for helical scans following an anterior posterior (AP-AEC) compared to a lateral (LAT-AEC) topogram acquisition. In AP-AEC scans, the dose reduction ranged between 4.7 and 34.7% for neonate, 15.4 and 30.9% for 1 year old, 3.1 and 26.7% for 5 years old, 1.2 and 58.7% for 10 years old, and 15.5 and 57.4% for adult. In LAT-AEC scans, the corresponding dose reduction ranged between 11.0 and 36.5%, 27.2 and 35.7%, 11.3 and 35.6%, 0.3 and 67.0%, and 15.0 and 61.7%, respectively. AP-AEC scans resulted in a 17.1% and 19.7% dose increase in the thorax of neonate and the pelvis of the 10-year old phantom, respectively. The variation in the measured noise among images obtained along the scanning z axis was lower in AEC activated compared to fixed milliamperes scans. However, image noise was significantly increased (P<.001) and SNR significantly decreased (P<.001) in most AEC activated compared to fixed milliamperes scans. In conclusion, AEC resulted in a (i

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

Reduction of U3O8 to U by a metallic reductant, Li

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin-Mok Hur; Sun-Seok Hong; Hansoo Lee

2010-01-01

Reduction of U 3 O 8 was investigated for the recycling of spent oxide fuel from a commercial nuclear power plant. The possible reduction methods were proposed and compared. Based on the thermodynamic analysis, Li metal was selected as a reductant. The optimum reaction temperature for the reduction of U 3 O 8 was investigated at the wider reaction temperature range. The adverse oxidation of U metal by Li 2 O at 1,000 deg C was experimentally verified. Ellingham diagram was constructed to investigate the extent of the uranium oxides reduction when the reaction was carried out above melting point of U metal. (author)

Full dose reduction potential of statistical iterative reconstruction for head CT protocols in a predominantly pediatric population

Science.gov (United States)

Mirro, Amy E.; Brady, Samuel L.; Kaufman, Robert. A.

2016-01-01

Purpose To implement the maximum level of statistical iterative reconstruction that can be used to establish dose-reduced head CT protocols in a primarily pediatric population. Methods Select head examinations (brain, orbits, sinus, maxilla and temporal bones) were investigated. Dose-reduced head protocols using an adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR) were compared for image quality with the original filtered back projection (FBP) reconstructed protocols in phantom using the following metrics: image noise frequency (change in perceived appearance of noise texture), image noise magnitude, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and spatial resolution. Dose reduction estimates were based on computed tomography dose index (CTDIvol) values. Patient CTDIvol and image noise magnitude were assessed in 737 pre and post dose reduced examinations. Results Image noise texture was acceptable up to 60% ASiR for Soft reconstruction kernel (at both 100 and 120 kVp), and up to 40% ASiR for Standard reconstruction kernel. Implementation of 40% and 60% ASiR led to an average reduction in CTDIvol of 43% for brain, 41% for orbits, 30% maxilla, 43% for sinus, and 42% for temporal bone protocols for patients between 1 month and 26 years, while maintaining an average noise magnitude difference of 0.1% (range: −3% to 5%), improving CNR of low contrast soft tissue targets, and improving spatial resolution of high contrast bony anatomy, as compared to FBP. Conclusion The methodology in this study demonstrates a methodology for maximizing patient dose reduction and maintaining image quality using statistical iterative reconstruction for a primarily pediatric population undergoing head CT examination. PMID:27056425

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)

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....

Reduction operators of Burgers equation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pocheketa, Oleksandr A; Popovych, Roman O

2013-02-01

The solution of the problem on reduction operators and nonclassical reductions of the Burgers equation is systematically treated and completed. A new proof of the theorem on the special "no-go" case of regular reduction operators is presented, and the representation of the coefficients of operators in terms of solutions of the initial equation is constructed for this case. All possible nonclassical reductions of the Burgers equation to single ordinary differential equations are exhaustively described. Any Lie reduction of the Burgers equation proves to be equivalent via the Hopf-Cole transformation to a parameterized family of Lie reductions of the linear heat equation.

Spectral CT with monochromatic imaging and metal artifacts reduction software for artifacts reduction of ¹²⁵I radioactive seeds in liver brachytherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qiuxia; Peng, Sheng; Wu, Jing; Ban, Xiaohua; He, Mingyan; Xie, Chuanmiao; Zhang, Rong

2015-11-01

To investigate the optimal monochromatic energy for artifacts reduction from (125)I seeds as well as image improvement in the vicinity of seeds on monochromatic images with and without metal artifacts reduction software (MARS) and to compare this with traditional 120-kVp images, so as to evaluate the application value of gemstone spectral imaging for reducing artifacts from (125)I seeds in liver brachytherapy. A total of 45 tumors from 25 patients treated with (125)I seed brachytherapy in the liver were enrolled in this study. Multiphasic spectral computed tomography (CT) scanning was performed for each patient. After a delay time of 15 s of portal vein phase, a traditional 120-kVp scan was performed, focusing on several planes of (125)I seeds only. The artifact index (AI) in the vicinity of seeds and the standard deviation (SD) of the CT density of region of interest in the outside liver parenchyma were calculated. Artifact appearance was evaluated and classified on reconstructed monochromatic S and 120-kVp images. Image quality in the vicinity of seeds of three data sets were evaluated using a 1-5 scale scoring method. The Friedman rank-sum test was used to estimate the scoring results of image quality. The greatest noise in monochromatic images was found at 40 keV (SD = 27.38, AI = 206.40). The optimal monochromatic energy was found at 75 keV, which provided almost the least image noise (SD = 10.01) and good performance in artifact reduction (AI = 102.73). Image noise and AI reduction at 75 keV was decreased by 63.44 and 50.23%, compared with at 40 keV. Near-field thick artifacts were obvious in all 45 lesions, in 120-kVp images, and 75-keV images, but basically reduced in 75 keV MARS images and artifacts completely invisible in 7 lesions. The number of diagnosable images (score ≥3) was significantly more in the 75-keV MARS group (28/45), and the 75-keV group (22/45) than in the 120-kVp group (11/45) (p improve image quality, even to a state of being

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.

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)

Vietnam; Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

OpenAIRE

International Monetary Fund

2004-01-01

This paper assesses the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of Vietnam, known as the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS). It is an action program to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction objectives. This paper reviews the objectives and tasks of socio-economic development and poverty reduction. The government of Vietnam takes poverty reduction as a cutting-through objective in the process of country socio-economic development and declares its commitment to impleme...

TIPS bilateral noise reduction in 4D CT perfusion scans produces high-quality cerebral blood flow maps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendrik, Adrienne M; Van Ginneken, Bram; Viergever, Max A [Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht (Netherlands); Vonken, Evert-jan; De Jong, Hugo W; Riordan, Alan; Van Seeters, Tom; Smit, Ewoud J; Prokop, Mathias, E-mail: a.m.mendrik@gmail.com [Radiology Department, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht (Netherlands)

2011-07-07

Cerebral computed tomography perfusion (CTP) scans are acquired to detect areas of abnormal perfusion in patients with cerebrovascular diseases. These 4D CTP scans consist of multiple sequential 3D CT scans over time. Therefore, to reduce radiation exposure to the patient, the amount of x-ray radiation that can be used per sequential scan is limited, which results in a high level of noise. To detect areas of abnormal perfusion, perfusion parameters are derived from the CTP data, such as the cerebral blood flow (CBF). Algorithms to determine perfusion parameters, especially singular value decomposition, are very sensitive to noise. Therefore, noise reduction is an important preprocessing step for CTP analysis. In this paper, we propose a time-intensity profile similarity (TIPS) bilateral filter to reduce noise in 4D CTP scans, while preserving the time-intensity profiles (fourth dimension) that are essential for determining the perfusion parameters. The proposed TIPS bilateral filter is compared to standard Gaussian filtering, and 4D and 3D (applied separately to each sequential scan) bilateral filtering on both phantom and patient data. Results on the phantom data show that the TIPS bilateral filter is best able to approach the ground truth (noise-free phantom), compared to the other filtering methods (lowest root mean square error). An observer study is performed using CBF maps derived from fifteen CTP scans of acute stroke patients filtered with standard Gaussian, 3D, 4D and TIPS bilateral filtering. These CBF maps were blindly presented to two observers that indicated which map they preferred for (1) gray/white matter differentiation, (2) detectability of infarcted area and (3) overall image quality. Based on these results, the TIPS bilateral filter ranked best and its CBF maps were scored to have the best overall image quality in 100% of the cases by both observers. Furthermore, quantitative CBF and cerebral blood volume values in both the phantom and the

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.

MCNP variance reduction overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendricks, J.S.; Booth, T.E.

1985-01-01

The MCNP code is rich in variance reduction features. Standard variance reduction methods found in most Monte Carlo codes are available as well as a number of methods unique to MCNP. We discuss the variance reduction features presently in MCNP as well as new ones under study for possible inclusion in future versions of the code

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.

The reduction of structural acoustic coupling in car bodies

OpenAIRE

Richards, T. L.

1982-01-01

The nature of sound in cars is discussed in the light of previous experimental and theoretical work, and the major contributions to interior noise are identified. The acoustic field inside a vibrating structure is analysed theoretically in terms of the acoustic cavity modes and the structural modes, and it is shown that'reduction of structural-acoustic coupling could reduce the response for a wide variety of force inputs. Finite element analyses of prismatic acoustic cavi...

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.

A New Approach for Speckle Reduction in Holographic 3D printer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Utsugi, Takeru; Yamaguchi, Masahiro

2013-01-01

A Holographic 3D printer produces a high quality 3D image reproduced by a full-color, full-parallax holographic stereogram with high-density light-ray recording. But speckle-pattern noise localized behind the reconstructed image is causing a loss of the display quality. This noise is originated from the speckle generated by a diffuser for equalizing the intensity distribution of the object light on the recording medium. We analyze some conventional ways for speckle reduction using a band-limited diffuser, and it is found that these ways cannot reduce the noise sufficiently. Then we propose two methods, one introduces a moving diffuser and the other introduces multiple exposures and a digital diffuser called as 4L-PRPS.

Impact of view reduction in CT on radiation dose for patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parcero, E.; Flores, L.; Sánchez, M.G.; Vidal, V.; Verdú, G.

2017-01-01

Iterative methods have become a hot topic of research in computed tomography (CT) imaging because of their capacity to resolve the reconstruction problem from a limited number of projections. This allows the reduction of radiation exposure on patients during the data acquisition. The reconstruction time and the high radiation dose imposed on patients are the two major drawbacks in CT. To solve them effectively we adapted the method for sparse linear equations and sparse least squares (LSQR) with soft threshold filtering (STF) and the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm (FISTA) to computed tomography reconstruction. The feasibility of the proposed methods is demonstrated numerically. - Highlights: • A method for CT reconstruction is proposed: LSQR-STF-FISTA. • Our method achieve good results in reconstruction of few-view CT. • The reconstruction of projections with Gaussian noise is possible. • Our reconstruction process allows a reduction of time in the data acquisition process. • Our reconstruction process allows a reduction in the radiation exposure in the patients.

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...

Detection of stably bright squeezed light with the quantum noise reduction of 12.6  dB by mutually compensating the phase fluctuations.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wenhai; Shi, Shaoping; Wang, Yajun; Ma, Weiguang; Zheng, Yaohui; Peng, Kunchi

2017-11-01

We present a mutual compensation scheme of three phase fluctuations, originating from the residual amplitude modulation (RAM) in the phase modulation process, in the bright squeezed light generation system. The influence of the RAM on each locking loop is harmonized by using one electro-optic modulator (EOM), and the direction of the phase fluctuation is manipulated by positioning the photodetector (PD) that extracts the error signal before or after the optical parametric amplifier (OPA). Therefore a bright squeezed light with non-classical noise reduction of π is obtained. By fitting the squeezing and antisqueezing measurement results, we confirm that the total phase fluctuation of the system is around 3.1 mrad. The fluctuation of the noise suppression is 0.2 dB for 3 h.

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

Reduction of blue tungsten oxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilken, T.; Wert, C.; Woodhouse, J.; Morcom, W.

1975-01-01

A significant portion of commercial tungsten is produced by hydrogen reduction of oxides. Although several modes of reduction are possible, hydrogen reduction is used where high purity tungsten is required and where the addition of other elements or compounds is desired for modification of the metal, as is done for filaments in the lamp industry. Although several investigations of the reduction of oxides have been reported (1 to 5), few principles have been developed which can aid in assessment of current commercial practice. The reduction process was examined under conditions approximating commercial practice. The specific objectives were to determine the effects of dopants, of water vapor in the reducing atmosphere, and of reduction temperature upon: (1) the rate of the reaction by which blue tungsten oxide is reduced to tungsten metal, (2) the intermediate oxides associated with reduction, and (3) the morphology of the resulting tungsten powder

Finding optimal exact reducts

KAUST Repository

AbouEisha, Hassan M.

2014-01-01

The problem of attribute reduction is an important problem related to feature selection and knowledge discovery. The problem of finding reducts with minimum cardinality is NP-hard. This paper suggests a new algorithm for finding exact reducts with minimum cardinality. This algorithm transforms the initial table to a decision table of a special kind, apply a set of simplification steps to this table, and use a dynamic programming algorithm to finish the construction of an optimal reduct. I present results of computer experiments for a collection of decision tables from UCIML Repository. For many of the experimented tables, the simplification steps solved the problem.

INDUSTRIAL BOILER RETROFIT FOR NOX CONTROL: COMBINED SELECTIVE NONCATALYTIC REDUCTION AND SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION

Science.gov (United States)

The paper describes retrofitting and testing a 590 kW (2 MBtu/hr), oil-fired, three-pass, fire-tube package boiler with a combined selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. The system demonstrated 85% nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction w...

Helicopter Noise Reduction Design Trade-Off Study

Science.gov (United States)

1977-01-01

teeth . f orces gene ratea duriffg geaIr mIteshijog exl’ U: shaft vi brit ion which is’ trarvImi tted struc- ,tjyr, iy to th~e (,tsri 5Oli,&t through...mroticns , IJse uclo d, Lui goner oted usingq separate rotor performance cal cula Lion Ilvethods. bef- rotor. Perfornancef- cal culationl methods used...rotor noise directionality, the existence of a well defined minimum near the rotor plane is universally accepted. This minimum can be very sharp with

Comparison of image quality in head CT studies with different dose-reduction strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Jeppe; Nielsen, Rikke; Fink-Jensen, Vibeke

The number of multi-detector CT examinations is increasing rapidly. They allow high quality reformatted images providing accurate and precise diagnosis at maximum speed. Brain examinations are the most commonly requested studies, and although they come at a lower effective dose than body CT, can...... account to a considerable radiation dose as many patients undergo repeated studies. Therefore, various dose-reduction strategies are applied such as automated tube current and voltage modulation and recently different iterative reconstruction algorithms. However, the trade-off of all dose......-reduction maneuvers is reduction of image quality due to image noise or artifacts. The aim of our study was therefore to find the best diagnostic images with lowest possible dose. We present results of dose- and image quality optimizing strategies of brain CT examinations at our institution. We compare sequential...

Dolochar as a reductant in the reduction roasting of iron ore slimes

Science.gov (United States)

Rath, Swagat S.; Rao, Danda Srinivas

2017-12-01

The present investigation examines the viability of dolochar, a sponge iron industry waste material, as a reductant in the reduction roasting of iron ore slimes, which are another waste generated by iron ore beneficiation plants. Under statistically determined optimum conditions, which include a temperature of 900°C, a reductant-to-feed mass ratio of 0.35, and a reduction time of 30-45 min, the roasted mass, after being subjected to low-intensity magnetic separation, yielded an iron ore concentrate of approximately 64wt% Fe at a mass recovery of approximately 71% from the feed iron ore slime assaying 56.2wt% Fe. X-ray diffraction analyses indicated that the magnetic products contain magnetite and hematite as the major phases, whereas the nonmagnetic fractions contain quartz and hematite.

Acoustic plane waves normally incident on a clamped panel in a rectangular duct. [to explain noise reduction curves for reducing interior noise in aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Unz, H.; Roskam, J.

1979-01-01

The theory of acoustic plane wave normally incident on a clamped panel in a rectangular duct is developed. The coupling theory between the elastic vibrations of the panel (plate) and the acoustic wave propagation in infinite space and in the rectangular duct is considered. The partial differential equation which governs the vibration of the panel (plate) is modified by adding to its stiffness (spring) forces and damping forces, and the fundamental resonance frequency and the attenuation factor are discussed. The noise reduction expression based on the theory is found to agree well with the corresponding experimental data of a sample aluminum panel in the mass controlled region, the damping controlled region, and the stiffness controlled region. All the frequency positions of the upward and downward resonance spikes in the sample experimental data are identified theoretically as resulting from four cross interacting major resonance phenomena: the cavity resonance, the acoustic resonance, the plate resonance, and the wooden back panel resonance.

Do hearing loss and cognitive function modulate benefit from different binaural noise-reduction settings?

Science.gov (United States)

Neher, Tobias; Grimm, Giso; Hohmann, Volker; Kollmeier, Birger

2014-01-01

Although previous research indicates that cognitive skills influence benefit from different types of hearing aid algorithms, comparatively little is known about the role of, and potential interaction with, hearing loss. This holds true especially for noise reduction (NR) processing. The purpose of the present study was thus to explore whether degree of hearing loss and cognitive function modulate benefit from different binaural NR settings based on measures of speech intelligibility, listening effort, and overall preference. Forty elderly listeners with symmetrical sensorineural hearing losses in the mild to severe range participated. They were stratified into four age-matched groups (with n = 10 per group) based on their pure-tone average hearing losses and their performance on a visual measure of working memory (WM) capacity. The algorithm under consideration was a binaural coherence-based NR scheme that suppressed reverberant signal components as well as diffuse background noise at mid to high frequencies. The strength of the applied processing was varied from inactive to strong, and testing was carried out across a range of fixed signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Potential benefit was assessed using a dual-task paradigm combining speech recognition with a visual reaction time (VRT) task indexing listening effort. Pairwise preference judgments were also collected. All measurements were made using headphone simulations of a frontal speech target in a busy cafeteria. Test-retest data were gathered for all outcome measures. Analysis of the test-retest data showed all data sets to be reliable. Analysis of the speech scores showed that, for all groups, speech recognition was unaffected by moderate NR processing, whereas strong NR processing reduced intelligibility by about 5%. Analysis of the VRT scores revealed a similar data pattern. That is, while moderate NR did not affect VRT performance, strong NR impaired the performance of all groups slightly. Analysis of the

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.

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 ...

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...

A Two-Microphone Noise Reduction System for Cochlear Implant Users with Nearby Microphones—Part II: Performance Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudolf Häusler

2008-06-01

Full Text Available 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 signal to noise ratio for rooms with realistic reverberation and more than 18 dB under anechoic conditions. Speech understanding in noise is measured in 6 adult cochlear implant users in a reverberant room, showing average improvements of 7.9–9.6 dB, when compared to a single omnidirectional microphone or 1.3–5.6 dB, when compared to a simple directional two-microphone device. Subjective evaluation in a cafeteria at lunchtime shows a preference of the cochlear implant users for the evaluated device in terms of speech understanding and sound quality.

Perturbative QCD Lagrangian at large distances and stochastic dimensionality reduction. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shintani, M.

1986-11-01

Using the method of stochastic dimensional reduction, we derive a four-dimensional quantum effective Lagrangian for the classical Yang-Mills system coupled to the Gaussian white noise. It is found that the Lagrangian coincides with the perturbative QCD at large distances constructed in our previous paper. That formalism is based on the local covariant operator formalism which maintains the unitarity of the S-matrix. Furthermore, we show the non-perturbative equivalence between super-Lorentz invariant sectors of the effective Lagrangian and two dimensional QCD coupled to the adjoint pseudo-scalars. This implies that stochastic dimensionality reduction by two is approximately operative in QCD at large distances. (orig.)

The anaerobic degradation of organic matter in Danish coastal sediments: iron reduction, manganese reduction, and sulfate reduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Canfield, Donald Eugene; Thamdrup, B; Hansen, Jens Würgler

1993-01-01

). In the deep portion of the basin, surface Mn enrichments reached 3.5 wt%, and Mn reduction was the only important anaerobic carbon oxidation process in the upper 10 cm of the sediment. In the less Mn-rich sediments from intermediate depths in the basin, Fe reduction ranged from somewhat less, to far more...... speculate that in shallow sediments of the Skagerrak, surface Mn oxides are present in a somewhat reduced oxidation level (deep basin....

Reduction of Classroom Noise Levels Using Group Contingencies

Science.gov (United States)

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…

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

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)

Ensemble Classification of Data Streams Based on Attribute Reduction and a Sliding Window

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingchun Chen

2018-04-01

Full Text Available With the current increasing volume and dimensionality of data, traditional data classification algorithms are unable to satisfy the demands of practical classification applications of data streams. To deal with noise and concept drift in data streams, we propose an ensemble classification algorithm based on attribute reduction and a sliding window in this paper. Using mutual information, an approximate attribute reduction algorithm based on rough sets is used to reduce data dimensionality and increase the diversity of reduced results in the algorithm. A double-threshold concept drift detection method and a three-stage sliding window control strategy are introduced to improve the performance of the algorithm when dealing with both noise and concept drift. The classification precision is further improved by updating the base classifiers and their nonlinear weights. Experiments on synthetic datasets and actual datasets demonstrate the performance of the algorithm in terms of classification precision, memory use, and time efficiency.

Training in Using Earplugs or Using Earplugs with a Higher than Necessary Noise Reduction Rating? A Randomized Clinical Trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Salmani Nodoushan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL is one of the most common occupational diseases and the second most common cause of workers' claims for occupational injuries. Objective: Due to high prevalence of NIHL and several reports of improper use of hearing protective devices (HPDs, we conducted this study to compare the effect of face-to-face training in effective use of earplugs with appropriate NRR to overprotection of workers by using earplugs with higher than necessary noise reduction rating (NRR. Methods: In a randomized clinical trial, 150 workers referred to occupational medicine clinic were randomly allocated to three arms—a group wearing earplugs with an NRR of 25 with no training in appropriate use of the device; a group wearing earplugs with an NRR of 25 with training; another group wearing earplugs with an NRR of 30, with no training. Hearing threshold was measured in the study groups by real ear attenuation at threshold (REAT method. This trial is registered with Australian New Zealand clinical trials Registry, number ACTRN00363175. Results: The mean±SD age of the participants was 28±5 (range: 19–39 years. 42% of participants were female. The mean noise attenuation in the group with training was 13.88 dB, significantly higher than those observed in other groups. The highest attenuation was observed in high frequencies (4, 6, and 8 kHz in the group with training. Conclusion: Training in appropriate use of earplugs significantly affects the efficacy of earplugs—even more than using an earplug with higher NRR.

Air Layer Drag Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Ceccio, Steven; Elbing, Brian; Winkel, Eric; Dowling, David; Perlin, Marc

2008-11-01

A set of experiments have been conducted at the US Navy's Large Cavitation Channel to investigate skin-friction drag reduction with the injection of air into a high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layer. Testing was performed on a 12.9 m long flat-plate test model with the surface hydraulically smooth and fully rough at downstream-distance-based Reynolds numbers to 220 million and at speeds to 20 m/s. Local skin-friction, near-wall bulk void fraction, and near-wall bubble imaging were monitored along the length of the model. The instrument suite was used to access the requirements necessary to achieve air layer drag reduction (ALDR). Injection of air over a wide range of air fluxes showed that three drag reduction regimes exist when injecting air; (1) bubble drag reduction that has poor downstream persistence, (2) a transitional regime with a steep rise in drag reduction, and (3) ALDR regime where the drag reduction plateaus at 90% ± 10% over the entire model length with large void fractions in the near-wall region. These investigations revealed several requirements for ALDR including; sufficient volumetric air fluxes that increase approximately with the square of the free-stream speed, slightly higher air fluxes are needed when the surface tension is reduced, higher air fluxes are required for rough surfaces, and the formation of ALDR is sensitive to the inlet condition.

Turboprop Engine Nacelle Optimization for Flight Increased Safety and Pollution Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian DOROBAT

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Commuter airplanes defined in CS-23 as being propeller driven, twin-engine, nineteen seats and maximum certified take-off weight of 8618 Kg had lately a special development due to advantages of turboprop engine compared with piston or jet engines. Nacelle optimization implies a sound and vibrations proof engine frame, engine fuel consumption reduction (through smaller nacelle drag and weight, better lift, better pressure recovery in air induction system, smaller drag of exhaust nozzles, engine cooling and nacelle ventilation more efficient, composite nacelle fairings with noise reduction properties, etc.. Nacelle aerodynamic experimental model, air induction experimental model and other nacelle experimental systems tested independently allow construction efficiency due to minimizing modifications on nacelle assembly and more safety in operation [1].

Noise Reduction and Correction in the IPNS Linac ESEM

Science.gov (United States)

Dooling, J. C.; Brumwell, F. R.; Donley, L.; McMichael, G. E.; Stipp, V. F.

2004-11-01

The Energy Spread and Energy Monitor (ESEM) is an on-line, non-intrusive diagnostic used to characterize the output beam from the 200-MHz, 50-MeV IPNS linac. The energy spread is determined from a 3-size, longitudinal emittance measurement; whereas the energy is derived from time of flight (TOF) analysis. Signals are detected on 50-ohm, stripline beam position monitors (BPMs) terminated in their characteristic impedance. Each BPM is constructed with four striplines: top, bottom, left and right. The ESEM signals are taken from the bottom stripline in four separate BPM locations in the 50-MeV transport line between the linac and the synchrotron. Deterministic linac noise is sampled before and after the 70-microsecond macropulse. The noise phasor is vectorially subtracted from the beam signal. Noise subtraction is required at several frequencies, especially the fundamental and fifth harmonics (200 MHz and 1 GHz). It is also necessary to correct for attenuation and dispersion in the co-axial signal cables. Presently, the analysis assumes a single particle distribution to determine energy and energy spread. Work is on-going to allow for more realistic longitudinal distributions to be included in the analysis.

Multiresolution edge detection using enhanced fuzzy c-means clustering for ultrasound image speckle reduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsantis, Stavros [Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Rion, GR 26504 (Greece); Spiliopoulos, Stavros; Karnabatidis, Dimitrios [Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Rion, GR 26504 (Greece); Skouroliakou, Aikaterini [Department of Energy Technology Engineering, Technological Education Institute of Athens, Athens 12210 (Greece); Hazle, John D. [Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030 (United States); Kagadis, George C., E-mail: gkagad@gmail.com, E-mail: George.Kagadis@med.upatras.gr, E-mail: GKagadis@mdanderson.org [Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Rion, GR 26504, Greece and Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030 (United States)

2014-07-15

Purpose: Speckle suppression in ultrasound (US) images of various anatomic structures via a novel speckle noise reduction algorithm. Methods: The proposed algorithm employs an enhanced fuzzy c-means (EFCM) clustering and multiresolution wavelet analysis to distinguish edges from speckle noise in US images. The edge detection procedure involves a coarse-to-fine strategy with spatial and interscale constraints so as to classify wavelet local maxima distribution at different frequency bands. As an outcome, an edge map across scales is derived whereas the wavelet coefficients that correspond to speckle are suppressed in the inverse wavelet transform acquiring the denoised US image. Results: A total of 34 thyroid, liver, and breast US examinations were performed on a Logiq 9 US system. Each of these images was subjected to the proposed EFCM algorithm and, for comparison, to commercial speckle reduction imaging (SRI) software and another well-known denoising approach, Pizurica's method. The quantification of the speckle suppression performance in the selected set of US images was carried out via Speckle Suppression Index (SSI) with results of 0.61, 0.71, and 0.73 for EFCM, SRI, and Pizurica's methods, respectively. Peak signal-to-noise ratios of 35.12, 33.95, and 29.78 and edge preservation indices of 0.94, 0.93, and 0.86 were found for the EFCM, SIR, and Pizurica's method, respectively, demonstrating that the proposed method achieves superior speckle reduction performance and edge preservation properties. Based on two independent radiologists’ qualitative evaluation the proposed method significantly improved image characteristics over standard baseline B mode images, and those processed with the Pizurica's method. Furthermore, it yielded results similar to those for SRI for breast and thyroid images significantly better results than SRI for liver imaging, thus improving diagnostic accuracy in both superficial and in-depth structures. Conclusions: A

Multiresolution edge detection using enhanced fuzzy c-means clustering for ultrasound image speckle reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsantis, Stavros; Spiliopoulos, Stavros; Karnabatidis, Dimitrios; Skouroliakou, Aikaterini; Hazle, John D.; Kagadis, George C.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Speckle suppression in ultrasound (US) images of various anatomic structures via a novel speckle noise reduction algorithm. Methods: The proposed algorithm employs an enhanced fuzzy c-means (EFCM) clustering and multiresolution wavelet analysis to distinguish edges from speckle noise in US images. The edge detection procedure involves a coarse-to-fine strategy with spatial and interscale constraints so as to classify wavelet local maxima distribution at different frequency bands. As an outcome, an edge map across scales is derived whereas the wavelet coefficients that correspond to speckle are suppressed in the inverse wavelet transform acquiring the denoised US image. Results: A total of 34 thyroid, liver, and breast US examinations were performed on a Logiq 9 US system. Each of these images was subjected to the proposed EFCM algorithm and, for comparison, to commercial speckle reduction imaging (SRI) software and another well-known denoising approach, Pizurica's method. The quantification of the speckle suppression performance in the selected set of US images was carried out via Speckle Suppression Index (SSI) with results of 0.61, 0.71, and 0.73 for EFCM, SRI, and Pizurica's methods, respectively. Peak signal-to-noise ratios of 35.12, 33.95, and 29.78 and edge preservation indices of 0.94, 0.93, and 0.86 were found for the EFCM, SIR, and Pizurica's method, respectively, demonstrating that the proposed method achieves superior speckle reduction performance and edge preservation properties. Based on two independent radiologists’ qualitative evaluation the proposed method significantly improved image characteristics over standard baseline B mode images, and those processed with the Pizurica's method. Furthermore, it yielded results similar to those for SRI for breast and thyroid images significantly better results than SRI for liver imaging, thus improving diagnostic accuracy in both superficial and in-depth structures. Conclusions: A

Filter-fluorescer x-ray spectrometer using solid state detectors for γ-ray background reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoi, Takashi; Kitagawa, Yoneyoshi; Shiraga, Hiroyuki; Matsunaga, Hirohide; Kato, Yoshiaki; Yamanaka, Chiyoe.

1986-01-01

Filter-fluorescer x-ray spectrometer using solid state photo-detectors instead of the photomultiplier tubes in order to reduce the γ-ray background noise is reported. A significant reduction of the γ-ray background noise is expected, because solid state photo-detectors are very small in size compared with the photomultiplier tubes. It has been confirmed that the γ-ray background is reduced in the target irradiation experiments with the Gekko MII glass laser. (author)

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

... R S T U V W X Y Z Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Information 6 Things You ... Disease and Dementia (12/20/13) Research Spotlights Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Shown To ...

Alcohol harm reduction in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herring, Rachel; Betsy, Thom; Beccaria, Franca

2010-01-01

The EMCDDA’s 10th scientific monograph, entitled Harm reduction: evidence, impacts and challenges provides a comprehensive overview of the harm reduction field. Part I of the monograph looks back at the emergence of harm reduction approaches and their diffusion, and explores the concept from diff...

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

State of the direct reduction and reduction smelting processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markotić A.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available For quite a long time efforts have been made to develop processes for producing iron i.e. steel without employing conventional procedures - from ore, coke, blast furnace, iron, electric arc furnace, converter to steel. The insufficient availability and the high price of the coking coals have forced many countries to research and adopt the non-coke-consuming reduction and metal manufacturing processes (non-coke metallurgy, direct reduction, direct processes. This paper represents a survey of the most relevant processes from this domain by the end of 2000, which display a constant increase in the modern process metallurgy.

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.

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.

Potential for waste reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warren, J.L.

1990-01-01

The author focuses on wastes considered hazardous under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This chapter discusses wastes that are of interest as well as the factors affecting the quantity of waste considered available for waste reduction. Estimates are provided of the quantities of wastes generated. Estimates of the potential for waste reduction are meaningful only to the extent that one can understand the amount of waste actually being generated. Estimates of waste reduction potential are summarized from a variety of government and nongovernment sources

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...

The Effects of Hearing Aid Directional Microphone and Noise Reduction Processing on Listening Effort in Older Adults with Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Desjardins, Jamie L

2016-01-01

Older listeners with hearing loss may exert more cognitive resources to maintain a level of listening performance similar to that of younger listeners with normal hearing. Unfortunately, this increase in cognitive load, which is often conceptualized as increased listening effort, may come at the cost of cognitive processing resources that might otherwise be available for other tasks. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the independent and combined effects of a hearing aid directional microphone and a noise reduction (NR) algorithm on reducing the listening effort older listeners with hearing loss expend on a speech-in-noise task. Participants were fitted with study worn commercially available behind-the-ear hearing aids. Listening effort on a sentence recognition in noise task was measured using an objective auditory-visual dual-task paradigm. The primary task required participants to repeat sentences presented in quiet and in a four-talker babble. The secondary task was a digital visual pursuit rotor-tracking test, for which participants were instructed to use a computer mouse to track a moving target around an ellipse that was displayed on a computer screen. Each of the two tasks was presented separately and concurrently at a fixed overall speech recognition performance level of 50% correct with and without the directional microphone and/or the NR algorithm activated in the hearing aids. In addition, participants reported how effortful it was to listen to the sentences in quiet and in background noise in the different hearing aid listening conditions. Fifteen older listeners with mild sloping to severe sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. Listening effort in background noise was significantly reduced with the directional microphones activated in the hearing aids. However, there was no significant change in listening effort with the hearing aid NR algorithm compared to no noise processing. Correlation analysis between objective and self

Biochemistry of Catabolic Reductive Dehalogenation.